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Which work is credited as the first modern Japanese novel?
What was a significant contribution of the Tang Dynasty to Chinese literature?
Which text is considered one of the earliest collections of poems in Chinese literature?
What is a defining characteristic of the Kamakura-Muromachi period in Japanese literature?
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What do the eight trigrams symbolize in Chinese literature?
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What type of poem is defined as having 17 syllables structured in three lines of 5-7-5 syllables?
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Which poet is best known for romantic songs about wine, women, and nature?
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Which literary collection reflects the gloom and solitude of the Kamakura-Muromachi period?
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Who is credited with the development of Noh drama?
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What was the focus of the writings of i Boyuan during the Qing Period?
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What is the primary content of the Analects of Confucius?
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What term describes the alternating haiku structure used in linked verse?
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Which of these works is a comic novel from the Edo Period?
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What did the Classic of History document during the Zhou period?
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Which poet is famous for the poem 'chunwang,' widely recognized as a cornerstone of Chinese poetry?
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During the Heian Period, which class was primarily responsible for producing literature?
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Who is considered the founder of modern baihua literature in China?
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What significant change occurred during the New Culture Movement in China?
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Which writing system consists of symbols and syllables in Japanese literature?
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What is the significance of the Nara Period in Japanese literature?
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What was a main characteristic of socialist realism in literature?
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What does the term 'kan' refer to in the context of the Japanese writing system?
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During the Maoist Era from 1949 to 1976, what was the state of the publishing industry in China?
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What is the Man’yoshu known for in Japanese literature?
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What was a significant effect of the Meiji Era on Japan?
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Which writer is known for addressing themes of powerless women during the Meiji Era?
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What is the focus of literature during the Modern Period post-World War II?
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Which Veda serves as a priest's handbook for conducting sacrificial rituals?
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What is considered one of the longest literary masterpieces consisting of 100,000 lines?
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Which of the following texts is a collection of sacred hymns divided into ten books?
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Which theme is NOT associated with the literature of the Modern Period?
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Which of the following authors is recognized as a notable figure in contemporary Japanese literature?
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Study Notes
Beginning of Chinese Literature
- Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) - Literature was written to entertain common literate Chinese.
- The Great Wall of China was built to protect and preserve the country.
- Tang Dynasty (618-907) - Woodblock printing was invented, considered the Golden Age of Literature
- Song Dynasty (960-1279) - Movable type of printing was introduced.
Classical Poetry
- Book of Changes - one of the most important classical texts in Chinese literature.
- Book of divination based on eight trigrams that existed during the Zhou Dynasty.
- The Classic of Poetry - earliest collections of poems, consists of 305 poems including folk, festival poems, hymns, and eulogies.
- Trigrams - symbols of the cycle of yin and yang energy.
- Eight trigrams - Earth Thunder, Water, Still Water, Mountain, Flame, Wind, Heaven
- Yin - Bad, Yang - Good
Spring and Autumn Annals
- Earliest surviving Chinese historical text to be arranged in annals form (records).
- Chronological history of the state of Lu.
Analects of Confucius
- Moral guidelines.
- Book of sayings recorded by his disciples that talks about harmonious living and how to deal with other people.
Two Distinguished Poets: Li Po and Tu Fu
- Li Po (701-762) - Greatest poet in the country, known for romantic songs about wine, women, and nature.
- Tu Fu (712-770) - “Chunwang” is his best-known and most commonly recited Chinese poem, meaning "the scene in spring".
The Classical of History
- Collection of documents and speeches written by rulers and officials of the Zhou period.
The Classic of Rites
- Texts that describe ancient rites and ceremonies.
Classical Prose
- Mencius (372-289 BCE) and Zhuang Zhi (369-286 BCE) - Prose writers who demonstrated well-reasoned and carefully developed ideas.
- Mencius - The second Sage Orthodox Confucianism, interested in common people and their role.
- Zhuang Zhi - Wrote Zhuangzi, a collection of anecdotes.
Tang Period
- The emergence of the neoclassical style of prose.
- Han Yu (768-824) - Major essayist who advocated the return of Confucian Orthodoxy.
Modern Literature
- Qing Period (1895-1911) - A modern Chinese literature began.
- A period of active intellectual pursuit sparked by a nationalistic climate.
- i Boyuan - Used vernacular writing for people who did not receive a classical education; focused on social and political issues.
- Liu E - Writer, archaeologist, and politician who used symbolism and classical writing illustrations in his writing.
- Zheng Pu - Used symbolism and classical literature illustrations in his writing.
The New Culture Movement
- (1917-1923) - Saw the vernacular language being widely used and eventually displacing the classical language in all genres.
- Lu Xun - Considered the founder of modern baihua literature (literature that uses colloquial language) in China.
Socialist Realism
- Adheres to the principle that art must depict contemporary events, exposing the ills of nonsocialist society.
Social Realism
- Uses art to represent the nonsocials.
Maoist Era
- (1949-1976)- Mao Tse Tung (ideology) - Political and military doctrine to capture state power through alliances and insurgency.
- Placed the publishing industry and the book distribution system under government control and implemented strict censorship.
Post-Mao Era
- (1976-present) - Published a large number of prose fiction.
- Writers protested against and bemoaned abuses but also expressed their eagerness to contribute to building a new Chinese society.
Japanese Writing System
- Kanji - From Chinese characters.
- Kana - a pair of syllabarics consists of hiragana (native words) and katakana (foreign words).
Archaic Period
- Introduction of art writing (Kanji) from China.
- Chinese characters were adopted to write Japanese, creating what is known as the man’yogana, the earliest form of Japanese writing.
- First propagation of the Buddhist religion.
- Literature was mostly a series of songs and poems about war and historical incidents.
- Buddhism: Reincarnation until you reach (Nirvana) the state of enlightenment.
Nara Period
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(710-794 AD) - Considered the Golden Age of Poetry.
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Produced two important literary works:
- Kojiki or Records of Ancient Matters - Contains early traditions of the Japanese race, mythology, and legendary history.
- Man’yoshu or Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves - Oldest extant anthology of Japanese Poetry.
- Anthology - Collection.
- Man’yoshu - Oldest extant anthology of Japanese Poetry.
- Contains 4,500 poems.
- Consists of twenty-chapter divisions.
- Two principal poetic forms used:
- Tanka - Short poem with 31 syllables arranged in five lines or units
- Chonka - Long poem with 31 syllables and undefined length with an extra seven-syllable line.
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Representative prose works:
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Shoku Nihongi - History text
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Izumo Fudoki - Ancient record of Izumo
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Nihon Shoki - Chronicles of Japan, the second oldest book of Japanese history
Heian Period
- (794-1185) - Considered the classical age of Japanese Literature.
- Literature reflected the pleasure-loving, effeminate, yet cultured and refined character of the class of Japanese who produced it.
- Work largely by women.
- Popular Works:
- Kokinshu (Collection of Ancient and Modern Poems) - Anthology of the best poems.
- The Tale of Genji (Murasaki Shikibu)- Referred to as the first modern Japanese novel
The Tale of Genji
- Love (pain).
- Mistakes (consequences)
Kamakura-Muromachi Period
- (1185-1600) - Characterized by a constant state of warfare and turmoil and the decline of learning.
- Important Works:
- Shin Kokinshu (New Collection of Ancient and Modern Poems) - Reflects the gloom and solitude of the period.
- Heike Monogatari (The Tale of the Heike) - Tells the defeat of the Taira by the Minamoto Clan.
- Gempei Seisuki - History of the rise and fall of Gen and Hei.
- Tsurezuregusa (Essays in Idleness) - Collection of essays on various objects.
Other Highlights
- Buddhist monks were the chief maintainers of learning.
- Development of renga or linked verse.
- Evolution of Noh drama, a one-act dance performed by male dancers with extremely slow movement while chanting prose passages.
- Zeami Motokiyo - Developed the Noh drama.
Renga
- Alternating haiku (eight croplets) with each stanza written by a different person.
- Croplet - Two lines of verse, singular thought.
Edo Period
- (1603-1868) - Literature was more voluminous.
- Writings were produced by the merchant class and were considered bawdy and worldly.
- Popular drama evolved to Kabuki, a popular Japanese theater consisting of colorful backgrounds, lively and emotional music, dancing, and exaggerated acting.
- Haiku, a poem of 17 syllables in three lines of 5-7-5 syllables, was perfected.
Other Important Works
- Koshuku ichidai otoko (The Sensulist) (Maria Saikaku)
- Tokaidochu Hizakurige - Comic novel (Jippenstia)
- Oku no Hosomichi (The Narrow Road to the Deep Worth) - Reflects philosophical meditations towards existence, highlights Japanese sensibilities in daily or mundane experiences.
Meiji Era
- (1868-1912) - Reopening of Japan to the West and a period of rapid industrialization
- Fukuzawa Yukichi and Nakae Chomin - Wrote enlightenment literature
- Haibun - Combines prose and poetry.
- Chiyo Higuchi - A woman writer whose short stories focus on powerless women of this age.
- Izumi Kyoka- Wrote early novels that made use of supernatural elements.
- Closed Country Policy - Preserved cultures and traditions, protected from invaders.
Modern Period
- (1912-present) - Characterized by the denial of worth in traditional writings.
- Themes focus on disaffection, loss of purpose, and coping with defeat as a result of World War II.
- Prominent writers:
- Kenzaburo Oe - A Personal Matter (1964), second winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature.
- Kobo Abe- (Women in the Dunes), won the 1962 Yumiuri Prize for Literature.
- Shizuku Todo - Won the Naoki Prize (1988) for Ripening Summer.
- Haruku Murakami - One of the most popular and controversial Japanese authors.
Indian Literature
- Refers to the literary traditions of three countries; India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh - since these countries were considered one until the partition of India in 1947 and the secession of Bangladesh from Pakistan in 1971.
- Recognizes 22 languages.
Sanskrit
- Ancient language used for writing epics and religious texts.
Vedas
- Collection of sacred books written in Sanskrit.
- Rig Veda (knowledge of the verses) - A collection of 1028 sacred hymns divided into ten books called Mandalas.
- Yajur Veda (knowledge of the sacrifice) - Priest’s handbook in the performance of sacrificial rituals.
- Sama Veda (knowledge of the melodies) - Collection of chants and melodies drawn from the Rig Veda that are to be sung during worship.
- Atharva Veda (knowledge of the fire priest) - A collection of charms, spells, and hymns.
Untouchables
- (Dalit) - Cleaning caste based on discrimination - streets are illegal.
Four (4) in the Social system
- Brahmins (priest)
- Kshatriyas (warriors and kings)
- Vaishyas (merchants)
- Shudras (manual laborers)
Mahabharata by Vyasa
- Ancient tale of war within a family caused by a desire for power.
- Contains 100,000 lines.
- Considered as one of the longest literary masterpieces.
Ramayana by Valmiki
- Part of Mahabharata.
- Romantic treatment in the form of kayva or court poetry.
- Centers on the life and adventures of the couple Ramachandra and Sita.
- The tale of savitri - Another narrative found within the Ramayana.
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Description
Explore the rich heritage of Chinese Literature from the Ming Dynasty to the Tang and Song Dynasties. This quiz covers significant literary achievements, classical poetry, and historical texts like the Book of Changes and the Classic of Poetry. Test your knowledge of key concepts and periods in Chinese literary history.
