#classical Chinese literature

[journeytothewest-daily]

Welcome to The Journey to the West (西游记) Daily!

You are about to beging a reading journey to get the hidden Buddhist texts accompanied by the monk Tang Sanzang, Sun Wukong, Sha Wujing, Zhu Bajie and Bai Long Ma.

To beging this journey you must subscribe to the newsletter, which you will find at https://journeytothewestdaily.substack.com/. You wil receive your first email this week, welcoming you and sharing information about what's to come and what I will include in the emails.

However, beforehand I want to tell you already that you won't receive a daily email, despite the name of the newsletter. The chapters are dense and full of references to folklore or religion references that you might be unfamiliar with, so you will receive an email every 2 or 3 days maximum.

If this is the first time that you hear about this newsletter and you don't know what Journey to the West is...

The classical Chinese novel Journey to the West is an extended account of the legendary pilgrimage of the Tang dynasty Buddhist monk Xuanzang, who traveled to the "Western Regions" (Central Asia and India) to obtain Buddhist sūtras (sacred texts) and returned after many trials and much suffering. Gautama Buddha gives this task to the monk, whose name in the novel is Tang Sanzang, and provides him with three protectors who agree to help him as an atonement for their sins. These disciples are the Monkey King, Zhu Bajie, and Sha Wujing, together with a dragon prince who acts as the monk's steed, a white horse. The group of pilgrims journey towards enlightenment by the power and virtue of cooperation.

The novel is perfect for the epistolary format, since it's is divided in different and disconnected adventures, so you don't have to always remember what happened in the previous chapter to read the next!

We'll be reading Anthony C. Yu's translation since it is the first unabridged version that we have available in English. It is about 100 chapters long.

As I said, you will receive a first email as soon as you subscribe and an introductory email in a few days. Please, share this post so more people can read along. Use the hashtag #jttwdaily if you want to comment your impressions. I'll share the most important dates soon.

May the Buddha help you in your endeavours.

#journey to the west #journey to the West daily #jttwdaily #西游记 #Dracula daily #chinese literature #classical Chinese literature #cdrama #the untamed

[meraki-yao]

So I found this on Weibo and I couldn't stop laughing. This is incredibly niche but I feel the need to share and explain this to my friends on this side.

So the bottom half is the photos that we initially thought were the royal suitor photos before the movie came out, then realized it was in the texting montage, then confirmed by Matthew that this actually isn't Alex and Henry, it was Taylor and Nick chilling between takes.

NOW, the photo on top is a still from 1987 TV show adaptation of one of the four Chinese Classics: "The Dream of the Red Chamber". That is the main couple reading another classical Chinese novel (yes this is very meta) "Romance of the Western Chamber" together, and I think this book that they're reading is the first romance novel/love story to have the couple be in starkly different social standings yet be together in the end.

This isn't a case of parallel in the same sense as my posts putting firstprince and Rapunzel x Eugene or Simba x Nala or Jack x Rose together and finding similarities. In fact, the couple from Red Chamber is nothing like firstprince or Taylor and Nick, not even remotely close, and their relationship ended in tragedy: spoilers, the girl died of a broken heart and the boy lost the will to live and became a monk.

But the point here is that this pair? This is our culture's Romeo and Juliet, our Pyramus and Thisbe. This scene in particular, this imagery of them reading in the garden together, has the same significance as the balcony scene in Romeo and Juliet. Like, if you ask a Chinese person for an imagery from classical literature that depicts love, this is the image most people will say.

AND SOMEHOW THIS PHOTO OF TAYLOR AND NICK THAT WE ALL THOUGHT WAS ALEX AND HENRY LOOKS EXACTLY THE SAME AS IT

This is the most random connection and it's definitely a stretch but as someone who cried over the ship in the top half at the age of 11 I am so fucking amused by this comparison

#rwrb #red white and royal blue #rwrb movie #taylor zakhar perez #alex claremont diaz #nicholas galitzine #henry fox mountchristen windsor #henry hanover stuart fox #firstprince #dream of the red chamber #jia baoyu #lin daiyu #also the boy and the girl are technically cousins but we don't talk about that #rwrb parallels #taynick? I don't know what this counts as anymore #rwrb rambles #again this is purely self indulgent #meraki translates #but I find joy in sharing things of my culture that i approve of #and translating is fun #the dream of the red chambers is the most complex out of the four Chinese classics #it has the most literature scholars studying it #also we technically have two sets of tragic lover they're one of them #the other one basically is beat for beat romeo and juliet #and they die and turn into butterflies #anyways i'm done rambling for this #chinese literature

[intravention]

lovely guessing game we got here. when you say kafka, are you referring to the tall beauty with grape wine hair and heels kafka from acclaimed space fantasy game honkai star rail, the author of hit series bungou stray dogs kafka asagiri, or the famous novelist franz kafka? place your bets now!

#intraventing thoughts #honkai star rail #hsr #hsr kafka #bungou stray dogs #bsd #classical literature fans do not get to win #I know there's a meme about russian author fyodor dostoyevsky x reader but I've never seen it #similar energy to me seeing fanart in japanese and reading the kanji in chinese #'​おい小' '...wait a fucking moment' #so sorry to any fans of the irl author. tagging seems to be a thing of the past

[ruibaozha]

Do you know of a downloadable pdf of The Classic of Mountains and Seas?

Hello!

Yes absolutely. My friend @the-monkey-ruler has kept a reliable archive of these kinds of media where you don’t need to pay to access them.

I have a different PDF called A CHINESE BESTIARY Strange Creature’s from the GUIDEWAYS THROUGH MOUNTAINS AND SEAS that I can’t attach to this answer. If you are comfortable and interested in this other version, please reach out directly and I can arrange sending the full pdf to you.

Here is a nine headed phoenix from a Qing edition

Nine tailed fox, companion of the Queen Mother of the West

#chinese religion #chinese mythology #chinese folklore #chinese literature #chinese culture #mountains and seas classics

[ruhua-langblr]

The 4 Classic Novels of China— Easy Mode

I’ve mentioned several times how important the classic novels are to learning Chinese, but like classic English novels, they’re not incredibly accessible due to their old-fashioned and highly literary writing. I collected a few options for people who want to read these novels, but aren’t at the level required for the original versions. 

The Journey to the West Series by Jeff Pepper and Xiao Hui Wang

This is the one that I have personally used out of this list. This version of 《西游记》begins at a 600 word requirement, but as the story goes on, grows to 2,000 words. All of the volumes have been published and come in MANY formats. Not only is this available in Simplified and Traditional, it’s available as individual books, collections, and an omnibus edition—all of which are in print, ebook, and include an online audiobook.

The book is formatted as one page is pinyin, one page is Chinese, and an English translation and glossary in the back of the book. I think this is a nice format as everything is there, but there’s also enough control to read it with the least amount of aids. I really hope the other classics get adapted as this really set a solid standard for this style of learning material.

Sinolingua Press

This will contain two series published under Sinolingua Press that contain the same books, but with differences!

Abridged Chinese Classic Series

This is exactly what it says! It is the four classic novels that are abridged. All of these are geared towards an expected HSK 5 (pre-HSK 3.0) 2,500 word level. 

Rainbow Bridge Graded Chinese Reader

This series includes the four classic novels as well as other stories such as Butterfly Lovers, Legend of the White Snake, Hua Mulan, Nüwa, and Romance of the West Chamber. For the classics, 《西游记》and《水浒传》are at 2,500 word level and 《红楼梦》and《三国演义》are at the 1,500 word level. 

Now, I’m not sure what the difference is between 《西游记》and《水浒传》in the first series and this series. Format wise, both use pinyin above the Chinese (a special bookmark is included if you want to block the pinyin). If you’re like me and do judge books by their cover, the Abridged Classic series is a very pretty set! Some of the Graded Chinese Reader books have received updated cover art that looks great, but it’s not across the whole series. From what I can tell, the Abridged Chinese Classic Series is for an older audience as it doesn’t have the cartoon illustrations. All of these novels are in Simplified Chinese.

Comparisons and other options

The Sinolingua versions are HIGHLY abridged. For comparison, the Pepper/Wang version is over 10 times longer than both of the Sinolingua versions. All of the versions of the classics come in around ~300 pages when the originals are multi-volume novels. This isn’t inherently bad, and is common in the last option: Chinese children’s version. There are multiple publishings in this style and these also tend to be around the same length. They have their own benefits and drawbacks. The Chinese editions will not include any English and aren’t tailored to the HSK style, but reading age. 

Final Thoughts

Of the four options, it’s all about personal preference and what you want in a book. I hoped this was of some help! Books mentioned above can be found on Amazon (Pepper/Wang), Purple Culture (Sinolingua), and Aliexpress (Sinolingua/Chinese Published versions).

#four chinese classics #classic literature #chinese resources #mandarinblr #long post

[littlemisslikestoread]

The invisible string that ties us all...

"The reason why we have no choice but meet again"

-Kim Kyung Hee 'Red String Of Fate'

#girlblogging #red string of fate #Invisible string #folklore #taylor swift #your name #Jane Eyre #classic academia #classic literature #classic lit quotes #Dark academia #chaotic academia #writer academia #our beloved summer #chinese proverb #this is a girl blog #light academia #photography

[yourcozylibrary]

" In your smile, I see something more beautiful than the stars."

#light academia #poetry #dark academia #love quotes #classic literature #literature #poetry stuff #bookblr #readers #romantic quotes #romantic academia #master devil do not kiss me #cdrama #cdrama quotes #chinese drama

[hiraeth76]

You speak of men who have long decayed together with their bones nothing but words has survived when a gentleman is in tune with the time he rides a carriage when he is out of tune he makes his way disheveled as he is. I have heard that just as the best merchant keeps his stores hidden so that he appears to possess nothing so the true gentleman conceals his abundant inner power beneath an appearance of foolishness. Rid yourself of pride and desire, put aside your fancy manner and your lustful ways. They will bring you nothing but harm.That is all that I've to say."

(Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu)

#books and libraries #classic books #dark acadamia aesthetic #dead poets society #english #chinese literature

[gennsoup]

"The fine bird selects its tree and the wise servant chooses his master. He who meets a worthy master and lets him go is a fool."

Luo Guanzhong, The Three Kingdoms, Vol. 1: The Sacred Oath

#Luo Guanzhong #The Three Kingdoms #The Sacred Oath #mentors #mentorship #teachers #fools #Chinese literature #Chinese classics #Romance of the Three Kingdoms #ROTK #quotes #quotes blog #literary quotes #literature quotes #literature #book quotes #books #words #text #leaders #leadership

[lionofchaeronea]

Having just finished re-reading David Hinton's translation of the Selected Poems of Wang Wei, I'm turning now to his collected translations of the Four Chinese Classics (Tao Te Ching, Chuang Tzu, Analects, and Mencius). While I've read and loved Chinese poetry for many years, my knowledge of Chinese philosophy is nowhere near where I'd like it to be, so this is a start on rectifying that.

(As a matter of fact, my philosophical knowledge in general could stand to be bolstered--ancient Greco-Roman philosophy being the meritorious exception--but that's a project for another time.)

#personal #ramblings #current reading #Chinese literature #Chinese philosophy #Four Chinese Classics

[wisdomshouts]

Getting Through the Dark Night

#ancient chinese wisdom #eastern philosophy #inspirational quotes #life lessons from monkey king #monkey king quotes #mythical wisdom #mythological insights #classic chinese literature #journey to the west #modern life advice

[pequodyaoi]

been reading rotk

#me when i am normal about 14th century classical chinese literature #no i have not seen any drama or video game adaptations. yet. #romance of the three kingdoms #guan yu #excuse the um. messy art. i litrlly havent drawn since like april cuz uni #tofu art

[jackpot-sad-dude]

i think i've dug myself in a very deep hole that i don't want to get out of

#so y'know fyodor dostoyevsky's The Idiot?? #y'know Myshkin and Rogozhin's heavy gay tension?? #yeahhhh #never again will i read smut of them but also yes i will #THEY DID IT. ON TOP OF A DAMN DEAD BODY. #WHAT #I READ THIS IN SCHOOL ON TBE SCHOOL WIFI MAN #IF THEY TRANSLATE THE FIC FROM SIMPLIFIED CHINESE TO ENGLISH I'M DONE #FUCKKKK #the idiot #fyodor dostoevsky #classical literature #myskin/rogozhin #severe regret #smut #ao3

[rini-descartes]

Seven Samurai (1954) 🎬 Akira Kurosawa

#akira kurosawa #inspirational quotes #seven samurai #vulnerability #chinese #japanese #quotes #english literature #dark academia #black and white #old movies #hollywood #classic movies #Shinobu hashimoto #Hideo oguni #books & libraries #literature #philosophy #stoicism #Samurai #intj #inspiring quotes #philosophyoflife #literature quotes #War #palestine #free palestine #darkacademism #sylvia plath #voltaire

[semperardens-juli]

"In perhaps the most famous scene, the Path in the Peach Garden, future ruler Liu Bei persuades two men to join him in the oath of fraternity, thereby going against what was at the time society's strongest bond: unquestioning loyalty to family."

on Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Luo Guanzhong from The Literature Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained, James Canton

leave a little kindness

#juli-quotes #juli-the-literature-book #the literature book #big ideas simply explained #james canton #academia #dark academia #light academia #classics #chinese classics #chinese #classic #familial responsibility #family #honour #liu bei #poem #poetry #poet #prose #loyalty #the peach garden #literature #chinese literature #classics literature #classical

[myvehementsilence]

A longing heart is sadder than a longing eye;

For the enchantress I, enchanted, can only sigh.

- Romance of Western Bower 西厢记 by Wang Shifu 王实甫

#literature #quotes #books and novels #writers and poets #books & libraries #classic #poems and quotes #prose #chinese literature #poetry book #chinese poetry #old poem #old books