Classic Chinese Novels

Four Classic Novels in Chinese opera

Sha Wujing, Tang Sanzang, Sun Wukong, and Zhu Bajie (Journey to the West) in Shao opera

Lin Daiyu and Jia Baoyu (Dream of the Red Chamber) in Yue opera

Zhang Fei, Liu Bei, and Guan Yu (Romance of the Three Kingdoms) in Sichuan opera

Ma Lin, Lin Chong, Hu Sanniang, and Qin Ming (Water Margin) in Peking opera

Classic Chinese Novels (traditional Chinese: 古典小說; simplified Chinese: 古典小说; pinyin: gǔdiǎn xiǎoshuō) are the best-known works of literary fiction across pre-modern Chinese literature. The group usually includes the following works: Ming dynasty novels Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Water Margin, Journey to the West, and The Plum in the Golden Vase; and Qing dynasty novels Dream of the Red Chamber and The Scholars.

These works are among the world's longest and oldest novels.^[1] They represented a new complexity in structure and sophistication in language that helped to establish the novel as a respected form among later popular audiences and erudite critics. The Chinese historian and literary theorist C. T. Hsia wrote in 1968 that these six works "remain the most beloved novels among the Chinese."^[2]

During the Ming and Qing dynasties, Chinese novels inspired sequels, rebuttals, and reinventions with new settings, sometimes in different genres. Far more than in the European tradition, every level of society was familiar with the plots, characters, key incidents, and quotations. Those who could not read these novels for themselves knew them through tea-house story-tellers, Chinese opera, card games, and new year pictures. In modern times they live on through popular literature, graphic novels, cartoons and films, television drama, video games, and theme parks.^[3]