"No praise could be too high for the accomplishment of Birch and Keene The translations, many by acknowledged masters in the field, are uniformly good."

--Choice

"This volume...is the first true anthology in English of Chinese literature, and is enjoyable, informative, and last but not least, readable to the student and the general reader alike Poetry, prose, drama and fiction are adequately represented."

--Library lournal

CYRIL BIRCH has taught Chinese language and literature at the School of Oriental and African Studies of the University of London, and until his retirement in 1990 he was the Agassiz Professor of Oriental Languages at Berkeley. He has also taught as a visiting professor at many universities, including Stanford, National Taiwan University, and the Universities of Hawaii and Melbourne, and has held research fellowships at the Hoover Institution, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

INTRODUCTION

CHOU DYNASTY

HAN DYNASTY

PERIOD OF DIVISION

T'ANG DYNASTY

SUNG DYNASTY

YUAN DYNASTY