The various stages of the development of ancient Chinese prose and its representative figures and sc

The development of ancient literature in China has gone through the following stages:

Pre-Qin literature. It includes three stages: primitive society, slave society and early feudal society since the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties. Ancient songs and myths were the source of Chinese literature, and pre-Qin literature was dominated by poetry and prose.

Qin and Han literature. It is mainly based on the Han Dynasty, and is represented by prose, Han Fu, and Yuefu folk songs.

Literature of the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties. Formed under the influence of metaphysics, the main literary achievement is poetry, and the Jian'an literature represented by the "Three Cao" is its representative.

Literature of the Sui and Tang Dynasties. Represented by the literature of the Tang Dynasty, it is the first period of the development of ancient literature, with complete styles, poetry, prose, Tang legends, words, variations, and scripts constituting the prosperity of Tang literature.

Literature of the Song Dynasty. Poetry, state silly, prose, and scripts are the main forms.

Literature of the Yuan Dynasty. Respect for Buddhism and Taoism, Confucianism is also promoted. Literature has undergone changes in elegance and vulgarity, and popular literature such as opera and prose opera has been loved by the public.

Literature of the Ming Dynasty. With ** and opera as the main achievements, the Ming Dynasty ** showed unprecedented prosperity.

Qing Dynasty literature. It is the literary summary stage of feudal society, and it has achieved the greatest success.

1. The first stage is the late Spring and Autumn Period and the beginning of the Warring States Period, and the representative works include "The Analects" and "Mozi", the former is pure quotation prose, and the latter is mixed with simple discussions.

2. The second stage is the middle of the Warring States period, and the representative works are "Mencius" and "Zhuangzi", the former is basically still in quotation style, but it has developed significantly, forming a dialogic polemic; The latter has transitioned from a dialogue to a topic** where arguments are concentrated, and with the exception of a few articles, it has almost completely broken through the form of quotations and developed into a thematic discussion**.

3. The third stage is the late Warring States period, and the representative works are "Xunzi" and "Han Feizi", which have developed to the highest stage of discussion in pre-Qin prose. Their length is short and long, and the style is simple and open-minded, longitudinal, representing the rationality of each stage of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period.

The development of ancient prose in China:

1) Pre-Qin prose.

Including Zhuzi essays and historical essays. Zhuzi's prose is dominated by discourses, such as the Analects, Mencius, and Zhuangzi; Historical prose is an essay based on historical topics, and all articles and books that describe historical events and historical figures are historical essays, such as "Zuo Biography".

2) Two Han Dynasty Essays.

Sima Qian's "Historical Records" in the Western Han Dynasty pushed biographical prose to an unprecedented peak. After the Eastern Han Dynasty, individual prose forms such as books, notes, tablets, inscriptions, treatises, and prefaces began to appear. The Four Masters of Han Fu - Sima Xiangru, Yang Xiong, Ban Gu, and Zhang Heng were known as the Four Masters of Han Fu by later generations.

In addition, Sima Xiangru, Mei Cheng, Jia Yi, Huainan Xiaoshan.

Tang and Song Dynasty prose. Under the impetus of the ancient literature movement, the writing of prose became more and more complicated, and literary prose appeared, producing many excellent landscape travelogues, fables, biographies, essays and other works, and the famous "Eight Masters of the Tang and Song Dynasties" also emerged at this time.

3) Ming Dynasty prose.

First, there were "Seven Sons" who mainly imitated antiquity, and then there were Tang and Song factions who advocated that the works "all flow out of the chest", and the more famous one is Gui Youguang. (4) Qing Dynasty prose.

The prose of the Qing Dynasty, represented by the Tongcheng School, paid attention to the embodiment of "righteousness". Yao Nai, a representative writer of the Tongcheng School, summarized the ancient prose style in China and divided it into 13 categories, including debates, prefaces, recitals, writings, gift prefaces, edicts, pleadings, inscriptions, miscellaneous sayings, proverbs, praises, resignations, and mourning.