A field guide to Chinese literary arts
Old words.
New worlds.
一卷风雅 · 千年回响
Follow a line of poetry into a landscape, a memory, another life. Six doors into the imagination of classical China—open to every curious reader.
01 / Choose a form
Six ways to enter.
Begin with a form that catches your eye. Inside, meet its writers by dynasty and open a work to read.
01 / THE COLLECTIONShi poetry
诗Mountains, moonlight and the pull of home. Discover how a handful of measured lines can open an entire world.
02 / THE COLLECTIONCi lyrics
词Intimate memories and expansive feelings, shaped by the changing line lengths of inherited tune patterns.
03 / THE COLLECTIONQu & drama
曲与戏剧From a traveller’s song to a scene on the stage: poetry that speaks, sings and performs.
04 / THE COLLECTIONFu & rhapsody
赋Lavish description, rhythmic language and searching thought meet in a form between verse and prose.
05 / THE COLLECTIONClassical prose
古文An argument, a landscape, a remembered room. Explore writing that gives thought its lasting shape.
06 / THE COLLECTIONClassical fiction
古典小说Journey through kingdoms, enchanted landscapes and intimate households, where imagined lives illuminate human choices.
Ideas & traditions
诸子百家
Hundred Schools of Thought
What makes a good life or a just government? Explore ten intellectual traditions through their questions, thinkers and annotated readings.
Books & their afterlives
典籍书目
Classical Text Catalogue
Discover 140 texts across philosophy, history, stories and the sciences. Open a book for its origins, selected passages and appreciation.
02 / Explore through time
Choose your path through the centuries.
Start with literature or with thought and classical books. Each route opens its own period directory, with clear links to the readings inside.
Literary works
Literature by dynasty
历代文苑 · Lì dài wén yuàn
Poetry, lyrics, drama, fu, prose and fiction. Choose an age, then a form, a writer and a work.
11 periods · 152 readings · 6 literary formsOpen the literature directory ↗
Ideas & classical texts
Thought & books by period
思想与典籍 · Sī xiǎng yǔ diǎn jí
Find Hundred Schools readings and classical books by the period of their formation or transmission.
Hundred Schools of Thought · Classical Text CatalogueOpen the thought & books timeline ↗
03 / A quiet place to begin
The moon is a way home.
Li Bai · Quiet Night · Complete poem
床前明月光，
Bright moonlight lies before my bed;
疑是地上霜。
I wonder if it is frost upon the ground.
举头望明月，
I raise my head to the shining moon,
低头思故乡。
then lower it, thinking of home.
Read one line at a time.
Pinyin sits above the Chinese, with the corresponding English meaning immediately below. Each work has detailed historical context and a close reading, with clear distinctions between documented events, later traditions and interpretation.
Choose your reading length.
Poems, lyrics, songs, fu, essays and short tales appear complete. Novels and full-length plays have clearly identified selections. Each reading states its scope.
Beyond these six rooms.
Chinese word arts also include couplets (对联, duìlián), inscriptions and the visual art of calligraphy (书法, shūfǎ). They often carry poetry and prose into gardens, homes and everyday life.