Selections from Ancient Chinese Literary Works (Volume 1, Volume 2)

Author: Zhang Yanjin
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-08-01
Features: This book includes a total of 711 works, consisting of 557 poems, 93 essays, 37 novels, and 24 dramatic works, all written by the respective authors. The term "teaching" refers to the four-year undergraduate program in Chinese at general universities. Today's Chinese departments have undergone significant changes compared to those before the 1980s. The most notable change is the addition of new courses, which has reduced the teaching hours for ancient Chinese literature. This is normal. With the development of the times, new disciplines have emerged, which are closely related to people's work and life, such as computer science. It is only natural for them to be included in the curriculum. Even within the internal structure of Chinese language, literature, and their theoretical systems, the knowledge framework has evolved. The teaching of ancient Chinese literature should adapt to these changes. Ancient Chinese literature has a long history and profound heritage, serving as an inexhaustible treasure trove for scholars across generations to explore. From the perspective of the discipline itself, the more works one reads and the more knowledge one acquires, the better. However, undergraduates have limited class hours and limited energy and spare time. Pouring too much knowledge onto them may overload their minds, thereby hindering their ability to understand and think creatively. Therefore, the completeness and systematicity of knowledge are not our primary goals. We place more emphasis on the representativeness and uniqueness of the works, using them to help students understand the qualities and characteristics of literature and literary styles, and to cultivate and inspire their aesthetic, interpretive, and critical thinking abilities, as well as to enhance their creative thinking and associative skills. They do not yet have a fixed income and cannot afford large-scale teaching materials. Due to various constraints, we believe that as a textbook, its length should be around one million words. Approximately half or two-thirds of the chapters are intended for classroom teaching, while one-third or even half are left for students to study independently and as examples for teaching literary history. Without cultivating and training students' self-study abilities, educational objectives cannot be achieved. We hope to strengthen students' close reading of classic works in undergraduate teaching, not just to understand them superficially but to delve deeply into them, rather than merely skimming or reading broadly.