Pilgrimage to the West has 100 chapters and is based on the related story scripts of Zaju and the folklore of Xuanzang’s going on a pilgrimage for the Buddhist Scriptures. It was written by Wu Cheng’en (about 1504–1582) during the Ming Dynasty. The first seven chapters of the book deal with plots about the Monkey King such as “Monkey King being born,” “Making havoc in Heaven” and others. The other chapters in the story deal with vanquished demons and monsters and overcoming difficulties in a pilgrimage for the Buddhist Scriptures with his three disciples Monkey King, Pigsy and Monk Sha. The book, very creative, with romantic descriptions, humorous language, large scope and complete structure, is a unique and outstanding piece of colloquial fiction.
A Dream of Red Mansions by the great writer Cao Xueqin (1715–1763) from the Qing Dynasty, takes the writer’s family life as an archetype and with the love and marriage tragedy among Chia Pao-yu, Lin Dai-yu and Xue Baochai as its main plot, tracks the rise and fall of the prominent Chia family and reveals the inevitable collapse and end of feudal society and the beginnings of democracy. The book, with a well-knit plot, real life detail and an elegant language as well as a colorful and diverse content, an intricate plot, profound ideological thought and an exquisite artistic skill, is the greatest realistic work in ancient Chinese novels. The present popular version of the book has 120 chapters, the first 80 chapters of which were written by Cao Xueqin and the rest by Gao E.
The most outstanding colloquial short stories in the Ming and Qing dynasties are the Three Collections and Short Stories, namely Yushimingyan, Jingshitongyan and Xingshihengyan by Feng Menglong (Three Collections) as well as Chuke Pai’an jingqi and Erke Pai’an jingqi by Ling Mengchu (The Short Stories).
The former, with 120 selected scripts and story scripts, taken from unofficial history or legends, from the Song, Ming and Qing dynasties, reflects city residents’ thought, life and interests and greatly influences the later colloquial fictions and dramas. Thanks to the writer, the latter, with 40 story scripts for each and inferior to Three Collections in ideological content and artistic quality, integrates standards and language style.
The Strange Tales of a Lonely Studio, an outstanding representative book of classic Chinese novels in the Ming and Qing dynasties by Pu Songling of the Qing Dynasty, includes 491 short stories, abundant subject matters and diverse content, most of which vigorously criticizes the darkness and corruption of the society at the time through stories about fox spirits and ghosts. The book, with bright and vivid figures and complicated and eccentric plots, successfully builds up numerous model personalities. Bearing the features of a tightly knit structure, a well-organized layout, a succinct style and a minute description, it can be rated as a peak work in ancient Chinese short stories.
Encyclopedia of China
Chinese cultural circles have been always followed the fine tradition of compiling reference books. After the introduction of the modern encyclopedia, Chinese scholars, with several small and practical encyclopedias compiled in the early 20th century, took the compiling of a modern encyclopedia as an object of their endeavors.
In 1978, the State Council decided to edit and publish the Encyclopedia of China and set up the Encyclopedia of China Publishing House to lead the work. By 1993, 74 volumes of all disciplines, with 126 million words, nearly 50 thousand pictures in 780 thousand entries, had been published. As a famous first edition, the Encyclopedia of China, is available for readers above the senior high school or college level education. Its publication was hailed as “a monument of Chinese Culture” and it became a well-developed and prosperous symbol of Chinese scientific and cultural undertakings.
According to common international practice, a new edition of the encyclopedia usually comes out at several-year intervals. Since the first edition of the Encyclopedia of China, abrupt changes have taken place in society, which result in the need to constantly update knowledge in various fields. In this connection, the edition and publishing work of the second edition of Encyclopedia of China was in place in 1995. After more than 10 years of work by the editorial committee and scholars around the country, the second edition was finished and published by Encyclopedia of China Publishing House.
Based on the first edition, the second edition of Encyclopedia of China, adapted to the development and demands of the era, has had numerous entries edited, replaced and renewed. Entries have been classified and similar entries combined while staple entries have been preserved, improves the original.
With a total of 32 volumes (30 volumes of text and 2 for the index), 60 million words, 30,000 pictures and nearly 1,000 maps and 60 thousand entries, the second edition, is accurate, authoritative, readable and easily and quickly accessible. It is a systematic and comprehensive reflection of the latest developments in science and provides abundant reflection of significant achievements in the process of building socialism with Chinese characteristics. In addition, it is not only a set of practical reference books suited to public reading and use but also serves the economic and social development and is the first set large-scale modern comprehensive encyclopedia in China that conforms to common international practices in China.