Introduction to Classic Novels

Early Chinese novels often stressed character development and usually centered on an adventure or supernatural happening; an example is the classic Ming version of `Shui-hu chuan' (The Water Margin). Historical themes were also popular, as in the `Romance of the Three Kingdoms', written in the late Yuan period. There were also love stories such as the extremely popular

"Dream of the Red Chamber', probably China's most famous novel. Many of the early novels were written anonymously. Often these works were written in the vernacular, and many authors felt it was beneath their station to be associated with this type of writing.

In vernacular fiction one of the greatest novelists was Lo Kuan-chung (1330-1400), known for his masterpiece, `The Romance of the Three Kingdoms'. He is also presumed to be the author of one of China's best-known novels, `The Story of the Water Margin' . The work is a semihistorical collection of stories about a band of enlightened outlaws--social and political dissenters whose exploits were recorded in official dynastic history.

In fiction there were some novels that are still considered outstanding. Wu Ch'eng-en, wrote `Monkey', the adventures of a cunningly resourceful animal that accompanied the Buddhist monk Hsuan-tsang on a pilgrimage to India. `Adventure to the Western Ocean' was an expanded tale of the 15th-century explorer Cheng Ho.

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