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Audiobook edition · 13 h 35 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What holds a literary tradition together through warring states, changing dynasties, and more than two thousand years?
In A History of Chinese Literature, Herbert Allen Giles guides you from the earliest classics to the nineteenth century. He begins with Confucius and moves through the dynasties, introducing philosophers, historians, poets, dramatists, and novelists. Samples of poems, essays, and stories let you encounter the writing alongside his account of its place in Chinese life.
The journey passes through the burning of old books, the poetry of the Tang, and the scholarship of the Song. Giles then explores drama, the novel, and the great literary projects of the Manchu age. Published in 1901, his survey also reveals a Victorian scholar’s tastes and an older English-language view of China.
What you’ll discover
- A map through the dynasties Follow a clear historical path through changing forms, ideas, and literary interests.
- Confucius among rival voices Meet the early classics and the thinkers who challenge the sage’s ideas.
- The Tang poets Explore the poetry Giles places at the height of China’s poetic achievement.
- From scholarship to the stage Discover how Giles connects shifts in learning and government with new literary directions.
- A scholar’s revealing perspective Read for the literary history and for the judgments shaping Giles’s account.
Who will love it
Readers who enjoy poetry, anecdotes, and vivid portraits of scholars, rebels, and emperors will love this history. It suits anyone who likes an opinionated, witty guide.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Writing emerges among rival states
- Confucius gives later writers their foundation
- Taoism opens a path beyond ambition
- Loyalty and books face political power
- History gains scope and new voices
- Poets seek refuge from civil war
- Tang poetry makes art feel natural
- Print makes learning shared and lasting
- Stories widen the world of literature
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A History of Chinese Literature
by Herbert Allen Giles · 1901
Giles walks you from Confucius to the Manchu court, pausing for a drunken poet and a butterfly dream.
Medium level5–10 hours to readEnglish
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In short
What would you do if rivals drove you from office and the whole world seemed drunk while you stayed sober? The poet Ch'ü Yüan walks to a river, takes a stone in his arms, and steps into the water.
A History of Chinese Literature at a glance
- Reading time
- About 7 h 30 min6 h fast, 9 h slow
- Length
- 107,700 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1901by Herbert Allen Giles
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Chinese writing grows out of legend and feudal states
Giles opens with a joke about Chinese chronologists, who work out the exact date when everything began. First there was Nothing, then a single point, then light and dark, and from their meeting came the universe, 2,269,381 years ago. Real history, Giles says, hardly begins before the eighth century B.C.
He chooses the sixth century B.C. as his starting point. China was then a patchwork of feudal states under a king whose power was mostly nominal. Even so, their people lived well, with silk clothes, chairs, carts, and sundials.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 13 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1901
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 8 h 50 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Giles, Herbert Allen. A History of Chinese Literature. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/a-history-of-chinese-literature.
Giles, H. A. (2026). A history of Chinese literature. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/a-history-of-chinese-literature (Original work published 1901)
Giles, Herbert Allen. A History of Chinese Literature. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/a-history-of-chinese-literature.
@book{giles2026history,
author = {Giles, Herbert Allen},
title = {A History of Chinese Literature},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/a-history-of-chinese-literature},
note = {First published 1901}
}
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What is A History of Chinese Literature about?
It surveys Chinese writing from the sixth century B.C. to the nineteenth century, period by period. Giles covers the classics, Confucius, the Taoists, poets, historians, plays, and novels, with many passages in his own translation.
Who was Herbert Allen Giles?
Giles was a British scholar who served in China and later taught Chinese at Cambridge. He died in 1935. He wrote this survey, a dictionary, and translations of works such as Chuang Tzu and Strange Stories.
Is it hard to read for someone new to China?
Giles writes in a lively, conversational voice and explains each name as it appears. Short extracts, anecdotes, and jokes keep the pace light, so a newcomer can follow the story from one age to the next.
The author
Herbert Allen Giles
1845–1935 · British sinologist and translator
Herbert Allen Giles (1845–1935) was a British diplomat and scholar of Chinese. He was born in Oxford and worked in China as a diplomat. He later taught Chinese at the University of Cambridge. His publications included A Chinese-English Dictionary (1892) and A History of Chinese Literature (1901).
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