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1600 BCE
Ancient Chinese Script
Evolved from the practice of divination during the Shang dynasty, They were the first to leave written records. -
1600 BCE
Earliest known Chinese Poems
Literature was made using a formal written language known as Classical Chinese. Works of Chinese literacy included fiction, poetry, philosophical, religion, and science. -
1600 BCE
Book of Odes
This was the earliest known major literary work. A collection of poems dating back from the Shang, and Chou dynasties. -
Period: 1600 BCE to 1279
Chinese History that Influenced Literature
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551 BCE
Confucius
Teaches about ethical values including loyalty, honesty, and respect for elders. His disciples later recorded his teachings in Analects. -
105 BCE
Paper
Exactly when writing was first used in China is not known since most writing was done on materials like wood, bamboo, or silk.The bureaucracy of China relyed on written records but eventually writing was used for self-expression to create some of the greatest literature in the world. -
626
Woodblock Printing
Blocks cut from wood used to print tex, and then used to create short Buddhist religious texts that were carried as charms by believers. Later scrolls, and books were produced, first by wood-block printing and then by using movable type. -
868
First book with Printed Date
Diamond Sutra was the fist book with a printed date published. The book practices non-attachment, and non-abiding. -
Ghost Stories
The earliest written works in China are ghost stories and myths. The Chinese were very concerned with ghosts because the appearance of someone who had died meant that the living had somehow failed them; the dead would haunt the living until the wrong was righted.
