1, Water Margin
Author: Shi Naian (1296- 1370) The story of Water Margin originated in the Xuanhe period of the Northern Song Dynasty, and 36 people including Song Jiang, Wu Jialiang (Wu Yong) and Chao Gai rebelled, which became the blueprint of Water Margin.
Outlaws of the Marsh is the first novel in the history of China that eulogizes the peasant uprising in ancient vernacular. Taking the rebel army led by Song Jiang as the main theme, through a series of vivid stories of Liangshan heroes' resistance to oppression and heroic struggle, the decay and cruelty of the ruling class in the late Northern Song Dynasty were exposed, and the sharp social contradictions and the cruel reality of "officials forcing the people to rebel" at that time were exposed.
2. Romance of the Three Kingdoms
The full name is The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, written by Luo Guanzhong (about1330-about 1400), which is a famous book and a gifted scholar's book. Writers and dramatists in the late Yuan Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty. Romance of the Three Kingdoms is a combination of folklore, drama scripts, Chen Shou's History of the Three Kingdoms, Ye Fan's History of the Later Han Dynasty, Yuan Zaju's History of the Three Kingdoms, Pei Songzhi's annotations and other historical materials, as well as the author's personal understanding of social life.
At present, the earliest edition is Ming Jiajing edition, which is divided into 24 volumes and 240 articles. In the early Qing Dynasty, Mao Zonggang and his son made some modifications and became the most common transcript of 120. Romance of the Three Kingdoms is China's first novel.
The story of Romance of the Three Kingdoms begins with the Yellow Scarf Uprising and ends with Sima's destruction of Wu Jinkai. It mainly describes the war, reflects the political and military struggle between Wei, Wu, shows the historical situation of nearly a hundred years at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty and the beginning of the Western Jin Dynasty, and successfully created a group of heroes.
3. Journey to the West
Author: Wu Cheng'en (150 1 year-1582), a native of Sheyang Mountain. Journey to the West is based on the story of Tang Priest's scriptures, related scripts and zaju (written by Yang Ne at the end of Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of Ming Dynasty). The first seven chapters of Journey to the West described the story of the Monkey King's birth, such as making a scene in heaven. After that, he wrote the story of the Monkey King following the Tang Priest to learn Buddhist scriptures and exorcising demons and overcoming difficulties along the way.
The images of Tang Priest, the Monkey King, Pig Bajie and Friar Sand in the book are vivid, large in scale and complete in structure. The Journey to the West is full of Buddhist colors, with far-reaching implications and different opinions. It can be appreciated from the perspectives of Buddhism, Taoism and vulgarity, and it is a great romantic literary work in Chinese classical novels.
4. A Dream of Red Mansions
Original names: Stone Story, Twelve Women in Jinling, The Story of the Moon, etc. Author: Cao Xueqin (about 17 15- about 1763), whose real name is Zhan, whose real name is Qin Pu. Novelist, poet and painter in Qing Dynasty. Gao E (1758—— about 18 15), whose real name is marble, whose real name is Qiu Fu, alias is Lan Shu, Xing Yi, and the history of the red chamber.
A Dream of Red Mansions is a novel with chapters. In the early days, only the first 80 manuscripts were circulated, and some of them were not completed after 80, and the manuscripts were lost. Formerly known as "Re-evaluation of Stone Story by Zhi Yanzhai". Cheng Weiyuan invited Gao E to coordinate the publication of the first book 120, and named it A Dream of Red Mansions. There is also a version of "Jinyuyuan".
A Dream of Red Mansions focuses on the emotional entanglements among Jia Baoyu, Lin Daiyu and Xue Baochai, and tells the people and events that happened in the feudal family of a fictional dynasty. Through the description of some daily events, taking the twelve women in Jinling as the main body, it reflects the love and hate of all women in Jiafu Grand View Garden.
At the same time, from the rich and gorgeous Jiafu to the declining line, it reflects the decline of a large family and the ugliness within this seemingly gorgeous family.
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Other expressions of the four classic novels:
1 Wang Shizhen, the leader of the "last seven poets" in the Ming Dynasty and a famous literary critic, first put forward the word "four musts", but what he said "four musts" refers to Historical Records, Zhuangzi, The Water Margin and The West Chamber.
2. After Wang Shizhen, Feng Menglong also put forward the idea of "four musts", referring to Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Water Margin, The Journey to the West and Jin Ping Mei;
3. Jin Ping Mei, one of the "Four Musts", is regarded as an obscene novel because of its sexual description. Since the reign of Shunzhi in the Qing Dynasty, more than ten decrees have been promulgated to ban all kinds of obscene novels throughout the country. Jin Ping Mei and its sequel are among them, and they are banned.
Later, during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, A Dream of Red Mansions was published. Although similar, some people think that A Dream of Red Mansions was born out of Jin Ping Mei. However, A Dream of Red Mansions came out late and was not completely banned, so it gradually replaced Jin Ping Mei and formed a new "Four Wonders". Today's "four classic novels" are the modern names of "four fantastic books".
Baidu Encyclopedia-Four Classical Novels (China Classical Novels)