Anthology of Chinese Literature: Volume I: From Early Times to the Fourteenth Century (Anthology of Chinese Literature)

Internationally renowned Chinese literature scholar Cyril Birch was the first to assemble the finest translations of these seminal pieces in his now classic and still definitive introductory anthologies. The selections in this first volume span a two-thousand-year period: from the Chou Dynasty (1122–221 B.C.) to the Y’an Dynasty (A.D. 1280–1367), from the ancient Songs to the dramas of the fourteenth century, every major genre of Chinese literature is represented by a crucial work. Highlights include, in addition to the great poems of the T’ang, outstanding examples of Han poetry, Six Dynasties satire, T’ang-sung prose essays and fiction, and the form of lyric known as “tz’u.” As Japanese literature begins with the Man'yoshu, so does Chinese literature, a millennium earlier, begin with a great collection of songs, hymns and ballads: the Book of Songs (Shih ching) was compiled at some time after 600 B.C., traditionally by Confucius himself. Presents classic Chinese tales of love and morality, marriage and justice, and the strange and supernatural Contents Chou Dynasty Han Dynasty; 南北朝 Tang Song Yuan