Drama is another old and important literary form. Chinese drama usually combines vernacular language with music and song and thus has been popular with the common people.


China's literary tradition continues to the present, though much 20thcentury writing has concentrated on efforts to reform or modernize China.

For 3500 years, they have woven a variety of genres and forms encompassing poetry, essays, fiction and drama;
A variety of popular and standard themes are presented in Peking Opera, one of the local operas, which is probably the best known of several operatic traditions that developed in China. Chinese opera is a favorite artistic and cultural medium
SONG CI (CÍ ) 宋词

Ci 词a type of lyric poetry
Ci use a set of poetic meters derived from a base set of certain patterns, in fixed-rhythm, fixed-tone, and variable linelength formal types, They are also known as Changduanju (长短句, “lines of irregular lengths”, compared to the 5 word petry.)

Classical literature possesses a profound culture, and is the epitome of the spirit, morals and wisdom of the Chinese people.
Classical poetry cares a great deal for rhythm. Poetry is one of the earliest artistic forms as well as the most fully developed in China.

SHIH CHING (SHI JING) 诗经

The most important poetic work produced during the classical period was the Shih Ching (Book of Poetry), an anthology of ancient poems written in four-word verses and composed mostly between the 10th and the 7th centuries BC.


China also produced poetry, novels, and dramatic writings from an early date.

Chinese literature has its own values and tastes, its own reigning cultural tradition and its own critical system of theory.
TANG POETRY

Tang Dynasty is the period when poetry was flourishing. There are 2,300 poets and 50,000 poems.


The most famous poets were Li Bai 李白 , Du Fu 杜甫, and Bai Juyi 白居易. 300 Tang Poems 唐诗三百首 is a collection of Tang poems for later learners.


Before my bed, the moon is shining bright, I think that it is frost upon the ground. I raise my head and look at the bright moon, I lower my head and think of home. This is 5 words, 4 sentences poem There are 7 words, 8 sentences poems


Early Chinese novels often stressed character development and usually centered on an adventure or supernatural happening;
"Dream of the Red Chamber', probably China's most famous novel.
FORMS OF LITERATURE
1.
Poetry (Shi, Ci, Modern, Misty) Prose (History records, prose, modern prose
2.
3.
Fictions and novels Drama and Opera
4.
ቤተ መጻሕፍቲ ባይዱ
POETRY

In ancient China, people had profuse feelings to express when historical events took place, both joyful or of grief.
But even with this disadvantage, Chinese has been a potent factor in shaping and maintaining a cultural continuity for millions of people.


China has a very old and rich tradition in literature and the dramatic and visual arts. Early writings generally derived from philosophical or religious essays such as the works of Confucius (551-479 BC) and Lao-tzu (probably 4th century BC). After the fall of a dynasty, for example, a grand history of the late dynasty was commissioned and written by scholars in the next dynasty.

The main disadvantage of written Chinese is the great number of characters it contains: Even basic reading and writing require a knowledge of more than 1,000 characters.
詩經 卷一 周南 關雎 關關雎鳩，在河之洲。窈窕淑女，君子好逑。 參差荇菜，左右流之。窈窕淑女，寤寐求之。 求之不得，寤寐思服。悠哉悠哉！輾轉反側。 參差荇菜，左右采之。窈窕淑女，琴瑟友之。 參差荇菜，左右芼之。窈窕淑女，鍾鼓樂之。
"Guan, guan!" go the fish hawks, on an islet in the river. The elegant virtuous maiden - the noble person would love to marry her. The uneven water spinach - the water flows to the left and right. The elegant virtuous maiden - day and night seek her. You seek but cannot get her; you think day and night about her. Long, O long is the time; lying down you turn this way and that. The uneven water spinach - pick it on the left and right. The elegant virtuous maiden - with the small and large zithers befriend her. The uneven water spinach - pluck it on the left and right. The elegant virtuous maiden - with the bell and drum gladden her.
Introduction to Chinese Civilization:
CHINESE LITERATURE AND ARTS
INTRODUCTION