Chinese Four Classical Novels Comic Books -(A total of 136 books)

Author: Pang Xianjian
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-05-01
Features: Comic books (commonly known as "little people books") are a literary form that is rich in illustrations, easy to understand, and enjoyed by both the refined and the popular. They are an independent and comprehensive art that uses literary language and multiple sequential illustrations to shape images, narrate stories, or depict the process of events. This hardcover set presents the Four Great Classical Novels of China in the form of comic books, offering a unique way to revisit classics and awaken long-forgotten memories.
Romance of the Three Kingdoms (also known as Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Romance of the Three Kingdoms in Plain Language) is one of the most famous and outstanding long, chaptered historical novels in Chinese literary history. The author of Romance of the Three Kingdoms was Luo Guanzhong, a person from the late Yuan Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty. Before its completion, the "Three Kingdoms stories" had already undergone hundreds of years of historical development. In the Tang Dynasty, the Three Kingdoms stories were widely circulated, even familiar to children. With the development of urban literature, the storytellers of the Song Dynasty had specialists who told the Three Kingdoms stories, known as "telling the Three Kingdoms." The Three Kingdoms Zhihua that emerged in the Yuan Dynasty was essentially a manuscript used by storytellers. Although it was relatively brief and rough, it already had the scale of Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Luo Guanzhong, based on folk legends and the creations of folk artists, and also relying on the materials cited in Chen Shou's Records of the Three Kingdoms and Pei Songzhi's annotations (including materials from Records of the Time and its annotations), undertook tremendous creative labor to write the magnificent masterpiece—Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
The ideological achievements and artistic essence of Water Margin are primarily reflected in the first seventy chapters. The author vividly depicts numerous heroic heroes, especially Song Jiang, Lin Chong, Wu Song, and Lu Zhishen, Li Kui, Yang Zhi, and others, who were forced to become outlaws and were driven to Liangshan Mountain. It praises the outlaws led by Song Jiang, who "share the same world and are like a family of different surnames," united in their efforts to "avenge the heavens and protect the borders," while also engaging in robberies and redistributing wealth to the poor. Water Margin is a long heroic legend and one of the representative works of ancient Chinese long novels, created around the story of Song Jiang's rebellion. The rebellion of Song Jiang occurred during the reign of Emperor Huizong of the Northern Song Dynasty, and it is recorded in the Annals of Emperor Huizong, the Biography of Hou Meng, and the Biography of Zhang Shuni in the History of the Song Dynasty. From the Southern Song Dynasty onwards, the story of Song Jiang's rebellion spread in the folk, with Record of the Drunken Scholar documenting some independent legends of the Water Margin heroes, and Remnants of the Great Song in Xuanhe linking many Water Margin stories together, approaching the form of a long novel. Many Water Margin plays emerged in the Yuan Dynasty, with a group of heroes from Liangshan appearing on stage. Water Margin is the result of the long-standing folk tradition of the story of Song Jiang's rebellion, absorbing the nourishment of folk literature. Water Margin is one of the most beloved classical long vernacular novels in China. It was created in the Ming Dynasty, based on the stories, tales, and plays of Water Margin from the Song and Yuan dynasties, and was processed and created by the author. The entire book is centered on the peasant uprising led by Song Jiang, artistically recreating the tragic and heroic struggle of the ancient Chinese people against oppression. The work fully exposes the corruption and cruelty of the feudal ruling class, reveals the sharp social contradictions of the time and the brutal reality of "the officials forcing the people to rebel," and successfully portrays a group of heroic characters such as Lu Zhishen, Li Kui, Wu Song, Lin Chong, and Ruan Xiaojie. The story is full of twists and turns, the language is vivid, and the characters' personalities are distinct, achieving a high level of artistic achievement. However, the work praises and idealizes Song Jiang, promoting "loyalty and righteousness" and "avenge the heavens," showing serious ideological limitations.
Dream of the Red Chamber is one of the best works in Chinese literary history that combines ideological depth and artistic excellence. It embodies the essence of ancient Chinese politics, economy, and cultural thought, comprehensively depicting the complex class relationships and diverse social landscapes under the feudal system, revealing the historical characteristics of the declining feudal system and its further tendency toward decline, and subtly conveying a vague yet persistent yearning for a new social path. From its exposure and analysis of the feudal society, people can see the inevitable collapse of the feudal system. The artistic achievement of the language in Dream of the Red Chamber also represents the peak of classical Chinese novel language art. The author often needs only a few words to sketch a vivid character with distinct personality traits. Every typical character in the author's narrative language has its own unique personality, allowing readers to distinguish characters merely by their speech. The author's narrative language also has a high level of artistic expression, including the poetry, songs, and odes in the novel, which not only blend seamlessly with the narrative but also serve to shape the characters' personalities, achieving the ideal of "poetry reflecting the person." Due to these outstanding achievements, Dream of the Red Chamber has a completely new face in both its ideological content and artistic techniques, possessing enduring artistic charm and standing firmly among the world's literary masterpieces without any inferiority.
Journey to the West primarily depicts the story of Sun Wukong protecting Tang Sanzang on his journey west to obtain Buddhist scriptures, enduring ninety-nine and eight trials. The journey of Tang Sanzang to obtain the scriptures was a real historical event. About thirteen hundred years ago, in the first year of the Zhenguan era of Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty (627), the young monk Xuanzang, only twenty-five years old, left the capital Chang'an alone to study in India. After leaving Chang'an, he passed through Central Asia, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, overcoming numerous difficulties and finally reaching India. There, he studied for over two years and was praised as a speaker at a large Buddhist theological debate. In the nineteenth year of the Zhenguan era (645), Xuanzang returned to Chang'an, bringing back 657 Buddhist scriptures. This journey to the west lasted nineteen years and covered tens of thousands of miles, a legendary long march that caused a sensation at the time. Later, Xuanzang dictated his journey west, which was compiled by his disciple Bianji into the Records of the Western Regions of the Great Tang in twelve volumes. However, this book mainly described the history, geography, and transportation of the countries along the way, with little story. Later, his disciples Huili and Yancong wrote the Biography of the Three Jewels of the Great Tang Temple, which added many mythological elements to Xuanzang's experiences, and from then on, the story of Tang Sanzang obtaining the scriptures began to spread widely in the folk. In the Southern Song Dynasty, there was The Poetic Tales of Tang Sanzang Obtaining the Scriptures, and in the Jin Dynasty, there were Tang Sanzang and The Peach Blossom Banquet in the palace drama. In the Yuan Dynasty, there were Wu Changling's Tang Sanzang's Journey West and an anonymous The God Erlang Locks Sun Wukong, all of which laid the foundation for the creation of Journey to the West. Wu Cheng'en also completed this great literary masterpiece that the Chinese nation is proud of, based on folk legends, tales, and plays, through arduous re-creation.