Five East Asian Classic Books Worth Reading

East Asia has a vast literary canon, including everything from novels to poetry, memoirs to philosophy. For this list, I’ve picked five classics, mostly novels, but also a memoir and a collection of vignettes and anecdotes. Most of these books are well known to everyone in East Asia — in some cases probably more so than Shakespeare’s plays in English-speaking countries — but I have also chosen to include some less famous works.

The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu

The Tale of Genji was completed in the early 11th century and is one of the oldest — perhaps the oldest — novel in the world. It was written by a Japanese empress’s lady in waiting known as Murasaki Shikibu, in Heian-kyō (Kyoto). Quite a lot is known about the author, who also wrote a diary and a volume of poetic memoirs, including her high level of education and relatively late marriage. The amazing thing is how readable The Tale of Genji is for us now, over a thousand years later.

The book follows the life of Genji, a prince, and is a wonderful long read — a psychological novel that not only describes life at court in Heian Japan (794-1185) but also explores universal themes including love and power.

The first part of the novel is Genji’s success story, interspersed with scandal and exile. He starts out quite smug, but becomes more likeable with adversity and age. The second section emphasises the fragility of human lives and relationships. The final part is about Genji’s male descendants and the women they court. This section largely deals with how it feels to be a woman, to be entirely dependent on men, and with that the mood gets increasingly dark.

There is much sadness in the novel, but plenty of enjoyment of the beautiful things in life.  The prose is interspersed with poems and constantly appeals to the senses: nature; the seasons; attention to gardens, trees and blossoms; scents; the perfuming of robes; the colour combinations of layers of clothing; all-night music; parties and food. There are far fewer references to jealousy than one might expect in a story in which the characters constantly seek to assure their position (or that of their children) at court. Instead, the characters’ appreciation of beauty seems really genuine.

The novel is known for being about Genji’s many love affairs, but the overarching theme is the transience of life.

Monkey King: Journey to the West

Journey to the West (published in the 16th century and attributed to Wu Cheng’en) is one of the most loved, adapted and referenced classics of East Asian literature. There have been countless films and TV series, not just in China but in Japan and elsewhere, and recently an award-winning game, Black Myth: Wukong.

The basis for the story is the 16-year journey of Xuanzang (602-664), a Buddhist monk who travelled from China through Central Asia to Gandhara and various states in Nepal, Bengal, India and back. The epic journey has been a popular subject for oral storytellers ever since, but over the centuries the story evolved from a historical travel account into a fantasy quest, while the intrepid monk became a helpless character who is totally reliant on his disciples: Monkey, Pigsy and Sandy.

If you want, you can read the full translation of the ultimate quest to bring Buddhist scriptures back to the Chinese capital, but since the novel is really a series of stand-alone adventure stories, you won’t miss too much by reading an abridged version. The latest abridged edition is the excellent Monkey King by Julia Lovell, which is a lot of fun. Most, but not all of the chapters in this translation involve Monkey (also known as Sun Wukong), who often has to save the pilgrims from the clutches of a hungry monster.

Monkey steals the show throughout the novel: he ignores protocol and punctures pomposity. Bureaucracy, hierarchy and religion all get irreverent treatment. He prefers pilfering weapons through magic rather than buying them, mainly because it’s more fun. He has superpowers but no idea of boundaries, and causes havoc wherever he goes. He is very perceptive about others, but doesn’t always see so clearly about himself. Along the way, Monkey is forced to confront the fact that his actions have consequences, and he becomes more compassionate and sensible.

Much of the entertainment in the novel comes from the relationship between Monkey and Pigsy. Whereas Pigsy — like many a human — is driven by his appetites and generally hopes to find an easy way out, Monkey has a child-like and rebellious nature. Although he learns to live with some limits, he retains his energy and mischievous monkey spirit, and I think that is why he continues to be loved by generation after generation of readers.

The Plum in the Golden Vase or, Chin P’ing Mei (Jinpingmei)

The Plum in the Golden Vase, or Jinpingmei, is set in China’s Shandong province, and is one of the four big classic novels of the Ming dynasty (1368-1644). It was published anonymously in the early 17th century but set five centuries earlier, presumably as a safer way to comment on contemporary society. Written in richly textured language, it is a fascinating novel, unlike anything else I have ever read (though its influence on the later Chinese classic novel A Dream of Red Mansions is clear). However, it is not for everyone — partly because of its length (the amazing English translation is published in five volumes), and partly because some passages are very sexually explicit.

The story is about an upwardly mobile and corrupt merchant called Ximen Qing, his household and his various affairs. Everything goes his way for a while. However, his pursuit of sexual, financial and political gratification becomes increasingly depraved, and readers sense that retribution is inevitable as he fails to curb excess or take any moral responsibility.

The author very effectively shows the moral degeneration of society by focusing on the household of a middle class man, including all kinds of minute details of daily life. If viewed metaphorically, Ximen Qing and his six wives could be seen to represent the emperor and six ministries of government. The novel emphasises that the corruption is not a matter of some greedy individuals and a few crooked officials: it is top to bottom rottenness on a lavish scale. The national consequences are vividly evoked in the final chapter, which describes the chaos of the Jin invasion and conquest of northern China in 1127.

Part of Jinpingmei‘s appeal is the novel’s perceptiveness about human beings. It is no mean feat that — centuries later — readers are invested in the characters, especially considering that most of them are flawed and even despicable people. They laugh at themselves, quarrel and make up, bear grudges or let slights pass with a joke. The characters are very human, and the extraordinary level of detail makes readers feel like we are really spending time with them. And the sad truth is that the central theme of the novel remains just as relevant today: many people will do anything for money.

The Memoirs of Lady Hyegyong: The Autobiographical Writings of a Crown Princess of Eighteenth-Century Korea

This East Asian classic is a bit different from the novels picked so far: it’s a set of memoirs from Joseon dynasty Korea (1392-1897). The Memoirs of Lady Hyegyong is a fascinating and intimate read. It is also a unique historical document that brings to life deadly court politics and human tragedies, including the executions of her brother and uncle, and the terror caused by her psychopathic husband. At times, numerous bodies of people he killed or injured were carried from the palace daily.

The first memoir is the most personal, written in 1795 when the author turned sixty, and is addressed to her nephew. It very affectionately describes the author’s childhood, and how she was forced at the age of nine to leave her loving family home and move to the royal palace to be married to Crown Prince Sado.

The fourth and final memoir is by far the most famous. It was written in 1805 to explain the complex and agonising events leading up to the death of her husband in 1762. Amid rumours and political intrigue, Lady Hyegyong — as the only surviving eyewitness — has decided that it is necessary for her grandson, the current king, to know what happened.

She details the difficult relationship between Prince Sado and his father King Yeongjo, and Sado’s mental illness and increasingly violent behaviour. With the safety of the dynasty in the balance, Prince Sado’s parents conclude that he must be eliminated — but not by a normal criminal execution, which would have raised questions about the legitimacy of his descendants’ rule. He was ordered into a rice chest which was sealed, where he died eight days later.

Lady Hyegyong views her terrifying husband with much sympathy. Her grief is very moving, as are her descriptions of the conflict between being a good wife and a good mother, and the recognition that the demands of public duty come before compassion for individuals.

The Shadow Book of Ji Yun, Imperial Librarian and Investigator of the Strange

The Shadow Book of Ji Yun is less well known than the other East Asian classics on this list. It is a one-volume collection of vignettes, notes and anecdotes selected from what is five volumes in the Chinese original. It gives us a glimpse of a perceptive writer, Ji Yun, who lived from 1724-1805, and is a good choice for people who prefer to dip into a book rather than follow a narrative, and for anyone who enjoys getting a feel for a very different time.

The Shadow Book book is an intriguing, continually surprising read, perhaps because some of the stories feel quite contemporary; for example we read about human female souls who are born into male bodies and male souls who are born into female bodies. Having said that, many of the stories would be narrated differently with today’s sensibilities, such as those about ghosts tricking people into committing suicide, which we might now describe in terms of mental illness.

Some of the stories are about ghosts and demons, but it is not a ghost story collection. Ji Yun picks out ideas that he thinks are worthy of consideration. He is always curious, keen to hear alternative opinions and discuss. He constantly seeks knowledge and is interested in the experiences and views of others.

The author suggests that we should be skeptical of what we hear but have enough humility to accept that the world contains more than our conceptions allow us to see or imagine. Readers are confronted with other dimensions of reality, but also the reality of being human.

Much of Ji Yun’s thinking is about being a decent man. Many of the tales have a moral but there is an openness of thought to the collection which is very refreshing, and he is always willing to reflect. More than one story ponders illusions and the fleeting nature of human relationships. We are cautioned against sharp distinctions — if we insist on such categorical definitions we will see neither others nor ourselves clearly; we will merely see what we want in others, and miss the real person.