Nationally renowned Chinese literature scholar Cyril Birch was the first to assemble the finest translations of these seminal pieces in his now classic and still definitive introductory anthologies. The selections in this first volume span a two-thousand-year period: from the Chou Dynasty (1122-221 B.C.) to the Y'an Dynasty (A.D. 1280-1367), from the ancient Songs to the dramas of the fourteenth century, every major genre of Chinese literature is represented by a crucial work. Highlights include, in addition to the great poems of the T'ang, outstanding examples of Han poetry, Six Dynasties satire, T'ang-sung prose essays and fiction, and the form of lyric known as "tz'u."