2004 China Prose Rankings

Author: Zhou Ming, edited by Wang Zongren
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-01-01
Features: This is a rather special anthology. Typically, annual anthology texts categorize essays, essays-in-prose, and miscellanies into separate selections. However, we are in an era of information explosion and rapid advancement, where readers need to access the year's best essays within a more economical time frame. Therefore, we have combined the three into one. We refer to essays that focus on as "beautiful prose" and group them together with essays-in-prose and miscellanies under the broader category of "essays," or what we call a "general concept" of essays. To better organize the year's essay writing and to provide readers at different levels with more selection options, we have selected 10 "beautiful prose" essays, 5 essays-in-prose, and 5 miscellanies, listing them in a "ranking." Works that did not make the "ranking" are included as "excellent essays" afterward. The year's essay writing has been dazzlingly abundant and varied, and it is inevitable that some works have been overlooked. Moreover, the evaluation of a literary work is subjective, and being included in the "ranking" or listed as an "excellent essay" merely reflects our perspective and serves as a way to convey information to readers for reference during their reading.