Literature
Chinese literature extends back thousands of years, from the earliest recorded dynastic court archives to the mature fictional novel that arose during the Ming Dynasty to entertain the masses of literate Chinese. The introduction of widespread woodblock printing during the Tang Dynasty (618-907) and the invention of movable type printing by Bi Sheng (990-1051) during the Song Dynasty (960-1279) rapidly spread written knowledge throughout China like never before. In more modern times, the author Lu Xun (1881-1936) would be considered the founder of modern baihua literature in China.
Classical texts
China has a wealth of classical literature, dating from the Eastern Zhou Dynasty (770-256 BCE) and including the Classics, whose compilation is attributed to Confucius. Among the most important classics in Chinese literature is the book of changes (易經，易经), a manual of divination based on eight trigrams attributed to the mythical emperor Fu Xi. The I Ching is still used by adherents of folk religion. The Classic of Poetry (詩經，诗经) is made up of 305 poems divided into 160 folk songs; 74 minor festal songs, traditionally sung at court festivities; 31 major festal songs, sung at more solemn court ceremonies; and 40 hymns and eulogies, sung at sacrifices to gods and ancestral spirits of the royal house. The Classic of History (書經，书经) is a collection of documents and speeches alleged to have been written by rulers and officials of the early Zhou period and before. It contains the best examples of early Chinese prose. The "Record of Rites" (禮記，礼记), a restoration of the original Classic of Rites (禮記), lost in the3rd century BC, describes ancient rites and court ceremonies. The Spring and Autumn Annals (春秋) is a historical record of the principality of Lu, Confucius' native state, from 722 to 479 B.C.. It is a log of concise entries probably compiled by Confucius himself. The Analects of Confucius (論語，论语) is a book of pithy sayings attributed to Confucius and recorded by his disciples. There were also important Daoist classics that were written in later periods, such as the Huainanzi （淮南子）written by Liu An in the 2nd century BC, during the Han Dynasty. The Huainanzi was also one of the earliest Chinese texts to cover topics of Chinese geography and topography.
In the realm of martial classics, the Art of War (孫子兵法，孙子兵法) by Sun Tzu in the 6th century BC marks the first milestone in the tradition of Chinese military treatises written in following ages, such as the Wujing Zongyao (武經總要，武经总要; 1044 AD) and the Huolongjing (火龍神器陣法，火龙神器阵法; written before 1375 when Liu Ji died, preface in 1412 AD). Furthermore, the Art of War is perhaps the first to outline guidelines for effective international diplomacy. The other two works, the Wujing Zongyao and Huolongjing, are invaluable written works for the understanding of the gradual development of early Chinese gunpowder warfare.
Classical Poetry
Su Shi (1037-1101), a famous Song Dynasty poet and statesman.
Among the earliest and most influential poetic anthologies was the Chuci (楚辭，楚辞) (Songs of Chu), made up primarily of poems ascribed to the semi-legendary Qu Yuan (屈原) (ca. 340-278 B.C.) and his follower Song Yu (宋玉) (fourth century B.C.). The songs in this collection are more lyrical and romantic and represent a different tradition from the earlier Shijing. During the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-A.D. 220), this form evolved into the fu (賦，赋) , a poem usually in rhymed verse except for introductory and concluding passages that are in prose, often in the form of questions and answers. The era of disunity that followed the Han period saw the rise of romantic nature poetry heavily influenced by Taoism. The Han Chinese astronomer, mathematician, and inventor Zhang Heng (78-139 AD) was also largely responsible for the early development of Shi (詩，诗) poetry.
Classical poetry reached its zenith during the Tang Dynasty (A.D. 618-907). The early Tang period was best known for its "lushi" 律诗 (regulated verse), an eight-line poem with five or seven words in each line; Zi (verse following strict rules of prosody); and jueju （绝句）(truncated verse), a four-line poem with five or seven words in each line. The two best-known poets of the period were Li Bai (701-762) and Du Fu (712-770). Li Bai was known for the romanticism of his poetry; Du Fu was seen as a Confucian moralist with a strict sense of duty toward society. Later Tang poets developed greater realism and social criticism and refined the art of narration. One of the best known of the later Tang poets was Bai Juyi (772-846), whose poems were an inspired and critical comment on the society of his time.
Subsequent writers of classical poetry lived under the shadow of their great Tang predecessors, and although there were many fine poets in subsequent dynasties, none reached the level of this period. As the classical style of poetry became more stultified, a more flexible poetic medium, the ci (詞，词), arrived on the scene. The ci, a poetic form based on the tunes of popular songs, some of Central Asian origin, was developed to its fullest by the poets of the Song Dynasty (960-1279 AD). The Song era poet Su Shi (1037-1101 AD) mastered ci, shi, and fu forms of poetry, as well as prose, calligraphy, and painting.
As the ci gradually became more literary and artificial after Song times, Chinese Sanqu poetry, a more free form, based on dramatic arias, developed. The use of sanqu songs in drama marked an important step in the development of vernacular literature.
Book Market
China buys many foreign book rights; nearly 16 million copies of the Sixth book of the Harry Potter were sold in Chinese translation. As China Book Review reported, the rights to 9,328 foreign titles - many children's books - went to China in 2007. China is nominated as Guest Of Honour of the Frankfurt Bookfair in 2009.
The book market in China traditionally works with book-ordering during the bookfairs as the country lacks a national book ordering system. In 2006, 6.8 million titles were sold, not including unknown number of banned titles, bootleg copies and underground publishing factories (3.3 % less than 2005). There are no fixed prices, although prices are printed on the books.
Private publishing is tolerated. Apart from the 570 public publishers, these small ones jump onto the expanding book market. 20% of all bestsellers were online first (sic!) in China, as the country's laws regarding the internet are more liberal than those covering printed material. Private Publishing can collect authors and themes. This is also the - in China new - role of a Literary agent and literature scout.
According to The Guardian (British newspaper), the cultural life of the 1.3 billion people who live and work in this economic superpower remains a closed book to many in the west - their bestselling authors unfamiliar, their most exciting writers untranslated. However, in 2005, the Chinese government started a sponsoring program for translations of government-approved Chinese works - which already worked out for more than 200 books from Chinese into another language.
220,000 books were published in 2005 as the middle class becomes more economically viable. Beijing Book City, for example, which are the size of department stores, employs about 700 people and carries 230,000 titles on the shelves.
From alltogether 579 publishers - which is almost five times more than thirty years ago - today 225 are supervised by ministeries, commissions or the army; agencies controll 348 publishers; six are even more independent. On the other hand 100 000 just private bookstores bring in the half of the income for the bookindustry.
The central publishing houses belonging to ministeries or (other) government institutions have their main seat at Beijing (40 Prozent of all publishers). Most regional publishers are situated in the capitals of the provinces: each has one per subject, such as STM, school books etc. Also on the national line there are specialisations by subject - and: universities do have publishing connected, often for science. 7 percent of all publishers are at Shanghai. Many titels from the pulishers at the provinces can only be found there: a national distribution system is lacking. But - also many of the large number of publishers at the provinces belong to the very big, successful ones. Their deep reformes such as in marketing, selling, advertisment improved the market situation. While traditionally, in the command economy, just the editorial office was extemely strong