1. China and it's Chinese
Literature
By: Vida Mae B. Cellona
BSE Eng

2. Flag of China was originally adopted on
October 1, 1949
The red of the Chinese flag symbolizes the
Communist Revolution and also the tradition of
color of the people.
The large gold star represent Communism that
means a way of organizing the society in
which government own
The four smaller stars represent the social
classes of people

3. China is the fourth largest country
in the world
The capital city of China is Beijing
China's nickname:
Middle Kingdom
The Red Dragon
The Sleeping Giant.

4. The sleeping giant
The nickname was given to China by
Napoleon Bonaparte.
In the second half of the 18th century,
Jesuits (members of the Society of Jesus, a
Roman Catholic order) missions were very
active in China. When Napoleon came to
knowledge of this, he pointed at China on a
map and said " There, is a sleeping giant.
Let her sleep. For when she wakes, she will
shake the world".

5. The famous landmark in China is the
Great Wall of China also known as the
“Ten Thousand Li Wall”

6. The religions and beliefs of Chinese
people are
• Islam
• Catholicism
• Prostestant
• Atheist
( who doesn't believe in God)

7. Confucianism
Taoism
 Buddhism
are considered the “three pillars” of
ancient Chinese society. As
philosophies and religions, they not
only influenced spirituality, but also
government, science, the arts, and
social structure.

8. Culture and traditions of
Chinese in wedding
• Red (lucky color) is the color of
wedding in China because they
believe it signifies love, joy, and
prosperity to seclusion.
• The wedding day is carefully chosen
to astrological signs.

9. The most important event in China is
the Chinese New Year and they are
celebrating it on the 1st day of the
year in lunar calendar, usually
between late in January or early
February.
They also have the Lantern Festival
and they are celebrating it on the
15th day of the 1st Lunar Calendar
and in the 5th of 5th Lunar Month
they are celebrating the Dragon Boat
Festival.

10. The education in China has always
been a highly valued and the great
master Confucius thought that it is a
pleasure to learn something and try
it out at intervals. Similarly,
numerous students have been
convinced that reading books excels
all others careers.
Kung Fu - several hundred fighting
styles that have developed over the
centuries in China.

11. The Chinese has 7 dialects and these
are:
1.Mandarin
2.Cantonese
3.Hakka
4.Wu
5.Min
6.Xiang
7.Gan

12. Chinese Literature is one of the most
major literacy with an interrupted history
and more that 30,000 years, dating back
at least to the 14th century.
Lyric poetry
Historical and didactic writing
Drama
Various forms of fiction

13. The world’s oldest book The world’s
oldest surviving book is Chinese—
Buddhist text called the Diamond
Sutra, which bears the date 868 AD.
Along with other printed
manuscripts, the book was
discovered in 1907 in a walled-up
cave in Dunhang (north-west China)
and is on display at the British
Library.

14. Dynasty in China
1.Shang Dynasty ( 1700-1050 BC)
– Development of Chinese Writing
- 1st dynasty
- hieroglyphics writing on bronze wares
and oracle bones
- it evolved into ideographic and partly-
phonetic Chinese characters.
Used by priests to tell the future
The writing on these oracle bones is the
same writing that people use in modern
China, just in an earlier version.

15. By analyzing oracle bone
inscriptions, other artifacts, and
archaeological sites such as tombs
and ancient cities, scholars have
been able to piece together many
details of Shang civilization. They
have confirmed the names of its
kings, its style of government, its
military history, its religious beliefs
and rituals, and its society.

16. Dynasty in China
2. Zhou Dynasty ( 1045-225 BC)
– Basic Philosophical and religious
Literature
3 Major Chinese Philisophies
 Confucianism
Taoism
Legalism

17. Dynasty in China
3. Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC) –
Literary Disaster and Legalism
 Qin Shi Huang
creation of Great Wall of China
writing system was standarlized (Hanzi)

18. destruction of most books
Killed Confucian philosophers and teachers
Scientific subjects like medicine and
agriculture books
Book Burning and Burial of Scholars was a
literary disaster
Poetry, philosophy and books of history
Novels are vanished

19. Dynasty in China
• 4. Han Dynasty (206 – 220 BC)
– Scientific and Historical Texts
• - Era’s major contributions were
historical texts and scientific works.
• *Sima Qian – wrote Historical
Records
• *Historical records – major history
concerning the overall history of
China from Shang Dynasty to Han
Dynasty.
• *Cai Lun – 1st person in the world to
create writing paper.

20. Sima Qian
(145- 86 BC) is China’s great
historian. He was also an
astronomer and calendar expert
during after the Han Dynasty. He
was the first to write a
comprehensive history of China,
thus earning the title of “Father of
Chinese History.” Records of the
Grand Historian

21. Poetry (Fu poetry)
Fu - Chinese literary form
combining elements of poetry
and prose.
Confucianism revived

22. Dynasty in China
5. Tang Dynasty (618-907)
– Early Woodblock Printing and Poetry
*Dufu and Li Bai – China’s greatest poets.
*Li Bai – one of the greatest Romantic poets.
*Dufu – one of the greatest Realists poets.
The great poets Li Po and Tu Fu became
popular. Tu Fu became known for his poem
about war and bitter human experiences. Li Po,
a friend of Tu Fu’, wrote lyrical poetry about
love. Li Yian, a woman poet also became
famous.

23. Tang Dynasty is often referred to as China's
"Golden Age“. Poetry, calligraphy, landscape
painting, philosophy, political thought, historical
writing, scientific advances in astronomy,
chemistry, and medicine, and the production of
fine silks, porcelain, and teas all flourish,
particularly in the period from the 7th to the
12th centuries 7th-12th Century

24. Dynasty in China
• 6. Song Dynasty (960-1279)
• – Early Woodblock Printing. Travel Literature, Poetry,
Scientific texts and the Neo- Confucian Classics
5 Classics and 4 Books – written in the classical language.
improvement of printing
Spring Day by Zhu Xi
Writing on the Wall of an Inn in Lin’an by Lin Sheng
I Try To Enter a Garden but I Can’t Get in by Ye Shaoweng

25. Woodblock printing was extended to
producing books on the classics,
literature as well as illustrations. In
terms of technique, process changed
from one-colour to two-colour
printing, with vermilion ink used side
by side with black.

26. Neo Confucianism
The revived Confucianism of the
Song period (often called Neo-
Confucianism) emphasized self-
cultivation as a path not only to
self-fulfillment but to the
formation of a virtuous and
harmonious society and state.

27. Dynasty in China
7. Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368)
– Drama and Great Fictional novels
*Guan Hanquing – one of the best playwrights of the
times.
*Mid Summer Snow – one of the most popular
drama pieces.
*The Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Water
Margin – two of the four greatest novels in Chinese
Literature.
*The Romance of the Western Chamber by Wang
Shifu – one of the best romantic dramas ever written
in China.

28. Dynasty in China
8. Ming Dynasty (1368- 1644)
– Novels
- Journey to the West by Wu
Cheng’en
– based on the historical journey
of a Buddhist to India.

29. Dynasty in China
9. Qing Dynasty (1644- 1911) –
Novels and Pre –modern Literature
*Manchus – established the last
dynasty.
*The Dream of the Red Chamber –
last of China’s four great classic
novels.
-The emperor Qin Shih Huang Di
unified the currency, system of
writing, and even the philosophical
thought.

32. Li Bai
Tang Dynasty
He wrote about the good things
in life, emphasizing love,
friendship, win e, nature and
simple village living.
A lover of freedom
Romantic in his view of life

33. Alone and Drinking
under the Moon
Autumn River Sings

34. Du Fu
 Famous realist and poets
during Tang Dynasty
Poet friend of Li bai
became known for his poem
reflect the hard realities of war
and bitter human experiences

35. Behind redden doors stink wine
and meat
But upon the roud die frozen meat

36. Famous Chinese Philosopher - Confucius
A Chinese philosopher
and politician of the
spring and autumn
period

37. Confucianism
- philosophical and
ethical teachings

38. Confucian Analects / Lun Yu (Analects)
- it is the main book of Confucianism
The Analects are a collection of the teachings and
thoughts of Confucius; they also contain fragments of
dialogues between the great Chinese philosopher and
his disciples. The name in English derived from the
word "analect" which means a fragment or extract of
literature, or a collection of teachings.

39.  Book of Odes
Book of Documents
The Spring and Autumn
Animals
Book of Changes

40. Goal of Confucianism
It's primary goal is to educate people
to be self motivated and self
controlled.

41. Chinese Poetry
Five Kinds of Poems
1. Shi poems
2. Ci poems
3. Ge
4. Qu
5. Fu

42. 1. Shi Poems - poems of two
couplet lines and it is usually
rhyme

43. 2. Ci Poems - have
patterns of syllables
and tonal patterns

44. 3. Ge Poems - words
to a song that can be
sung

45. 4. Qu Poems - Mongol
music
Form of operatic
drama

46. 5. Fu Poems -
descriptive poems that
contain both prose and
couplets

47. Thank you!