四大名著 

　　明清时代，古典小说蓬勃发展。出现了中国文学史上的“四大名著”，它们是《三国演义》、《水浒传》、《西游记》和《红楼梦》。

　　《三国演义》原名《三国志通俗演义》，是著名的历史小说，作者罗贯中依据民间流传的三国故事和历史著作《三国志》创作而成。罗贯中，元末明初人。小说主要描写的是曹操、孙权、刘备割据一方，形成三国鼎立局面的故事，是中国第一部章回体长篇历史小说。

    桃园结义图(《三国演义》) An illustration from

    Three kingdoms: Emperor Liu Bei, Guan Yu and

    Zhang Fei forming a pact of friendship to death.

　　《水浒传》又叫《忠义水浒传》，与《三国演义》差不多同时出现，是施耐庵根据北宋末年宋江起义的故事加工而成的长篇小说。小说以“官逼民反”为主题，描写了水泊梁山108名英雄好汉起义的故事，揭露了封建统治者的残忍与腐朽，歌颂了好汉们除暴安良的英雄行为。

武松打虎(《水浒传》) An illustration from Outlaws of the Marsh.

　　《西游记》是明朝人吴承恩把唐僧取经的故事和民间传说相结合写成的。小说描写了曾经大闹天宫的神猴孙悟空护送师父唐僧去西天取经，在途中经历了九九八十一难，最终取得真经的故事。《西游记》想象丰富，故事精彩，语言生动，是中国著名的长篇神话小说。

 

 

齐天大圣孙悟空(《西游记》) The "Monkey King",Sun

Wukong, is a figure from Journey to the West.

 

     《西游记》作者吴承恩在江苏淮安的故居

      The residence of Wu Cheng'en, author of Journey

      to the West, in Huaian, Jiangsu Province.

　　《红楼梦》又叫《石头记》，全书120回，清朝人曹雪芹写了前80回，高鹗(e)续写了后40回。这部小说以贾宝玉和林黛玉的爱情悲剧为线索，描写了封建官僚贾、王、史、薛四大家族特别是贾家的衰落过程，揭露了封建统治者的罪恶，说明了封建王朝必将衰落的历史命运。《红楼梦》是中国古典文学中艺术性和思想性结合得最好的一部长篇小说，是中国文学中伟大的现实主义杰作。

 

    大观园全图(《红楼梦》) The Grand View

    Garden in A Dream of Red Mansions.

 

   《红楼梦》详细地描述了古代上流贵族的生活

     A Dream of Red Mansions depicts the life

    of the feudal noble families in details.

 

《红楼梦》作者曹雪芹的纪念馆

The memorial hall of the author of

A Dream of Red Mansions, Cao Xueqin.

　　这个时期出现的“四大名著”和其它一些优秀小说都反映了当时的生活，具有一定的现实意义。

　　The Four Great Classical Novels

　　During the Ming and Qing dynasties literary creation flourished. It was in this period that the four great Chinese classical novels were written, namely, Three Kingdoms, Outlaws of the Marsh, Journey to the West and A Dream of Red Mansions.

　　Luo Guanzhong, the author of Three Kingdoms, based his novel on both folk tales and historical records of the conflicts between the kingdoms of Wei, Shu and Wu (220-265 AD), established by Cao Cao, Liu Bei and Sun Quan, respectively. Written in the early Ming Dynasty, it was the first historical novel to appear in China.

　　Outlaws of the Marsh, which was written at almost the same time as Three Kingdoms, was written by Shi Nai'an. It is based on folk tales about a band of rebels led by Song Jiang at the close of the Northern Song Dynasty. There are 108 heroes and heroines in the novel, which is a savage satire on official corruption and feudal oppression.

　　Journey to the West was written by Wu Cheng'en of the Ming Dynasty. It is based on the true story of a Tang Dynasty monk who made a perilous overland trip to India to fetch back the Buddhist scriptures. In the novel, the monk is led and protected by Sun Wukong, the "Monkey King,"a figure from folk legend.

　　A Dream of Red Mansions, also named Tale of the Rock, has 120 chapters, of which the first 80 were written by Cao Xueqin, and the remaining 40 by Gao E. With the tragic love story of Jia Baoyu and Lin Daiyu as the main theme, the novel describes the decline of four feudal noble families. The novel is a treasure house of information about the way aristocratic families lived in the Qing Dynasty.