East Asian classics and thought

Chinese and Japanese classic novels, poets and thinkers, from Confucius to The Tale of Genji.

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• A Monk, a Monkey King, a Pig and 81 Ordeals: Getting to Know China's Journey to the West

  Journey to the West is a 16th-century Chinese novel about the monk Tang Sanzang and the Monkey King Sun Wukong. Origins, plot, characters and idioms.

• Du Fu, the Poet-Historian: How a Failed Exam Candidate Became China's Voice of War and Compassion

  Du Fu (712–770), Li Bai's friend and the Tang poet called the Poet-Sage, wrote of war, exile and ordinary suffering. His life and the poem A Spring View.

• In Spring, the Dawn: Sei Shōnagon's Pillow Book, Its Lists and the Court of Empress Teishi

  The Pillow Book is Sei Shōnagon's collection of lists, anecdotes and musings from Empress Teishi's court around 1000. Author, contents and legacy.

• Li Bai, the Immortal of Poetry: Moonlight, Wine and the Tang Poet Every Chinese Child Knows

  Li Bai (701–762), the Tang poet called the Immortal of Poetry: his wandering life, his friendship with Du Fu, and the moonlight poem children learn.

• Matsuo Bashō and the Frog Haiku: The Wandering Poet Who Made Haiku Famous

  Matsuo Bashō (1644–1694), Japan's master of haiku, wrote the frog-and-pond poem and The Narrow Road to the Deep North. His life and how to read his poems.

• Mencius, Confucianism's Second Sage: Why He Believed People Are Born Good and Bad Rulers Can Be Removed

  Mencius (c.371–289 BC), Confucianism's Second Sage, taught that human nature is good and the people matter more than rulers. His life and ideas.

• Princess Kaguya and the Five Impossible Tasks: Reading The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, Japan's Oldest Monogatari

  The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, by an unknown Heian author, follows Kaguya-hime from a glowing stalk to the Moon. Story, people, themes and legacy.

• Romance of the Three Kingdoms for Beginners: The Story, Heroes and History Behind China's Epic

  Romance of the Three Kingdoms is the classic Chinese novel about the wars between Wei, Shu and Wu. A beginner's guide to the story, heroes and real history.

• Sima Qian and the Records of the Grand Historian: The Price One Man Paid to Finish China's First Great History

  Sima Qian (c.145–86 BC), father of Chinese historiography, chose castration over death to finish the Shiji, a history of China told through lives. His story.

• Su Shi in Exile: How the Song Dynasty Poet Su Dongpo Turned Banishment Into His Best Work

  Su Shi (1037–1101), or Su Dongpo, was a Song poet, essayist and calligrapher who was exiled again and again, and wrote his finest work far from court.

• The Bells of Gion Shōja: The Tale of the Heike, the Fall of the Taira and the Blind Biwa Singers Who Kept It Alive

  The Tale of the Heike tells of the Taira clan's fall in the Genpei War (1180–1185), shaped by biwa-playing monks around one idea: nothing lasts.

• The Tale of Genji for First-Time Readers: Murasaki Shikibu's Heian Court Story and the Shining Prince

  The Tale of Genji, by Murasaki Shikibu in 11th-century Japan, follows the Shining Prince and the women in his life. A first-time reader's guide.

• Wang Xizhi, the Sage of Calligraphy: The Orchid Pavilion Party and the Masterpiece Nobody Has Seen for 1,300 Years

  Wang Xizhi (c.303–361) is seen as China's greatest calligrapher. The Orchid Pavilion gathering, his Lantingji Xu, and why only copies survive.

• Was Laozi a Real Person? The Mystery Behind the Tao Te Ching

  Nobody can prove Laozi existed. Here is what the old biography says, what buried manuscripts reveal, and why the Tao Te Ching still speaks to readers.

• Water Margin, China's Great Outlaw Novel: 108 Heroes, Mount Liang and the Mystery of Shi Nai'an

  Water Margin is a Ming-dynasty Chinese novel, attributed to Shi Nai'an, about 108 outlaws on Mount Liang. Plot, heroes, authorship debate and influence.

• What Did Confucius Actually Teach? The Wandering Teacher Who Never Wrote His Own Book

  Confucius taught that people become good through study, ritual and care for others. Here is his life in Lu, his years on the road, and what the Analects says.

• What Is The Art of War Really About? Sun Tzu's 2,500-Year-Old Guide to Winning Without Fighting

  The Art of War is an ancient Chinese treatise in 13 chapters that treats war as costly and a last resort. What it says, and why CEOs still read it.

• Who Was Bai Juyi? The Tang Poet Who Rewrote Poems Until Ordinary People Understood

  Bai Juyi (772–846) wrote over 2,800 poems in plain, almost spoken Chinese, from the Song of Everlasting Sorrow to satires on greedy officials.

• Why Is Dream of the Red Chamber China's Greatest Novel? Plot, Ending and the Mystery of the Last 40 Chapters

  Cao Xueqin's novel follows a rich family's fall and the doomed love of Baoyu and Daiyu. The plot, the ending, and who wrote the last 40 chapters.

• Why Is Wang Wei Called the Poet Buddha? The Tang Painter Whose Poems Hold Pictures

  Wang Wei (699–761) was a Tang poet, painter and musician whose quiet landscape poems earned him the title Poet Buddha. His life, his war, and his legacy.