Four Great Classical Novels
四大古典名著
The Four Great Classical Novels of China, refer to the four masterpieces “Water Margin”, “Dream of Red Chamber”, “The Romance of the Three Kingdoms” and ” Monkey King: Journey to the West”. They are not only important masterpieces in the history of Chinese literature but have also become one of the important components of Chinese culture and traditional aesthetics.
中国古典长篇小说四大古典名著，简称四大古典名著，是指《水浒传》《红楼梦》《三国演义》《西游记》这四部巨著。它们不仅是中国文学史上的重要代表作，也成为了中国文化和传统美学的重要组成部分之一。
The Water Margin《水浒传》
“The Water Margin” is a novel written in the late Yuan Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty. The book tells the story of how a group 108 heroes rebel against the government. Later they are granted amnesty and enlisted by the government to resist the nomadic conquest of the Liao dynasty and other rebels. It also reveals the social roots of the uprising and the internal historical reasons for the failure of the uprising.
《水浒传》是元末明初编著的长篇小说。全书通过描写梁山好汉反抗欺压、梁山壮大和受宋朝招安，以及受招安后为宋朝征战，最终消亡的宏大故事. 小说同时也揭示了起义的社会根源和起义失败的内在历史原因.
Dream of the Red Chamber《红楼梦》
“Dream of Red Chamber“, an ancient Chinese chapter novel, is the first of the four Chinese classics. The novel takes the rise and fall of the four major families of Jia, Shi, Wang and Xue as the background, takes the tragedy of love and marriage between Jia Baoyu, Lin Daiyu and Xue Baochai as the main line. The various aspects of life show the true beauty of humanity and tragedy. It is an epic work that shows the various aspects of ancient Chinese society from all angles. In China there is Redology which is the academic study of Cao Xueqin’s Dream of the Red Chamber. There are numerous researchers who give different perspectives and motivations in this field.
《红楼梦》，中国古代章回体长篇小说，中国古典四大名著之首。小说以贾、史、王、薛四大家族的兴衰为背景，以贾宝玉与林黛玉、薛宝钗的爱情婚姻悲剧为主线，描绘了一些闺阁佳人的人生百态，展现了真正的人性美和悲剧美，是一部从各个角度展现中国古代社会百态的史诗性著作. 在中国， 还设有专门研究《红楼梦》的红学会，有众多研究人员在此领域贡献了不同角度的不同看法。
The Romance of the Three Kingdoms《三国演义》
“The Romance of the Three Kingdoms” is China’s first chapter-length novel. The story begins with the uprising of the Yellow Turbans and ends with the Sima family’s destruction of Wu and the beginning of the Jin Dynasty. It mainly describes wars, reflects the political and military struggles between the three political groups of Wei, Shu Han, and Wu, and shows the recent period from the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty to the early years of the Western Jin Dynasty. A hundred years of historical events which successfully created a group of all-powerful heroes.
《三国演义》是中国第一部长篇章回体小说。故事开始黄巾兵起义，结束于司马氏灭吴开晋，以描写战争为主，反映了魏、蜀汉、吴三个政治集团之间的政治和军事斗争，展现了从东汉末年到西晋初年之间近一百年的历史风云，并成功塑造了一批叱咤风云的英雄人物。
Monkey King: Journey to the West《西游记》
“Monkey King: Journey to the West” is the first romantic chapter-length novel about gods and demons in ancient China. The novel mainly tells the story of Monkey king’s birth, his training, and his wreaking havoc in the Heavenly Palace. He then meets Tang Monk, Zhu Bajie, Sha Monk, and White Dragon Horse, and travelled westward to obtain Buddhist scriptures. He experienced dangers along the way, conquered demons, and experienced eighty-one hardships. After a difficult time, he finally reached the Western Heaven and saw Tathagata Buddha, and finally the Five Saints came true. The novel is based on the historical event of “Xuan Zang’s Pursuit of Buddhist Scriptures”, and through the author’s artistic processing, it profoundly depicts the social life conditions of the people in the Ming Dynasty. The Monkey Magic TV series is also based on the novel “Journey to the West”.
《西游记》是中国古代第一部浪漫主义章回体长篇神魔小说。该小说主要讲述了孙悟空出世，学艺及大闹天宫后，遇见了唐僧、猪八戒、沙僧和白龙马，西行取经，一路上历经艰险，降妖除魔，经历了九九八十一难，终于到达西天见到如来佛祖，最终五圣成真的故事。该小说以“玄奘取经” 这一历史事件为蓝本，经作者的艺术加工，深刻地描绘出明代百姓的社会生活状况。
