Knowra Chinese vernacular fiction Chinese vernacular fiction Chinese vernacular fiction is narrative prose written in forms of spoken Chinese rather than exclusively in classical literary Chinese. It includes works shaped by oral storytelling and those composed for print.
Classical Chinese : Classical Chinese is the literary language modeled on written forms of ancient Chinese. Vernacular fiction developed in contrast to the prestige and conventions of this literary register.
Water Margin : Water Margin is a Chinese novel about a band of outlaws who gather at Liangshan Marsh. Its episodic adventures exemplify the expansion of storytelling materials into a major vernacular novel.
Bianwen : Bianwen were medieval Chinese narrative texts associated with Buddhist preaching and performance, combining prose and verse. They are early evidence of narrative writing that drew on spoken performance and accessible language.
Classical Chinese fiction : Classical Chinese fiction is narrative prose composed primarily in the classical literary language. It shares narrative subjects with vernacular fiction but uses a different literary register.
Written vernacular Chinese : Written vernacular Chinese is literary prose that draws on the grammar and vocabulary of spoken Chinese. It names the linguistic register central to this fiction, though individual works mix registers.
Journey to the West : Journey to the West is a Chinese novel recounting the pilgrimage of the monk Xuanzang and his companions. Its comic, supernatural episodes show how vernacular prose could reshape religious and legendary materials.
Huaben : Huaben are Chinese short narratives associated with storyteller scripts and, later, written collections. They connect oral storytelling traditions directly to the development of written vernacular fiction.
Chinese oral literature : Chinese oral literature comprises narratives, songs, and other verbal art transmitted through performance rather than primarily through writing. Vernacular fiction overlaps with oral traditions but is a written literary form.
Chinese storytelling : Chinese storytelling is the performance of narrative tales through speech, often before an audience. Storytelling supplied plots, performance conventions, and narrative voices later adapted in written fiction.
Romance of the Three Kingdoms : Romance of the Three Kingdoms is a historical novel centered on the political and military struggles of the late Han period. It demonstrates how vernacular narrative turned historical chronicles and popular legends into a vast literary work.
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