Studies in Chinese Literary Genres

Edited by Cyril Birch, Studies in Chinese Literary Genres is a landmark collection that foregrounds genre as the key to understanding the evolution of China’s literary tradition. Eleven leading scholars trace the histories, functions, and transformations of forms ranging from the earliest Shih-ching hymns to late imperial novels. Each essay isolates defining features—metrical, thematic, or rhetorical—that reveal how genres both guided writers and conditioned readers’ expectations, while also providing the pressure points at which innovation and literary history emerge.

With contributions by Hans H. Frankel on yüeh-fu poetry, James J. Y. Liu on the tz’u lyric, David Hawkes on archetypes in the Ch’u-tz’u, Patrick Hanan on early hua-pen fiction, Jaroslav Prušek on storytelling culture, G. T. Hsia on “military romances,” and others, the volume models approaches that balance native Chinese criticism with comparative and theoretical insights drawn from Western traditions. For students and specialists alike, this collection demonstrates how close attention to genre illuminates not only the form and meaning of individual works, but also the broader trajectory of Chinese literary history. It remains essential reading for anyone seeking a rigorous yet flexible framework for the study of China’s vast and varied literary heritage.

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1974.