Publisher Description

This book is at once a guided introduction to Chinese nonfictional prose and an innovative textbook for the study of classical Chinese. It is a companion volume to How to Read Chinese Prose: A Guided Anthology, designed for Chinese-language learners.

How to Read Chinese Prose in Chinese presents more than forty prose works, either excerpts or in full, from antiquity through the Qing dynasty. While teaching readers how to appreciate the rich tradition of Chinese prose in its original form, the book uses these texts to introduce classical Chinese to advanced learners, helping them develop reading comprehension and vocabulary. It offers a systematic guide to classical Chinese grammar and abundant notes on vocabulary, and features an extensive network of notes, exercises, and cross-references. The book includes modern translations of the forty prose works in simplified Chinese, presented alongside the original texts in traditional Chinese. It also includes expert commentaries on each text's distinctive aesthetic qualities as well as historical and cultural contexts.

The book comprises thirty-eight lessons within eight units, organized chronologically to reflect the emergence of major prose genres. It is a major contribution to the teaching and study of classical Chinese language and literature.

Audio recordings of all forty texts are available online free of charge.

Author Biography

Jie Cui is the coauthor of How to Read Chinese Poetry Workbook (2012).

Liu Yucai is professor of Chinese language and literature at the Center for Chinese Classical Texts at Peking University.

Zong-qi Cai is professor of Chinese and comparative literature at Lingnan University of Hong Kong and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is the general editor of the How to Read Chinese Literature series.

Table of Contents

Preface to the How to Read Chinese Literature Series
A Note on How to Use This Book
Symbols, Abbreviations, and Typographical Usages
Contributors Who Have Written Literary Analyses for This Book
Historical Writings
Recorded Conversations
Allegorical Tales and Argumentative Essays
Biographical Writings
Letters
Prefaces and Occasional Writings
Expository Essays
Accounts of Sites and Events
Essentials of Classical Chinese Grammar Taught
Answers to Unit Exercises

Review

Learning classical Chinese can be daunting! Anyone aspiring to competency will benefit enormously by letting this group of leading scholars guide them word-by-word through key texts in the tradition. The readings, glosses, and notes all ease the burden on the learner. -- Patricia Ebrey, author of Emperor Huizong
An insightful anthology for appreciating classical Chinese prose in the original language and a perfect textbook for studying classical Chinese! I applaud the authors for selecting a corpus that is both canonical and diverse and appreciate the user-friendly design. -- Xiarong Li, author of The Poetics and Politics of Sensuality in China: The "Fragrant and Bedazzling" Movement (1600-1930)
With its judiciously selected sample texts and expertly prepared learning aids, this latest volume in the How to Read Chinese Literature series is an excellent choice for those interested in studying essential classical Chinese while gaining a literary appreciation of Chinese prose in different genres from different periods. -- Xiaoshan Yang, author of Metamorphosis of the Private Sphere: Gardens and Objects in Tang-Song Poetry
This is the first volume available on the U.S. market to introduce comprehensively and systematically all of the major genres of classical Chinese prose in the form of a classical Chinese textbook taught through modern Mandarin Chinese. Teachers and students will benefit from its broad coverage, flexibility for course use, and its useful glossary-index. -- Benjamin Ridgway, Swarthmore College

Review Quote

With its judiciously selected sample texts and expertly prepared learning aids, this latest volume in the How to Read Chinese Literature series is an excellent choice for those interested in studying essential classical Chinese while gaining a literary appreciation of Chinese prose in different genres from different periods.

Details