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Where to start with Chinese literature, including classics?
Hello everyone. I've been a lurker here for a while but never posted.
I have recently been getting into Chinese fiction. I've read and greatly enjoyed works by Eileen Chang and Xiaolu Guo, so I thought to dig up some more Chinese authors. I have just borrowed Can Xue's *Barefoot Doctor* and Mo Yan's *The Republic of Wine* from the library, and I've also been recommended Wan Anyi, Xiao Hong and Gao Xingjian.
Does Chinese literature have any recurring literature themes or genres unique to the country? Japan, for example, has the *I Novel* (私小説), Germany has *Vergangenheitsbewältigung* literature, Spain has *novela picaresca*, many Arabic countries have the *al-qissa al-qasira jiddan*, etc. I would like to touch on a little bit of everything, so I'm hoping to cover some of the major literature "trends", so to speak.
However, I'm certainly drawing a blank with the older works. China has so much literature that I'm struggling to find a starting point, and the wikipedia page of Chinese classics seems interminable. I have only read some poetry by Bai Juyi and the *I Ching*.
It's worth noting I don't speak Chinese, but I can read in English and Spanish. I have a strong background in Japanese history and culture (which take a lot from China, esp. Heian and earlier, hence why I'm familiar with Bai Juyi) and read a lot of Japanese literature, so I'm not daunted by the cultural aspects of Chinese books. However, I'm overall not well-versed in Chinese history.
What would you suggest for a beginner? A "road map" for coming to understand the country and its writing over the centuries? How would someone with no real context parse through all this material?
Thank you!
#entertainment
Hello everyone. I've been a lurker here for a while but never posted.
I have recently been getting into Chinese fiction. I've read and greatly enjoyed works by Eileen Chang and Xiaolu Guo, so I thought to dig up some more Chinese authors. I have just borrowed Can Xue's *Barefoot Doctor* and Mo Yan's *The Republic of Wine* from the library, and I've also been recommended Wan Anyi, Xiao Hong and Gao Xingjian.
Does Chinese literature have any recurring literature themes or genres unique to the country? Japan, for example, has the *I Novel* (私小説), Germany has *Vergangenheitsbewältigung* literature, Spain has *novela picaresca*, many Arabic countries have the *al-qissa al-qasira jiddan*, etc. I would like to touch on a little bit of everything, so I'm hoping to cover some of the major literature "trends", so to speak.
However, I'm certainly drawing a blank with the older works. China has so much literature that I'm struggling to find a starting point, and the wikipedia page of Chinese classics seems interminable. I have only read some poetry by Bai Juyi and the *I Ching*.
It's worth noting I don't speak Chinese, but I can read in English and Spanish. I have a strong background in Japanese history and culture (which take a lot from China, esp. Heian and earlier, hence why I'm familiar with Bai Juyi) and read a lot of Japanese literature, so I'm not daunted by the cultural aspects of Chinese books. However, I'm overall not well-versed in Chinese history.
What would you suggest for a beginner? A "road map" for coming to understand the country and its writing over the centuries? How would someone with no real context parse through all this material?
Thank you!
#entertainment
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