Dear Jim, Glad to know that you are interested in Chinese Literature. I am writing to recommend you this book titled Journey to the West”. Journey to the West is a Chinese novel published during the Ming Dynasty and written by Wu Cheng’en. As one of the four great classical novels of Chinese literature, it mainly describes a long journey to the Western Heaven to fetch(去取) the Buddhist sutras. After encountering eighty-one disasters, the five heroes finally reach their destination.
I’d like to recommend you a book which is one of China’s four great classical novels– Dream of the Red Chamber. Last but not least, Cao Xueqin not only displays the human nature, but also expresses the limitation and influence of the surroundings and the society towards them. 彭佳宁
Dear Jim, I’m glad to hear from you. Knowing that you are fond of Chinese literature, I’m more than delighted to recommend you my favorite Chinese book Fu Lei’s Letters for Family. Filled with father’s love, this book was written on purpose of teaching Fu Lei’s eldest son, Fu Cong, significant life lessons when he went abroad for further study in Poland. It consists of 172 letters and each of them carried expectations of the father all the way to Poland to his son, pushing him toward his orientation of life.
The reason why I recommend this book is out of my deep consideration. From this book, not only will you be touched by the bravery and hardship of the main characters, but also gain a deeper comprehension of the traditional value of responsibility to a tough Chinese and the real love that can exceed class and fate. On top of that, as the overall view of thousands of people in the past time, the novel can’t be a better choice to expose you to the reality and the development of the Chinese society. All in all, the most cherished message it conveys is that life is plain and ordinary, just like a stone, but it is you that can make it shinning and extraordinary , like a gold. 李尔卓
The descriptions of the main characters’ movements, feelings , facial expressions are also vivid as if they have jumped out of the book and are standing right in front of you. Last but not least, victims of the feudal society as they are, Jia Baoyu and Lin Daiyu try their best to break the bonds of tradition for the purpose of freedom. 贾梦辰
In short, Journey to the West is definitely a good choice for a Chinese literature lover like you. If you would like to explore more about it, feel free to ask me at any time. Hope you would enjoy your reading and look forward to your view on this book! 彭瀚
I recommend a well-known Chinese book titled The Story of the Stone written by Cao Xueqin. It is said to be the greatest masterpiece of Chinese fiction. This book centers on the Rongguo Mansion’s daily life, telling a tragic love story among Jia, Lin and Xue. However, it’s more than a love story, because it describes the success and failure of a feudal official’s career. 李紫萱

…… If you would like to take a deeper insight of it, I strongly recommend you to read The Ordinary World, a novel written by Lu Yao, which is sure to be the essence of modern Chinese literature. The tale, which is set in China in 1960s, successfully displays a panorama of people’s rough life, dreams and diligence by focusing on the story of two brothers, Sun Shaoping and Sun Shaoan. As the plot develops, you will be able to see how the two struggled against the solid ground to support a family in poverty and break the limitation of fate to pursue an ideal world to achieve an individual’s own value, while they both experienced their romance, imbued with taste of bitter and sweet, grief and happiness, finally came to a tragic ending.
As for the reasons of recommendation, the five main characters are the incarnation(化身) of benevolence(仁慈) and courage. They helped the local inhabitants(居民) defeat the demons(恶魔) along their way. You will be impressed a lot by their spirit over the course of reading. Aside from it, the plot of this novel is filled with ups and downs. You will be astonished by the quirky(离奇的) twists(扭曲) in the story which will make you want to continue reading until you finished the whole book. Moreover, the book has a strong roots(根) in Chinese folk religion, Taoist, and Buddhist philosophy which can offer you a chance to become more acquainted (熟悉) with Chinese culture.