Ramayana Summary The Ramayana is one of the two great Indian epics,the other being the Mahabharata.

The Ramayana tells about life in India around 1000 BCE and offers models in dharma. The hero, Rama, lived his whole life by the rules of dharma; in fact, that was why Indian consider him heroic. When Rama was a young boy, he was the perfect son. Later he was an ideal husband to his faithful wife, Sita, and a responsible ruler of Aydohya. "Be as Rama," young Indians have been taught for 2,000 years; "Be as Sita." The original Ramayana was a 24,000 couplet-long epic poem attributed to the Sanskrit poet Valmiki. Oral versions of Rama's story circulated for centuries, and the epic was probably first written down sometime around the start of the Common Era. It has since been told, retold, translated and transcreated throughout South and Southeast Asia, and the Ramayana continues to be performed in dance, drama, puppet shows, songs and movies all across Asia. From childhood most Indians learn the characters and incidents of these epics and they furnish the ideals and wisdom of common life. The epics help to bind together the many peoples of India, transcending caste, distance and language. Two all-Indian holidays celebrate events in the Ramayana. Dussehra, a fourteen-day festival in October, commemorates the siege of Lanka and Rama's victory over Ravana, the demon king of Lanka. Divali, the October-November festival of Lights, celebrates Rama and Sita's return home to their kingdom of Ayodhya Prince Rama was the eldest of four sons and was to become king when his father retired from ruling. His stepmother, however, wanted to see her son Bharata, Rama's younger brother, become king. Remembering that the king had once promised to grant her any two wishes she desired, she demanded that Rama be banished and Bharata be crowned. The king had to keep his word to his wife and ordered Rama's banishment. Rama accepted the decree unquestioningly. "I gladly obey father's command," he said to his stepmother. "Why, I would go even if you ordered it." When Sita, Rama's wife, heard Rama was to be banished, she begged to accompany him to his forest retreat. "As shadow to substance, so wife to husband," she reminded Rama. "Is not the wife's dharma to be at her husband's side? Let me walk ahead of you so that I may smooth the path for your feet," she pleaded. Rama agreed, and Rama, Sita and his brother Lakshmana all went to the forest. When Bharata learned what his mother had done, he sought Rama in the forest. "The eldest must rule," he reminded Rama. "Please come back and claim your rightful place as king." Rama refused to go against his father's command, so Bharata took his brother's sandals and said, "I shall place these sandals on the throne as symbols of your authority. I shall rule only as regent in your place, and each day I shall put my offerings at the feet of my Lord. When the fourteen years of banishment are over, I shall joyously return the kingdom to you." Rama was very impressed with Bharata's selflessness. As Bharata left, Rama said to him, "I should have known that you would renounce gladly what most men work lifetimes to learn to give up." Later in the story, Ravana, the evil King of Lanka, (what is probably present-day Sri Lanka) abducted Sita. Rama mustered the aid of a money army, built a causeway across to Lanka, released Sita and brought her safely back to Aydohya. In order to set a good example, however, Rama demanded that Sita prove her purity before he could take her back as his wife. Rama, Sita and Bharata are all examples of persons following their dharma. This lesson focuses on how the Ramayana teaches Indians to perform their dharma. Encourage students to pick out examples of characters in the epic who were faithful to their dharma and those who violated their dharma. Mahatma Gandhi dreamed that one day modern India would become a Ram-rajya. Major Settings of The Ramayana 1 Lanka 2 Hanuman lands 3 Dasaratha 4 India A Summary of The Mahabharata' BY ANEETA SUNDARARAJ Article Rating: 4

email this article print this article The Mahabharata is a great epic that comprises one hundred thousand stanzas of verse divided into eighteen books, or parvas. It is the largest single literary work in existence. Originally composed in the ancient language of Sanskrit sometime between 400 BC and 400 AD, it is set in a legendary era thought to correspond to the period of Indian culture and history in approximately the tenth century BC.

The original author was Vyasa who tried to tell about the Great War between the Pandavas and the Kauravas - cousins who claimed to be the rightful rulers of a kingdom. This bloody feud between the two branches of the ruling family of the northern Indian kingdom of Kurujangala culminates in an epic eighteen-day battle and the annihilation of nearly all those involved in the Great War, except the victors, the five Pandava brothersYudhishthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula, and Sahadev.

The eldest among the Pandavas was called Yudhistira. He was an embodiment of goodness and commanded the loyalty of his four brothers. The eldest among the Kauravas was called Duryodhana. He was crafty and malicious. His brothers shared in these evil qualities.

The evil brothers were envious of their cousin Yudhistira and started scheming to dethrone him. Their first attempt to kill the Pandavas was by burning them inside a palace. The Pandavas managed to escape, but then the evil brothers once again attempted to gain control. One challenged the eldest brother Yudhisthira to a game of dice which led Yudhisthira to lose everything, including his and his brothers' wife, Draupadi. He, along with his brothers and their wife Draupadi, were exiled from the kingdom. For twelve years they had to live in the forest and upon the thirteenth year they were to hide in a city in disguise. It was during those thirteen years that the brothers grew to learn what it was like to live with the bare minimum and became more knowledgeable.

After the thirteenth year Duryodhana decided that he would fight against them which led to a huge war and the deaths of many. Many died from both sides and after the war, they realized that nothing was really gained.

The most dramatic figure of the entire Mahabharata, however, was Krishna who was the supreme personality of Godhead himself, descended to earth in human form to reestablish his devotees as care takers of the earth, and who practiced Dharma.

Krishna was the cousin of both parties, but he was a friend and advisor to the Pandavas, became the brother-in-law of Arjuna, and served as Arjuna's mentor and charioteer in the Great War. Krishna is portrayed several times as eager to see the war occur, and in many ways the Pandavas were his human instruments for fulfilling that end.

Throughout their lives and the terrible Great War that ensued at Kurukshetra there were examples of the ethical gaps amongst men which were never resolved. In the aftermath of the war, Yudhishthira alone was terribly troubled, but his sense of the war's wrongfulness persisted to the end of the text. This was in spite of the fact that everyone else, from his wife to Krishna, told him the war was right; even the dying patriarch, Bhishma, lectured him at length on all aspects of the Good Law (the Duties and Responsibilities of Kings).

In the years that followed the Great War, the only survivors on the part of the Kauravas, Duryodhana's parents, King Dhritarashtra and his queen, Gandhari lived a life of asceticism in a forest retreat and died with yogic calm in a forest fire. Kunti, the mother of the Pandavas was with them too. Krishna departed from this earth thirty-six years after the Great War. When they learned of this, the Pandavas believed it was time for them to leave this world too and they embarked upon the 'Great Journey,' which involved walking north toward the polar mountain that is toward the heavenly worlds, until one's body dropped

dead. One by one, beginning with Draupadi, the Pandavas died along the way until Yudhishthira was left alone with a dog that had accompanied him from the start. Yudhishthira made it to the gates of heaven and there refused the order to drive the dog back, at which point the dog was revealed to be an incarnate form of the God Dharma (the God who was Yudhishthira's actual, physical father), who was there to test Yudhishthira's virtue. Once in heaven Yudhishthira faced one final test of his virtue: He saw only the Dhartarashtra Clan in heaven, and he was told that his brothers were in hell. He insisted on joining his brothers in hell, if that were the case! It was then revealed that they were really in heaven, that this illusion had been one final test for him.

In essence, the epic story represents an extended exploration of the responsibilities set forth by the code of dharma. In addition to recounting a heroic tale, the Mahabharata contains a collection of writings on a broad spectrum of human learning, including ethics, law, philosophy, history, geography, genealogy, and religion. It also features a number of legends, moral stories, and local tales all woven into an elaborate narrative. The Rig Veda 1200-900 BC

The Rig-Veda is a collection of over 1,000 hymns, which contain the mythology of the Hindu gods, and is considered to be one of the foundations of the Hindu religion. While the Rig is the oldest of the Vedas, there are three other Vedas. There is the Sama Veda, which is the "knowledge of chants" or a number of basic hymns recited at sacrifices. There is also the Yajur Veda or "knowledge of rites" which serve basically as a "how to make sacrifices" book. The final Veda is the Athara Veda, this Veda represents the knowledge given by Athara who was a sage. These Vedas were passed on orally for many generations. When they were written down, they were first written in Vedic, an early form of Sanskrit. Then around 300 B.C. the Vedas were written down in the form we have them today. Back to "Indus Valley Civilization" Chronology The Rig Veda was written by the Aryans who entered the Indus Valey toward the end of theHarappan Civilization. They wrote this Veda between 1300 and 1000 BC, during the period of the Aryan Migrations. However, there may be possible Harappan influences on these works. This is because the Vedas were actually being developed before the Aryans arrived around 2000 B.C. Although there are many Vedas written, the most important is the Rig, which contains over 1,000 hymns directed to the gods. The content of these hymns includes praises, blessings, sacrifices, and curses. These hymns are the major way in which the Aryan people praised their gods. The subject of the hymns is the personification of the powers of nature. The hymns are written in poetic form: "This light hath come, of all the lights the fairest, The brilliant brightness hath been born, far-shining, Urged on to prompt the sun-god's shining power. Night and Morning clash not, nor yet do linger." (Bloomfield 30) As you can see, this is very poetic language. This can be chanted, creating a worshipful mood in a person. When you chant these words, you are transported into another state of mind. In fact, this and other hymns were probably chanted by the Aryan people at one of their religious ceremonies. The theology of the Vedas was later developed in the Upanishads. At the end of the Rig and all of the Vedas, the Hindu Brahmins added a summary of the philosophy of the Veda. The Upanishads became the basis of Hinduism. For the Hindu person, they serve as a summary of all of the knowledge of the Veda as well as a commentary on them. The religion that sprang forth from the Vedas helped shape Indian society. For example, the Rig Veda and Vedic literature were used in the development of the caste system. The Rig Veda describes how the god Purusha sacrificed himself to himself. Each of the pieces of his body developed into a different portion of society. His mouth became the Brahmin or priests; his arms became the Kshatriyas or warriors; his thighs became the Vaisya or merchants, farmers, herders and artisans; and the feet became the Sudra or slaves and servants. Thus, while each part of society had its own role, it was still and single body.

Panchatantra Panchatantra was written around 200 B.C. by a sage called Vishnu Sharma. He was asked by the King to teach some important morals to his three sons. Thus, Vishnu Sharma taught them the important lessons of life in the form of these interesting tales. The best part about these tales are the important morals they have at the end that are essential to live a content life. The Panchatantra tales are divided into 5 parts, hence the name Panchatantra (Panch means five). These five manuals were safeguarded henceforth as they were considered important guidelines for a future King. The different Panchatantra stories and their short summaries are given below. The Merchant and his Iron In a town, there are two friends. One of them is undertaking a journey and requests his friend to keep his share of iron with himself. He tells his friend that if he returns home unsuccessful, he shall atleast sell the iron to make some money. In his absence, the other friend sells off the iron to pay off his own debts, as he believes the merchant will never return. After some days, the merchant comes back and asks for his iron.

Feeling guilty, the friend lies that he had locked the iron up in room, but rats ate them all. The Merchant pretends to believe his story and walks off. Some days later, he meets a child of the friend and locks him up in a room. When the merchant pays him a visit, he finds the friend in a distressed state due to he absence of his son. The merchant says he saw a hawk carrying a child in its claws and it looked like his child. When the friend says he does not believe this, the merchant says, anything is possible in a city where rats eat up iron. The moral of the story is based on tit for tat. The Carpenter and the Ape This story tells about the fact that one should not interfere in others business. A carpenter is working on wooden wedges outside his house. Sitting on a nearby tree is a monkey who watches him carefully. When the carpenter leaves to eat food, the monkey comes there and starts experimenting with the wooden wedges. While meddling with it, his tail gets caught between two pieces. Unable to free himself, he sits there moaning and groaning till the carpenter came. The monkey was then beaten severely by the carpenter for meddling with his work. Moral of the story is, never interfere with someone else's work and invite trouble. The Crane and the Crab This story tells about the bad effects of too much greed and emphasizes on the fact that greedy people have to pay a heavy price in the end. Once there was a crane that lived on a lake and daily caught fish for many years till she grew old. Now, fragile and old, she couldn't hunt any longer. One day she spotted a crab and tricked it that she had heard some fishermen saying that they would catch all the fish of this lake soon. No sooner, the crab heard the news, it swam to the bottom of the lake to inform the fish about this bad news. The fish came to the surface and begged the crane to think of a plan to save them. The crane seized this opportunity and told them that she knows a lake nearby and she would take 3-4 fish with her and drop them there. The next day, the crane takes some fish in his beak and flies off. When she is out of sight, she eats up the fish. This continues for many days, till she ate them all up. Now she asks the crab to cling to her neck so that she may transfer it to the lake. But when they come near the place, the crab sees the bones of the dead fish and realizes what the crane had done. The crab clenches the crane's throat and she finally drops dead. The Lion and the Hare This story is about a lion and a hare that has an important moral that, nothing is impossible for the wise. A lion goes around killing hapless creatures in a forest. The creatures get tired of living in fear all the time and gather courage to go to the lion with a solution. They tell him that daily one creature would be sent to him as food. The lion is pleased and agrees. The animals now decide that the creature whose numbers are the maximum shall be sent one by one. The hare turns out to be the biggest in number and is sent to the lion. Reluctant to go to the lion, he wanders in the forest and finds an ancient well. When the lion becomes impatient after waiting for a long time, he goes out in search of food. The hare tells him that he was going to come to him, but was topped by another lion who claimed to be the king of jungle. The lion gets infuriated when he hears this and demands to meet the other lion. The hare takes him to the well and tells the lion to look inside. The lion sees his own reflection and in anger, jumps inside the well to kill the other lion and dies. The Tortoise and the Goose This story has a very important moral. It emphasizes that silence is golden. A tortoise and a goose live together in a lake. After some years, the lake starts to dry up and the goose readies to fly somewhere else. The tortoise begs him to take him along. The goose tells him that he should grasp the end of a stick in his mouth and at no cost should he open his mouth. The tortoise agrees and goose carries the stick with the tortoise and flies off. While passing over a village, they are spotted by the villagers who laugh at the sight of the tortoise flying. Infuriated, the tortoise opens his mouth to answer back at them. but he loses grip and falls to the ground and dies. A Brief History of Persian Literature

The Persian Language The Old Persian of the Achaemenian Empire, preserved in a number of cuneiform inscriptions, was an Indo-European tongue with close affinities with Sanskrit and Avestan (the language of the Zoroastrian sacred texts). After the fall of the Achaemenians the ancient tongue developed, in the province of Pars, into Middle Persian or Pahlavi (a name derived from Parthavi - that is, Parthian). Pahlavi was used throughout the Sassanian period, though little now remains of what must once have been a considerable

literature. About a hundred Pahlavi texts survive, mostly on religion and all in prose. Pahlavi collections of romances, however, provided much of the material for Ferdowsi's Shahnameh. After the Arab conquest a knowledge of Arabic became necessary, for it was not only the language of the new rulers and their state, but of the religion they brought with them and -later- of the new learning. Though Pahlavi continued to be spoken in private life, Arabic was dominant in official circles for a century and a half. With the weakening of the central power, a modified form of Pahlavi emerged, with its Indo-European grammatical structure intact but simplified, and with a large infusion of Arabic words. This was the Modem Persian in use today. Arabic continued to be employed in Iran, though on a decreasing scale, as Latin was used in Europe -that is, as a language of the learned. As such it was employed by Abu Ali Sina (Avicenna), al-Biruni, Rhazes, Al Ghazali and others; indeed, many of the most famous names in Arabic literature are those of men of Persian birth. But in general the use of Arabic declined; Persian developed rapidly to become the vehicle of a great literature, and before, long spread its influence to neighboring lands. In India, Persian language and poetry became the vogue with the ruling classes, and at the court of the Moghul emperor Akbar Persian was adopted as the official language; spreading thence and fusing later with Hindi, it gave rise to the Urdu tongue. To the west of Iran, Persian heavily influenced the language and literature of Turkey; Turkish verse was based on Persian models as regards form and style, and borrowed an extensive vocabulary. A notable feature of Persian is the small extent to which it has changed over the thousand years or more of its existence as a literary language. Thus the poems of Roudaki, the first Persian poet of note, who died in the year 941 CE, are perfectly intelligible to the modem reader. Persian literature too has a number of noteworthy characteristics, the most striking of which is the exceptional prominence of poetry. Until quite recently there was practically no drama, and no novels were written; prose works were mostly confined to history, geography, philosophy, religion, ethics and politics, and it was poetry that formed the chief outlet for artistic expression. Classical Persian literature was produced almost entirely under royal patronage whence the frequency of panegyric verse. An influence of at least equal strength was religion, and in particular Sufism, which inspired the remarkably high proportion of mystical poetry. Persian Poetry Classical Persian poetry is always rhymed. The principal verse forms are the Qasideh, Masnavi, Qazal and Ruba'i. The qasida or ode is a long poem in monorhyme, usually of a panegyric, didactic or religious nature; the masnavi, written in rhyming couplets, is employed for heroic, romantic, or narrative verse; the ghazal (ode or lyric) is a comparatively short poem, usually amorous or mystical and varying from four to sixteen couplets, all on one rhyme. A convention of the ghazal is the introduction, in the last couplet, of the poet's pen name (takhallus). The ruba'i is a quatrain with a particular metre, and a collection of quatrains is called "Ruba'iyyat" (the plural of ruba'i). Finally, a collection of a poet's ghazals and other verse, arranged alphabetically according to the rhymes, is known as a divan. A word may not be out of place here on the peculiar difficulties of interpreting Persian poetry to the western reader. To the pitfalls common to all translations from verse must be added, in the case of Persian poetry, such special difficulties as the very free use of Sufi imagery, the frequent literary, Koranic and other references and allusions, and the general employment of monorhyme, a form highly effective in Persian but unsuited to most other languages. But most important of all is the fact that the poetry of Persia depends to a greater degree than that of most other nations on beauty of language for its effects. This is why much of the great volume of "qasidas in praise of princes" can still be read with pleasure in the original, though It is largely unsuited to translation. In short, the greatest charm of Persian poetry lies, as Sir E. Denison Ross remarked, in its language and its music, and consequently the reader of a translation "has perforce to forego the essence of the matter". In the following brief sketch of the vast field of Persian literature we cannot hope to do more than mention a few of the most eminent authors, and to devote a paragraph or two each to the most famous of all. Early Literature Though existing fragments of Persian verse are believed to date from as early as the eighth century CE, the history of Persian literature proper begins with the lesser dynasties of the ninth and tenth centuries that emerged with the decline of the Caliphate. The most important of these were the Samanids, who established at Bokhara the first of many brilliant courts that were to patronize learning and letters. Here

Abu Ali Sina, better known in the west as Avicenna, developed the medicine and philosophy of ancient Greece, and wrote numerous works that were to exercise considerable influence not only in the East but in Europe -where, translated into Latin, they were in use as late as the seventeenth century. Avicenna wrote mostly in Arabic, but composed an encyclopaedia -- the Danish Nameh-ye Ala'i - in Persian. The most famous of the court poets were Rudaki and Daqiqi. Rudaki, generally regarded as the first of the great Persian poets, wrote a very large quantity of verse, of which but little has survived. His style direct, simple and unadorned - was to appear unpolished to some of the over-elaborate versifiers of later ages, but appeals more to modem tastes. Daqiqi, a composer of epics, was commissioned to write a work on the ancient kings of Persia, but only completed a thousand couplets before his death. Some of these were later incorporated in the celebrated Shahnameh. The Ghaznavid and early Seljuq Periods It is said that four hundred poets were attached to the court of Sultan Mahmoud; of these, the most notable were Unsuri, the greatest of Mahmoud's panegyrists, followed by Farrukhi, Manouchehri and Asadi. Of the prose writers, the most celebrated was Biruni, author of the "Chronology of Ancient Nations", who wrote exclusively in Arabic. The Seljuq era, regarded as the second classical period of Persian literature, is one rich both in prose and poetry. Famous prose works include Ghazali's influential Revivification of the Religious Sciences in Arabic and its Persian summary entitled Kimiya-ye Sa'adat (The Alchemy of Happiness); Baihaqi's History of the Ghaznavids: the Siasat Nameh, a treatise on the art of government by Nizam ul-Mulk, vizier to Alp Arslan and Malik Shah; the entertaining Qabus Nameh of Kai Kawous, translated by Professor Levy as "A Mirror for Princes"; the collection of animal fables of Indian origin entitled Kalila va Dimna by Nasr Ullah; the charming Chahar Maqala or Four Discourses of Nizami Aruzi; the Fars Nameh of Ibn al-Balkhi, and the noted treatise on poetics of Rashid-i Vatvat. Four of the above works the Chahar Maqala, the History of Baihaqi, the Qabus Nameh and the Siasat Nameh - are considered by the poet Bahar as the four great masterpieces of early Persian prose. A number of authors of this period wrote both prose and poetry. One of the most brilliant of these was Nasir-i Khosrow, writer of some fifteen works in prose and 30,000 verses, of which less than half have survived. His best known prose work is the Safar Nameh, an account of his journey to Egypt. Most of Nasir-i Khosrow's poems are lengthy odes, mainly on religious and ethical subjects; they are noted for their purity of language and dazzling technical skill. In the opinion of the scholar Mirza Mohammad Qazvini, the name of Naser Khosrow should be added to those of the six poets - Ferdowsi, Khayyam, Anvari,Rumi, Saadi, and Hafez - whom "practically all" agree to consider the six greatest Persian poets, each in his special field. Other famous poetry of the period includes the work of the mystics Ansari, Abu Sa'id and Baba Taher of Hamadan; the odes of Qatran; Gorgani's romantic epic Vis o Ramin, and the Divans of Masoud-e Saad-e Salman and Rumi. Seven other poets of the period are of outstanding fame and brilliance; these are Khayyam, Sana'i, Moezzi, Anvari, Khaqani, Nizami andAttar. The versatile Khayyam - "the only man known to me", says Bertrand Russell, "who was both a poet and a mathematician" - is still perhaps the best known and most appreciated Persian poet in Europe and America. There was for long considerable scepticism as to whether he was in fact the author of all or any of the quatrains attributed to him, but the discovery recently of manuscripts more ancient than any of those previously known has removed these doubts. Khayyam's poetry was largely neglected in Iran until the end of the nineteenth century, mainly no doubt owing to the censure of orthodoxy. When Fitzgerald's translation made him suddenly popular in the west the Iranians began to reassess his merits as a poet, and as we have seen, some native critics are now ready to accord him a place in the poetic Pantheon. Since he uses imagery common to the Sufis, Khayyam has often been hailed as a Sufi himself; but while some of his quatrains can be made to bear a mystical interpretation, the general impression of his work is one of hedonism tinged with a gentle melancholy, born of acceptance of the tragic transience of life, the power of destiny and man's ultimate ignorance. The attitude is that of a materialist rather than a deist; indeed, he has with some justice been compared to Lucretius. Sana'i, who wrote in a style similar to that of Nasir-i Khosrow, was the author of two great Sufi epics, the prototypes of the later masterpieces of Attar and Rumi, as well as of a huge divan. Mu'izzi, hailed by 'Abbas Ighbal as "one of the artistic virtuosi of the Persian language", wrote mainly panegyric verse in a highly elaborate style. Anvari, author of numerous poetical works, mostly panegyric, wrote in a difficult style, sometimes requiring a commentary; he is regarded by some as one of the greatest Persian poets.

The poetry of Khaqani is even more mannered. The last three poets mentioned - Mu'izzi, Anvari and Khaqani - are all famous in Iran, mainly for their technical brilliance; but, being particularly difficult to translate, they are less appreciated in the west. This is not the case with the next two poets to be mentioned. Nizami, born at Ganja in the Caucasus in 1140, was a prolific writer famous especially for his Khamseh or Quintet, a series of five great romances and epics. These consist of the Makhzan al-Asrar or Treasure House of Secrets, a mystical epic inspired by Sana'i; the popular romances Khosrow o Shirin and Laila o Majnun; the Iskandar Nameh or Story of Alexander, and the Haft Paikar, the life story of Bahram Gur. Nizami's style is original and, colorful; his works enjoyed great popularity, and episodes from his romantic poems were favorite subjects for miniature painters. Farid od-Din Attar, who was born possibly around 1136, was a great and an original poet who produced numerous religious and didactic works. He was essentially a mystic, and as such exercised a great influence on Rumi. The best known of his works, the Mantiq ut-Tair (translated by Fitzgerald as the Bird Parliament), is a mystical allegory in which the birds all set off in search of the mythical Simorgh, whom they wish to make their king. The story, which symbolizes the quest of the soul for union with God, ends with their discovery that they have no existence separate from the object of their search. The Simorgh then addresses them thus: Pilgrim, pilgrimage and road Was but myself toward myself, and your Arrival but myself at my own Door... Come, you lost atoms, to your center draw And be the eternal mirror that you saw: Rays that have wandered into darkness wide Return, and back into your sun subside.

The Thirteenth Century as a New Chapter The Thirteenth century produced two poetic geniuses of the first rank, Saadi and Rumi. It is also particularly notable for histories, of which many were inspired by these singularly troubled times. Hamdullah Mostofi produced notable works both of history and geography, as well as an epic, the Zafar Nameh or Book of Victory, in 75,000 couplets, and Nasir ud-Din Tusi wrote on philosophy and logic. Three notable poets of the period are Iraqi, author of the mystical Lama'at or Flashes; Amir Khosrow, known as "The Parrot of India" and author of no less than five divans, and Zakani the satirist. Foremost in the ranks of historical works are Juvaini's Tarikh-e Jahan Gusha, an account of the Mongol conquests; the history of Juzjani, an important source book for the history of Moslem India; Rashid udDin's great Jame ot-Tawarikh or Universal History, and the History of Vassaf. The style of the period tended to over-ornateness; Juvaini, according to Arberry, was "the most accomplished exponent of the prized art of verbal arabesque", while Vassaf "modeled his style on Juvaini at his most intricate and verbose." Of the writings of this school Levy remarks that it was "so filled with metaphor, allusion, and assonance, that the meaning was often lost in a tangle of verbiage". By contrast, the work of the conscientious Rashid ud-Din, considered by Browne to be the best of all the Persian historians, is a model of clarity. The Fifteenth Century onwards The fifteenth century produced a number of notable historians -Nizam od-Din Shami, author of the Zafar Nameh (a history of Timur); Yazdi, who wrote a work of the same name; Hafiz-e Abru, Khafi, Dowlatshah and Mir Khand, author of the immense Rozat as-Safa or Garden of Purity. Other prose writers of note , include Davvani, author of the Akhlaq-e Jalali, and Kashefi, who produced an elaborate prose paraphrase of Kalila va Dimna known as Anvar-e Suhaili (The Lights of Canopus). Fifteenth century poets include the Sufis Maghribi and Qasim-e Anvar, Katibi, the saintly Ni'mat Allah Vali, and Jami.

Jami, "universally regarded as the last eminent figure in the history of classical Persian literature" (Arberry) was born in 1414. A man of considerable erudition as well as of poetic genius, Jami produced some forty-five works, of which the best known are the Baharistan, the Divan, and the Haft Aurang or Seven Thrones, a series of four didactic works and three romances (Salaman o Absal, Yosef o Zoleikha and Laila o Majnoun) which he intended to rival the work of Nizami. After Jami, who died shortly before the rise of the Safavis, Persian poetry is generally considered to have fallen into decline. There were indeed no poets of the very first rank after the fifteenth century, yet in this long period there was no lack of writers and poets of talent, some of them of great eminence. Of the poets immediately following Jami, his nephew Hatif was a noted writer of romantic and historical epics; also famous were his pupils Asafi, Fighani (who earned himself the title of "The Little Hafiz"), Ahli and the Sufi poet Hilali. Later in the sixteenth century came the poets Hayrati, Kasimi, Kashi the panegyrist, Shani, Fasihi and Shafai. Saeb (born 1677), the greatest literary figure of the seventeenth century, is considered by some to be the best Persian poet after Jami. In early life he spent some time in India as court poet to the Moghul emperor Shah Jahan, and returned to Iran to become poet laureate to Shah Abbas II. Saeb was a vivid and original poet who infused fresh life into the old forms and founded a new school. Also of note was his contemporary Fayyaz. A famous prose writer of the eighteenth century was Azar, author of the Atesh Kadeh (a biographical dictionary containing the lives of over 800 poets) as well as of a divan and a romantic epic. The prolific writer Hazin produced histories and an autobiography, as well as four divans. Also worthy of note is the poet Nejat. In the nineteenth century Saba, poet laureate to Fath Ali Shah, composed a divan and an epic called the Shahanshahnameh; as a poet he was excelled by Neshat, also author of a divan. Qaani (died 1853), the best writer of the nineteenth century and perhaps the most outstanding since Jami, was one of Iran's most brilliant and melodious poets. Well-known prose works of the period include Nasir ud-Din Shah's diaries of his three journeys to Europe and the literary biographies of the poet Reza Quli Khan. This period was marked by the increasing influence of European literature, noticeable in the works of the poet Shaybani and others. The real revival of Persian letters came in the early twentieth century, when the growing desire for reform inspired numerous satires. One of the most outstanding figures of this period was Iraj Mirza (died 1926), a poet of great talent and champion of the emancipation of women. Other noted poets were Adib, Bahar, Lahuti, Shahryar, Aref and the poetess Parvin E'tesami. Poets of more recent decades include Nima Yoshij, Ra'di, Khanlari, Islami, Gulchin, Ahmad Shamlou, Mehdi Akhavan Sales, Mas'ud Farzad, Sohrab Sepehri, Fereidoon Moshiri and the poetess Forough Farrokhzad. Some of these poets have introduced verse forms new to Persian literature. Here should not be forgotten the great works of Sadeq Hedayat, Samad Behrangi, Sadeq Choubak and many others who enriched the persian literature.

The Chinese Folk Literature in the Book of Songs

Author:Keats Chinese Language School | Date:2011-11-21 20:45:44|Read: 432 The first collection of the poems since the end of the Shang Dynasty the Book of Songs had taken in three hundred five pieces of poems dating from the beginning of the Western Zhou Dynasty to the mid spring and autumn period, which makes it the earliest collection of the imperial literature and the folk literature. It is quite necessary for foreigners who are going to learn Chinese in China to take a closer view.

The section of National Customs in the Book of Songs had contained and preserved many pieces of the oral works of the people of that period, it is still rich in the features of folk literature although having had been embellished during the final draft, which may seem interesting for people to study Chinese in China in the present society. The National Customs the Book of Songs had depicted and reflected the living status of the people with distinct pictures, which had helped in expressing their resentfulness toward the exploitation and the suppressions, as well as their fine benedictions and faiths towards life, which can make the book the earliest realistic poems, all of which are perceivable to people who are going to study Mandarin in China. For example, the July had revealed the common peoples miserable life featuring endless laborious work without necessities of cloth and food. As foreign friends who are about to take a trip to learn Chinese in China can see that the poems of sh wi, j g,dng shn, x g,and yng zh shu had reflected the sufferings of the common people under the heavy corvee and military services. Students who are waiting to study Chinese in China can also see that the poems such as f tn and shu sh had litigated and condemned the slave owners, which were full of revolt and rebellious. The ballads expressing the themes of love and marriage account for a large portion in the National Customs in the Book of Songs. As can also be understand by friends who are about to take a trip to study Mandarin in China that the poems in National Customs such as mng, g fng,jng n, and m gu, etc, had either expressed the revolt against the feudal marriages and the hatred of the deserters, or the depictions of the miserable encountering and the tortuous of love. Those folk literatures in the Book of Songs were mostly authentic folk literature works, people expecting to learn Chinese in China must be interested about the literature form of the collection National Customs, there are usually four characters in a li ne, with the alternate rhymes, but without starchiness to that. Whats interesting for people to study Chinese in China to take notice of is that The language is precise and elegant, simple and vivid, be void of pretentiousness, and is rich in the usages of Bixing(similarly and associative), which had been handed down by the literature creation of the later generations, becoming one of the major aspect of influences of the Zhou Dynasty upon the later generations. What is more interesting for people who are ready to study Mandarin in China is that the folk literature seemed to be under simultaneous development, which did not only incorporated the ballads of hn gung and jing yu sin the Book of Songs, but also taken in the ch rn g, yu rn g and cng lng g, etc, which were the early folk literatures of the Chu and Yue kingdoms. The people who are interested in Chinese literature and in looking forward to come and learn Chinese in China will discover that some of the lyrics had used the auxiliary word xor s at the end of every other line, which had later become the major form of the songs of Chu. Another type to be introduced to people who would like to study Mandarin in China is the witch songs of the Chu kingdom, which were used during the sacrificial ceremonies in a religious ambient. It can be seen by people when they come to study Chinese in China that after the integration of the local Chu songs with the two folk literatures, and the influences of the northern literature, rich literature resources had been accumulated during the long terms of development, upon the cultural basis of which the excellent Qu Yuan and the marvelous pieces of the Chu songs were incubated.

Lao Tzu (Old Master)

Chinese Taoist Philosopher, c. 600 B.C.E.
The specific date of birth of Lao Tzu is unknown. Legends vary, but scholars place his birth between 600 and 300 B.C.E. Lao Tzu is attributed with the writing of the Tao-Te Ching, (taomeaning the way of all life, temeaning the fit use of life by men, and chingmeaning text or classic). Lao Tzu was not his real name, but an honorific given the sage, meaning Old

Master. Lao Tzus wise counsel attracted followers, but he refused to set his ideas down in writing. He believed that written words might solidify into formal dogma. Lao Tzu wanted his philosophy to remain a natural way to live life with goodness, serenity and respect. Lao Tzu laid down no rigid code of behavior. He believed a persons conduct should be governed by instinct and conscience. Lao Tzu believed that human life, like everything else in the universe, is constantly influenced by outside forces. He believed simplicity to be the key to truth and freedom. Lao Tzu encouraged his followers to observe, and seek to understand the laws of nature; to develop intuition and build up personal power; and to use that power to lead life with love, and without force. Legend says that in the end Lao Tzu, saddened by the evil of men, set off into the desert on a water buffalo leaving civilization behind. When he arrived at the final gate at the great wall protecting the kingdom, the gatekeeper persuaded him to record the principles of his philosophy for posterity. The result was the eighty-one sayings of the Tao-Te Ching. This ancient Chinese text is the worlds most translated classic next to the Bible.

Roman literature
This section discussed the development of Roman literature and its influence on European culture. Roman literature was limited to a few writings for about five centuries after the founding of Rome. It may be said that the "Law of the Twelve Tables," prepared about 450 B. c. and hung up in the Forum, was the first prose composition of importance. The earliest writings were fashioned almost exclusively after Greek models and their lyric, heroic, and dramatic meters came from the Greeks. Rome had elementary schools as early as 450 B.C., where reading, arithmetic, writing, and music were taught. Many of the teachers were Greeks and the children of wealthy families were sent to Greece to complete their education, but excellent higher schools and colleges were later established in all the Roman cities. Roman literature owed much to Greek civilization. When the Romans became rulers of Greece they recognized the superiority of Greek literature and learning, and sought to emulate it. The first translation of Greek classics into Roman was made by a Grecian slave who came to Rome about 250 B.C.. He also wrote and acted plays inspired by Greek writings, and so at first Roman literature consisted merely of works copied or transkated from the Greek. In time, however, Roman writers began to produce original works in their own language, though Greek literature was still used as the model of what constituted good writing. One of the first works of Roman literature was "The Origines," a work written by Marcus Portius Cato in the 2d century. It consists principally of a history of the origin of Rome and several other cities of Italy. Ennius, a Roman of the same period, introduced a new style of literature, somewhat resembling the Grecian. His writings are largely poetical history and his "Annals," a poetical history of Rome, was for two centuries the national poem. He was honored by having his bust placed in the tomb of Scipio. The writings of Plautus belong to the early part of the 2d century, and are noted for their vigorous and brilliant wit. Terence, a learned and graceful humorist, who flourished about the middle of the 2d century, turned attention to greater refinement and more cultured forms of expression.

The Latin tragedies of the early Roman period were copied from the masterpieces of Sophocles and Euripides. Their comedies were translated from Aristophanes and other writers, their philosophy was borrowed from the Portico and the Academy, and their orators, even in the palmiest days, proposed to pattern after the speeches of Demosthenes and Lysias. To the 1st century B. C. belong the illustrious names of Varro, Cicero, Virgil, Horace, Livy, and Sallust. Varro founded large libraries and a museum of sculpture, cultivated the fine arts; and sought to awaken literary tastes among his countrymen. He wrote on history, theology, philosophy, and agriculture. Cicero is the most eloquent of all the Romans. He ranked high as an essayist, orator, and letter writer; his principal productions include his four orations on the "Conspiracy of Cataline." The Roman schools used his orations for lessons and many of his essays still are familiar Latin text-books. Virgil and Horace are known as poets of the Augustan age. Virgil's "Aeneid" is modeled after the Homeric poems. Livy write 42 volumes of Roman history, beginning with the fabulous landing of Aeneas in Italy (also the subject of the Aenid by Virgil), and closing with the death of Drusus in the year 8 B. c. Sallus is another historian of eminence, his most noted writings embracing the "Conspiracy of Cataline" and the "Jugurthine War." The noted writers of the 1st century A. D. include Seneca, Juvenal, Tacitus, and the two Plinys. Seneca was a brilliant orator, poet, and Stoic philosopher. His writings are remarkable for their moral purity. They include "Ethical Essays," "Tragedies," and "Instructive Letters." Juvenal produced works remarkable for their satire and eloquence. Tacitus wrote in a grave and stately, though sometimes sarcastic, style. His writings include "History of Rome," "Life of Agricola," and a treatise on Germany. Pliny the Elder is the author of "Natural History," a work of 37 volumes, covering the whole range of scientific knowledge of his time. Pliny the Younger was a charming letter writer; his writings extant include the "Epistles" and the "Eulogium upon Trajan." Quintilian was the most eminent rhetorician and literary critic of Rome. As Roman power declined so did its civilization, and towards the end of the Empire, there were fewer literary works of note produced. As well, many works were lost completely during the destruction that befall the Roman cities at the hands of the barbarians. Some Latin books survived but they were hidden for centuries, the only surviving copies held in Constantinople. When that city fell to the moslems, many of the inhabitants fled as refugees to western Europe and some brought books with them. As a result, many books from the Roman period were reintroduced into western Europe after 1453 A.D. sparking renewed interest in ancient learning and Roman philosophy by European intellectuals. This rediscovery of ancient learning contributed to the Renaissance, that rebirth of the arts and learning which followed the dark centuries of semi-barbarism which followed the end of the The Roman Empire.
Virgil was a poet who lived during the civil wars in Rome and then in the time of the Roman Emperor Augustus, just before the birth of Jesus Christ. Virgil (VER-jill) was a friend of Maecenas (my-SEEN-ass), who was a friend of Augustus, and Virgil wrote poetry in order to support Augustus' government. Virgil wrote a bunch of poems, called the Georgics, which are about how wonderful Italy is, and how nice it is to have peace (thanks to Augustus), and how good it is to live a simple, traditional life.

But the work Virgil is most remembered for is the epic poem called the Aeneid. This is a long poem in twelve books, like theIliad or the Odyssey. The hero is Aeneas (i-KNEE-ass), who was a Trojan who was supposed to have escaped from Troy when the Greeks captured it during the Trojan War. It is the story of how Aeneas and his men (like Odysseus and his men) travelled from Troy to Italy to found the city of Rome. This makes the Trojans the ancestors of the Romans. Virgil was not happy with the Aeneid. It was not published while he was alive, and when he died in 19 BC he left instructions that it should be destroyed. But his heirs published it anyway.