Page 3 - EALC C306/505

Introduction

This set of readings comprises the first of a two-part online textbook in Literary Chinese
(wényánwén 文言文) intended for students who have no prior background in the written language
of traditional China. The lessons were developed for classroom use, but I imagine they could be
helpful to a student studying individually. There are a number of good commercial textbooks of
wényánwén and I don’t intend these materials to compete with them. Having compiled and used
this text over years of teaching, however, it seems more useful to make it available than to file it
away on a flash drive in a drawer. Any teacher or student using these materials should be aware
that they are limited by my own wényánwén skills, a very elementary grasp of linguistics, and the
difficulty of correcting errors without introducing new ones.

The two parts of the texts are designed for different purposes. In Part One, which has fourteen
lessons, all but the last are presented so as to lay great emphasis on grammar. Most of these lessons
are intended to introduce as much of the basic syntax of “Classical” Chinese – that is, the language
of the Warring States and Former Hàn eras – as possible, as well as a broad range of basic
vocabulary. Classical era texts comprised the core of the traditional education system, and although
wényánwén evolved through countless styles over the succeeding two millennia, the Classical texts
remained a common reference point for writers. It seems to me that students gain the greatest initial
leverage over all wényánwén by becoming familiar with the syntax of Classical Chinese. However,
since it is also true that I am by far most comfortable with Classical era wényánwén myself, this
may simply be a rationalization of a preference dictated by my particular skills. Others believe Late
Imperial wényánwén is the best route into the language.

For most lessons in Part One, the main text has been photocopied from traditional editions and
minimal punctuation has been added (generally restricted to periods, commas, and colons). The
text is followed by a glossary, and then, with the exception of the final lesson (which was added as
a brief end-of-term exercise for classes that worked through the rest of the text more rapidly than
anticipated), there is a grammar section and exercises (which are glossed, but the “answers” to
which are not provided). A list of all grammatical patterns is included as Appendix I, and a
compilation of the glossaries by stroke count appears in Appendix II.

While I have anticipated that students would normally have some experience with Modern Chinese,
or Mandarin, I have not assumed much. Modern Mandarin readings in pinyin transcription is used
throughout (a very brief descriptive guide to pinyin follows on page iv). I have assumed an
understanding of the four Mandarin tones (first-tone syllables are unmarked in Part One, but
indicated in Part Two). Apart from the basic numbers, all vocabulary is glossed. An asterisk
appearing before a vocabulary item indicates that the character in question has been encountered
before, but with a different meaning, and sometimes with a different pronunciation. Occasional
reference is made to Modern Chinese where it might seem illuminating to students familiar with
Mandarin, but true beginners – and especially those with some background in Japanese – should be
able to make their way through the material.

The content, organization, and goals of Part Two are different (as are some typographical
conventions), and are indicated in the introduction there. Although the final versions of the two
parts were created close in time, their periods of development actually diverge by over 20 years.

ii