四大名著的英文介绍

中国四大名著英文简介

Chinese Literature - Novels and fiction Hongloumeng 红楼梦"The Dream of the Red Chamber"

Also called "The story of the Stone (Shitouji 石头记)", this novel written by Cao Xueqin 曹雪芹(d. 1763) is said to be the greatest masterpiece of Chinese fiction.

A wide branched scholarship does not consent about the main theme of this novel, should it be a novel of sentiment, of Daoist-Buddhist enlightenment, of social observation, of the decay of an aristocratic familiy, or even a veiled attack on Manchu rule. The frame of the novel is the contest of a Buddhist and a Daoist priest who make be born a young noble boy called Jia Baoyu 贾宝玉and his girl cousin Lin Daiyu 林黛玉. With a loving detail describing the life of the two cousins in a

huge noble mansion, between gardens and palaces, the red thread is the triangular love between Baoyu, Daiyu and a second girl cousin called Xue Baochai 薛宝钗that is of more plumper character than the ever sick Daiyu. Switching between their life, the divine world and dreams, Baoyu becomes deranged after the disappearance of a stone (the origin of the second title) he had in his mouth when he was born. Not knowing, his love Daiyu died, he is tricked to marrying Baochai. Becoming aware of being tricked, Baoyu leaves the world of the "red dust" and becomes a monk. With hundreds of persons and their stories, paralleling the life and feelings of servants to the life of the main persons, the story is very complex and full of symbolisms, but very interesting and convincing for its encyclopedic character, depicting the life

of a noble familiy in the 18th century Qing China 清.

三国演义Romance of The Three Kingdoms

Romance of The Three Kingdoms is one of the great chinese classics and is compiled into a semi-fictional literary masterpiece during the Ming Dynasty by Luo Guanzhong. The novel comprises around 70+% fact and 20+% fiction. Some issues such as Guan Yu's weapon weighing around 40+ kilograms, the capabilties of Lu Bu, Liu Bei's horses as well as the existence of the Hill of the Fallen Phoenix and some others are probably fictional. That period in history can be said as the golden age of chivalry and although it happened more than 1700 years ago, characters such as Liu Bei, Cao Cao,

Guan Yu, Zhang Fei and Zhuge Liang have become household names among the chinese. Tales of their exploits, courage, adventures and many more are told in the novel "Romance of The Three Kingdoms".

It is one of the most turbulent periods in China's history taking place toward the end of the Han Dynasty where corruption is rampant in the imperial court due to eunuches holding power. Coupled with natural disasters such as floods, plague and locust swarms devouring the crops grown by the peasants, hunger and disatisfaction among the peasants soon escalated rapidly until a major rebellion known as the "Yellow Scarves Rebellion" led by Zhang Jiao broke out. (It was dubbed "Yellow Scarves" because the rebels tied a yellow scarf on their head). Initially just a small band of rebels, due to