Herbert G. Giles 
A History of Chinese Literature 

A History of Chinese Literature is THE classic introduction to Chinese literature, which has given to the world exquisite poetry and such classics as Monkey, The Analects of Confucius, the works of Chuang Tzu, and other writings over a time span of 2, 500 or more years.


Author, Professor Giles, a legendary scholar of Chinese, was best known for the Wade-Giles romanization system. In this book he considered all forms of Chinese literature including: prose, poetry, the novel, the short story, drama, and scientific writing. The material is organized chronologically into eight books which are in turn divided into subject chapters. The arrival of Buddhism to China, the invention of printing, and other significant events are admirably outlined. Whoever reads this excellent introduction will be hungry for more of the literary products of China.


A History of Chinese Literature provides us with a capsule guide to 2, 500 years of Chinese culture. Remote as ancient literature may seem to Chinese manners today, the traditional literature does in fact provide a key to modern China and to Chinese communism. This populous nation, which represents the world’s oldest living civilization, is in reality still close to its own past philosophies and ideals.