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* Boldface titles indicate works in the anthology.

TEXTS

 

CONTEXTS

 

  220–280 The Three Kingdoms period, when China is divided into three regional states
  280 China is briefly reunified under the Chin Dynasty
  316 North China falls into the hands of non-Chinese invaders and the court moves to the south; the following period is known as the northern and southern dynasties

365–427 T'ao Ch'ien, poet and farmer
350–550 Flourishing of Buddhism and translation of Buddhist scriptures
400–450 The flourishing of landscape poetry  
500–550 Development of literary criticism, literary history, and anthology-making in the south  
  589 A northern dynasty, the Sui, reunifies China
  618 The T'ang Dynasty supplants the Sui
  629 The journey of the Buddhist monk Tripitaka, the hero of Monkey
ca. 690 Composition of poetry included as part of the chin-shih examination, which young men take to qualify for the best posts in the government  
ca. 699–761 Wang Wei, poet  
701–762 Li Po, poet  
712–770 Tu Fu, poet 713–755 The "High T'ang" and the reign of Hsüan-tsung; the capital, Ch'ang-an, is a cosmopolitan center
  755 The rebellion of the northeastern armies under their general An Lu-shan drives the emperor from the capital
768-824 Han Yü, poet and prose writer, advocate of "old-style" prose  
772-846 Po Chü-i, poet  
779-831 Yüan Chen, poet and author of the Story of Ying-ying  
791-817 Li Ho, poet  
803-852 Tu Mu, poet 800 Revival of Confucianism under Han Yu
813-858 Li Shang-yin, poet  
  907 Final collapse of the T'ang into numerous regional kingdoms
  960 Founding of the Sung Dynasty and the reunification of China
981 Completion of the T'ai-p'ing kuang-chi, a vast compendium in which is preserved almost all the prose fiction from the T'ang and earlier dynasties  
1000-1100 Rise in popularity of song lyrics or tz'u, sung at parties and by courtesans from the Entertainment Quarters • Rapid expansion of commercial and state-supported printing 1000–1100 Development of Neo-Confucianism, which used the Confucian classics as a ground for philosophical reflection on human nature
1084-ca. 1151 Li Ch'ing-chao, lyricist and author of Afterword to Records on Metal and Stone  
1127-1279 Rise of drama and professional storytelling in vernacular Chinese, especially in Hang-chou, the capital of the Southern Sung Dynasty 1127 North China falls to non-Chinese invaders from the northeast; the dynasty is reestablished south of the Yangtse River. This period, lasting until the Mongol conquest, is known as the Southern Sung Dynasty
  1279 Mongols conquer south China
  1299 Marco Polo's account of his visit to China
 
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