21ST CENTURY LITERATURE

CHINESE LITERATURE

 Guan Hanquing – one of the best

DYNASTY IN CHINA playwrights of the times.
1. SHANG DYNASTY (1700-1050)  Mid-Summer Snow – one of the most
- Development of Chinese writing. popular drama pieces.
- First dynasty  The Romance of the Tree Kingdoms
- Hieroglyphics writing on bronze wares and and Wester Margin – two of the four
oracle bones. greatest chinese in Chinese literature.
- It evolved into the ideographic and partly  The romance of the western chamber
phonetic Chinese characters. by Wang Shifu.
2. ZHOU DYNASTY (1045-225) 8. MING DYNASTY (1368-1644)
- BASIC Philosophical and religious literature. - Journey to the Wets by Wu Cheng’en
- Oldest dynasty based on the historical journey of Buddhist
- Major literary achievements originated in the to India.
late spring and warring state period. 9. QING DYNASTY (1644-1911)
3. QIN DYNASTY (221-206 B.C.) - Novels and pre-modern literature.
- Literary disaster and legalism  Manchus – established the last
 Mohism – big philosophical and dynasty.
religious school.  The Dream of the Red Chamber – the
 Li Si – Qin emperor who introduced a last of the china’s four grate classic
writing system and developed into novels.
modern Chinese writing.
 Legalism – philosophical school. CONFUCIOUS
4. HAN DYNASTY (206-220 B.C.) - A Chinese teacher, edit, politician, and a
- Scientific and historical texts. philosopher of the spring and autumn period
- Era’s Major Contribution were historical of Chinese history.
texts and scientific works. - He is the founder of Confucius influence (an
 Sima Qian – wrote historical records ethical teaching).
 Historical Records – major history - His philosophy emphasizes personal and
concerning the overall history of China from government morality correctness and social
Shang Dynasty to Han Dynasty. relationship, justice and sincerity.
 Cai Lum – first person in the world to create
writing paper. TAOISM
5. TANG DYNASTY (618-907) - Opposite of Confucianism and the most
- Early woodblock printing and poetry. important religion that encompasses a verity
 Dufu and Li Bai – China’s greatest poets. of tradition and beliefs and spiritual
 Dufu – one of the greatest realist poets. practices largely based on a teaching
 Li Bai – one of the greatest romantic poets. attributed to the buddha.
6. SONG DYNASTY (960-1279)
- Early woodblock [painting. Travel, literature, CHINESE LITERATURE
poetry, scientific texts and the neo- - Is one of the most major literacy with an
Confucian classics. interrupted history and more than 30,000
 5 classics and 4 books (960-1279) – years, dating back at least to the 14 th
written in the classical language. century.
 Shen Kuo and Su Song – both work - Among the rhetorical devices employed in
scientific treatises. the first poem of The Book of Poetry is the
 Shen – discovered the concepts of true use of metaphor crying ospreys compared
north and magnetic declination. to the lord and lady, for instance. Following
The Bok of Poetry, highlights the traditional
 Su Song – famous for his hydraulic-
Chinese literature include The Songs of The
powered astronomical clock tower.
South (Chuci); the prose writings in history
7. YUAN DYNASTY (279-1336)
and philosophy of the Qin and Han
- Drama and great fictional novels.
Dynasties; Tang poetry; the Song lyric; the
prose of the Tang and Song Dynasties; and
 the short stories, novels, and dramas from - Refers to the earliest period and covers
the Tang to Qing Dynasties. works from 3,000 years ago to the late Qing
- The modern period of Chinese literature, Dynasty and is virtually unbroken strands
which began in 1910s, is even more enduring dynastic changes.
abstraction and oversimplification, Chinese - Written in ancient form of language that is
literature is characterized as the expression very different from present day Chinese, it
of both the heart and the mind, as needs to be carefully studies to be
concerning the individual and society, as understood.
variously sublime and graceful, and as 2. MODERN LITERATURE – Refers to the
blending reality and imagination. period from Opium War in 1840 to the May
- Traditional Chinese literature developed 4th movement in 1919.
under the intellectual influences of  Opium War – this is the war between two
Confucianism, Daoism (Taoism), and wars in the mid-19th century involving Anglo
Buddhism. Confucianism preaches Chinese dispute over the British.
benevolence, righteousness, individual 3. CONTEMPORARY LITERATURE (1919-
effort, commitment to society, and 1949) – Spanned period from 1919 to the
harmony among people. foundation of modern in 1949 and took on a
- Traditional Chinese literature came new vigor despite the fact that Chinese was
under the influence of Christianity in the in the checkered and complicated times.
Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), when Western 4. PRESENT AGE LITERATURE (1949-
missionaries made their way to China. As PRESENT) – Evolved since the
music is related to poetry, traditional establishments of the People’s Republic in
Chinese poetry was inevitably influence by 1949 during this time.
the music of non-Chinese ethnic group who - There was a Logjam as a consequence of
resided mostly on the Chinese borders. In the cultural resolution that lasted for near 10
general, traditional Chinese literature, years that era is now long past and now
through mainly a product of Chinese have a favorable turn events and a great
civilization, has absorbed, in its course of number of responsible written works.
development, certain elements from
cultures other than the Chinese VOCABULARY
- Chinese literature in the 20th century made a 1. ANTHOLOGY – collection of poems or
dramatic turn to the west. This change other pieces of writing.
affected not just literature but virtually all 2. RHETORICAL DEVICES – technique or
aspects of Chinese culture. To be sure, 20 th type of language that is used by a speaker
century Chinese literature gas been or an author for the purpose of evoking a
receptive to the literary works of such particular reaction from the listener or
eastern countries as India and Japan, but reader or persuading them to think in a
the presence of the west is quite certain way.
overwhelming. 3. MULTIFARIOUS – many and various types.
- In modern times, Chinese writers have 4. VOLUMINOUS – Very lengthy and full.
remained prolific. Through the social impact 5. BENEVOLENCE – quality if being well
of literature many be as monumental as it meaning; kindness.
was in the past. The Chinese literary 6. PROLIFIC – productive
tradition nevertheless prosperous. Notable
names include Mo Yan, a fictioinist who POEMS
won the 2021 Novel rize for literature. 1. BATTLE
Remarkable too were the novels of Yu - BY CHU’U YUAN
Hua, Wang Shuo, and Shi Tieshing, and - TRANSLATED BY ARTHUR WALEY
the stories of Xiao Sheng, Wang Zenggi, 2. ON THE THRESHING FLOOR, I CHASE
and Zhang Chenzi. CHICKENS AWAY
- BY YU XIUHUA
4 CLASSES OF LITERATURE - TRANSLATED BY MING DI
1. CLASSICAL LITERATURE (1644-1911)
 21ST CENTURY LITERATURE
JAPANESE LITERATURE

JAPANESE LITERATURE - Other notable authors from this period are

- Japanese literature has been influenced Sei Shonagon and Konjaku
heavily by the Chinese literature from the Monogatarishu.
ancient period all the way to the Edo  TALE OF GENJI - considered the world’s
period (1603-1868) which corresponds to first novel, is a very charming and accurate
the early modern Japanese literature. depiction of the Japanese court during the
- Japanese literary works also reveal Heian period under the reign of Empress
elements of Indian and later of Western Akiko.
elements but above all, they reveal a
distinct style which has also greatly 3. MEDIEVAL LITERATURE - History and
influenced both Eastern and Western literature were intertwined during the
literatures, Medieval period due to the influence of the
civil wars and the emergence of the warrior
JAPANESE LITERATURES class. Thus, war tales are very prominent
1. ANCIENT LITERATURE during this period. Stories like Tale of the
2. CLASSICAL LITERATURE Heike deals with the conflict between two
3. MEDIEVAL LITERATURE powerful Japanese clans. Besides war
4. MODERN LITERATURE stories and tales, the popular form of
Japanese poetry, the renga, saw its rise.
1. ANCIENT LITERATURE - Ancient literature
in Japan deals primarily with myths and 4. MODERN LITERATURE - The modern
legends. Tales like the creation of Japan, period also marked the emergence of new
wherein the islands came from the styles of writing. Japanese writers started to
gemstones imbued in the swords of gods romanticize and tried experimenting with
are very prominent during this period. The different genres and subject matters.
celebrated writers during this period are
Ō no Yasumaro, Nihon Shoki, and PRE-MODERN PERIOD
Man‘yoshu which wrote based on real - Classical literature (koten bungaku),
events in the country. meaning literature from the earliest times up
 Ō NO YASUMARO - was a Japanese to the Meiji Restoration of 1868, is
nobleman, bureaucrat, and chronicler. customarily divided by literary scholars into
 NIHON SHOKI - The Nihon Shoki ( 日 本 書 four major periods: Jōdai (antiquity),
紀 ), sometimes translated as The Chūko (middle antiquity), Chūsei (the
Chronicles of Japan, is the second-oldest middle ages), and kinsei (the recent
book of classical Japanese history. past).
 MAN‘YOSHU - The Man'yōshū is the - This method of periodization largely reflects
oldest extant collection of Japanese the traditional terminology employed by
waka (poetry in Classical Japanese), Japanese historians. Jōdai covers
compiled sometime after AD 759 during the Japanese literary history through the Nara
Nara period. period (710-794); Chūko is used more or
less synonymously with "literature of the
2. CLASSICAL LITERATURE - The classical Heian period," from 794 up to the
literature in Japan occurred during the establishment of the Kamakura shogunate
golden age, the Heian period. During this in 1192.
period, Murasaki Shikibu, one of the - Chūsei takes in the Kamakura (1185-
greatest Japanese writers, wrote the 1333), Muromachi (1336-1573), and
seminal text, Tale of Genji. Azuchi-Momoyama (1573-1600) periods,
- It clearly shows the women in Prince Genji‘s continuing up to the establishment of the
life and it paints them in their refinements, Tokugawa shogunate in 1603; and kinsei is
talents in the arts, drawing, poetry and the most often used to refer to the Edo period
beauties of nature (1603-1867).
 - The haikai master Matsuo Bashō, the
novelist Ihara Saikaku, and the dramatist
PRE-MODERN LITERATURES Chikamatsu Monzaemon are all
1. The Literature of Antiquity (to 974) associated with this enormous outburst of
2. The Literature of Middle Antiquity (794- creative activity.
1185) - The nation's cultural center shifted from the
3. The Literature of the Middle Ages (1185- Kyoto-Osaka region to Edo in the second
1603) half of the eighteenth century, leading to the
4. The Literature of the Recent Past (1603- production of large quantities of gesaku
1867) (frivolous works) by the writers who
constituted the last literary generation
1. The Literature of Antiquity (to 794) before the advent of Western influence.
- Written literature in Japan dates from the
Nara period, although an oral tradition MODERN PERIOD
existed well before that time. - The basis for the periodization of modern
- The work that is usually taken to reveal the literature (kindai bungaku) is gradually
process of change from an oral to a written becoming problematic as the "modern"
tradition and from communal to personal period grows ever longer. The most
concerns is the collection of poems known common division is the one based on the
as the Man'yōshū (The Collection of Ten reigns of the emperors who have ruled
Thousand Leaves). since 1868: Meiji (1868-1912), Taishō
2. The Literature of Middle Antiquity (794- (1912-1926), Shōwa (1926-1989), Heisei
1185) (1989-2019), and Reiwa (from 2019).
- Chinese poetry was supplanted by the waka - The situation is further complicated by the
(literally, "Japanese poem") as the recent questioning of "modernization" as a
preeminent literary form. Imperial collections paradigm for constructing Japan's post-Meiji
of poetry were compiled, and prose works, literary history. The effect all this will
most by women, were written in the newly eventually have on literature as it is taught
developed phonetic kana script. in the schools is by no means clear at this
point.
3. The Literature of the Middle Ages (1185-
1603) MODERN PERIOD LITERATURES
- The political turbulence associated with the 1. MEIJI LITERATURE (1868-1912)
Genpei Wars of 1180 to 1185 and the 2. TAISHŌ LITERATURE (1912-1926)
establishment of the Kamakura bakufu 3. SHŌWA (1926-1989), HEISEI (1989-
(1192) gave rise to a literature that both 2019), AND REIWA (2019- )
centered on military exploits and often LITERATURE
expressed disillusion with such exploits.
- Mujō (impermanence, transience) 1. MEIJI LITERATURE (1868-1912)
became a key concept underlying the - The Meiji period was when Japan, under
literature of this period, although at the Western influence, took the first steps
same time groups devoted to the toward developing a modern literature.
composition of renga (linked verse) were - The movement known as Japanese
turning to literature for the purpose of Naturalism gained prominence with the
seeking pleasure there. publication of Shimazaki Tōson's novel
Hakai (The Broken Commandment, 1906)
and Tayama Katai's short story Futon
4. The Literature of the Recent Past (1603- (The Quilt, 1907).
1867) - Naturalism predominated on the literary
- The Edo period was characterized by the scene until around 1910, although such
growing cultural influence exercised by authors as Natsume Sōseki, Mori Ōgai,
samurai and townspeople. The commercial and Nagai Kafū were not associated with it
class in particular benefited from various and might even be considered antagonistic
economic and technological developments, to it.
the result of which was a great flowering of
culture in the Genroku period (1688-1704). 2. TAISHŌ LITERATURE (1912-1926)
- The intellectual aestheticism of Akutagawa
Ryūnosuke and decadence of Tanizaki
Jun'ichirō characterize this short period, as
do (toward its end) the introduction of
elements of Western literary modernism in
the early work of Yokomitsu Riichi and
Kawabata Yasunari, along with the first
stirrings of proletarian literature. The Great
Kanto Earthquake of 1923 is sometimes
taken as a major cultural divide in this
process.

3. SHŌWA (1926-1989), HEISEI (1989-

2019), AND REIWA (2019- )
LITERATURE
- Proletarian literature was the chief literary
movement of the 1920s, supplemented by
the uniquely Japanese genre of
autobiographical fiction known as the "I
novel" (watakushi shōsetsu or shishōsetsu).

JAPANESE ALPHABET

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