Brief introduction of the authors of China's four classical novels, writing background, main contents, reasons why main characters like characters and book reviews.

Wu Cheng'en, like a Chinese character, was born in Yangshan, Huai 'an Prefecture (now Huai 'an City, Jiangsu Province). Born in the 13th year of Hongzhi in Ming Dynasty to the early year of Zheng Dechu (1500— 15 10), died in the 10th year of Wanli (1582). Wu Cheng'en's great-grandfather and grandfather were both scholars, and both served as lecturers and lecturers in county schools. But in his father's generation, due to his poor family, the Xu family became redundant. "So he attacked the Xu family and became the boss" and became a small businessman. Nevertheless, the Wu family has not lost the tradition of reading. It is said that although his father Wu Rui is a businessman, he is not only decent, but also good at reading and talking about current affairs, which naturally has a great influence on Wu Cheng'en. Wu Cheng'en was very clever since he was a child, and he entered school very early. He was very successful as a teenager and was famous in his village. Volume 16 of The Apocalypse of Huai 'an Prefecture said that Wu Cheng'en was "quick and wise, and learned a lot of books, whether poetry or prose." However, Wu Cheng'en, as an adult, encountered many setbacks on the road to the imperial examination. He didn't make up for one-year-old Gong Sheng until he was in his forties. In his fifties, he worked as a county magistrate in Changxing, Zhejiang Province, and later as a king's residence, Jishan. This is a sinecure, with the same level as the county magistrate. Wu Cheng'en created The Journey to the West after middle age, or was considered to have done it in his later years. The exact time cannot be determined. Besides The Journey to the West, he also wrote long poems "Song of Jiro Seeking Mountains" and "In Zhi Ding". Sheyang Survival Draft consists of four volumes, including one volume of poetry and three volumes of prose, which were edited by Du Qiu after Wu Cheng'en's death. The complete works of Journey to the West have one hundred chapters, which can be divided into three parts from the big structure. The first time to the eighth time is the first part, mainly about the birth of the Monkey King, his apprentice, who made a scene in heaven. This is the most wonderful chapter in the book, very vivid. The Monkey King had a good meal in heaven and earth, which showed his rebellious character to the fullest. Chapters 8 to 12 are the second part, mainly describing the origin of Tang Priest and the reasons for learning from the scriptures. The thirteenth to the last time is the third part, mainly about Tang Priest's Buddhist scriptures. On the way, I received three apprentices, the Monkey King, Pig Bajie and Friar Sand. After eighty-one difficulties, I finally got the true scripture and got the right result. Journey to the West shows people a colorful world of ghosts and gods, and people are all amazed by the author's rich and bold artistic imagination. However, any literary work is a reflection of a certain social life, and The Journey to the West, as an outstanding representative of ghost novels, is no exception. As Lu Xun pointed out in A Brief History of China's Novels, The Journey to the West "satirized and mocked the world at that time and described it in an extravagant way". He also said: "The author's nature is to restore a beautiful and humorous drama, so although he said something sudden, he also said something confusing, which made all gods and demons have a human touch and sophisticated." That's true. Through the illusory world of ghosts and gods in The Journey to the West, the projection of real society can be seen everywhere. For example, in shaping the image of the Monkey King, the author's ideal is entrusted. The Monkey King's indomitable spirit of struggle and fearless spirit of sweeping away all monsters and ghosts reflect the wishes and demands of the people. He represents the power of justice and shows the people's belief in overcoming all difficulties. Another example is the monsters encountered on the way to the scriptures, or the illusion of natural disasters, or the symbol of evil forces. Their greed, ferocity, insidious and cunning are also the characteristics of the dark forces in feudal society. Not only that, the Heavenly Palace ruled by the Jade Emperor and the Western Heaven under the jurisdiction of the Buddha have also been heavily painted with the color of human society. The author's attitude towards the supreme ruler of feudal society is also quite interesting. In Journey to the West, there is no competent emperor at all. As for the incompetent Jade Emperor, the King of Guo who loves monsters, and the King of monks who want to use childlike innocence as medicine, they are either bad kings or tyrants. The portrayal of these images, even if handy, is of great practical significance. The Journey to the West not only has profound ideological content, but also has made great achievements in art. With rich and peculiar artistic imagination, vivid and tortuous story, vivid characters and humorous language, he has built a unique art palace in The Journey to the West. But I think the greatest artistic achievement of Journey to the West is that he successfully created two immortal artistic images, the Monkey King and Zhu Bajie. The Monkey King is the first hero in the Journey to the West and a great hero. He has unlimited skills, fearlessness and indomitable spirit of resistance. He has the extraordinary bearing of a great hero, but he also has the disadvantage of listening to compliments. He is witty, brave and humorous. And his biggest feature is that he dares to fight. Dare to fight with the supreme jade emperor, and have the reputation of "Monkey King"; If you dare to hit a monster, you will never let go of a monster and show no mercy to the monster under the golden hoop; Dare to fight against all difficulties, never flinch or bow. This is the Monkey King, a dazzling mythical hero. When it comes to Pig Bajie, his skill is far worse than that of the Monkey King, not to mention his brilliant and tall figure, but this image is also well portrayed. Pig Bajie is a cartoon character. He is honest, powerful and dare to play demons. He is the Monkey King's first right-hand man. But his mind is full of problems, delicious and delicious, taking advantage of small things, liking women and being afraid of difficulties. He often gives in, always thinking of Gao Laozhuang's daughter-in-law. He likes to lie sometimes, but he is all thumbs. From time to time, he provoked the Tang Priest to recite a spell, which made the Monkey King suffer. He even hid some private money in his ear. He has many problems, which is a bad habit of small private owners. The author's criticism of Zhu Bajie's shortcomings is severe, but it is also kind. He is not a denied figure, so people don't hate Pig, but think it is real and cute. The image of Tang Priest is well written, but it is much worse than that of the Monkey King Pig Bajie. Friar Sand lacks distinctive personality characteristics, which is the shortcoming of Journey to the West. Nevertheless, The Journey to the West's artistic achievements are still amazing. The Monkey King and Zhu Bajie, two images, with their distinctive personality characteristics, have established an immortal artistic monument in the history of China literature.

Cao Xueqin (17 15 ~ 1763)? Novelists in Qing Dynasty. Its name is Zhan, the word, and learning the piano is its name, also known as the piano score. Originally from Liaoyang, he was originally a Han nationality, and later he was a "coating" person in Zhengbaiqi, Manchuria.

Cao Xueqin's great-grandfather Cao Xi was a weaver in Jiangning. Great-grandmother Sun Shi was the nanny of Emperor Kangxi Michelle Ye. Grandfather Cao Yin worked as a squad leader and bodyguard in Michelle Ye, and later as a weaver in Jiangning, who also served as an inspector of salt affairs in two Huai provinces, winning the favor of Michelle Ye. Michelle Ye visited the south of the Yangtze River six times, was taken back four times, and lived in Cao's home. After Cao Yin's death, his sons Cao Qing and Cao Fuxian succeeded him as Jiangning Weaving. Their three generations and four grandchildren have held this position for 60 years. Cao Xueqin grew up in the "prosperous" life of this "romantic place of Qinhuai" since childhood.

In the early years of Yongzheng, the Cao family suffered a series of blows because of the political struggle within the feudal ruling class. Cao Fu was dismissed on charges of "misconduct", "harassing the Post" and "deficit", and his property was confiscated. Cao Fu was imprisoned and punished, and the "cangue" lasted for more than a year. At this time, Cao Xueqin's family moved back to Beijing. Since then, the Cao family has been devastated and declining.

After a major turning point in his life, Cao Xueqin felt that the world was cold and had a clearer and deeper understanding of feudal society. He despised powerful people, stayed away from officialdom and lived a poor and hard life.

In his later years, Cao Xueqin moved to the western suburbs of Beijing. Life is even poorer, "covered in wormwood" and "porridge for the whole family". He devoted himself to the writing and revision of A Dream of Red Mansions. In the twenty-seventh year of Qianlong (1762), his youngest son died prematurely, and he fell into excessive sadness and grief and was bedridden. On the New Year's Eve of this year (1763 February 12), he finally died of poverty due to illness (there are two versions about the year of Cao Xueqin's death: 28 years and 29 years of Qianlong).

Cao Xueqin is "fat, with a wide head and black color". He is arrogant, cynical and unrestrained. Alcoholic, talented and talkative. Cao Xueqin is a poet. His poems are novel in conception and close in style to Li He, a poet in the Tang Dynasty. His friend Duncheng once praised him and said, "Love your poem is wonderful, and you can catch up with the long valley broken fence fan." He added, "I know that your poems are as bold as iron and as cold as the Taoist camp." However, there are only two lines in his sincere poem Pipa Xing: "The White Fuji Mausoleum should be very happy and will teach barbarians to put on airs."

Cao Xueqin is also a painter and likes to paint abrupt and steep stones. Dunmin's "Painting Stone in Qinyuan" said: "Proud as a strange monarch, more jagged. Drunk as a pen swept away. Write a thunder in your chest. " It can be seen that when he painted stones, he put his chest on the grievances. Cao Xueqin's greatest contribution lies in his novel creation. His novel A Dream of Red Mansions is rich in content, profound in thought and exquisite in art, which pushes China's classical novel creation to a peak and occupies a very important position in the history of literary development.

A Dream of Red Mansions is the product of his "reading for ten years, adding and deleting five times" and "every word is like blood, and ten years of hard work is extraordinary". Unfortunately, before his death, the whole book was not finished. Today, most of the 20 copies of A Dream of Red Mansions/KLOC-0 were written by him, and the last 40 copies were continued by others. Eighty years later, he has written a part of the first draft, but it has not been handed down for various reasons.

Shi Naian (about 1296 ~ 1370)

China was a writer in the late Yuan Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty. The child's name is an ear. Xinghua (now Xinghua County, Jiangsu Province) was born in Suzhou. According to legend, Shi Naian is the author of Water Margin. In the 19th year of Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty (1540), Gao Ru's "Hundred Rivers Records" contained: "Loyalty and Righteousness have Water Margin 100 Volume. Qiantangben Edited by Luo Guanzhong. " In the 45th year of Jiajing, Lang Ying called this book "The Book of Qiantang Shi Naian" in Seven Manuscripts. During the Wanli period, Hu Yinglin pointed out in "Shao's Mountain House Pen Collection": "The Water Margin compiled by Zhongshi in Wulin is particularly popular." Today, people agree that Shi Naian is the author of Water Margin.

There are few materials about Shi Naian's life story, and some records collected are quite contradictory. Since the 1920s, some related materials have been found in Xinghua, Jiangsu Province, including Shi's Genealogy, Shi's Genealogy and the Continuation of Xinghua County Records. The thirteenth appendix contains 65,438+0 biographies of Shi Naian, and the fourteenth appendix contains 65,438+0 epitaphs of Shi Naian written by Wang Daosheng in the early Ming Dynasty. According to the analysis of these materials, Shi was a scholar in Shunshun two years (133 1) and served as an official in Qiantang for two years. Because of disagreement with the authorities, he abandoned his post and went back to Suzhou to write about the Water Margin, tracing back the old news and writing behind closed doors, but failed to fulfill his ambition. It is also said that he had contacts with Zhang Shicheng, the general of peasant uprising in the late Yuan Dynasty.

Luo Guanzhong, whose real name is Ben, is also known as "scattered people and lakes". The year of birth and death is unknown. Taiyuan Qingyuan (now Qingxu County, Taiyuan City) was born in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, and Luo Zhongxiang was an official in Qingzhou (now Qingxu) in the later Tang Dynasty. Later, due to the flood that originated and the long journey. He settled in Qingyuan, Taiyuan, and then moved to Sigou Village, baimashan (now Baishigou) in the west of the city. His father Luo Jinsheng has six sons, ranking second in Guanxing.

Probably because Roche's ancestors were born as officials. The descendants of the Roche family attached great importance to the family history education of "woody water source" for their descendants, and always maintained the family style of "farming and reading, passing on the family tradition, and teaching children by poetry and courtesy". Under the influence of this family heirloom, Guan Zhong loved reading and consulting classics and history since childhood, which laid a good foundation for his later creation. However, the era of Guan Zhong's life is an extremely sharp and complicated era of ethnic contradictions and class contradictions. The cruel rule and oppression of Mongolian aristocrats by the Yuan Dynasty aroused the resistance of the people of the whole country, and the struggle to overthrow the rule of the Yuan Dynasty was in full swing. Zhu Yuanzhang, Chen Youliang, Zhang Shicheng and other rebels fought against the Yuan Army and merged with each other. It is said that Luo Guanzhong, who stepped into youth, wandered the Jianghu under the influence of this historical turmoil, joined the uprising army led by Zhang Shicheng, merged into its shogunate and acted as a screen guest. In addition, Chen Shi collected by Wang Qi said that he was "interested in seeking the king" and was a man with political ambitions. This can be seen from his later Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

It seems that Luo Guanzhong's novels should benefit from his political frustration. It is precisely because of this that he has the time and possibility to devote himself to literary creation and become the first writer in the history of China literature to devote himself to novel creation. He has many masterpieces handed down from generation to generation, such as Romance of Sui and Tang Dynasties, Romance of the Five Dynasties of Tang Dynasty, Biography of Three Demons of Sui Dynasty, Fenzhuanglou and the zaju Song Taizu Dragon and Tiger Storm. According to legend, he also wrote the popular romance of the seventeenth history and participated in the writing of Water Margin. The preface to the Popular Romance of the Western Jin Dynasty, which was interpreted by inchworm Zhai, said: "Roche was born at an untimely time, so his depression could not be exhibited, and he rose from the water margin to show injustice."

Guan Zhong's masterpiece Romance of the Three Kingdoms is about his later works. This classic document describes the history of political and military struggles between Wei, Shu and Wu for nearly a century from the Yellow Scarf Uprising in the first year of the Eastern Han Dynasty (18) to the unification of China in the first year of Taikang in the Western Jin Dynasty (280). Based on the historical clues and historical figures provided by Chen Shou's The History of the Three Kingdoms, he learned a large number of valuable historical materials preserved by Pei Songzhi, supplemented, prepared for differences, corrected mistakes and argued differences in the History of the Three Kingdoms, and absorbed the rich nutrition of folklore from the Western Jin Dynasty to the Yuan Dynasty for more than 1,000 years. On this basis, combined with his life experience in the peasant uprising army at the end of Yuan Dynasty, his outstanding artistic talent was brought into play.

In this masterpiece, Guan Zhong entrusted his personal love and hate, and objectively exposed the political, military, open, hidden, legal and illegal contradictions and struggles between feudal ruling groups. It vividly depicts the strategies, tricks and intrigues of the feudal ruling class for fame and fortune, intrigue, intrigue and intrigue. Intentionally or unintentionally, it reveals the real historical background and reasons why farmers can't live, take risks and rebel one after another.

As for the artistic achievements of The Romance of Three Kingdoms, there are many aspects, which fully shows that Luo Guanzhong has amazing skill in characterization. Among the more than 400 characters in the book, Cao Cao, Liu Bei, Sun Quan, Zhuge Liang, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhao Zilong, Huang Zhong, Lu Su, Zhou Yu, Huang Gai, Guo Jia, Xu You, Zhang Liao, Lu Xun, Wang Yun, Dong Zhuo and Lu Bu all have distinct and vivid personal characteristics. In particular, the images of Zhang Fei, Zhuge Liang and Cao are fascinating and lifelike.

Luo Guanzhong's description of the war was extremely successful, which fully proved that he did participate in the peasant uprising at the end of Yuan Dynasty. Therefore, the thrilling battlefield and the rapidly changing combat situation can be described as ever-changing and unique, showing the diversity and complexity of the war. However, it is precisely because of Luo Guanzhong's experience in participating in the war, Superman's artistic skill and painstaking creation that the description of the war campaign appeared in his pen, with prominent focus, patchwork, density and reality; Overwhelming war scenes, wanton expansion, ups and downs, lightning speed, magnificent; Render the atmosphere of the battlefield, sketch it at will, and make it vivid.

Luo Guanzhong was an outstanding classical novelist in China at the end of Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of Ming Dynasty. He pushed the style of Italian novels to a mature stage. Later, many scholars and writers spoke highly of him and compared him with Ma and Guan Hanqing. His great achievements in literary creation have become a valuable asset in the treasure house of China literature and world literature. The well-known Romance of the Three Kingdoms written by him is not only a household name in China, but also translated into the languages of more than ten countries, which is popular all over the world and deeply loved by people all over the world. Abroad, his Romance of the Three Kingdoms is called "a masterpiece rich in people's nature", while the Encyclopedia Britannica calls him "the first master of art".