Going back to the history of chinese literature, chinese poetry was one of the earliest literature form developed. The Book of Poetry （Shijing 诗经） was said to be edited by Confucius and was one of the earliest poetry book appeared in chinese history. During ancient times, there was also a literary form known as "prose" (chinese: "Sanwen Ti 散文体") written mostly by philosophers. Today's Modern Prose has its origin from ancient times. By warring states period, what was popular was the "Chu Songs/Lyrics" (known in chinese as "Chu Ci 楚辞"), which is a type of poetry originating from the state of Chu. The best known poet for Chu Ci was Qu Yuan 屈原, who composed the famous poetry book "Li Sao 离骚 ".
By Han dynasty period, a form of poetry appeared known as "fu 赋". You might know the famous "fu" poet such as Sima Xiangru. During age of fragmentation period, poetry was largely influenced by buddhism and daoism.
By Tang dynasty, the chinese poetry reached the zenith of its development. Tang dynasty was the golden age of chinese poetry. There were many famous poets during this time such as Li Bai, Du Fu etc. It became very trendy to compose poems during this time. The Tang poetry existed in many different styles such as "7 Characters (七言绝句）", "5 characters" form or "Ge Lu Shi （格律诗）". By Song period, what's more popular were chinese poetry in the form of lyrics/songs known as "ci 词". Usually, these poetic lyrics were sung by geisha and poet such as Su Shi.
The Ming and Qing were probably more famous for their classical novels such as Romance of 3 kingdoms, Water Margins, Red Chamber Dream and Journey to the West.
After the collapse of imperial dynasty, China found itself on a modernization path. The may-fourth event in 1917 was development of modern chinese literature in vernacular style (baihua 白话）. During this time, we've seen many great poets and writers such as Lu Xun, Zhang Ai ling, Ba Jin, Xu Zhimo etc. Modern chinese literature existed in various styles such as Prose （散文）, Novels （小说）, Modern Poetry （现代诗歌）, Mixed Writing (杂文） etc.
During the cultural revolution, there was a great suppression in the chinese literature. By 1980- 1990, the period was known as "Pain Recovery" period. Modern chinese literature began to express more about the destruction of the cultural revolution. By 1990s, with the advent of the internet, modern chinese literature began to appear even on the internet. During the 1990s and 2000s, chinese literature in PRC was dominated by the theme of 'sex', such that in many chinese novels, there must at least be some elements of sex in them. Chinese literature began more commercialised, in which "pop literature" appeared. Suffice to say, this had led to degradation of the quality of literature in PRC as compared to May 5th event.
IMO, Taiwan's modern chinese literature (esp. novels) are generally speaking better-written than that in PRC, which today suffered as a result of the domination of sex theme during the 2000s (seems to be a negative effect of commercialisation). Nevertheless, PRC's poetry and prose continue to evolve and develop today.
Edited by General_Zhaoyun, 08 December 2005 - 08:33 PM.