Prose is one of the main literary styles in ancient my country. In ancient my country, prose articles as opposed to verse and parallel prose were called "prose". The development of ancient prose in my country has roughly gone through the following periods:
(1) Pre-Qin period
1. The first collection of prose "Shang Shu". Since the Han Dynasty, "Shangshu" has been regarded as the political philosophy classic of China's feudal society. It is not only a textbook for emperors, but also a "great classic and great law" that noble children and scholar-bureaucrats must follow. It is very influential in history.
2. Historical prose
With the needs of the times, historical literature describing reality has emerged, such as "Zuo Zhuan", "Guoyu", "Warring States Policy" and other historical works. "Zuo Zhuan" and "Warring States Policy" are representatives of pre-Qin historical prose.
3. Prose by various scholars
During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, hundreds of schools of thought contended, resulting in the prose of various scholars. There are "The Analects", "Mencius", "Mozi", "Zhuangzi", "Han Feizi" and so on.
(2) The Han Dynasty
During the Han Dynasty, prose developed further.
1. Political essays
Jia Yi’s article "On Passing the Qin Dynasty", Chao Cuo advocated recruiting people to prepare for the fortress, "Guarding the Border and Encouraging Farmers" and "On Guigui Shu" Two essays are the most famous.
2. Historical biographies
When Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty deposed hundreds of schools of thought and respected Confucianism, the feudal dynasty urgently needed to summarize ancient culture and give a philosophical and historical explanation to the unified ruling situation.
(1) "Historical Records" Sima Qian's "Historical Records" represents the highest achievement of prose in the Han Dynasty.
(2) "Han Shu"
Under the influence of "Historical Records", the Eastern Han Dynasty produced many historical prose works, among which Ban Gu's "Han Shu" is an outstanding representative. .
3. Fu
A new literary style "Fu" appeared in the Han Dynasty. The name of Fu originated from the "Fu Pian" written by Xunqing, a native of Zhao during the Warring States Period, and a specific system was formed in later generations. Pay attention to literary grace and rhyme, and have the dual nature of poetry and prose. Those that are close to prose are called "Wen Fu", and those that are close to parallel prose are called "parallel Fu".
(3) Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties
During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, the articles in this issue paid more attention to rhythm, forming Ma Bingli's literary style, "Shui Jing Zhu" and "Luoyang Jialan Ji" Extraordinary.
(4) Tang and Song Dynasties.
In the mid-Tang Dynasty, Han Yu and Liu Zongyuan led the ancient prose movement, and "literature began to decline in eight generations." In the Northern Song Dynasty, Ouyang Xiu advocated ancient prose, and Su, his son and others responded to each other, and ancient prose gradually occupied the literary world.
(5) Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties.
The prose in this issue basically inherits and develops the spirit of the ancient prose movement of the Tang and Song Dynasties. In the Ming Dynasty, there appeared the seven-year-old Restoration School, the Tang and Song School who opposed the Restoration, the Gong'an School who advocated spirituality, and the emergence of prose masters such as Gui Youguang. In the Qing Dynasty, the Tongcheng School had the greatest influence.