Editing Chinese culture (section)

== Literature ==
{{Main|Chinese literature}}
The [[Zhou dynasty]] is often regarded as the touchstone of Chinese cultural development. Concepts covered in the [[Chinese classic texts]] include [[Chinese poetry|poetry]], [[Chinese astrology|astrology]], [[Chinese astronomy|astronomy]], the [[Chinese calendar|calendar]], and [[Chinese constellation|constellations]]. Some of the most important early texts include the ''[[I Ching]]'' and the ''[[Classic of History|Shujing]]'' within the [[Four Books and Five Classics]]. Many Chinese concepts such as [[Yin and Yang]], [[Qi]], [[Four Pillars of Destiny]] in relation to heaven and earth were theorized in the pre-imperial periods. By the end of the Qing dynasty, Chinese culture had embarked on a new era with [[written vernacular Chinese]] for the common citizens. [[Hu Shih]] and [[Lu Xun]] were considered pioneers in modern literature at that time. After the founding of the [[China|People's Republic of China]], the study of Chinese modern literature gradually increased. Modern-era literature has influenced modern interpretations of nationhood and the creation of a sense of national spirit.{{citation needed|date=November 2015}}

=== Poetry in the Tang dynasty ===
{{Main|Tang poetry}}
[[File:"Lan-ting Xu" Preface to the Poems Composed at the Orchid Pavilion, copy by an artist in the Tang dynasty - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|upright=1.8|A Tang dynasty era copy of the preface to the ''[[Lantingji Xu]]'' poems composed at the [[Orchid Pavilion Gathering]], originally attributed to [[Wang Xizhi]] (303–361 AD) of the [[Jin dynasty (265–420)|Jin dynasty]]]]
Tang poetry refers to [[poetry]] written in or around the time of, or in the characteristic style of, China's [[Tang dynasty]] (18 June 618 – 4 June 907, including the 690–705 reign of [[Wu Zetian]]) or that follows a certain style, often considered the [[Golden Age]] of [[Chinese poetry]]. During the Tang dynasty, poetry continued to be an important part of social life at all levels of society. Scholars were required to master poetry for the civil service exams, but the art was theoretically available to everyone.<ref>Jing-Schmidt, p. 256 {{full citation needed|date=March 2019}}</ref> This led to a large record of poetry and poets, a partial record of which survives today. Two of the most famous poets of the period were [[Li Bai]] and [[Du Fu]]. Tang poetry has had an ongoing influence on world literature and modern and quasi-modern poetry. The ''Quantangshi'' ("Complete Tang Poems") anthology compiled in the early eighteenth century includes over 48,900 poems written by over 2,200 authors.<ref name="columbia 14-15">Paragraph 15 in Paul W. Kroll "Poetry of the T'ang Dynasty", chapter 14 in Mair 2001.</ref><!-- "Chey, 139, accessed July 17, 2008" may also verify everything here except for the estimate of poems, which was previously given as "almost 50,000". I was unable to check in the GBooks preview. But the Columbia source is better anyway. ~Hijiri88, July 2016. -->

The ''Quantangwen'' (全唐文, "Complete Tang Prose"), despite its name, contains more than 1,500 ''[[fu (poetry)|fu]]'' and is another widely consulted source for Tang poetry.<ref name="columbia 14-15"/> Despite their names, these sources are not comprehensive, and the [[Dunhuang manuscripts|manuscripts discovered at Dunhuang]] in the twentieth century included many ''shi'' and some ''fu'', as well as variant readings of poems that were also included in the later anthologies.<ref name="columbia 14-15"/> There are also collections of individual poets' work, which generally can be dated earlier than the Qing anthologies, although few earlier than the eleventh century.<ref name="columbia 14-16">Paragraph 16 in Paul W. Kroll "Poetry of the T'ang Dynasty", chapter 14 in Mair 2001.</ref> Only about a hundred Tang poets have such collected editions extant.<ref name="columbia 14-16"/> Another important source is anthologies of poetry compiled during the Tang dynasty, although only thirteen such anthologies survive in full or in part.<ref name="columbia 14-17">Paragraph 17 in Paul W. Kroll "Poetry of the T'ang Dynasty", chapter 14 in Mair 2001.</ref> Many records of poetry, as well as other writings, were lost when the Tang capital of [[Changan]] was damaged by war in the eighth and ninth centuries, so that while more than 50,000 Tang poems survive (more than any earlier period in Chinese history), this still likely represents only a small portion of the poetry that was actually produced during the period.<ref name="columbia 14-16"/> Many seventh-century poets are reported by the 721 imperial library catalog as having left behind massive volumes of poetry, of which only a tiny portion survives,<ref name="columbia 14-16"/> and there are notable gaps in the poetic œuvres of even Li Bai and Du Fu, the two most celebrated Tang poets.<ref name="columbia 14-16"/>

=== ''Ci'' in Song dynasty ===
{{Main|Ci (poetry)}}
Ci (辭/辞) are a poetic form, a type of [[lyric poetry]], done in the tradition of [[Classical Chinese poetry]]. ''Ci'' use a set of [[poetic meter]]s derived from a base set of certain patterns, in fixed-rhythm, fixed-tone, and variable line-length formal types, or model examples: the rhythmic and tonal pattern of the ''ci'' are based upon certain, definitive musical song tunes. They are also known as ''Changduanju'' (長短句/长短句, "lines of irregular lengths") and ''Shiyu'' (詩餘/诗馀, "that which is beside poetry").Typically the number of [[Chinese character|characters]] in each line and the arrangement of [[Tonal language|tones]] were determined by one of around 800 set patterns, each associated with a particular title, called ''cípái'' 詞牌/词牌. Originally they were written to be sung to a tune of that title, with set rhythm, [[rhyme]], and tempo. The [[Song dynasty]] was also a period of great scientific literature, and saw the creation of works such as [[Su Song]]'s ''Xin Yixiang Fayao'' and [[Shen Kuo]]'s ''[[Dream Pool Essays]]''. There were also enormous works of historiography and large encyclopedias, such as [[Sima Guang]]'s ''[[Zizhi Tongjian]]'' of 1084 or the ''[[Four Great Books of Song]]'' fully compiled and edited by the 11th century.

[[Listing of noted Confucianists|Notable Confucianists]], [[Listing of noted Taoists|Taoists]] and scholars of all classes have made significant contributions to and from documenting history to authoring saintly concepts that seem hundreds of years ahead of time. Although the oldest surviving textual examples of surviving ''ci'' are from 8th century CE [[Dunhuang manuscripts]],<ref>Frankel, p. 216 {{full citation needed|date=March 2019}}</ref> beginning in the [[Six dynasties poetry|poetry]] of the [[Liang dynasty]], the ''ci'' followed the tradition of the ''[[Classic of Poetry|Shi Jing]]'' and the ''[[yuefu]]'': they were lyrics which developed from anonymous popular songs into a sophisticated literary genre; although in the case of the ''ci'' form some of its fixed-rhythm patterns have an origin in [[Central Asia]]. The form was further developed in the [[Tang dynasty]]. Although the contributions of [[Li Bai|Li Bo]] (also known as Li Po, 701 – 762) are fraught with historical doubt, certainly the Tang poet [[Wen Tingyun]] (812–870) was a great master of the ''ci'', writing it in its distinct and mature form.<ref>Davis, p. lxvii {{full citation needed|date=March 2019}}</ref> One of the more notable practitioners and developers of this form was [[Li Houzhu|Li Yu]] of the [[Southern Tang]] dynasty during the [[Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period]]. However, the ''ci'' form of Classical Chinese poetry is especially associated with the [[Song poetry|poetry of the Song dynasty]], during which it was indeed a popular poetic form. A revival of the ''ci'' poetry form occurred during the end of the [[Ming dynasty]] and the beginning of the [[Qing dynasty]] which was characterized by an exploration of the emotions connected with romantic love together with its valorization, often in a context of a brief poetic story narrative within a ''ci'' poem or a linked group of ''ci'' poems in an application of the ''[[chuanqi (short story)|chuanqi]]'' form of short story tales to poetry.<ref>Zhang, pp. 76–80 {{full citation needed|date=March 2019}}</ref>

=== ''Qu'' in Yuan dynasty ===
{{Main|Qu (poetry)}}
The ''Qu'' form of poetry is a type of [[Classical Chinese poetry forms|Classical Chinese poetry form]], consisting of words written in one of a number of certain, set [[tone pattern]]s, based upon the tunes of various songs. Thus '''''Qu''''' poems are lyrics with lines of varying longer and shorter lengths, set according to the certain and specific, fixed patterns of rhyme and tone of conventional musical pieces upon which they are based and after which these matched variations in lyrics (or individual '''''Qu''''' poems) generally take their name.<ref>Yip, pp. 306–308 {{full citation needed|date=March 2019}}</ref> The fixed-tone type of verse such as the '''''Qu''''' and the ''[[Ci (poetry)|ci]]'' together with the ''[[shi (poetry)|shi]]'' and ''[[Fu (poetry)|fu]]'' forms of poetry comprise the three main forms of [[Classical Chinese poetry]]. In [[Chinese literature]], the '''''Qu''''' ({{Zh|c=曲|p=qǔ|w=chü}}) form of poetry from the [[Yuan dynasty]] may be called ''Yuanqu'' (元曲 P: ''Yuánqǔ'', W: ''Yüan-chü''). Qu may be derived from [[Chinese opera]], such as the ''[[Zaju]]'' (雜劇/杂剧), in which case these Qu may be referred to as ''[[Chinese Sanqu poetry|sanqu]]'' (散曲). The ''San'' in ''Sanqu'' refers to the detached status of the ''Qu'' lyrics of this verse form: in other words, rather than being embedded as part of an opera performance the lyrics stand separately on their own. Since the ''Qu'' became popular during the late [[Southern Song]] dynasty, and reached a special height of popularity in the [[Yuan poetry|poetry]] of the Yuan dynasty, therefore it is often called ''Yuanqu'' (元曲), specifying the type of ''Qu'' found in [[Chinese opera]] typical of the Yuan dynasty era. Both ''Sanqu'' and ''Ci'' are lyrics written to fit a different melodies, but ''Sanqu'' differs from ''Ci'' in that it is more colloquial, and is allowed to contain ''Chenzi'' (襯字/衬字 "filler words" which are additional words to make a more complete meaning). ''Sanqu'' can be further divided into ''Xiaoling'' (小令) and ''Santao'' (散套), with the latter containing more than one melody.

=== The novel in Ming dynasty and Qing dynasty ===
{{Main|Classic Chinese Novels}}
[[File:Ming Dynasty wood carving books in Tian Yi Chamber colllection.JPG|thumb|Ming dynasty wood carving books in the [[Tian Yi Chamber]] collection]]
Chinese fiction, rooted in narrative classics such as ''[[A New Account of the Tales of the World|Shishuo Xinyu]]'', ''[[Soushen Ji|Sou Shen Ji]]'', ''[[Wenyuan Yinghua]]'', ''[[Great Tang Records on the Western Regions|Da Tang Xiyu Ji]]'', ''[[Miscellaneous Morsels from Youyang|Youyang Zazu]]'', ''[[Taiping Guangji]]'', and official histories, developed into the [[novel]] as early as the [[Song dynasty]]. The novel as an extended prose narrative which realistically creates a believable world of its own evolved in China and in Europe from the 14th to 18th centuries, though a little earlier in China. Chinese audiences were more interested in history and were more historically minded. They appreciated relative optimism, moral humanism, and relative emphasis on collective behavior and the welfare of the society.<ref>{{Cite book |first= Paul S. |last = Ropp |chapter = The Distinctive Art of Chinese Fiction |pages = 310-311 |title = The Heritage of China: Contemporary Perspectives |editor-first = Ropp |editor-last = Paul S |location = Berkeley, CA |publisher = University of California Press |year = 1990 |isbn = 0-520-06441-0 }}</ref>
The rise of a money economy and urbanization beginning in the Song era led to a professionalization of entertainment which was further encouraged by the spread of printing, the rise of literacy, and education. In both China and Western Europe, the novel gradually became more autobiographical and serious in exploration of social, moral, and philosophical problems. Chinese fiction of the late [[Ming dynasty]] and early [[Qing dynasty]] was varied, self-conscious, and experimental. In China, however, there was no counterpart to the 19th-century European explosion of novels. The novels of the Ming and early Qing dynasties represented a pinnacle of classic Chinese fiction.  They are well known to most Chinese either directly or through their many adaptations to [[Chinese opera]] and other forms of [[popular culture]], influencing the creation of many stories, plays, movies, games, and other forms of entertainment across other parts of East Asia.{{sfnb|Ropp|1990|p=311}} 

The scholar and literary critic [[Andrew H. Plaks]] argues that ''[[Romance of the Three Kingdoms]]'', ''[[Water Margin]]'', ''[[Journey to the West]]'', and ''[[Jin Ping Mei|The Golden Lotus]]'' collectively constituted a technical breakthrough reflecting new cultural values and intellectual concerns. Their educated editors, authors, and commentators used the [[Narrative|narrative conventions]] developed from [[Huaben (Chinese novella)|earlier story-tellers]], such as the episodic structure, interspersed songs and folk sayings, or speaking directly to the reader, but they fashioned self-consciously ironic narratives whose seeming familiarity camouflaged a Neo-Confucian moral critique of late Ming decadence. Plaks explores the textual history of the novels (all published after their author's deaths, usually anonymously) and how the ironic and satiric devices of these novels paved the way for the great novels of the 18th century.<ref>Andrew H. Plaks, ''Four Masterworks of the Ming Novel'' (Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1987), esp. pp. 497–98.</ref>  ''[[The Story of the Stone]]'', or ''Dream of the Red Chamber'', which circulated in manuscript until being edited and printed in 1791, is widely considered the greatest of the traditional Chinese novels. <ref>{{citation |title=The Encyclopedia of the Novel |series=''Encyclopedia of Literature'', Vol. 2 |contribution=Paper and Print Technology |last=Shep |first=Sydney J. |publisher=[[John Wiley & Sons]] |date=2011 |isbn=978-1-4051-6184-8 |page=596 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bvFSRPx2uokC |access-date=30 October 2017 |archive-date=22 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231022223032/https://books.google.com/books?id=bvFSRPx2uokC |url-status=live }}</ref> ''[[The Scholars (novel)|The Scholars]]'' was published in 1750.{{sfnb|Ropp|1990|p=308}}