China Reading List
I read these works as part of a Great
Books reading program. More
about my reading lists
Auxiliary Reading:
History:
- Durant, Will. Our Oriental Heritage (chapters on
China)
- Fairbank and Reischauer. East Asia (China to 1800)
- Cotterell. China: A Cultural History (to 1911)
- China Yesterday and Today (to 1800)
- Huang. China: A Macro History
- Fairbank. China: A New History
Language:
- A. Zee. Swallowing Clouds
- Lindqvist. China: Empire of Symbols
Food:
- Anderson. Food of China
- Lu Yu. Classic of Tea
- Chow & Kramer. All the Tea in China
- Blofeld. Chinese Art of Tea
Zhou Dynasty (1027-221 BCE)
Poetry Anthologies:
Where Poetry Anthologies are listed, I have
read selections from the relevant period
- Watson. Columbia Book of Chinese Poetry: From Early
Times to the Thirteenth Century (Columbia 1)
- Liu and Lo (eds.). Sunflower Splendor
- Rexroth. Orchid Boat
- Waley. Translations from the Chinese
Poetry, individual works:
- Shih Ching (Book of Songs; tr. Waley)
- Chu Yuan. Chu Tzu: Songs of the South (tr. Hawkes) (part)
Religion:
- Lao Zi (Lao Tzu). Dao De Jing (tr. Feng & English; Mitchell; Lau)
- Lao Zi (attributed). Wen Tzu (tr. Cleary in Further Teachings of Lao Tzu)
- Confucius. Analects (tr. Lau)
- Confucius (attributed). Great Learning (tr. Bahm),
Doctrine of the Mean (tr. Bahm)
- I Ching (tr. Blofeld; Wilhelm-Baynes)
- Mo Zi (tr. Watson)
- Han Fei Zi (tr. Watson)
- Mencius (tr. Lau)
- Zhuang Zi (Chuang Tzu) (tr. Watson; Feng and English)
- Watts, Alan. Tao: The Watercourse Way
- Blofeld . Taoism
- Smullyan. Tao is Silent
Qin and Han Dynasties (221 BCE-220 CE)
History:
- Guisso. First Emperor
- Franck. Silk Road
Poetry Anthologies:
- Columbia 1
- Sunflower
- Rexroth. Love and the Turning Year
- Rexroth. Orchid Boat
- Waley. Translations from the Chinese
North and South Dynasties, Sui, Tang (220-907)
Poetry Anthologies:
- Columbia 1
- Sunflower
- Rexroth. 100 Poems from the Chinese
- Rexroth. Love
- Rexroth. Orchid
- Waley. Translations
- Whincup. Heart of Chinese Poetry
Poetry, individual works:
- Tzu Yeh. Gold Orchid (tr. Mayhew & McNaughton), Lotus Lovers (tr. Hamill)
- New Songs from a Jade Terrace (tr. Birrell)
- Jade Mountain (tr. Bynner)
- Han Shan. Cold Mountain Poems (tr. Watson; Snyder)
- Li Po. Poems (tr. Obata; Cooper)
- Tu Fu. Poems (tr. Cooper)
- Wang Wei. Poems (tr. Chang and Walmsley; Robinson),
Nineteen Ways of Looking at Wang Wei
- Po Chu-i. Poems (tr. Waley)
Religion:
Much of early Buddhist literature is Indian, but I
read it with my Chinese reading in order to understand this aspect of
Chinese culture
- Humphreys. Buddhism
- Rahula. What the Buddha Taught
- Dhammapada (tr. Mascaro; Easwaran)
- Jatakas (selected) (tr. Martin in Hungry Tigress)
- Buddhist Scriptures (tr. Conze)
- Vimalakirti Nirdesa Sutra (tr. Luk)
- Lotus Sutra(tr. Hurwitz)
- Diamond Sutra (tr. Price and Wong in Diamond Sutra
and the Sutra of Hui Neng; Nhat Hanh in Diamond that Cuts Through
Illusion)
- Heart Sutra (tr. Conze in Buddhist
Scriptures; Suzuki in Manual of Zen Buddhism;
Nhat Hanh in Heart of Understanding)
- Suzuki, D. T. Introduction to Zen Buddhism,
Manual of Zen Buddhism
- Suzuki, S. Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind
- Watts, Alan. Spirit of Zen, Way of Zen
- Bodhidharma. (tr. Red Pine)
- Hui Neng. Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch
(tr. Price and Wong in Diamond Sutra and the Sutra of Hui Neng)
- Wu-men-kuan (Mumonkan) (tr. Sekida in Two Zen Classics)
- Pi-yen-lu (Hekiganroku) (tr. Sekida in Two Zen Classics)
- Lin-chi. (Rinzai) (tr. Watson)
- Nhat Hanh, Thich. Being Peace, Peace is Every Step
Song and Yuan Dynasties (907-1368)
Poetry Anthologies:
- Columbia 1
- Chaves. Columbia Book of Later Chinese Poetry (Columbia 2)
- Sunflower
- Rexroth. 100
- Rexroth. Love
- Rexroth. Orchid
- Waley. Translations
Poetry, individual works:
- Su Tung-po. Poems (tr. Watson)
- Li Ching-chao. Poems (tr. Rexroth),
Lotus Lovers (tr. Hamill)
Art:
- Lee, Sherman. History of Far Eastern Art
- Sze, Mai-mai. Tao of Painting
Philosophy:
- Zhu Xi. Conversations of Master Chu (selections)
(tr. Gardner in Learning to be a Sage)
Drama:
- Wang Shi-fu. Hsi-hsiang chi (Romance of the Western
Chamber) (tr. Hsiung)
Ming Dynasty (1368-1644):
Poetry Anthologies:
- Columbia 2
- Sunflower
- Rexroth. Love
- Rexroth. Orchid
Drama:
- Tang Xianzu. Peony Pavilion (tr. Birch)
Novels:
- Luo Guanzhong. Sanguo Yanyi (Romance of the Three Kingdoms)
(tr. Roberts [Abridged])
- Wu Cheng-en (Wu Chengen). Xiyou Ji (Journey to the West)
(tr. Waley, Monkey, abridged; Kherdian, Monkey,
a "retelling")
- Anonymous. Jin Ping Mei (Golden Lotus) (tr. Egerton, complete
and unexpurgated, 1972)
Qing Dynasty (1644-1800)
History:
- Spence. Search for Modern China (1600-1989)
- Spence. Death of Woman Wang
- Spence. Question of Hu
- Shen Fu. Six Records of a Floating Life
Poetry Anthologies:
- Columbia 2 (p. 377-475)
- Sunflower (p. 476-505)
- Rexroth. Love (p. 113-119)
- Rexroth. Orchid (p. 66-83) [Read up to 1912]
Novels:
- Li Yu. Rou Putuan (Carnal Prayer Mat)(tr. Hanan)
- Cao Xueqin. Hong Lou Meng (Dream of the Red Chamber)
(tr. Hawkes as Story of the Stone, complete)
Qing Dynasty (1800-1911)
History:
- China Yesterday and Today(pp. 129-191)
Republic (1912-1949)
History:
- Cotterell (pp. 238-283)
- China Yesterday and Today (pp. 192-302)
- Rius. Mao for Beginners
- Snow, Edgar. Red Star Over China
- Salisbury. Long March
Poetry Anthologies:
- Sunflower (p. 505-522)
- Rexroth. Orchid (p. 84-120) [Read to present day]
Fiction:
- Lu Xun (Lu Hsun). Diary of a Madman and True Story of Ah Q
- Ba Jin (Pa Chin). Cold Nights
People's Republic (1949- )
History:
- Cotterell (pp. 284-322)
- China Yesterday and Today (pp. 303-506)
- Salisbury. New Emperors
- Hinton. Fanshen, Shenfan
- Bette Bao Lord. Legacies
- Chang. Wild Swans
Drama:
- Lao She. Teahouse
Fiction:
- Lao She. Camel Xiangzi (Rickshaw)
- Zhang Xian-ling. Half of Man is Woman
- Ding Ling. I Myself am a Woman
- Li Ang. Butcher's Wife
- Mo Yan. Red Sorghum
- Salzman. Iron and Silk, Laughing Sutra
Chinese Americans
History:
- Takaki. Strangers from a Different Shore
- Chinn. Bridging the Pacific
Literature:
- McCunn, Ruthanne Lum. Thousand Pieces of Gold
- Kingston, Maxine Hong. Woman Warrior,
China Men, Tripmaster Monkey
- Tan, Amy. Joy Luck Club, Kitchen God's Wife
- Hwang, David. M. Butterfly
- Chin, Frank. Donald Duk
- Ng. Bone
