History of literature The history of literature

Ancient China[edit]
Main articles: Chinese classics and Classical Chinese poetry
Zhou dynasty[edit]
The Analects of Confucius
Chinese mythology played a notable role in the earliest Chinese literature, though it was less prominent compared to mythological literature in other civilizations. By the time of the Zhou dynasty, Chinese culture emphasized the community over the individual, discouraging mythological stories of great personages and characterization of the divine. Mythological literature was more common in the southern Chu nation.^[9] The Tao Te Ching and the Zhuangzi are philosophical compilations that serve as the foundation of Taoism.^[10] Confucius was a defining figure in ancient Chinese philosophy and politics. He collected the Six Classics as founding texts of Confucianism, and they became the central texts by which other works were compared in Chinese literary scholarship. Confucianism dominated literary tastes in Ancient China starting in the Warring States period.^[11] The sayings of Confucius were later compiled into the Analects by his students.^[12]
Anthologies were common in Ancient China, and anthologizing was used as a means of literary criticism to determine literary classics.^[11] The Classic of Poetry, one of the Six Classics, is the oldest existing anthology of Chinese poetry. It comprises 305 works by anonymous authors dating from the 12th to 7th centuries BC. Prior to the collection of these works, poetic tradition in Ancient China was primarily oral.^[13] The Chu Ci anthology is a volume of poems from the Warring States period written in Chu and attributed to Qu Yuan. These poems were written as rhapsodies that were meant to be recited with a specific tone rather than sung.^[14] The Music Bureau was developed during the Zhou dynasty, establishing a governmental role for the collection of musical works and folk songs that would persist throughout Chinese history.^[15]
Historical documents developed into an early form of literature during the Warring States period, as documentation was combined with narrative and sometimes with legendary accounts of history.^[16] Two of the Six Classics, the Book of Documents and the Spring and Autumn Annals, are historical documents. The latter inspired works of historical commentary that became a genre in their own right, including the Zuo Zhuan, the Gongyang Zhuan, and the Guliang Zhuan. The Zuo Zhuan is considered to be the first large scale narrative work in Chinese literature.^[17] The Art of War by Sun Tzu was an influential book on military strategy that is still referenced in the modern era.^[18]