Do you Know the Four Most Famous Great Novels in China?

The Four Great Classical Novels of China, often simply referred to as the Four Great Novels, are Water Margin, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Journey to the West, and Dream of the Red Chamber. These four masterpieces are considered classics in the history of Chinese literature. These four masterpieces hold an equally important place in the history of Chinese literature, all possessing extremely high literary and artistic achievements.

Water Margin

Water Margin is one of the earliest chapter novels written in vernacular Chinese in Chinese history, and it is also one of the most legendary works in Chinese literature.

Water Margin novel depicts the story of 108 heroes, led by Song Jiang, who gathered at Liangshan in the late Northern Song Dynasty, and their subsequent acceptance of amnesty and campaigns. The novel comprehensively describes the entire process of the Song Jiang uprising in Chinese history, from its occurrence and development to its failure, as well as the social roots of the uprising. It praises the resistance struggle of these 108 uprising heroes and their social ideals, and also specifically explains the inherent historical reasons for the failure of the uprising.

Romance of the Three Kingdoms

Romance of the Three Kingdoms, also known as The Popular Romance of the Three Kingdoms, is one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. It is China's first full-length historical novel written in chapters and sections, and was written by Luo Guanzhong, a renowned novelist from the late Yuan and early Ming dynasties.

Romance of the Three Kingdoms tells the story of nearly a hundred years of history from the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty to the beginning of the Western Jin Dynasty. The novel is mainly about war, and it tells the story of the chaos between various countries at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty and the political and military struggles between the three kingdoms of Wei, Shu and Wu. In the end, Sima Yan unified the three kingdoms and established the Jin Dynasty.

Journey to the West

Journey to the West is the first romantic, episodic, also is a classic of Chinese mythological novel. long fantasy novel in ancient China. It was written by Wu Cheng'en of the Ming Dynasty.

Journey to the West tells the story of Sun Wukong's birth and his havoc in the Heavenly Palace, after which he met Tang Sanzang, Zhu Bajie, and Sha Wujing. Together, they embarked on a journey to the West to obtain Buddhist scriptures, subduing demons and monsters along the way, experiencing eighty-one tribulations, and finally reaching the Western Paradise to meet the Buddha. In the end, the five saints attained enlightenment.

Dream of the Red Chamber

Dream of the Red Chamber is a long novel in chapters written by Cao Xueqin, a writer of the Qing Dynasty. It is also known as The Story of the Stone or The Golden Jade Marriage. The book is available in two versions: the 120-chapter "Cheng version" and the 80-chapter "Zhi version".

The novel Dream of the Red Chamber uses the rise and fall of the four great families of Jia, Shi, Wang, and Xue as its backdrop. It focuses on the mundane affairs of the Jia family, the romantic relationships among young women, and the love and marriage of Jia Baoyu, Lin Daiyu, and Xue Baochai. It portrays the beauty and tragedy of humanity in the characters, centered around Jia Baoyu and the Twelve Beauties of Jinling, a group of lovers with both righteous and wicked natures. Through family tragedies, the tragedies of the young women, and the personal tragedies of the protagonists, it reveals the crisis of China's late feudal era.

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