CONTENTS

A. Historical Background
B. Philosopy and Religion
C. Philosophical Works
D. Chinese Poetry
E. Conventions of Chinese Theater
F. Famous Literary Masterpieces
G. Major Writers of Chinese Literatures
H. Literary Readings/Representative Selections

1. The Trial of the Stone

2. The Anaclects of Confucius
3. A Country Boy Quits in School
 HISTORICAL BACKROUND
What did the dragon represent in ancient Chinese culture?

• Dragons represented water, especially rain, floods, rivers, typhoons, and the
ocean. They also represented the concept of yin and yang, and were especially
associated with yang, or what was thought to be the bright, masculine, active
aspect of the universe. They were also associated with harmony with nature,
good luck, and the power of the emperor and China as a whole.

• Also known in English as the Torch Dragon, was a giant red solar dragon and
god in Chinese
mythology. It supposedly had a human's face and snake's body, created day and
night by opening and closing its eyes, and created seasonal winds by breathing.

• No one knows exactly when legends about dragon originate, but the symbol
dates back to at least 3000 BCE.
 HISTORICAL BACKROUND

• According to one theory, the legendary Chinese Dragon evolved

out of ancient totem – worship practices.

• Historically the Chinese dragon is associated with the emperor of

china and used as a symbol to represent imperial power. The
founder of the Han dynasty Liu Bang claimed that he was
conceived after his mother dreamt of a dragon.

• It was called “red dragon” because of its likely due to china being
a communist country, but it also stems from the fact that red has
always been the color associated with the Chinese emperor.
 PHILOSOPY AND RELIGION
Confucianism - one of the most influential religious
philosophies in the history of China and it has existed for
over 2,500 years. It is concerned with inner virtue,
morality, and respect for the community and its values.

Taoism - also spelled as “Daoism.” Is an ancient Chinese

philosophy and religion that instructs believers on how to
exist in harmony with the universe.

Buddhism - this is part of a series that examines Chinese

belief systems: how people think and behave,
philosophically and religiously.
 PHILOSOPHICAL WORKS

Developed a new philosophy

Importance of moral character
Individual must take responsibility for their society
Society work best when everyone respected laws
and behaved according to their position also when
those is superior positions
 In confucianism, there are five relationhips
that each person must follow:

RULER AND SUBJECT ELDER BROTHER AND

YOUNGER BROTHER

FATHER AND SON

HUSBAND FRIEND AND FRIEND

AND WIFE
 In confucianism, there are five relationhips
that each person must follow:

RULER AND SUBJECT

The subject should bow down and respect the superior one -
the ruler. In this case, the ruler is the major and superior one.

HUSBAND AND WIFE

In this case, the wife is the less superior one and has to
respect and listen to her husband. But the husband needs to
also be a good role model to his wife.

FATHER AND SON

The son in the family has to respect the elder one, which is
the father and his decisions.
 ELDER BROTHER AND YOUNGER BROTHER
The older brother needs to be a good role model of the
younger one. And the younger one should respect his older
brother.
FRIEND AND FRIEND
This is the only relationship where both sides are equal in
status. And each has to respect one another.

“TOGETHER, THEY CREATE A BALANCE AND

HARMONY IN THE SOCIETY”
 Sayings of Confucious

It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop.
The superior man is modest in his speech but exceeds in his actions.
Everything has its beauty but not everyone sees it.
Wheresoever you go, go with all your heart.
Forget injuries, never forget kindnesses.
I hear and I foget, I see and I remember. I do and I understand.
 CHINESE POETRY

THREE ERAS OF CHINESE POETRY

EARLY POETRY
CLASSICAL POETRY
MODERN POETRY
 CHINESE POETRY

Early Chinese Poetry

As with other civilizations, the folk songs and stories of early people
are the origins of Chinese poetry and other forms of art.

Examples of poetry from the Early Poetry period are found in the
first major collection of Chinese poetry that is called Shi Jing. It is
translated “Classic of Poetry” also called the Book of Songs. It
contains aristocratic poems, or odes, and poetry from folk songs.

Another collection of poems is the Chu Ci, or Songs of Chu. These

poems are more lyrical, and most of them come from the poets Qu
Yuan and Song Yu.
 CHINESE POETRY

SHI JING

CHU CI OR SONGS
OF CHU
 CHINESE POETRY

Classical Chinese Poetry

Classical Chinese poetry originated during the Han dynasty from
206 BC to 220 AD.
Chu lyrics changed and became the fu, which is a poem that rhymes, except for
the beginning and ending sections, which are written in prose. These were often
in the poetical essay form, which has questions and answers.
Another new form of poetry was the yue fu. They were song lyrics and folk song
lyrics.
Toward the end of the Han dynasty, the yue fu evolved into shi, which had five
or seven lines. This was the dominant form Chinese poetry took until modern
times.
Next came the ci lyric poems, which were new lyrics written to existing melodies.
 CHINESE POETRY

Modern Chinese Poetry

Modern Chinese poetry has no set pattern or style.

Poets of this time wanted to break with the traditional forms and
adopted some of the Western styles.
A group of poets named Misty Poets were influential during this time.
They used allusion and references that made their writing obscure
and hazy.
Important Misty Poets include: Bei Dao, Duo Duo, Gu Cheng, and Yang
Lian. After the crackdown on civilian protests in 1989, they were all
exiled.
 CONVENTIONS OF CHINESE THEATER

·Middle Ages- male and female roles were played by

either men or women only.

·The nature of the character could also be traced by the

make-up color:
Red- loyalty & honesty of the hero
Gold- Mythical heroes

·Chinese opera (developed in the 12th Century)

·Western forms (spoken drama, western-style, & ballet)
arrived in 20th Century
 CONVENTIONS OF CHINESE THEATER

Chinese Theater, influenced by different

traditions and regional styles, encompasses
several conventions:

1. OPERA STYLES- Peking Opera (Beijing Opera),

Kunqu, Cantonese Opera, etc. (have distinct
performance styles, costumes, makeup, & music

2. COSTUMES & MAKEUP- Painted faces in

Peking Opera
 CONVENTIONS OF CHINESE THEATER

3. MOVEMENT & GESTURE- Convey emotions, actions, and character traits.

 CONVENTIONS OF CHINESE THEATER

4. STORYTELLING TECHNIQUES- mime, acrobatics, & martial arts (to enhance the narrative)

MIME ACROBATICS

MARTIAL ARTS
 CONVENTIONS OF CHINESE THEATER
5. USE OF PROPS- ranging from simple objects to intricate
weapons and symbolic items
Ex. Fans, handkerchiefs, paper, chairs, vehicle flags, weapons, etc.
 CONVENTIONS OF CHINESE THEATER
6. TRADITIONAL MUSIC & INSTRUMENTS- live music accompanies
performances, featuring traditional instruments like the erhu, pipa, and
bamboo flute

PIPA
BAMBOO
FLUTE

ERHU
 CONVENTIONS OF CHINESE THEATER
7. SYMBOLISM & ALLEGORY- often drawing from Chinese mythology, history
and literature
 CONVENTIONS OF CHINESE THEATER

8. ROLES & CHARACTERS- hero, villain, clown, and damsel (each w/ specific
trait & roles)

9. AUDIENCE INTERACTION- addressing the audiences or involving them in the

performance

10. THEMES & MORALITY- loyalty, filial piety, justice, & morality (reflect
traditional Confucian values)
 FAMOUS LITERARY MASTERPIECES

2.
1. "OUTLAWS OF THE MARSH" (“ 水浒传” IN CHINESE)
The novel "Outlaws of the Marsh" is somewhat like the Iliad and Odyssey,
which is also an ancient epic tale. This story is based on real facts and has
inspired many storytellers. The Song Dynasty reached its apogee and
declined. As a victim of corruption and decadence, we can find historical
traces of these outlaws who challenged the imperial authority and died
under the executioner's blade. A man called Shi Nai-an wrote down the
novel "Outlaws of the Marsh" (or "All men are brothers" in Pearl Buck's
translation) that read by us today. This masterpiece is an immortal novel
because its tale is universal: it tells about 108 heroes who cannot bear
injustice or abuse without fighting, and that is exactly the reason why
their popularity has lasted for centuries.
 FAMOUS LITERARY MASTERPIECES
2. “ROMANCE OF THE THREE KINGDOMS” (“ 三国演义” IN CHINESE)
“Romance of The Three Kingdoms” is one of the great Chinese classics
and is compiled into a semi-fictional literary masterpiece during the
Ming Dynasty by Luo Guanzhong. The novel comprises around 70% fact
and 20% fiction. The story is a tale of the fall of Later Han Dynasty of
China. It describes the lives of those feudal lords and their retainers who
tried to either replace the empire or restore it. While the novel actually
follows literally hundreds of characters, the focus is mainly on 3
families who would eventually carve out 3 kingdoms from the
remnants of the Han. The Liu family in the Shu kingdom led by Liu Bei,
the Cao family in Wei led by Cao Cao, and the Sun family in Wu
eventually led by Sun Quan.
 FAMOUS LITERARY MASTERPIECES
3. “JOURNEY TO THE WEST” (“ 西游记” IN CHINESE)
“Journey to the West”, commonly known to the western readers, is a
supernatural novel about a world of fantastic invention, in which gods
and demons loom large and vie for supremacy. This lively fantasy
relates the amazing adventures of the priest San-zang as he travelled
towards west in search of Buddhist sutras with his three disciples, the
irreverent and capable Monkey, greedy Pig, and Friar Sand. The main
story is about all kinds of entertaining trials and tribulations that the
priest has encountered through the entire journey. The novel began
with a series of oral and written versions, and eventually attained its
most definitive version written by Wu Cheng-en (1500?-1582), a
scholar-official in the Yangtze region.
 FAMOUS LITERARY MASTERPIECES
4. "THE DREAM OF THE RED CHAMBER" (“ 红楼梦” IN CHINESE
"The Dream of the Red Chamber", also called "The Story of the Stone"
(“石头记 ” in Chinese), is a novel written by Cao Xueqin, and said to be
the greatest masterpiece of Chinese fiction. It describes the love story,
marriage and tragedies between Jia Baoyu, Lin Daiyu and Xue
Baochai, besides, it is also the description of the rise and fall of
sediments which was represented by the four most prominent
families, reveals the complex contradictions of the feudal family,
performance of the feudal marriage, morality, culture, education and
decadent, degenerate and create a series of nobility civilians and the
tragic image of a slave woman who has demonstrated an extremely
broad typical feudal society living environment.
 FAMOUS CHINESE WRITERS

• CONFUCIUS China's most famous teacher, philosopher, and

political theorist, whose ideas have profoundly influenced the
civilizations of China and other East Asian countries.

• LAO TZU a semi-legendary ancient Chinese philosopher, author of

the Tao Te Ching, the foundational text of Taoism along with the
Zhuangzi. Laozi is a Chinese honorific, typically translated as "the Old
Master".
FAMOUS CHINESE WRITERS

• CAO XUEQIN was a Chinese novelist and poet during the Qing
dynasty. He is best known as the author of Dream of the Red
Chamber, one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese
literature.

• LI BAI a Chinese poet who rivaled Du Fu for the title of China's

greatest poet. Li Bai liked to regard himself as belonging to the
imperial family, but he actually belonged to a less exalted
family of the same surname
LITERARY READINGS REPRESENTATIVE

THE TRIAL OF THE STONE (CHINESE FOLKTALE)

Richardo Keens - Douglas is the writer of the book.

A humorous folk tale in which a stone is accused of a crime

and the villagers at the trial must learn to take the judicial
system seriously. A young boy named Matt is off to visit his
grandfather in a faraway village.

MORAL LESSON/VALUING: “The truth will always prevail;

justice protects and serves people regardless of status in life.
Be careful how you treat people around you.”
LITERARY READINGS REPRESENTATIVE
THE ANALECTS OF CONFUCIOUS

Compiled by disciples of Confucius in the centuries

following his death in 479 B.C.E., The Analects of Confucius
is a collection of aphorisms and historical anecdotes
embodying the basic values of the Confucian tradition:
learning, morality, ritual decorum, and filial piety.
Strong emphasizes the importance of morality for the
betterment of oneself and societal in general.
The book lays out a several teachings for both communers
and rulers to follow in the pursuit of morality.
An anthology of qoutes from Confucious and his desciples,
important events in his life, and descriptions of him.
 LITERARY READINGS REPRESENTATIVE
A COUNTRY BOY QUITS IN SCHOOL
BY LAO HSIANG

(main character), Grandfather, Grandmother, Father, Mother, the

Teacher, Hsiao Lin, Hsiao Lin's Uncle, Baldy, Baldy's Father.
Lao Hsiang is an endearing social satire. It is about a poor chinese
family which is forced to send its boy in school following an
official proclamation, ignoring which would a jail term.
Moral lesson: Country Boy Quits School shows the importance of
education to our lives.
Theme: Cultural differences regarding education
 LITERARY READINGS REPRESENTATIVE
It clearly demonstrates how poor education may result to chaos
and confusion to someone's life, even family. Just as much as it
issues how significant education is, this story also addresses how
not just books and teachers define education. The story
Generosity on the other hand, shows the very irony of life during
those times. No matter how hard one works, he is easily brought
down by someone with a higher class, with no effort at all. We
clearly see how large the gap between people of different classes
really is.
THAT’S ALL, THANK YOU FOR LISTENING!