Why do people en joy reading The Collection of 300 Tang Poems？
2 min readIn Chinese literature，the Tang Dynasty is considered the golden age of Chinesepoetry.The Collection of 300 Tang Poems was compiled by Sun Zhu around 1763.
Sun compiled this collection due to his dissatisfaction with the then popular textbook called Poems by a Thousand Poets. Sun made his own selection from a large number of Tang poems，most of which are the poets’best works.
Moreover，most that he selected are written in relatively simple language and are easy to understand.Sun’s collection became a”best seller”soon after its publication.Nearly every Chinese household owns a copy of the collection，and parents often encourage their children to memorize the poems.There is a popular saying that，“If you learn the 300 Tang Poems by heart，you can chant poetry though you are not a poet.”
How much do you know about episodic novels in the Ming and Qing dynasties？
The traditional Chinese novel developed as a literary form during the Ming and Qing dynasties.It is episodic in nature，relating the adventures of a large number of characters in a string of loosely connected events.Its thematic range is broad，including historical romances，chivalric tales，ghost stories，social satires and love stories.Most of the novels depend heavily on the ancient tradition of popular storytellers in the marketplaces and teahouses.This dependence results in two consequences.The first is that the long，episodic novels are strong in fascinating detail but weak in unified plot.The second is that the authors tend to be collectors，editors，and adaptors of earlier materials.There follows a few of the best-known novels that still remain popular among current Chinese readers.
