Transcriber's Note Italic text is indicated by _underscores_. Non-italic text in italic blocks is marked by ~swung dashes~. A HISTORY OF CHINESE LITERATURE BY HERBERT A. GILES, M. A., LL. D. (ABERD.) PROFESSOR OF CHINESE IN THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE AND LATE H. B. M. CONSUL AT NINGPO [Illustration] NEW YORK AND LONDON D. APPLETON AND COMPANY 1927 COPYRIGHT, 1901, BY D. APPLETON AND COMPANY. Printed in the United States of America PREFACE This is the first attempt made in any language, including Chinese, to produce a history of Chinese literature. Native scholars, with their endless critiques and appreciations of individual works, do not seem ever to have contemplated anything of the kind, realising, no doubt, the utter hopelessness, from a Chinese point of view, of achieving even comparative success in a general historical survey of the subject. The voluminous character of a literature which was already in existence some six centuries before the Christian era, and has run on uninterruptedly until the present date, may well have given pause to writers aiming at completeness. The foreign student, however, is on a totally different footing. It may be said without offence that a work which would be inadequate to the requirements of a native public, may properly be submitted to English readers as an introduction into the great field which lies beyond. Acting upon the suggestion of Mr. Gosse, to whom I am otherwise indebted for many valuable hints, I have devoted a large portion of this book to translation, thus enabling the Chinese author, so far as translation will allow, to speak for himself. I have also added, here and there, remarks by native critics, that the reader may be able to form an idea of the point of view from which the Chinese judge their own productions. It only remains to be stated that the translations, with the exception of a few passages from Legge’s “Chinese Classics,” in each case duly acknowledged, are my own. HERBERT A. GILES. CAMBRIDGE. CONTENTS _BOOK THE FIRST--THE FEUDAL PERIOD_ (B.C. 600-200) CHAP. PAGE I. LEGENDARY AGES--EARLY CHINESE CIVILISATION--ORIGIN OF WRITING 3 II. CONFUCIUS--THE FIVE CLASSICS 7 III. THE FOUR BOOKS--MENCIUS 32 IV. MISCELLANEOUS WRITERS 43 V. POETRY--INSCRIPTIONS 50 VI. TAOISM--THE “TAO-TÊ-CHING” 56 _BOOK THE SECOND--THE HAN DYNASTY_ (B.C. 200-A.D. 200)