The selections in this first volume span a two-thousand-year period: from the Chou Dynasty (1122–221 B.C.) to the Y’an Dynasty (A.D. 1280–1367), from the ancient Songs to the dramas of the fourteenth century, every major genre of Chinese literature is represented by a crucial work. Highlights include, in addition to the great poems of the T’ang, outstanding examples of Han poetry, Six Dynasties satire, T’ang-sung prose essays and fiction, and the form of lyric known as “tz’u.”

    Considered one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature, the novel is written in vernacular Chinese rather than Classical Chinese.The story, set in the Song Dynasty, tells of how a group of 108 outlaws gathers at Mount Liang (or Liangshan Marsh) to form a sizable army before they are eventually granted amnesty by the government and sent on campaigns to resist foreign invaders and suppress rebel forces. It has introduced to readers many of the most well known characters in Chinese literature, such as Wu Song, Lin Chong and Lu Zhishen.

    Considered one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature, the novel is written in vernacular Chinese rather than Classical Chinese.The story, set in the Song Dynasty, tells of how a group of 108 outlaws gathers at Mount Liang (or Liangshan Marsh) to form a sizable army before they are eventually granted amnesty by the government and sent on campaigns to resist foreign invaders and suppress rebel forces. It has introduced to readers many of the most well known characters in Chinese literature, such as Wu Song, Lin Chong and Lu Zhishen.