Editing History of literature (section)

==== Zhou dynasty ====
[[File:Rongo Analects 02.jpg|thumb|The ''[[Analects]]'' of Confucius]]
[[Chinese mythology]] played a notable role in the earliest Chinese literature, though it was less prominent compared to mythological literature in other civilizations. By the time of the [[Zhou dynasty]], Chinese culture emphasized the community over the individual, discouraging mythological stories of great personages and characterization of the divine. Mythological literature was more common in the southern [[Chu (state)|Chu]] nation.{{Sfn|Luo|2011|p=7}} The ''[[Tao Te Ching]]'' and the [[Zhuangzi (book)|''Zhuangzi'']] are philosophical compilations that serve as the foundation of Taoism.{{Sfn|Luo|2011|pp=62–63}} [[Confucius]] was a defining figure in ancient Chinese [[Ancient Chinese philosophy|philosophy]] and [[Ancient Chinese political systems|politics]]. He collected the [[Six Classics]] as founding texts of [[Confucianism]], and they became the central texts by which other works were compared in Chinese literary scholarship. Confucianism dominated literary tastes in Ancient China starting in the [[Warring States period]].<ref name=":1" /> The sayings of Confucius were later compiled into the ''[[Analects]]'' by his students.{{Sfn|Luo|2011|p=64}}

[[Anthology|Anthologies]] were common in Ancient China, and anthologizing was used as a means of literary criticism to determine literary classics.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last1=Chengxue |first1=W. U. |last2=Hongbing |first2=S. H. A. |date=2007-01-01 |title=The classics of ancient Chinese literature |url=https://brill.com/view/journals/flsc/1/1/article-p50_3.xml |journal=Frontiers of Literary Studies in China |language=en |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=50–79 |doi=10.1007/s11702-007-0003-9 |s2cid=195069499 |issn=1673-7423}}</ref> The ''[[Classic of Poetry]]'', one of the Six Classics, is the oldest existing anthology of Chinese poetry. It comprises 305 works by anonymous authors dating from the 12th to 7th centuries BC. Prior to the collection of these works, poetic tradition in Ancient China was primarily oral.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wang |first=C. H. |title=Classical Chinese Literature: An Anthology of Translations |publisher=Columbia University Press |year=2000 |isbn=9789629960483 |editor-last=Minford |editor-first=John |pages=71 |chapter=The Book of Songs: The Earliest Anthology of Chinese Poetry |editor-last2=Lau |editor-first2=Joseph S. M.}}</ref> The ''[[Chu Ci]]'' anthology is a volume of poems from the Warring States period written in Chu and attributed to [[Qu Yuan]]. These poems were written as rhapsodies that were meant to be recited with a specific tone rather than sung.{{Sfn|Luo|2011|pp=31–35}} The [[Music Bureau]] was developed during the Zhou dynasty, establishing a governmental role for the collection of musical works and folk songs that would persist throughout Chinese history.{{Sfn|Luo|2011|p=137}}

Historical documents developed into an early form of literature during the Warring States period, as documentation was combined with narrative and sometimes with legendary accounts of history.{{Sfn|Luo|2011|pp=11–12}} Two of the Six Classics, the ''[[Book of Documents]]'' and the ''[[Spring and Autumn Annals]]'', are historical documents. The latter inspired works of historical commentary that became a genre in their own right, including the ''[[Zuo Zhuan]]'', the ''[[Gongyang Zhuan]]'', and the ''[[Guliang Zhuan]]''. The ''Zuo Zhuan'' is considered to be the first large scale narrative work in Chinese literature.{{Sfn|Luo|2011|pp=51–55}} ''[[The Art of War]]'' by [[Sun Tzu]] was an influential book on military strategy that is still referenced in the modern era.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Petraeus |first=David |author-link=David Petraeus |date=2018-03-26 |title='The Art of War': As relevant now as when it was written |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/the-art-of-war-as-relevant-now-as-when-it-was-written-1.3440724 |access-date=2022-09-14 |newspaper=The Irish Times |language=en |archive-date=2022-07-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220723205516/https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/the-art-of-war-as-relevant-now-as-when-it-was-written-1.3440724 |url-status=live }}</ref>