por The chinese literatureAlong with the Hebrew and the Indian, it is one of the oldest literary traditions that has been maintained without interruption since its birth. It cannot be otherwise, if we consider that China is one of the places where human beings developed the first elements of civilization.
In China a proto-writing arose 5,000 years ago, and in its long historical process it invented ink, paper and much later, the printing press, almost five centuries before the West. And even so, little is known about his literature.
Chinese literature has a history almost as long as the country where it originated, dating back to 2200 BC, when the Xia dynasty arose. However, many authors date the beginnings of this literature around the sixth century BC, when the five classics or wow jYong.
The history of China is that of a series of kingdoms and dynasties that followed one another until the emergence of the republic in 1911, and although it lived through long periods of isolation, its culture influenced neighboring countries, such as Korea and Japan, and some of its classics, like the Tao Te Chingof Lao Tzu, the I Chingeither The Art of Warby Sun Tzu, are part of the cultural heritage of humanity.
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Characteristics of Chinese literature
influences
Throughout its entire history, from the 6th century BC to the early 20th century, Chinese literature was markedly influenced by the two philosophical currents of Chinese origin: Confucianism and Taoism.
Also known as Confucianism, it was a religious and philosophical doctrine of ritual expression created by Confucius (5th century BC). He postulates that the primordial order, deteriorated throughout history, is restored through two practices: the practice of study and the practice of virtues.
Since its purpose is not individual salvation, but that each person participate in the transformation of society, which must recover harmony with the law of tian or heaven, can also be classified as an ethical-political doctrine.
The five classics are compilations of ancient texts: shī jing (The Classic of Poetry either book of odes), Shu Jing (The Classic of History), Yì Jing (Book of Changes either Book of Changes), Li jì (Classic of Rites) and Chūn Qiū (Spring and Autumn Annals).
The third has had multiple editions around the world under the name of I Ching and the last one, the Annals, It is attributed to Confucius and tells the story of China before it was unified under the Qin dynasty.
the four confucian books
He Dâ Xue (great knowledge) and Zhong Yong (mediocrity doctrine) are part of the Classic of Rites; lun yu (The Analects) is a compilation of sayings by Confucius; and Meng Zi (Mencius), collects the work of this Confucian philosopher.
It is an equally philosophical and religious doctrine that promotes living in harmony with the Tao, which literally means «way» (Taoism means «teaching of the way»).
The Tao is a principle of absolute unity, and at the same time mutable; it is what constitutes the supreme reality of everything, its ontological and cosmogonic principle. So for Taoism, the Tao is the substance of everything that exists.
Taoist classics
He dao de jing (Classic of the way and virtue), attributed to Lao Tzu (4th century BC); he lie zi (Classic of perfect emptiness); and the zhuang zi either Chuang Tzuof the philosopher of the same name.
The Five Classics (wu jYong), the four Confucian books (yes shu) and Taoist classics are central to Chinese literature.
Variations in the names of works and authors
Since Chinese literature was written with sinograms (Chinese characters), it is common to see the names of writers, thinkers, and works written in different ways when converted to the Latin alphabet.
For example: Laozi or Lao Tzu, Chuang Tzu or Zuangzi, Dao De Jing either Tao Te Chingand Yì Jing or I Chingamong many others.
Stages of Chinese literary history
Critics have divided Chinese literary history into four parts:
The classical period, from the writing of the classical texts (between the 6th and 4th centuries BC), until the 2nd century AD, when the empire was unified.
Medieval times, from the 3rd to the 13th century.
The modern age, from the fourteenth century to the rise of the republic, in 1911.
Contemporary times, from 1912 to the present day.
During the 20th century, Chinese literature began to be incorporated into modernity, but this process was interrupted by the revolution in 1949. Until the late 1970s, literature was marked by «socialist realism» and without access to the most current currents. of world literature.
This situation has changed in recent decades, as Chinese literature has been promoted in and out of Asia with greater freedom, but still under the surveillance and potential censorship of the regime.
Genres, representatives and works
Poetry
Poetry is one of the oldest literary genres and dates back as far as 3,000 years. Much of ancient poetry is collected in the shī jingalso called book of songs. Most of these poems were written to be performed in traditional ceremonies, accompanied by musical instruments.
But poetry is also present in the best-known Taoist work in the world, the dao de jing either tao te kingvolume of poems attributed to Lao Tzu, although there are those who doubt the existence of this philosopher.
The golden age of Chinese poetry occurred during the Tang dynasty, between 618 and 907, not only due to the quality of the poets, but also to the development of paper and the invention of the printing press in the 10th century, which allowed a greater diffusion of poetic texts.
From this period, the poets Wang Wei, Li Po and Du Fu stand out, who through their texts expressed the philosophical currents of that time (Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism) and gave way to the first love poems in Chinese literature.
From the 13th century to the beginning of the 20th century, poetry incorporated popular themes, but the great change occurred in 1917, with the first poems in modern Chinese written by Hu Shi and which were part of a literary revolution known as the «Chinese Renaissance». .
The current poets arose between the 60s and the 80s of the last century, and the voices of Beidao, Shu Ting, Jiang He, Tian Xiaoqing, Zahi Yongming and Lu Yimin, among others, are distinguished. Poetry is still a widely read genre in China.
Essay and other prose texts
The historical compilations, as well as the philosophical texts, date back to the 5th century BC, and are present in the classical texts.
During the periods prior to the unification of the empire, known as the periods of Spring and Autumn and of the Warring States (722-221 BC), a favorable environment was created for political and philosophical discussion, which was reflected in numerous chronicles and essays. .
Historiography had a notable development during the Han dynasty (206 BC-220 AD), highlighting the historical memories of Sima Qian, who would exert a great influence in later centuries, and would lead to the emergence during the Tang dynasty (618-907) of an important literary current, the «Movement for the ancient language».
In this period, the works of two authors, considered masters of the Chinese language, stand out: Han Yu and Liu Zongyuan. Both have been included in the group of the «eight masters of the Chinese language.»
Another of the «eight masters,» Wang Anshi (1021-1086) set a milestone by creating the «eight-part essay,» which in later centuries would become a requirement for civil servants in the empire’s bureaucracy.
The other five «masters of the Chinese language» are: Ouyang Xiu, Su Xun, Su Shi, Su Zhe and Zhen Gong.
Narrative
The origins of Chinese narrative fiction go back to biographical accounts, anecdotes, and ghost stories collected in compilations such as the zuozhuan (c 300 BC) and in the Chūn Qiū (Spring and Autumn Annals).
The stories collected in these works inspired in 200 a. C. the Zhan Guo Ce (Warring States Strategy), by an anonymous author, which despite being considered a historical text played a fundamental role in the development of Chinese narrative.
Chinese narrative evolves until it reaches the 14th and 18th centuries, when the «Four Masterpieces of Classical Chinese Literature» are written.
These four works are Romance of the three kingdoms (1330), by Luo Guangzhong; at the water’s edge (1573), by Shi Nai’an; journey to the west (1590), attributed to Wu Cheng’e; and the Dream of the Red Room (1792), by Cao Xueqin and Gao E.
1918 is considered the year in which modern Chinese literature began, with a story titled «Diary of a Madman», written in vernacular Chinese by Lux Xun (1881-1936). In addition to publishing narrative texts, Lux Xun published a Brief history of the Chinese novel and was an advocate of the use of the vernacular in literature.
Chinese literature of the 20th century was very marked by the ideology of the Chinese Communist Party, although in the 21st century there was a change in position that allowed the publication of novels, even though they were later censored.
It is the case of shanghai baby (1999) by Wei Hui, published and later banned; and of ashes of love (2003) by Mu Zimei, who has also successfully ventured into social networks. Another end-of-the-century novel to highlight is fei du (L)to useless capital1993) by Jia Pingwa.
In the 21st century, the Chinese novel has also fortunately explored the genre of science fiction with authors such as Liu Cixin, author of the Trilogy of the three bodies; or Baoshu, author of The redemption of time.
References
Botton Beja, F. (1984). China. Its history and culture until 1800. Taken from historiadelascivilizacionesblog.files.wordpress.com.
Page, J. (1989). The origins of Chinese fictional narrative in the ghost story. Taken from estudiosdeasiayarica.colmex.mx.
Fisherman, A. (2006). Notes on current Chinese literature. Taken from jornada.com.mx.
Botton Beja, F. (2007). Trends in Chinese literature today. Taken from redalyc.org.
Sun Chang, K., Owen, S. (2010). The Cambridge History of Chinese Literature. Taken from academia.edu. A Brief History of Chinese Poetry (2019). Taken from utadeo.edu.co.
Pira, A. (2015). The four classical Chinese novels. Taken from china-files.com.
Kukso, F. (2019). Chinese science fiction seeks the sky: who are the cult authors. Taken from lanacion.com.ar.
Mencius (2020). Taken from es.wikipedia.org.