Poetry: As we all know, China's earliest poetry collection is The Book of Songs, which records the poetry creation of all walks of life from the early years of the Western Zhou Dynasty to the end of the Spring and Autumn Period. It was very early, so poetry first appeared. Generally speaking, literature should start with the Book of Songs. But poetry did not become the mainstream until the Tang Dynasty.
Word: Poetry is another form, which sprouted as early as the Sui Dynasty (see Chen's "Flowers in the Back Garden of Yushu", which has been sung with music). In the Tang Dynasty, poetry occupied a dominant position. Although Li Bai, Bai Juyi, Liu Yuxi and others have all written some fine print, it was not until Wen Tingyun and Wei Zhuang gradually became popular in the late Tang Dynasty that fine print was considered elegant. Li Yu in Li Houzhu, it has been greatly expanded.
Qu: Yuanqu originated from the so-called "Fanqu" and "Le Hu" and was first circulated among the people, and was called "Street Tune" or "Village Square Minor". With the destruction of Song Dynasty in Yuan Dynasty, it spread in the vast areas of north and south, centering on Dadu (now Beijing) and Lin 'an (now Hangzhou). Yuanqu has strict metrical formula, and each qupai has fixed format requirements in sentence pattern, word number, level tone and so on. Compared with the other three schools, Yuanqu rose later. Although the Yuan Dynasty was relatively short (less than 100 years), its prosperity was not very short, and it was still a masterpiece in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
Novels: China's novels can be said to get up early and catch up late. The beginning of the novel can be traced back to Shan Hai Jing. Although the author of Shan Hai Jing is controversial, it must be a pre-Qin work, and the time is very early. By the Han Dynasty, some articles in Sima Qian's Historical Records were already very similar to novels, and Gan Bao's Search for Ji Shen in Wei and Jin Dynasties was further proof of the development of novels. Personally, I think that Sue Ji Shen is good at logic, story content and creation. In the Tang and Song Dynasties, a book "The Legend of Tang and Song Dynasties" was published (of course, it was edited by Mr. Lu Xun later, and this book was not sold at that time). The story and creative level in it are greatly close to maturity, but the novel has never become the mainstream, and storytellers and writers are suppressed. It was only in the Ming and Qing Dynasties that the novel came onto the stage, and then everyone knew that Four Great Classical Novels hit it off in a few words.