Chinese Literature: A Very Short Introduction

Very Short Introductions #302

by Sabina Knight

Perhaps nowhere else has literature been as conscious a collective endeavor as in China, and China's survival over three thousand years may owe more to its literary traditions than to its political history. This Very Short Introduction tells the story of Chinese literature from antiquity to the present, focusing on the key role literary culture played in supporting social and political concerns. Embracing traditional Chinese understandings of literature as encompassing history and philosophy as well as poetry and poetics, storytelling, drama, and the novel, Sabina Knight discusses the philosophical foundations of literary culture as well as literature's power to address historical trauma and cultivate moral and sensual passions. From ancient historical records through the modernization and globalization of Chinese literature, Knight draws on lively examples to underscore the close relationship between ethics and aesthetics, as well as the diversity of Chinese thought. Knight also
illuminates the role of elite patronage; the ways literature has served the interests of specific groups; and questions of canonization, language, nationalism, and cross-cultural understanding. The book includes Chinese characters for names, titles, and key terms.

Genres: China, Nonfiction, Literature, History, Literary Criticism, Chinese Literature, Asia

160 pages, Paperback

First published December 27, 2011

About the author

Sabina Knight (桑稟華) seeks to bring Chinese literatures to broader audiences. Her Chinese Literature: A Very Short Introduction (2012) tells the story of literary culture’s key role in the development and resilience of Chinese social and political institutions. From ancient historical records through the region’s early modernization and globalization, the book embraces traditional Chinese understandings of literature as encompassing history and philosophy as well as poetry and poetics, storytelling, drama and the novel.

Knight's earlier book, *The Heart of Time* (2006), offers a history of modern Chinese fiction to explore how narrative structures, representations of time, and understandings of determinism and moral responsibility changed over the 20th century.
*https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5...

Working in Chinese, Russian, French and English, Knight also teaches and writes in the cross-cultural medical humanities. Her talks and articles have addressed breast cancer, emotions, disability, aging and well-being. This work builds on 10 years’ participation in a faculty seminar sponsored by Harvard’s departments of medical anthropology and social medicine. Knight continues as a research associate at Harvard’s Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies.

Knight has translated stories, essays, classical poetry and modern prose. She has published essays in Chinese on Chinese-English literary translation, and she has spoken widely on the topic in China, Europe and the United States. Her hope that literary culture may be relevant to contemporary questions of law, public policy and healthcare has grown since she began in 2011 as a fellow in the Public Intellectuals Program (PIP) of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations (NCUSCR).

In 2007, Knight was awarded Smith’s Sherrerd Prize for Distinguished Teaching.

Reviews

[Sabina Knight · Rating 5 out of 5]

This translation from the PRC is *heavily censored*. Unapproved revisions appear throughout the book.

The last chapter has been radically cut and mangled. The book includes what the publisher pretends is the English original. But it is no longer the same book. The translator or editors cut and rewrote the last chapter, not only in the Chinese translation, but also in the English. (They have inserted a few lines of new text to patch over significant cuts.)

Among other changes, they cut lines that treat the following topics:

- The CCP-Nationalist alliance
- The Great Leap Forward
- The Cultural Revolution
- The Tiananmen Massacre (in both Ma Jian's *Beijing Coma* and Hong Ying's *Summer of Betrayal*)
- Blood selling and AIDS (in Yan Lianke's *Dream of Ding Village*)
- Controversy over Gao Xingjian's Nobel prize
- The notion "of a greater 'cultural China' not limited by the political borders of the PRC" (p. 119).

- My introductions to three sections that treated Gao Xingjian's *Bus Stop*. (I had used discussion of the play to unify the chapter's sections.)

The *extensive censorship* likely occurred in the editorial process. It would be unfair to blame the individuals involved. Censorship is a larger problem.

Read this censored version only if you do not have access to the English, the German, the Italian, or the Chinese translation published in Hong Kong. (See below.) The Hong Kong edition does not cut the content, though it slightly alters the meaning in a few places. (I was given no chance to check either translation. In both the translator misconstrues my points in a few passages. Still, I learned from reading his footnotes, even when I disagree.)

Recommended editions:

*Chinese Literature: A Very Short Introduction*. Oxford University Press, 2012.

*Die chinesische Literatur: Eine Einführung*, translated by Martina Hasse. Reclam, 2016.

*中國文學 Chinese Literature: A Very Short Introduction*, translated by Li Yongyi 李永毅, Traditional Chinese translation, Hong Kong: Oxford UP (China) Limited, 2018.

*Letteratura cinese*, translated by Federica Casalin and Francesco Troccoli. Hoepli, 2021.

*La littérature chinoise," translated by Marie Laureillard, Les éditions Circé. forthcoming 2023.

A Russian translation is forthcoming from Academic Studies Press.

[Owen Hatherley · Rating 4 out of 5]

An unusual and fun one for this series, explaining a vast literature with a lot more detail and sophistication and less lists than the genre usually lends itself to.

[Vishy · Rating 5 out of 5]

After reading 'Gateway to Chinese Classical Literature', I decided to read the Oxford VSI (Very Short Introduction) on the subject by Sabina Knight.

Sabina Knight's book is divided into five chapters, each of which focuses on a different theme. The first one is on Chinese philosophical works, the second one is on poetry, the third one is on early prose works, the fourth one is on prose epics and drama, and the fifth one covers 20th and 21st century literature. The book starts slowly, and in the initial chapters the prose veers towards the academic, with sentences like this –

"Sensitivity to these dynamics fostered awe for the potentials underlying natural dispositions, plus profound faith in human capacities to navigate these propensities."

But the pace picks up by the third chapter and the book kicks ass after that. The book is just 120 pages long and can be read in a few hours, but the amount of information it packs is amazing.

I loved most of the book, and the book's coverage of the Chinese prose epics and its analysis of classical Chinese poetry is brilliant. One of my favourite lines in the book is this one –

"Scholars sometimes liken traditional novels to Chinese gardens and landscape painting, both of which encourage wandering rather than a single fixed perspective or presentation."

It is a perfect depiction of all the major Chinese prose epics, which are complex and refuse to get pigeon-holed into restrictive themes and structures.

Sabina Knight says this in the chapter on poetry – "Du Fu, arguably China's greatest poet..." It made me smile 😊 (I love Du Fu, but Li Bai was, is, and will always be, China's greatest poet. Sorry Sabina 😊)

The last chapter in the book was fascinating, and was especially my favourite, because it featured many 20th and 21st century writers who were new to me. That is many exciting new writers waiting to be explored. I was disappointed that Jin Yong, the most popular Chinese writer of the 20th century, just gets a mention in one sentence, while 'Fortress Besieged', one of the greatest Chinese novels of the 20th century, doesn't even get a mention. But I was happy that two 20th century greats, Lu Xun and Ba Jin (both of whom should have won the Nobel Prize, in my opinion), both got good coverage. I was happy that Wei Hui and her controversial 'Shanghai Baby' were featured, and I was also excited that the book introduced me to many wonderful women Chinese writers, including Wang Anyi, Dai Houying, Zhang Jie and Yang Mo.

This book is a great introduction to Chinese literature and a great companion read alongwith 'Gateway to Chinese Classical Literature'. These two books cover most of the same ground but in completely different styles and so they complement each other perfectly. Sabina Knight's book is not always easy going, and it is a bit challenging initially, but if you are persistent, you'll be richly rewarded.

Have you read this book? What do you think about it?

[Justin Evans · Rating 4 out of 5]

A surprisingly good little book. Every time I think I'm done with the VSI series, I find something like this. Knight tries to have a narrative; she deals with contemporary hot-buttons without letting said hot-buttons overwhelm the fact that a VSI has to actually, you know, introduce its subject matter rather than just complain about it; she deals with most of the books you've heard of and probably a few you haven't. Also, it's nicely written. I have no idea why people are complaining about it so; accusing a VSI of being superficial is like complaining about the OED being exhaustive.

Two slight problems: the 'twentieth century' chapter is just a bunch of plot summaries, and of books that don't sound even remotely interesting. I wish she'd done the narrative thing here, too, because there's an obvious one: when literature is used to bolster idiotic ideologies (Maoism) or attack idiotic ideologies (Maoism), it's usually pretty boring. When it's used to bolster or criticize even remotely intelligent ideologies (Confucian traditionalism), on the other hand, literature can get pretty good.

Also, there's just too much silly "unlike western poetry, which is obsessed with logic/reason/individualism/the self, Chinese poetry deals sensitively and subtly with intuition/emotion/other people/the universe." The Chinese tradition does a nice job dealing with these oppositions; to just say it goes to one side while 'the west' (which presumably borders 'the north'?) goes to the other does a disservice to everyone.

[Christina Dongowski · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this because I started to read a German translation of The Journey into the West and felt I needed to know more about the context of this massive novel. Knight's very short introduction provides a good overview about the history of Chinese literature and its concept of literature which differs a lot and quite essentially from western concepts of literature (especially concerning originality, authenticity and authorship). Bonus points for Knights Further readings-list where she comments on the merits of various English translations of the classics.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author was given an impossible task to summarize more than 2000 years of Chinese literature in about 150 pages. But I nevertheless learned a lot. I found the chapter on Chinese poetry, however, difficult to understand. That subject alone probably merited a separate book. As always, the books in this series have an excellent bibliography and suggestions for further reading.

This is the third book I have read in the series. I would recommend this series to any serious student who wants to get "up to speed" in a subject matter the student is expected to understand as a prerequisite to further study.

[Bernie Gourley · Rating 5 out of 5]

As the title suggests, this book offers an overview of Chinese literature through the ages. I like the way the book is organized. The chapters are by types of literature (e.g. parables, poems, classical narratives, drama, and modern novels,) but within the chapters the discussion is by major themes of that style of literature. And within those thematic sections are discussions of esteemed relevant examples.

I found this book to be insightful. It both introduced me to works I would like to read and gave context to works that I've read.

[Shrimp · Rating 4 out of 5]

对于不太了解中国历史的人来说还写得蛮好的，确实很适合科普

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very brief summary. Really too brief to be useful.

[Amy H. Sturgis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Knight's book is very short (as the title suggests), and with a subject as vast as this one, that means a lot of important material doesn't get covered. For my specific purposes, however, I found this work to be very useful despite its brevity and broad strokes.

[Mihai · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perfect if the reader tries to understand classical Chinese lit, as the main focus of the book is related to that. Very few books published after 1949 are presented there, which is somewhat understandable if we think in the longue durée of the Chinese history.

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a delightful summary of the entire history of Chinese Literature. It is a great place to start as it covers philosophy, poetry, drama, and modern fiction with sensitivity and intelligence.

[River C. J. Ander Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have to admit that I learned more about Chinese Literature from this short book than from the education I received. I know, I’m a terrible student.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an absolute gem. Beautifully written, impeccably researched, brilliantly organised.

[Brian Brogan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Foundational, concise and clear, poetry, paintings and philosophy extracts and images, great choices with lucid and at times lyrical commentary. Succeeds admirably with its intentions.
Recommended!

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

My interest in Chinese literature is primarily contemporary fiction, but I still found this little book very interesting. As you can see from the table of contents, it traces the foundations of modern literature in an intriguing way:
1.Foundations: ethics, parables and fish
2.Poetry and poetics: landscapes, allusions and alcohol
3.Classical narrative: history, jottings, and tales of the strange
4.Vernacular drama and fiction: gardens, bandits and dreams
5.Modern literature: trauma, movements and bus stops

NB Throughout the text, the author uses Chinese characters (logograms) and Romanised Chinese as well as English. I can’t reproduce the logograms, but have included the Romanised Chinese in excerpts I have quoted.

The fish in chapter one come from an ancient text in which the legendary sage Zhuangzi (369-286 BCE) has a conversation about the happiness of fish with the logician Huizi. But this is far from the oldest text still extant:

The antiquity of early Chinese texts is astounding by Western standards. Although modern Chinese differs from early Chinese as much as English differs from Latin, experts today can still read the Chinese inscribed on tortoise shells and sheep scapulae dating from the Shang dynasty (1600-1046 BCE). Used for divination, these oracle bone inscriptions asked questions composed of individual characters (zi), the answers to which were divined by interpreting cracks when the bones were heated over fire.

These characters became the foundation of Chinese culture. Although their forms and meanings evolved over time, modern Chinese still uses characters from ancient texts, and the continuity of the writing system has been crucial in helping China’s central traditions to cohere. (p.3)

Knight says that China’s survival over three thousand years may owe more to its literary traditions than to its political history. Its unity derives, she says, from faith in the power of writing (wen) and writing played a crucial role in civil practice, nourishing cultural harmony.

To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2017/08/24/c...

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sabina Knight is a professor of Chinese Literature in Massachusetts. In 2012, Knight published Chinese Literature: A Very Short Introduction. The book covers a lot of ground in 120 pages of the main text of the book on the Kindle. Knight writes “Although modern Chinese differs from early Chinese as much as English differs from Latin, experts today can still read the Chinese inscribed on tortoise shells and sheep scapulae dating from the Shang dynasty (1600-1046 BCE) (Knight 3). The last few pages of the book cover Chinese-born writers who wrote in the English language in the early 21st Century such as the writers Han Jin and Yiyun Li (Knight 119). The book does a good job showing the diversity of Chinese Literature, including writings of ethics, parables, poetry, poetics, narratives, popular fiction, dramas, and literature of imperial China. The book also covers the literature of the 20th and early 21st Centuries by writers in the Chinese language or writers who were born in China. The first chapter provides the foundation for understanding Chinese Literature, including a brief introduction to the Chinese written language. When the book gives the name of a Chinese writer, the book also gives the name in Chinese characters. The book contains references, a section on “further reading” (Knight 125-128), a section of important websites that one can use as references (Knight 129), and an index. I thought Sabina Knight's short introduction to Chinese Literature was a well-done book. I learned a great deal about Chinese Literature.

[Alexander · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author has a wide-ranging knowledge of historical Chinese literature and explains trends, movements, and the intersection of history with literature so easily one isn’t aware of how difficult this task is. The final chapter is the lone exception. The author does not seem able to gain enough distance from the 20th century to describe it with a sufficiently cool eye, probably because the 20th century political categories overlap too much with our own. Yet the treatment of Chinese history and literature from ancient times through 1800 was so able I would recommend this without reservation for anyone looking for some sort of entry into reading Chinese poetry, fiction, or other literature.

[v · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a solid introduction to the history of the poetry, fiction, philosophy, drama, and the other more unique genres of Chinese literature. The thematic organization of modern Chinese literature is especially helpful. Generally focusing on the social context of various works and schools, the author often deliberates over whether they endorse or oppose prevalent mores, and she passes over few opportunities for women's advocacy.

[Ray Du · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author does a good job of compressing three thousand years' Chinese literature into one little book, but the last chapter, which is about literature in modern China, seems to have been hastily composed, leaving out many notable authors like 贾平凹, 陈忠实，海子, etc.

[Aniela Smoczyńska]

The ‚very short’ in the title is misleading. Ale spoko poza tym. Ciekawy wybór tekstów. Jasny opis, chociaż nadal nie rozumiem o co chodzi z taoizmem.

[Guille · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting information here and there, but the way it's structured is just a mess

[Rebecca]

Want to read: Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Journey to the West, 305 Tang Poems

[Bonito Flaker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Feelings are a genuine yearning for goodness.

[Warren Tutwiler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good general overview up to the beginning of the 21st Century.

[Ximing Dai]

Ranging from traditional literacy like Five Classics to modern literature, this short introduction covers numerous Chinese literature forms. I especially favor the way he interprets "Climbing Stock Tower" in the Preface and the examples he gives (Debating alongside the Hao River and Reed Bank and Fishing Boat) in the first two Chapters.

[Sabina Knight · Rating 5 out of 5]

This 2018 edition from Hong Kong restores many passages that were cut or heavily rewritten in the mainland Chinese version published in Nanjing in 2016. This translation in traditional Chinese characters is thus much better than that mangled version.

That 2016 edition was bilingual, and it changed not only the (simplified) Chinese but also the (purportedly original) English. This 2018 translation in traditional Chinese characters from OUP Hong Kong includes those passages. The translator is the same. Clearly the book was subject to different degrees of verification and censorship. In neither case did the publishers consult me. Only upon seeing the published books did I learn of the translator or his work.

The *extensive* censorship of the Nanjing edition likely occurred in the editorial process. It would be unfair to blame the individuals involved. Censorship is a much larger problem.

In this 2018 edition, too, the translator misconstrues my points in a few passages. (I was given no chance to check either translation.) Still, I learned from reading his footnotes, even—or maybe especially–when we disagree.

Link to the Oxford UP's Hong Kong listing of the book:
https://shop.oupchina.com.hk/en/produ...

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Is it possible to survey one of the oldest bodies of world literature in barely 120 pages? No, of course it isn't. There are some strange gaps here (the 19th century is weirdly absent) and parts of the book appear rushed, but overall this book does its job of providing an efficient and intriguing survey of Chinese literature - it's certainly put a few new books on my reading list.

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Simplified characters would have been appreciated. In the eBook version, the characters are pictures and when expanded to try to view them, they are blurred beyond distinction.

No poetry by Li Bai? The excerpts of two plays also seemed arbitrary and not illustrative. On the whole, a useful introduction for the interested and uninitiated.

[Jackson Cyril · Rating 5 out of 5]

Life is much too short and there are far too many good books. While this is a wonderful survey of Chinese literature from its beginnings to the present, I do lament that I will probably never get to read many of these beautiful works (heck I haven't read most of the great works of Tamil and English literature).