Further More ... Literatures in Chinese History

To understand and appreciate the different dynasties, here is a selection of a few common Chinese Literatures at the different eras.

Pre Qin Dynasty ( from long long ago until 221 BC)

• 离骚 (Lament) by Qu Yuan - The guy who drown himself in Miluo River, and that was when the dragon boat festival and dumpling eating started.
• During these times, the Spring, Autumn and Warring States Periods, were time of turbulence in China. There were a number of philosophical writers, they include all the Zi(s) : Laozi, Kongfuzi, Mengzi, Mozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi and Hanfeizi.

Qin Dynasty (221 - 206 BC)
Not much literature during this period because, firstly, Qin Shihuang burnt the books, and this dynasty only lasted 15 years. But the chinese script was unified, so this laid a foundation for further literature works.

Han Dynasty (206 BC - 220 AD)
Han Dynasty is the golden age of China.

• Liu Bang the first Emperor of Han Dynasty wrote Ode to the Mighty Wind:大风起兮云飞扬，威加海内兮归故乡。安得猛士兮守四方？
• Sima Qian wrote the Record of the Grand Historian,史记.
• And the famous Poem in Seven Paces by Cao Zhi. When his brother , Cao Pi, threatened to kill him, the talented son of Cao Cao wrote this, 七步诗: 煮豆燃豆萁，. 豆在釜中泣。 本是同根生，. 相煎何太急

Tang Dynasty (618 - 907 AD)

The Literatures during Tang Dynasty are numerous. The 300 Tang Poems are just for wetting the appetite. Just to name a few:

• The famous Li Bai and his Reflections on a Quiet Night : 床前明月光,疑是地上霜,举头望明月,低头思故乡.
• The long narrative Song of Unending Sorrow, it ends with 天长地久有时尽， 此恨绵绵无绝期。

Song Dynasty

• The hero Yue Fei wrote the Full River Red:

怒发冲冠，凭栏处潇潇雨歇。
抬望眼，仰天长啸，壮怀激烈。
三十功名尘与土，
八千里路云和月。
莫等闲白了少年头，空悲切。

靖康耻，犹未雪；
臣子恨，何时灭！
驾长车踏破贺兰山缺。
壮志饥餐胡虏肉，
笑谈渴饮匈奴血。
待从头收拾旧山河，朝天阙。

• At this point, I would like to point out that there two chinese words for poem. They are si, 诗, and ci, 词. Ci apparently is very popular during the Song Dynasty. I am not sure of the difference though, can anyone help?
• A well known ci writer is Li Qingzhao started her 声声慢 poem with 寻寻觅觅，
  　　冷冷清清， 凄凄惨惨戚戚 . . .
  

Yuan Dynasty
This is the time when Genghis Khan founded the Mongol Empire in 1206.

• A unique poetic form San qu developed.
• Za ju, stage plays , were also very popular then.

Ming Dynasty
This is the time when there are tonnes of famous fictions appeared:

• Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong - based on record by Chen Shou in Records of the Three Kingdoms in Jin Dynasty. This novel narrates stories of Cao Cao, Liu Bei, Sun Quan during the Han Dynasty.
• Water Margin by Shi Nai'an- based on an uprising led by Song Jiang during the Song Dynasty.
• Journey to the West - based on the true story of a Tang Dynasty monk Xuanzang (602 -664 BC) who spent 18 years travelling to India to study Buddhism, and returned to China with Buddhist scriptures. The author, Wu Cheng'en added the characters - Monkey King, Pigsy and Sandy - into the adventure.
• Canonisation of the Gods by Xu Zhonglin- this story stretches from Shang Dynasty of the King Zhou to the Zhou Dynasty of King Wu.

Qing Dynasty

• Dream of the Red Chamber by Cao Xueqin narrates the decline of four great official households Jia, Wang, Shi and Xue. And of course the romance between Jia Baoyu and Lin Daiyu.
• Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio by Pu Songling. This is a collection of short stories ( about 500) of ghosts, goblins, fox-fairies, flower spirits ...
  

The information is adapted from an info-comic book Gateway to Chinese Classical Literature; you can get hold of it to read more about Chinese Literature