Resources for Literary Chinese (wenyan)
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Mark Yong -
Quote:
ZHWJ wrote: You'll definitely want 古文观止, a collection of all types of prose works through
the ages edited during the Qing.
Hi, ZHWJ,
Thanks for recommending 古文觀止. I visited the local 學林書局 in my hometown of Kuala
Lumpur (Malaysia), and found a copy of it, published by 北京中華書局. It's a great edition
to own because it is printed in 繁體字 Traditional Characters, using the old-type printing font
complete with the original commentaries embedded within the text (I believe it could be a
facsimile of a classic edition!). And unlike the other editions I found, it includes the original
preface written during 康熙's reign.
Of course, given that it is an 'original' edition, meaning there are no modern glossaries (注譯)
and translations (語譯) accompanying it, I had to purchase a separate edition by
台灣三民書局 to assist me with my reading (this was the only other edition I could find that
uses 繁體字 Traditional Characters). This one does not have the original preface, which is a
pity. But no matter, I still like the 中華書局 one better!
Quote:
ZHWJ wrote: Lu Xun's 中国小说史略 is good literary prose, despite being written around 1930
I have not found a copy of 中國小說史略 yet, but I intend to do so soon. However, I noticed
that most of the fictional works I saw by 魯迅 Lu Xun is written in 白話文 baihuawen. Does
this mean that 中國小說史略 is an exceptional case of 魯迅 Lu Xun using 文言文
wenyanwen? I recall that 魯迅 Lu Xun was a supporter of the 白話文 baihuawen Movement.
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zhwj -
The 中华书局 edition of 古文观止 is not a photostat, I believe, but rather a newly-typeset
edition based on an earlier punctuated edition - or at least that's what the editor's introduction
says in my 1963 copy.
Lu Xun compiled 中国小说史略 out of a set of lecture notes, which he then couldn't be
bothered to rewrite before having them formally printed three years later. As for why they were in
wenyan to begin with - it saves on labor for the copyist! From the preface:
Quote:
此稿虽专史，亦粗略也。然而有作者，三年前，偶当讲述此史，自虑不善言�
��，听者或多不憭，则疏其大要，写印以赋同人；又虑钞者之劳也，乃复缩�
�文言，省其举例以成要略，至今用之。然而终付排印者，写印已屡，任其事
者实早劳矣，惟排字反较省，因以印也。
luoluo -
Quote:
You'll definitely want 古文观止, a collection of all types of prose works through the ages
edited during the Qing.
It's true that 古文观止 is an ideal book for wenyan studying, plus 山海经. I ve no idea
where you live in China and how profound the book you need, but it's not a bad idea to read some
wenyanwen in Chinese textbooks for Chinese senior school students. Classic examples of wenyanwen
are embodied such as 前后出师表 by 诸葛亮; 兰亭集序 by 王羲之, etc.
I recommend 资治通鉴 and 史记 in addition. 三国志 by 陈寿 is also worth reading.
Mark Yong -
Hi, Luoluo,
Thanks for your recommendations!
Quote:
I've no idea where you live in China...
Actually, I live in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. But we have an excellent Chinese-language bookstore
here called 學林書局, which imports a wide range of books, and on all sorts of topics, from
China. It was also in this bookstore that I purchased an excellent 2-volume text on the abacus
珠算 (published by 北京出版社).
Quote:
...and how profound the book you need
Actually, the degree of profundity is not too much of a concern for me, but variety is.
What I am really trying to do is collect and read a wide range of 文言文 texts, and not just
limit myself to the standard 四書五經, 莊子, 唐詩, 史記, etc. and other miscellaneous
"pre-modern China educational material" texts - which are often limited to the period spanning the
周 Zhou to 唐 Tang eras only.
So, this means that I would like to read not just a variety of subjects (this can take the form of
literary criticisms, letters & correspondences, government documents, and even fiction), but also
spanning the entire period when 文言文 was used as the written language of the Far East (i.e.
from 周 Zhou all the way to the early-20th century). Also, the writers need not necessarily be
the notable ones, they can also be obscure individuals, too (which means even a letter written by
a son to his parents in 文言文 would be of interest to me!).
This will (hopefully) allow me to appreciate how 文言文 functioned as a living and practical
written language for over two and a half millenia, and also to observe how the the style of
writing gradually evolved over time (thus, the often-overlooked subtle difference between 古文
Classical Chinese and 文言文 Literary Chinese), even while the spoken language gradually
evolved into the various dialects.
Any maybe, just maybe, I might eventually develop some skill at writing in 文言文, too!
gato -
You might be interested in this classical Chinese software package. It's basically reader with
many texts and a built-in dictionary.
I have the trial-version installed. Though it's expired, it seems to be still fully functional.
Simplified character version
http://ftp23.enet.com.cn:88/pub/util...ms25Ssetup.zip
Traditional character version
http://hotftp.hinet.net/files/games/...TrialSetup.zip
http://www.zhsc.com/zhschelpb5/index.htm
"Chinese Classical Literature"
《中華詩詞》軟體內收錄了一個龐大的中文書庫供您使用，目前作品主要分�
��大部分：「中華詩詞」、「中華散文」、「中小學古詩文」與「附錄」。�
�中華詩詞」遴選上自先秦《詩經》、下至現當代著名詩人的代表作品五千餘
首，並為多數重要作品提供了較為詳盡的註釋資料；「中華散文」分《經》�
��《史》、《子》、《集》四部，收錄古往今來重要的散文作品，如：《大�
�》、《中庸》、《論語》、《孟子》、《詩經》（見詩詞部分）、《尚書》
、《禮記》、《儀禮》、《周易》、《春秋（三傳）》、《國語》、《戰國�
��》、《老子》、《莊子》、《列子》、《荀子》、《公孫龍子》、《鬼谷�
�》、《孫子》、《尹文子》、《墨子》、《韓非子》、《淮南子》、《金剛
經》、《四十二章經》、《心經》、《六祖壇經》、《世說新語》、《茶經�
��、《聊齋誌異》、《文心雕龍》、《昭明文選》、《古文觀止》……
Mark Yong -
Quote:
zhwj wrote:
Read 梁启超 on government and progress...
I did some research on 梁啟超's works, and found that the 飲冰室合集 is referred to
several times as his representative work. Is this one of his works that you recommend me to read?
I notice the entire text totals 12 volumes, so it may be quite a big commitment (money and
time-wise) to start off with that! Of course, I note that there is also a single-volume 精選
(selections) version of it, so I may start off with that and see how I progress with it.
A friend of mine also mentioned his other work called 少年中國說 (she said Chinese
high-school students have to memorise chunks of it!), but I am not sure if it is in 文言
wenyan... which, as you know, is what I am looking for!
zhwj -
少年中国说 is short; read it for yourself here.
Liang Qichao wrote lots of stuff - I only mentioned government and progress since that's one of
the main reasons people read him these days. Something like 古文观止 is nice for a selection
of "great works," but for most authors, I find that it's nice to read with a sense of purpose - to
understand their views or their place in history rather than merely appreciating their prose style.
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