What are the four great classics?
The four great classic Chinese classics are "A Dream of Red Mansions", "Journey to the West", "Water Margin" and "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms". Their authors are in order They are Cao Xueqin, Wu Chengen, Shi Naian and Luo Guanzhong. The status of the four major masterpieces in the history of ancient Chinese literature is indistinguishable. They are all masterpieces and have been remade into film and television works many times, making them well-known in China.
The origin of the words of the Four Great Classics
The "Four Great Classics" is a conventional term, because no one has publicly proposed this concept. Generally speaking, "A Dream of Red Mansions", "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms", " The four novels "Water Margin" and "Journey to the West" are called the "Four Great Classics".
The famous literary critic Wang Shizhen, the leader of the "Later Seven Sons" in the Ming Dynasty, first proposed the term "Four Great Wonders", but the "Four Great Wonders" he talked about refer to The ones mentioned are "Historical Records", "Zhuangzi", "Water Margin", and "The West Chamber"; and after Wang Shizhen, Feng Menglong also proposed the term "Four Wonderful Books", and he was referring to "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and "Water Margin" "Biography", "Journey to the West" and "Jin Ping Mei"; in the early Qing Dynasty, Li Yuze wrote a preface to the first volume of Zui Geng Tang's "The First of Four Wonderful Books" ("The Romance of the Three Kingdoms"): "In the Past of Danzhou" Mr. Feng Youlong also has the catalog of the four great wonders of the universe, namely "Historical Records", "Nanhua", "Water Margin" and "West Chamber". "Water Margin", "Journey to the West" and "Jin Ping Mei" have different opinions. Yu said that "Water Margin" should be regarded as a novelist, and is different from classics and history; It is not similar to novels. Now we will compare it with its novels, and Feng said it is close." It can be seen that Li Yu does not agree with Mr. Xi Danzhou (that is, Wang Shizhen). He believes that "Historical Records" and " "Nan Hua" (i.e. "Zhuangzi"), "Water Margin" and "The Romance of the Western Chamber" are not similar works. Among them, "Historical Records" is a historical prose, "Zhuangzi" is a collection of philosophical essays, and "The Romance of the Western Chamber" is a drama script, so it cannot be placed in the same category. They are collectively called "odd books"; while the "odd books" reviewed by Feng Menglong belong to the same type of books, they are all long popular novels, which also reflect different social and cultural characteristics and the cultural consumption needs of ordinary people. can be put together and called the "Four Wonderful Books". After Li Yu's affirmation, Feng Menglong's "Four Wonderful Books" began to be widely circulated and accepted by people.