What makes modern Chinese literature modern?

It thus, through a dynamic dialogue between authoritative Western literary theory and traditional Chinese literary theory, manifests distinct features of modernity: vernacular written language, academic institutionalization, cultural explicitness, revolutionary radicalness, Westernization of inner system, and implicit …

When the modern period of Chinese literature began?

Introduction. Modern Chinese literature has conventionally been seen as erupting suddenly in conjunction with the May Fourth New Culture movement (1915–1925), which denounced the Confucian tradition and sought to replace it with Western-influenced intellectual and literary models.

What are the 4 classics of Chinese literature?

What Are China’s Four Great Classical Novels? Chinese literature contains four masterpieces known as the Four Great Classical Novels (四大名著). Journey to the West, Outlaws of the Marsh, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and Dream of the Red Chamber were written during the Ming and Qing dynasties.

What is the most famous Chinese literature?

Of these four, Dream of Red Mansions is considered the greatest literary masterpiece in Chinese writing because of its style, theme, and scope. It was published in 1791 CE and has remained a best-seller in China ever since.

What is contemporary Chinese literature?

The contemporary period refers to the glorious thirty years from the May Fourth Movement in 1919 until the foundation of the Peoples’ Republic of China in 1949. With the development of the New Culture Movement and the victorious October Revolution in Russia in 1917, new thoughts refreshed the literary field.

What are the characteristics of Chinese literature?

Chinese poetry, besides depending on end rhyme and tonal metre for its cadence, is characterized by its compactness and brevity. There are no epics of either folk or literary variety and hardly any narrative or descriptive poems that are long by the standards of world literature.

What is the finest era of Chinese literature?

the Yuan Dynasty era
One of the interesting things about Chinese literature is that much of the serious literature was composed using a formal written language that is called Classical Chinese. The best literature of the Yuan Dynasty era and the four novels that are considered the greatest classics are important exceptions.

What is the finest era of Chinese literature that produced world renowned authors?

The best literature of the Yuan Dynasty era and the four novels that are considered the greatest classics are important exceptions. However, even during the Qing Dynasty of two hundred years ago, most writers composed in a literary stream that extended back about 2,400 years.

What is the name of China’s most famous novel?

Monkey King by Wu Cheng’en What is this? Also commonly known as Journey to the West, Monkey King is perhaps the most beloved and iconic Chinese novel ever written.

What are the five classics of Chinese literature?

The Five Classics consists of the Book of Odes, Book of Documents, Book of Changes, Book of Rites, and the Spring and Autumn Annals. The Four Books are comprised of the Doctrine of the Mean, the Great Learning, Mencius, and the Analects. From the Han to the early Song, the Five Classics grew into thirteen classics.

What are the two major literature of China?

Two novels are still widely read now and are generally considered two of the four greatest novels in Chinese literature. These are Water Margin and The Romance of the Three Kingdoms. The Romance of the Three Kingdoms was written in vernacular language by Luo Guan Zhong.

What is the importance of Chinese literature?

Chinese literature is a pleasure to teach and to read; it holds an importance and relevance both in historical terms and in understanding the world today. Yet, its history, language and culture are quite rich, and different from much of the Western tradition that the study of Chinese literature can prove challenging.