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The history of Chinese literature begins with the Shih Ching or Book of Songs, an anthology of 305 lyrics of various types, compiled ca. 600 B. C. Most of the songs probably were composed and sung between 1000 and 700 B. C., mostly at Chou court ceremonies (and thus provide a cross-section of early-Chou culture). Some Sinologists have suggested, however, that certain lyrics from the Book of Songs may represent much earlier work, dating from the Shang dynasty (as early as ca. 1700 B. C.). Written Chinese emerged in its embryonic form of carved symbols approximately 6,000 years ago. The Chinese characters used today evolved from those used in bone and tortoise shell inscriptions more than 3,000 years ago and the bronze inscriptions produced soon after. Chinese literature extends back thousands of years, from the earliest recorded dynastic court archives to the mature fictional novel that arose during the Ming Dynasty to entertain the masses of literate Chinese. The introduction of widespread woodblock printing during the Tang Dynasty (618-907) and the invention of movable type printing by Bi Sheng (990-1051) during the Song Dynasty (960-1279) rapidly spread written knowledge throughout China like never before. In more modern times, the author Lu Xun (1881-1936) would be considered the founder of modern baihua literature in China.
China has a wealth of classical literature, dating from the Eastern
Zhou Dynasty (770-256 BCE) and including the Classics, whose compilation
is attributed to Confucius. Among the most important classics in Chinese
literature is the book of changes (易經，易经), a manual of divination based
on eight trigrams attributed to the mythical emperor Fu Xi. The I
Ching is still used by adherents of folk religion. The Classic
of Poetry (詩經，诗经) is made up of 305 poems divided into 160 folk songs;
74 minor festal songs, traditionally sung at court festivities; 31 major
festal songs, sung at more solemn court ceremonies; and 40 hymns and eulogies,
sung at sacrifices to gods and ancestral spirits of the royal house. The
Classic of History (書經，书经)
is a collection of documents and speeches alleged to have been written by
rulers and officials of the early Zhou period and before. It contains the
best examples of early Chinese
prose. The "Record
of Rites" (禮記，礼记), a restoration of the original Classic
of Rites (禮記), lost in the 3rd century BC, describes ancient rites
and court ceremonies. The Spring
and Autumn Annals (春秋) is a historical record of the principality of
Lu, Confucius' native state, from 722 to 479 B.C.. It is a log of concise
entries probably compiled by Confucius
himself. The Analects
of Confucius (論語，论语) is a book of pithy sayings attributed to Confucius
and recorded by his disciples. There were also important Daoist classics
that were written in later periods, such as the Huainanzi （淮南子）written by
Liu An in the 2nd century BC, during the Han Dynasty. The Huainanzi
was also one of the earliest Chinese texts to cover topics of Chinese geography
and topography. Chinese
historiography refers to the study of methods and assumptions made in
studying Chinese history.
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