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Biji (Chinese Literature)
''Biji'' () is a special literary genre in classical Chinese literature. Literally "Notebook (style), notebook" or "written notes". There is no strict writing mode for ''biji,'' it is a literary form mainly based on recording personal insights, experiences, miscellaneous sensations, and trifles, and it is known for its characteristics of scattered notes and trivial records. A book of ''biji'' can contain stories, anecdotes, quotations, random musings, philological speculations, literary criticism and indeed everything that the author deems worth recording. Genre and evolution The genre a long history back to the early tradition of 'notes on the strange' (Zhiguai xiaoshuo, zhiguai) in the Wei-Jin dynasty (266–420), Jin period (3rd to 4th centuries A.D.), and matured during the Tang dynasty. From the Jin dynasty (266–420), Wei-Jin to Tang Dynasties, the Chinese produced many great biji which organized ancient knowledge of myriad things in patterns that are far different from t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chinese Literature
The history of Chinese literature extends thousands of years, and begins with the earliest recorded inscriptions, court archives, building to the major works of philosophy and history written during the Axial Age. The Han dynasty, Han (202 BC220 AD) and Tang dynasty, Tang (618–907 AD) dynasties were considered golden ages of poetry, while the Song dynasty, Song (960–1279) and Yuan dynasty, Yuan (1271–1368) were notable for their lyrics (''ci''), essays, dramas, and plays. During the Ming dynasty, Ming and Qing, mature novels were written in written vernacular Chinese, an evolution from the preeminence of Literary Chinese patterned off the language of the Chinese classics. The introduction of widespread woodblock printing during the Tang and the invention of movable type printing by Bi Sheng (990–1051) during the Song rapidly spread written knowledge throughout China. Around the turn of the 20th century, the author Lu Xun (1881–1936) is considered an influential voi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Qing Dynasty
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the Ming dynasty and succeeded by the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China. At its height of power, the empire stretched from the Sea of Japan in the east to the Pamir Mountains in the west, and from the Mongolian Plateau in the north to the South China Sea in the south. Originally emerging from the Later Jin (1616–1636), Later Jin dynasty founded in 1616 and proclaimed in Shenyang in 1636, the dynasty seized control of the Ming capital Beijing and North China in 1644, traditionally considered the start of the dynasty's rule. The dynasty lasted until the Xinhai Revolution of October 1911 led to the abdication of the last emperor in February 1912. The multi-ethnic Qing dynasty Legacy of the Qing dynasty, assembled the territoria ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
What The Master Would Not Discuss
''What the Master Would Not Discuss'' (''Zibuyu''), alternatively known as ''Xin Qixie'', is a collection of supernatural stories compiled by Qing Dynasty scholar and writer Yuan Mei. The original collection consists of over 700 stories. The work has also been translated as ''What the Master Does not Speak of'' and other such titles, as well as ''Censored by Confucius'' in one English-language translated work of selected tales. Title The title of the work ''Zi bu yu'' refers to the passage of the ''Analects'' of Confucius that states, "The topics the Master did not speak of were prodigies, force, disorder and gods".Lau, D. C. tr. (1982) 979''Confucius: The Analects'', Book Seven, p. 88 ''apud'' , p. xxiii His reference to the master was criticised as a 'heretical' use of Confucian texts. Yuan later changed the title to ''Xin Qixie'' ( zh, t=新齊諧, s=新齐谐, labels=no, "New Wonder Tales of Qi/from Qi") when he discovered there was a Yuan dynasty The Yuan dynast ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Strange Tales From A Chinese Studio
''Liaozhai zhiyi'', sometimes shortened to ''Liaozhai'', known in English as ''Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio'', ''Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio'', ''Strange Tales from Make-Do Studio'', or literally ''Strange Tales from a Studio of Leisure'', is a collection of Classical Chinese stories by Qing dynasty writer Pu Songling, comprising close to 500 stories or "marvel tales" in the '' zhiguai'' and '' chuanqi'' styles, which according to some critics, served to implicitly criticise societal problems. Written over a period of forty years from the late 1600s and ending in the early 1700s, it circulated in manuscripts that were copied and recopied among the author's friends but did not appear in print until 1766. Since then, many of the critically lauded stories have been adapted for other media such as film and television. Publication history Pu assembled the nearly five hundred short and lengthy tales over a period of forty years between the early 1670s and the early ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Taiping Guangji
The ''Taiping Guangji'' (), sometimes translated as the ''Extensive Records of the Taiping Era'' or ''Extensive Records of the Taiping Xinguo Period'', is a collection of stories compiled in the early Song dynasty. The work was completed in 978, and printing blocks were cut, but it was prevented from official publication on the grounds that it contained only ''xiaoshuo'' (fiction or "insignificant tellings") and thus "was of no use to students." It circulated in various manuscript copies until it was published in the Ming dynasty. It is considered one of the '' Four Great Books of Song'' (宋四大書). The title refers to the Taiping Xinguo era (太平興國, "great-peace rejuvenate-nation", 976–984 AD), the first years of the reign of Emperor Taizong of Song. The collection is divided into 500 volumes () and consists of about 3 million Chinese characters. It includes 7,021 stories selected from over three hundred books and novels from the Han dynasty to the early Song dynast ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Baopuzi
''Baopuzi'' () is a literary work written by Ge Hong (AD 283–343), (), a scholar during the turbulent Jin dynasty. ''Baopuzi'' is divided into two main sections, the esoteric ''Neipian'' () and the section intended for the public to understand: ''Waipian'' (). The Taoist Inner Chapters discuss topics such as techniques to achieve "hsien" (), Chinese alchemy, elixirs, and demonology. The Confucian Outer Chapters discuss Chinese literature, Legalism, politics, and society. Title The eponymous title ''Baopuzi'' derives from Ge Hong's ''hao'' (), the ''hao'' being a type of sobriquet or pseudonym. Baopuzi literally means "The Master Who Embraces Simplicity;" compounded from the words ''bao'' () meaning "embrace; hug; carry; hold in both arms; cherish"; '' pu'' () meaning "uncarved wood", also being a Taoist metaphor for a "person's original nature; simple; plain"; and, ''zi'' ( 子) meaning "child; offspring; master (title of respect)". ''Baopu'' (Pao-p'u; literally:"Simple ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hong Mai
Hong Mai (, 1123, Poyang-1202, Hangzhou), courtesy name Jinglu (), art name Yechu () and Rongzhai (), was a Chinese statesman, Confucian scholar and writer during the Southern Song dynasty. He was the author of '' Yijianzhi'' () and '' Rongzhai Suibi'' (). Life Hong was born in the year of 1123 in Poyang. His father Hong Hao was a Song official who participated the negotiations between Song and Jin during the wars of Jingkang era. He also had two elder brothers whose name were Hong Kuo and Hong Zun respectively. In 1145, with the favor of Emperor Gaozong of Song, Hong Mai was given a government post in the department of transportation ( Zhuanyun Si). In 1162, Hong Mai was sent to Jurchen Empire; which ruled the northern half of China at the time; as a diplomat. During his stay in the north, he tried to establish a truce in Shandong but the Jurchens were not ready to accommodate. Mai did not receive any response from the north and returned south by autumn. In 1166, Hong wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shen Kua
Shen Kuo (; 1031–1095) or Shen Gua, courtesy name Cunzhong (存中) and Art name#China, pseudonym Mengqi (now usually given as Mengxi) Weng (夢溪翁),Yao (2003), 544. was a Chinese polymath, scientist, and statesman of the Song dynasty (960–1279). Shen was a master in many fields of study including Chinese mathematics, mathematics, history of optics, optics, and horology. In his career as a civil servant, he became a finance minister, governmental state inspector, head official for the Chinese astronomy, Bureau of Astronomy in the Song court, Assistant Minister of Imperial Hospitality, and also served as an Chancellor (education), academic chancellor.Needham (1986), Volume 4, Part 2, 33. At court his political allegiance was to the Reformist faction known as the History of the Song dynasty#Partisans and factions, reformers and conservatives, New Policies Group, headed by Chancellor of China, Chancellor Wang Anshi (1021–1085). In his ''Dream Pool Essays'' or ''Dream Torren ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dream Pool Essays
''The Dream Pool Essays'' (or ''Dream Torrent Essays'') was an extensive book written by the Chinese polymath and statesman Shen Kuo (1031–1095), published in 1088 during the Song dynasty (960–1279) of China. Shen compiled this encyclopedic work while living in forced retirement from government office, naming the book after his private estate near modern Zhenjiang, Jiangsu province. The ''Dream Pool Essays'' was heavily reorganized in reprint editions by later Chinese authors from the late 11th to 17th centuries. In modern times it has been translated from Chinese into several languages. These include English, German, French, and Japanese translations. The ''Dream Pool Essays'' covers a range of topics including discoveries and advancements in Traditional Chinese medicine, mathematics, astronomy, science and technology, optics, architecture and civil engineering, metallurgy, and early archaeology. Observations of the natural world included those of wildlife, meteorology ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Duan Chengshi
Duan Chengshi () (died 863) was a Chinese poet of the Tang dynasty. He was born to a wealthy family in present-day Zibo, Shandong. A descendant of the early Tang official Duan Zhixuan (, ''Duàn Zhìxuán'') (-642), and the son of Duan Wenchang (, ''Duàn Wénchāng''), a high official under Tang Xuanzong, his family background enabled him to obtain office without taking the imperial exams. As a poet, he was associated with Li Shangyin and Wen Tingyun. Duan is best known outside of China for being the author of an early version of Cinderella, called '' Ye Xian''. In 853, the story first appeared in '' Miscellaneous Morsels from Youyang'', which was published shortly after he returned to Chang'an after his term as acting prefectural Governor of Jizhou (now known as Ji'an in Jiangsu). It is believed that it was a folktale told by peasants before it was recorded on paper. Duan is also known for describing in his written work of 863 AD the slave trade, ivory trade, and ambergris ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Drama
Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been contrasted with the Epic poetry, epic and the Lyric poetry, lyrical modes ever since Aristotle's ''Poetics (Aristotle), Poetics'' ()—the earliest work of dramatic theory. The term "drama" comes from a Ancient Greek, Greek word meaning "deed" or "Action (philosophy), act" (Classical Greek: , ''drâma''), which is derived from "I do" (Classical Greek: , ''dráō''). The two masks associated with drama represent the traditional Genre, generic division between Comedy (drama), comedy and tragedy. In English (as was the analogous case in many other European languages), the word ''Play (theatre), play'' or ''game'' (translating the Old English, Anglo-Saxon ''pleġan'' or Latin ''ludus'') wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ji Yun
Ji Yun (; 1724–1805), also known as Ji Xiaolan () or Ji Chunfan () was a Chinese philosopher, politician, and writer. He was an influential scholar of Qing dynasty China and many anecdotes have been recorded about him. Ji Yun left behind a book entitled ''Notes of the Thatched Abode of Close Observations'' (閱微草堂筆記) and another book named ''Wenda Gong Yiji'' (紀文達公遺集; "Collected Works of Lord Wenda", i.e. Ji Xiaolan), which was edited by later generations. He was often mentioned with Yuan Mei as the "Nan Yuan Bei Ji" (). Background Ji Yun was born in Xian County of Zhili province (modern Hebei). When he was young, he was deemed intelligent. His father Ji Rongsu was a civil minister and archaeologist. Career In 1747, Ji Yun rose to intellectual prominence after winning the highest distinction in the provincial Imperial examination, examinations. Several years later, in 1754, he attained the jinshi degree, whereupon he entered the Hanlin Academy. Ji Yun ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
