How to Read Chinese Prose in Chinese, Jie Cui et. al. (A Note on How to Use This Book)

A Note on How to Use This Book Our goal with this book is twofold: to introduce major Chinese prose genres developed from antiquity to the early twentieth century and, at the same time, to systematically teach the essentials of classical Chinese.

As indicated by the addition of “in Chinese” to the title, this book serves as the Chinese language learner’s version of How to Read Chinese Prose: A Guided Anthology (hereafter HTRCProse). We present forty-four prose texts (excerpts or complete texts) in the original over thirty-eight lessons, organized by genre into eight units. The sequence of these units reflects the successive emergence of eight major prose genres, while the four to six lessons in each unit showcase that genre’s prominent achievements through different historical periods. Readers of this book will gain the same kind of exposure to the rich legacy of Chinese prose as HTRCProse readers, along with the additional insight that comes from approaching texts in their original language. Comprehension and appreciation of selected texts is aided by notes on their historical and cultural contexts as well as by commentaries on their unique artistic features, with extensive reference to more in-depth discussions in HTRCProse.

These literary commentaries are generously provided by twelve HTRCProse contributors, all experts on individual prose genres. Famous, oft-quoted idioms and remarks are highlighted by shading and should be learned by heart.

As the subtitle suggests, this book is also—perhaps to many, primarily—a course text for classical Chinese. In each lesson, we provide copious vocabulary notes with modern Chinese equivalents for premodern words and phrases and sample sentences to illustrate their idiomatic usage.

In addition, we introduce one to seven major grammar points per lesson (in all but lessons 20, 25, 27, 34, and 38). A distinctive feature of our approach to classical Chinese grammar is the emphasis

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on helping readers recognize different grammatical functions performed by the same function word (xuci 虛詞). Multiple functions of major function words are clearly numbered (①②③ and so on) and are gradually introduced over a few lessons. Whenever a major function word appears in a text, we identify and explain its particular function in that text while alerting the reader to its other uses through our system of interlesson cross-references. For instance, in explaining the function word 夫 in lesson 8, we provide this interlesson reference to its other uses: “Three uses of 夫 are explained in this book. In addition to the use below, see 夫①② in L2 Grammar Note 4.” Moreover, when a taught function word reappears in another text, we always list it in the vocabulary notes with a prompt where its use has been explained: for example, “See L2 Grammar Note 4 ①.”

Another noteworthy feature is the keying of grammar explanations to the selected texts. We

illustrate all grammar points with examples drawn almost exclusively from the current or previous lessons, aiming for a mutually enhancing effect between these aspects of study. To deepen comprehension of the texts and grammar points, we typically provide five sets of exercises in each lesson. In addition, “Unit Exercises” help readers review and synthesize what they’ve learned in a unit; the answers can be found in the back matter. After careful study of this rigorous presentation, readers should have a firm grasp of all the critical aspects of classical Chinese grammar, codified in “Essentials of Classical Chinese Grammar Taught” in the back matter.

Combining a prose anthology with a classical Chinese textbook under one cover was clearly a daunting task—and no doubt the reason it was never attempted before now. Perhaps the greatest challenge was to align these very different goals in a lesson sequence that simultaneously reflects the historical development of prose genres and provides a gradual, measured increase in language difficulty. To overcome this obstacle, we devised a translation approach: by providing modern Chinese translations alongside original texts, we believe we can make all texts, even the earliest ones, accessible.

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A Note on This book

Translation is done in simplified Chinese with basic vocabulary and should be readily comprehensible to second- and third-year students of Chinese.

We would advise readers to first read the simplified Chinese translation for content and then read the original text in traditional Chinese against the translation. A side benefit of this approach is that readers will boost their proficiency in recognizing traditional Chinese characters. As additional reading aids, we have provided tone-marked romanization and sound recordings for all lessons, accessible free of charge at cup.columbia.edu/supplemental-materials-for-how-to-readchinese-prose-in-chinese (QR code given below), as well as copious vocabulary and culture notes.

Having benefited so much from the readers of the How to Read Chinese Poetry set, we wish to engage the readers of this book through social media. We encourage all interested readers to visit facebook.com/HowtoReadChinesePoetryZongqiCai and work together to form an active community of Chinese literature lovers. We will do our best to foster and maintain an informative dialogue on all matters concerning the series volumes and the teaching and learning of Chinese literature in general.

Finally, we would like to thank Jennifer Crewe, associate provost and director of Columbia University Press, for her enthusiastic support of the How to Read Chinese Literature series and Christine Dunbar for her editorial guidance. Our thanks to Christian Winting for assistance with clerical matters; to Zhao Bingbing and Cara Ryan for their meticulous copyediting of the Chinese and English parts of the book, respectively; and last but not least to HTRCProse contributors for their literary commentaries illuminating all the lessons.

Zong-qi Cai

Sound files for all selected texts

This book is at once a guided introduction to Chinese nonfictional prose and an innovative textbook for the study of classical Chinese. It is a companion volume to How to Read Chinese Prose: A Guided Anthology, designed for Chinese-language learners. How to Read Chinese Prose in Chinese presents more than forty prose works, either excerpts or in full, from antiquity through the Qing dynasty. While teaching readers how to appreciate the rich tradition of Chinese prose in its original form, the book uses these texts to introduce classical Chinese to advanced learners, helping them develop reading comprehension and vocabulary.

“Learning classical Chinese can be daunting! Anyone aspiring to competency will benefit enormously by letting this group of leading scholars guide them word-by-word through key texts in the tradition. The readings, glosses, and notes all ease the burden on the learner.”

—Patricia Ebrey, author of Emperor Huizong

“An insightful anthology for appreciating classical Chinese prose in the original language and a perfect textbook for studying classical Chinese! I applaud the authors for selecting a corpus that is both canonical and diverse and appreciate the user-friendly design.”

—Xiarong Li, author of The Poetics and Politics of Sensuality in China: The “Fragrant and Bedazzling” Movement (1600–1930)

“With its judiciously selected sample texts and expertly prepared learning aids, this latest book in the How to Read Chinese Literature series is an excellent choice for those interested in studying essential classical Chinese while gaining a literary appreciation of Chinese prose in different genres from different periods.”

—Xiaoshan Yang, author of Metamorphosis of the Private Sphere: Gardens and Objects in Tang-Song Poetry

“This is the first book available on the U.S. market to introduce comprehensively and systematically all of the major genres of classical Chinese prose in the form of a classical Chinese textbook taught through modern Mandarin Chinese. Teachers and students will benefit from its broad coverage, flexibility for course use, and useful glossary-index.”

—Benjamin Ridgway, Swarthmore College

JIE CUI is coauthor of How to Read Chinese Poetry Workbook (2012).

LIU YUCAI is professor of Chinese language and literature at the Center for Chinese Classical Texts at Peking University.

ZONG-QI CAI is professor of Chinese and comparative literature at Lingnan University of Hong Kong

and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is the general editor of the How to Read Chinese Literature series.

HOW TO READ CHINESE LITERATURE

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS 3 NEW YORK cup.columbia.edu PRINTED IN THE U.S.A.

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