Ni Kuang Shulist
In the first year, read the old style of writing first. It's difficult to jump into ancient Chinese prose in one step. Transitioning through old style prose will get twice the result with half the effort. The so-called old-style writing refers to the kind of writing that is half-literate. Let’s start with novels: The Four Great Classics, The Plum in the Golden Lotus, The List of Fengshen, many romances, public case novels, Officialdom Appearance, Three Words and Two Patterns, The Legend of Shushan Swordsman, The Four Heroes, Part-time reading of the Qing Dynasty, Official and Unofficial History of the Republic of China, if you are not interested at all , then it’s off. If you can see the taste, there will be some light.
In the second year, I officially entered the world of classical Chinese. The books I read were still based on interest first. They are: Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, Shishuo Xinyu, A View of Unofficial History of the Qing Dynasty, Northern Strategy of the Ming Dynasty, and Southern Strategy of the Ming Dynasty. . Liaozhai is the best collection of short stories in the world, with all-inclusive content and concise and fluent text. It is a must-read for beginners of classical Chinese. You can read the shorter ones first to get better at it. Looking at these, if you feel that there is no merit in it, then let it go. If the great enlightenment is interesting, the light will be divided into two parts.
The door knocks and the threshold is crossed. The books to read are as follows: Tang Dynasty novels, Tang and Song romances, ancient novels, a brief history of Chinese novels, selected notebook novels from past dynasties (a complete set, it seems to be a business or Chinese version), Compendium of Materia Medica (there are many interesting miscellaneous stories in the book), Xu Xiake's travel notes, Shi Fangyu's Notes, Sou Shen Ji, Youyang Zazu, Taiping Guangji, and all the novel notes you can access, as well as official and unofficial histories of the past dynasties, you can see where they are. Let’s get started!
The treasure house of ancient Chinese literature is huge and unparalleled. Looking around, you can see the misty clouds, and it is difficult to find the details. The precious lights of various colors are intertwined, dancing and dancing, dazzling the five colors, and the mind is excited. Suddenly I saw a huge treasure not far away, shining brightly, soaring into the sky. I flew to grab it and hugged it into my arms. Suddenly I heard a strange voice saying: Lucky boy! This is one of the ten treasures of human culture. It has the function of purifying the soul and transforming the world. Once you own it, it will be used for life! I looked down and saw two words on the treasure: Tang poetry.
"Complete Poems of the Tang Dynasty" contains more than 40,000 Tang poems. Of course, it is not necessary and impossible to read them all. The method is to choose thirty or fifty famous poets, read their collections of poems and become familiar with their lives. Read about five poems every day, and read one that deeply touches your heart. You should be able to recite it fluently. In two years, I can read three to four thousand poems and memorize seven to eight hundred poems, which is just a big difference. There are many allusions in Tang poetry. The essential reference book is "Dictionary of Allusions in Tang Poetry", Hubei Dictionary Publishing House. It is a treasure key and a top-quality book.
After two years of getting familiar with Tang poetry in my spare time, of course it was Ci. The world of poetry in the Tang, Five Dynasties and Song Dynasties is extremely splendid. The reading method is the same as that of Tang poetry. Select the works of famous poets (he must be famous for a reason) and read about five poems every day. You must memorize your favorite ones and memorize them in two years. If you read two to three hundred songs, even if you are guarding the window, you can still entertain yourself by chanting them. You will not be afraid of how dark you will be when you are alone, and how happy you are.
After four years of immersion, as long as you are not like me who cannot distinguish four tones due to learning disabilities, you should be able to try writing poetry and lyrics. Of course, you must first learn the basic methods. There are many books available For reference, no need to repeat. You can also join sentences with your friends to make it more interesting. There are also many derivative games, such as creating riddles using poems; such as clever questions and answers (ask: Why does the peacock fly southeast?) The questions and answers are all using poems, and the wrong questions and correct answers, etc. are all very fun.
Tang poetry and Song lyrics go up, there are Han Fu and Chu Ci Shijing, and downstream there are Yuan opera and drama. It takes two years to dabble in all five. Yuan operas and Yuan operas are concise and easy to understand, and are easier to understand than the lyrics of many popular songs. They can be catchy after reading them. Although the Han Fu is tough, it is still suitable to recite. The most important thing to focus on is Chu Ci, mainly Qu Yuan. First read Jiu Ge and Jiu Zhang, then read Li Sao, and finally Tian Wen. When you have time, you can read the Book of Songs and recite "The people are also tired." "Run Ke Xiaokang" is a joy.
After reading the poems and prose, I turned to read history. A Twenty-Four Histories is a lifetime affair. Of course, as an amateur, you can only read it. Life is short and there is nothing you can do about it. However, "Zizhi Tongjian" can be read in detail. It is recommended to read the original text and the Baiyang vernacular version together. When Bo Yang was seventy years old, he made a vow to translate the text into a vernacular version of Zizhi Tongjian. It took ten years to complete. I think it was a great merit for the benefit of students. Coupled with his "Outline of Chinese History", it took only one year to complete. .
Read the history after the text, and then read the text after the history, and you will enter the world of "Zishu". The thoughts and essays of the pre-Qin scholars are the essence of ancient culture. They are profound and broad, and can only be compared with the vastness of the universe. Lao Zhuang, Confucius and Mencius reported to Han Fei... The discussion is endless, and any one of them is enough to make a person confused. For amateurs, you can only skim it, and a little in-depth reading of selected ones is enough. I came into contact with Lao Zhuang more than sixty years ago, and now, do you understand?
There is no need to spend days arranging book lists. Just one sentence is enough: the book you like to read is the book you should read. There is a vast sea of ??books, and there is always something you like to read, so read it. If you don’t like watching it, don’t waste your life. If reading ancient texts makes you angry, then read modern texts. The main purpose of reading is to get happiness in the process of reading and enjoy the fun brought by reading. The fun becomes more and more intense as you read. After ten years of amateur reading of classical Chinese, the amount of reading pleasure I gained is certainly extraordinary.