Classics for Appreciation Top and Bottom

Author: Wu Chucai
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 1998-02-01
Features: Essentials of Classical Chinese selects 222 articles, arranged chronologically from the Zhou Dynasty to the late Ming Dynasty, largely reflecting the historical development of Chinese prose. The 222 articles selected for the book focus on the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, with an emphasis on the Zuo Zhuan, featuring 34 selected articles, one from the Guo Yu, 14 from the Zhan Guo Ce, three from the Gongyang Zhuan, two from the Guliang Zhuan, and six from the Liji: Tan Gong. During the Qin and Han periods, the Shiji is given prominence, with 14 selected articles, along with renowned political essays by figures like Jia Yi and Chao Cuo. It also includes Li Si's Memorial on Expelling Foreign Scholars from the Qin Dynasty. The Six Dynasties was an era of peak prosperity for parallel prose (piwen), and while the compilers of Essentials of Classical Chinese primarily focused on selecting prose, they included several parallel prose pieces to avoid leaving this period unrepresented. The Tang Dynasty highlights the leading figure of the classical prose movement, Han Yu, with 24 selected Han essays and 11 prose pieces by Liu Zongyuan. It also features works by Wang Bo, Luo Binwang, Li Bai, and Du Mu. The Song Dynasty focuses on the literary leaders of mid-Northern Song, Ouyang Xiu and the outstanding prose master Su Shi. Ouyang's writings include 13 selected pieces, while Su Shi's prose features 17 selections. Additionally, works by Fan Zhongyan, Wang Anshi, Su Xun, Su Zhe, and Zeng Gong are also included. The Yuan Dynasty, due to its short-lived rule and lack of influential prose writers, has no Yuan-era prose selected. The Ming Dynasty includes 18 prose pieces by 12 writers such as Song Lian, Liu Ji, Gui Youguang, Yuan Hongdao, and others. Most of the selected works in Essentials of Classical Chinese are of high ideological and artistic quality, celebrated and passed down through the ages. The selected texts vary in genre, theme, and style, presenting a rich and diverse collection. The articles are pleasant to read and easy to memorize.