1. The Antiquity Period
1. Pre-Qin Literature
The first section of the Antiquity Period is the Pre-Qin Literature. At this stage, the subject of literary creation experienced an evolution from groups to individuals. Most of the poems in the "Book of Songs" were the singing of groups. From that time to the emergence of Qu Yuan, the first poet in the history of Chinese literature, hundreds of years passed. . The form of pre-Qin literature was a combination of literature, history and philosophy on the one hand, and a combination of poetry, music and dance on the other. This chaotic state became a major landscape of the pre-Qin period.
2. Qin and Han Literature
The second period of ancient times is the Qin and Han literature. Qin and Han literature had some new characteristics that were different from pre-Qin literature. First of all, the situation of the creative subject has changed. During the Warring States Period, scholars from various countries took it as their duty to sing praises or satirize and admonish. Such as Sima Xiangru and Dongfang Shuo during the Emperor Wu period.
In line with the unified political situation of the Han Dynasty, the literature of the Han Dynasty lost its liveliness and colorfulness and formed a formatted style. For Chinese poetry, the Han Dynasty was an extremely important dynasty. However, with a new attitude and new vitality, the Yuefu folk songs of the Han Dynasty showed irresistible power first among the people and then among the literati, and thus gave birth to new rhythms and new forms of Chinese poetry.
2. The Middle Ancient Period
The Middle Ancient Period started from the Wei and Jin Dynasties, passed through the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties, the Song and Yuan Dynasties, and ended in the middle of the Ming Dynasty.
1. The first period of the Middle Ages is from the Wei and Jin Dynasties to the middle of the Tang Dynasty.
This is the stage when ancient poetry in five or seven characters flourishes, develops and reaches its peak. It is also the stage when modern poetry in five or seven characters rises, takes shape and reaches its peak. Poetry occupies a dominant position in the literary world. Wen moved closer to poetry, and poetic parallel prose appeared; Fu moved closer to poetry, and parallel rhyme appeared. From the "Three Caos" and "Seven Sons", through Tao Yuanming and Xie Lingyun, to Wang Wei, Meng Haoran, Cen Shen, Li Bai, and Du Fu, the flow of poetry is clear and complete.
Du Fu is both the last poet in this stage and the earliest poet to start the next stage, standing like a milestone in the history of literature. The two poetic paradigms of "Jian'an Style" and "Momentum of the Tang Dynasty" were established at the beginning and end of this stage. As an excellent tradition, they became the ultimate pursuit of poets of later generations.
2. The second period of the Middle Ages begins in the middle of the Tang Dynasty. Specifically, it starts from the outbreak of the "Anshi Rebellion" in the last years of Tianbao and ends with the demise of the Southern Song Dynasty.
Some noteworthy changes occurred in literature after the middle of the Tang Dynasty: the ancient prose advocated by Han and Liu led to the reform of literary language and style. Ouyang Xiu and others in the Song Dynasty continued the path of Han and Liu and completed this reform. The reforms jointly implemented by the eight great masters of the Tang and Song dynasties determined the subsequent literary language and style patterns, which were not broken until the May Fourth Movement.
After the peak of poetry in the Tang Dynasty, it faced a situation where it was difficult to continue its prosperity. Poets found new ways one after another. Through the efforts of poets in the middle and late Tang Dynasty such as Bai Juyi, Han Yu, Li He, and Li Shangyin, they finally found their way into the Song Dynasty. Another path.
As far as the continuity between Song poetry and poetry after the mid-Tang Dynasty is concerned, there are two points worth noting: Starting from the poets of the mid- to late Tang Dynasty, they focused on the description of daily life; The tradition of active participation in politics and a deep sense of urgency weakened in the late Tang Dynasty, but were generally strengthened in the Song Dynasty.
After the middle of the Tang Dynasty, tune poetry flourished rapidly. Through the hands of poets Wen Tingyun, Li Yu and others of the Five Dynasties, it became a major phenomenon in the Song Dynasty and became a representative of Song Dynasty literature. The names of Liu Yong, Su Shi, Zhou Bangyan, Li Qingzhao and others will be engraved in the history of Ci forever. The rise of legend after the middle of the Tang Dynasty marked the entry of Chinese novels into a mature stage.
3. The third period of the Medieval Period started from the Yuan Dynasty and continued to the middle of the Ming Dynasty.
Since the Yuan Dynasty, narrative literature has occupied a dominant position in the literary world. The social status of Confucian scholars was reduced, and they went to the lower classes of society to engage in the creation of popular literature. They first adapted to the literary forms that the masses liked, and then improved these literary forms. As a result, a large number of writers who were different from orthodox literati such as Guan Hanqing, Wang Shifu, Ma Zhiyuan, and Gao Ming appeared.
The literature of the Yuan Dynasty is represented by opera and Sanqu. Zaju, centered in Dadu, and Nanxi Opera, centered in Wenzhou, jointly created the brilliance of literature in the Yuan Dynasty, and the legends popular in the Ming Dynasty also It is the inheritance and development of Yuan opera. At the end of the Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, two full-length vernacular novels, "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and "Water Margin" appeared, which became another symbol of this stage. Their appearance heralded the arrival of the era of full-length novels.
3. The Modern Period
1. From the beginning of Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty to the Opium War is the first period of the Modern Period.
The Ming and Qing dynasties were a huge change, which particularly shocked those Han scholars. However, the literary creation in the early and middle Qing Dynasty basically followed the trend since the middle Ming Dynasty and did not Big changes have taken place. In the first period of modern antiquity, the emergence of a large number of literary groups and factions and the debates between them are a phenomenon worth noting.
Extended information
The history of ancient Chinese literature is the most proud treasure of Chinese civilization. China's feudal dynasties for thousands of years have promoted the prosperity and development of traditional Chinese literature. The prosperity and development of Tang poetry, Song lyrics, and Yuan operas, combined with the contention of other schools of thought such as Han music, poetry, and poetry, have formed a long and splendid history of ancient Chinese literature.
The changes brought about by the Opium War reduced China to a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society, and Western culture began to pour in, bringing countless new inspirations. From then on, Chinese literature began to develop in the direction of saving the nation from extinction and improving society, forming literature with modern characteristics.
Baidu Encyclopedia-History of Chinese Literature