Classics at a Glance (Volumes 1 and 2)

Author: Wu Chucai
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2005-01-01
Features: The Classic Anthology of Chinese Prose is a comprehensive collection of ancient prose selections, comprising 12 volumes, completed before the 34th year of the Kangxi reign (1695). The book includes 222 prose pieces from ancient China, spanning from the Eastern Zhou Dynasty to the late Ming Dynasty. Although it does not contain as many selections as some other anthologies, it prioritizes what is most important and de-emphasizes what is less so. As a result, the book has remained popular for 300 years since its publication and has become one of the most widely circulated and influential prose anthologies since the Qing Dynasty. The phrase "to reach the limit" () is derived from the Zuo Zhuan, meaning that after reading these perfectly beautiful prose pieces, there is no need to read any others. Therefore, the compiler of the book truly devoted effort to the selection process, carefully considering the dynasties, genres, and artistic and ideological qualities of the works. Objectively speaking, most of the selected pieces are of high quality, such as "Cao Jie on the Battle of Guiling," "Gong Qiqi Advising the King of Qi to Borrow a Path," "Zhao Gong Advising King Li of Zhou to Stop Public Criticism," "On the Conquest of Qin," "On the Importance of Grain," "Letter to Ren An," "The Peach Blossom Spring," "On the Teacher," "On the Snakes," "On the Stone Bell Mountain," "Preface to the Red Cliff Ode," "Letter to Elder Liu," and "The Stele for the Five Martyrs." These are all widely renowned masterpieces, and the genres include argumentative essays, biographies, lyrical prose, practical essays, travel writings, and fables, covering almost every category. It can be said that the book largely reflects the general development of Chinese prose and the rich diversity of its genres. In terms of organization, the entire book is divided into seven periods chronologically, with the times as the vertical axis and the authors as the horizontal axis. Each period features key authors and works. This approach breaks away from the traditional, often complex and mixed, classification by genre, allowing readers to clearly grasp the development of classical prose and the distinct styles of different authors. These are the reasons why the book has won the admiration of readers across different eras.