Before 221 BC It is often difficult or impossible to precisely date pre-Qin works beyond their being "pre-Qin", a period of 1000 years. Information in ancient China was often by oral tradition and passed down from generations before so was rarely written down, so the older the composition of the texts may not be in a chronological order as that which was arranged and presented by their attributed "authors". The below list is therefore organized in the order which is found in the
Siku Quanshu (
Complete Library of the Four Treasuries), the encyclopedic collation of the works found in the imperial library of the Qing dynasty under the
Qianlong Emperor. The
Siku Quanshu classifies all works into 4 top-level branches: the Confucian Classics and their secondary literature; history; philosophy; and poetry. There are sub-categories within each branch, but due to the small number of pre-Qin works in the Classics, History and Poetry branches, the sub-categories are only reproduced for the Philosophy branch.
Classics branch History branch Philosophy branch The philosophical typology of individual pre-imperial texts has in every case been applied retroactively, rather than consciously within the text itself. The categorization of works of these genera has been highly contentious, especially in modern times. Many modern scholars reject the continued usefulness of this model as a heuristic for understanding the shape of the intellectual landscape of the time.
Poetry After 206 BC • The
Twenty-Four Histories, a collection of authoritative histories of China for various dynasties: • The
Records of the Grand Historian by
Sima Qian • The
Book of Han by
Ban Gu. • The
Book of Later Han by
Fan Ye • The
Records of Three Kingdoms by
Chen Shou • The
Book of Jin by
Fang Xuanling • The
Book of Song by
Shen Yue • The
Book of Southern Qi by
Xiao Zixian • The
Book of Liang by
Yao Silian • The
Book of Chen by
Yao Silian • The
History of the Southern Dynasties by
Li Yanshou • The
Book of Wei by
Wei Shou • The
Book of Zhou by
Linghu Defen • The
Book of Northern Qi by
Li Baiyao • The
History of the Northern Dynasties by
Li Yanshou • The
Book of Sui by
Wei Zheng • The
Old Book of Tang by
Liu Xu • The
New Book of Tang by
Ouyang Xiu • The
Old History of Five Dynasties by
Xue Juzheng • The
New History of Five Dynasties by
Ouyang Xiu • The
History of Song by
Toqto'a • The
History of Liao by Toqto'a • The
History of Jin by
Toqto'a • The
History of Yuan by
Song Lian • The
History of Ming by
Zhang Tingyu • The
Draft History of Qing by
Zhao Erxun is usually referred as the 25th classic of history records • The
New History of Yuan by
Ke Shaomin is sometimes referred as the 26th classic of history records • The
Chronicles of Huayang, an old record of ancient history and tales of southwestern China, attributed to
Chang Qu. • The
Biographies of Exemplary Women, a biographical collection of exemplary women in ancient China, compiled by
Liu Xiang. • The
Spring and Autumn Annals of the Sixteen Kingdoms, a historical record of the
Sixteen Kingdoms, attributed to Cui Hong, is lost. • The
Shiming, is a dictionary compiled by Liu Xi by the end of 2nd century. •
A New Account of the Tales of the World, a collection of historical anecdotes and character sketches of some 600 literati, musicians, and painters. • The
Thirty-Six Strategies, a military strategy book attributed to
Tan Daoji. •
The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons, a review book on ancient Chinese literature and writings by
Liu Xie. • The
Commentary on the Water Classic, a book on hydrology of rivers in China attributed to the great geographer
Li Daoyuan. • The
Dialogues between Li Jing and Tang Taizong, a military strategy book attributed to
Li Jing • The
Zizhi Tongjian, with
Sima Guang as its main editor. • The
Spring and Autumn Annals of Wu and Yue, a historical record of the states of
Wu and
Yue during the
Spring and Autumn period, attributed to Zhao Ye. • The
Zhenguan Zhengyao, a record of governance strategies and leadership of
Emperor Taizong of Tang, attributed to Wu Jing. • The
Jiaoshi Yilin, a work modeled after the
I Ching, composed during the
Western Han dynasty and attributed to Jiao Yanshou. •
The Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art, a mathematics Chinese book composed by several generations scholars of
Han dynasty. • The
Thousand Character Classic, attributed to Zhou Xingsi. • The
Treatise on Astrology of the Kaiyuan Era, compiled by
Gautama Siddha, is a Chinese encyclopedia on astrology and divination. • The
Shitong, written by
Liu Zhiji, a work on historiography. • The
Tongdian, written by
Du You, a contemporary text focused on the
Tang dynasty. • The
Tang Huiyao, compiled by
Wang Pu, a text based on the institutional history of the Tang dynasty. • The
Great Tang Records on the Western Regions, compiled by
Bianji; a recount of
Xuanzang's journey. • The
Miscellaneous Morsels from Youyang, written by
Duan Chengshi, records fantastic stories, anecdotes, and exotic customs. • The
Four Great Books of Song, a term referring to the four large compilations during the beginning of
Song dynasty: • The
Taiping Yulan, a
leishu encyclopedia. • The
Taiping Guangji, a collection of folk tales and
theology. • The
Wenyuan Yinghua, an
anthology of poetry, odes, songs and other writings. • The
Cefu Yuangui, a
leishu encyclopedia of political essays,
autobiographies,
memorials and
decrees. • The
Dream Pool Essays, a collection of essays on science, technology, military strategies, history, politics, music and arts, written by
Shen Kuo. • The
Tiangong Kaiwu, an
encyclopedia compiled by
Song Yingxing. • The
Compendium of Materia Medica, a classic book of medicine written by
Li Shizhen. • The
Complete Library of the Four Treasuries, the largest compilation of literature in Chinese history. • The
New Songs from the Jade Terrace, a poetry collection from the
Six Dynasties period. • The
Complete Tang Poems, compiled during the
Qing dynasty, published in 1705. • The
Xiaolin Guangji, a collection of jokes compiled during the Qing dynasty.
See also •
List of early Chinese texts •
Kaicheng Stone Classics •
Old Text School == References ==