This book consists of eight articles on Chinese literature (six from the Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies), most of which have long been out of print. Since they have been generally recognized as basic studies of their respective topics, there was an obvious need to make them conveniently available in a single volume. While in no sense a survey of Chinese literature, the content of the articles ranges from the Six Dynasties period (222–589 AD) to the seventeenth century and includes studies of poetry, prose styles, and colloquial fiction, in some cases providing extensive translations.