"Chinese Events that Influenced Literature Timeline"

By sfxgc
  • 1700 BCE

    Shang Dynasty (about 1700-1050 BC) - Development of Chinese Writing

    The first dynasty for which there is historical record and archaeological evidence is the Shang Dynasty. It was a small empire in northern central China. No documents from that country survive, but there are archaeological finds of hieroglyphic writing on bronze wares and oracle bones. The hieroglyphic writing system later evolved into ideographic and partly-phonetic Chinese characters.
  • 1279 BCE

    Song Dynasty (960-1279) Early Woodblock Printing, Travel Literature, Poetry, Scientific Texts and the Neo-Confucian Classics

    The next dynasty is called the Song Dynasty. It was weaker than the Tang Dynasty, but the imperial government officials made remarkable scientific and technical advances. Military technology greatly advanced. They traded little with the west due to the presence of warring Muslim states on the old trade routes. There wasn’t territorial expansion, but the empire was continuously attacked by nomadic tribes and countries around them.
  • 1045 BCE

    Zhou Dynasty (1045-255 BC) Basic Philosophical and Religious Literature

    he great literary works of philosophy and religion that became the basis for Chinese religious and social belief stem from what is called the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476) and the Warring States Period (475-221). Taoism, Confucian literature, and other prominent religious and philosophical schools all emerged during these two periods.
  • 907 BCE

    Tang Dynasty (618-907) Early Woodblock Printing and Poetry

    The Tang Dynasty had a big empire that benefited from trade with the west along the Silk Road, battled with the Tibetan Empire, and experienced the growing influence of organized Buddhist religions. This era’s main contribution to Chinese literature was in the poetry of Dufu, Li Bai and many other poets. Dufu and Li Bai are often thought of as China’s greatest poets.
  • 221 BCE

    Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC) Literary Disaster and Legalism

    The Qin Emperor favored a philosophical school that was called Legalism. This philosophy of course justified the strong control of the emperor and maintained that everyone should obey him. Li Si’s writings on politics and law and his propagation of this school much influenced the political thinking in the Han Dynasty and later eras. Legalism texts and the standardization of writing were the Qin Dynasty era’s literary contributions.
  • 206 BCE

    Han Dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD) Scientific and Historical Texts

    The Han Dynasty era was one of the two main hotspot eras for scientific and technical advance. But printing wasn’t available for wide publication of the information.
  • Jan 23, 1368

    Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368) Drama and Great Fictional Novels

    In their camps, the Mongols were entertained by shadow puppet plays in which a lamp cast the shadows of little figurines and puppets on a screen or sheet.Dramatic operatic theaters with human actors speaking in vernacular language was a favorite form of entertainment as well, and some of China’s best dramatic scripts were written then. Also two of the four novels that are generally considered China’s best literary classics were written in vernacular language then.

  • Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) Novels

    It is interesting that a book that is one of the four great classics called Journey to the West about a monk going to India was written during this time of isolation. Maybe the thought of travel to the lands in the west was appealing then. Novels were the era’s main contribution. The Journey to the West is based on the historical journey of a Buddhist to India during the Tang era to learn Buddhist teachings and bring back scriptures and information.

  • Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) Novels and Pre-modern Literature

    In the 19th century, foreign literature and the West became better known. In the middle of this era, the last of China’s four great classic novels was written called Dream of the Red Chamber; and near the end of the era, modernistic literature developed.

  • Modern Era (1912-present) Westernized Literature

    Of course, the big change of Chinese society that happened with the change of government led to a change in literature. It became westernized, and the Classical Language wasn’t used. The national government wanted women to have more of an equal status in society, and women writers and scholars were taken more seriously. There was a lot of politically oriented literature printed. Scholars had access to foreign literature, and many students studied abroad.