20th century 100 Best Chinese Fictions
This is one of the 759 lists we use to generate our main The Greatest Books list.
About this list
Asia Weekly, 100 Books
In 1999, YaZhou ZhouKan (Asia Weekly, an international current affairs weekly in Chinese based in Hong Kong) made a similar practice as "100 Best Novels by The Modern Library" to summarize the Chinese fiction in 20th century. The ranking gathered the top force of Chinese literature around the world from China Mainland, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, and North America.
Voters: top force in international Chinese literature (China Mainland, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, North America)
who voted:
Yu Qiuyu: essayist, literary critic, former president of Shanghai Theatre Academy; Wang Meng: novelist, former Minister of Culture of China; Wang Xiaoming: literary critic, professor of Chinese Department at East China Normal University in Shanghai; Liu Zaifu: literary theorist, former director of the Institute of Literature of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences; Xie Mian: literary critic, professor of Chinese Department at Peking University.
Wang Xingqing: also known as Nan Fangshuo, cultural and current affairs critic; Shi Shu: literary critic, professor of Chinese Department at Tamkang University in Taiwan.
This list was originally published in 1999 and was added to this site about 2 years ago.
| Rank | Book | Authors | Year | Country | Language | Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 873 | Call to Arms | Lu Xun | 1922 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 2622 | Border Town | Shen Congwen | 1934 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 817 | Rickshaw Boy | Lao She | 1936 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 1566 | Love In A Fallen City | Eileen Chang | 1943 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 1622 | Fortress Besieged | Qian Zhongshu | 1947 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 11062 | Midnight | Mao Dun | 1933 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 3419 | Taipei People | Pai Hsien-yung | 1971 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 11087 | Family | Ba Jin | 1931 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 2593 | Tales Of Hulan River | Xiao Hong | 1942 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 12602 | The Travels Of Lao Ts'an | Liu T'ieh-yün | 1907 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 6271 | Cold Nights | Ba Jin | 1947 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 12628 | Wandering | Lu Xun | 1926 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 12641 | Officialdom Unmasked | Li Baojia | 1903 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 12682 | Children Of The Rich | Lu Ling | 1940 | Chinese | Unknown | |
| 14482 | A Race Of Generals | Chen Yingzhen | 1988 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 12716 | Drowning | Yu Dafu | 1921 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 12746 | Ripples Across Stagnant Water | Li Jieren | 1935 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 1906 | Red Sorghum | Yan Mo | 1986 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 12785 | The Marriage Of Young Blacky | Zhao Shuli | 1943 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 14383 | The Chess Master | Ah Cheng | 1984 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 14009 | Family Catastrophe | Wang Wen-hsin | 1973 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 5417 | A Dictionary Of Maqiao | Han Shaogong | 1996 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 12894 | Orphan Of Asia | Zhuoliu Wu | 1945 | Taiwanese | Chinese | |
| 11272 | Half A Lifelong Romance | Eileen Chang | 1948 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 12946 | Four Generations Under One Roof | Lao She | 1944 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 15648 | Hu Xueyan | Gao Yang | 2007 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 13016 | Fate In Tears And Laughter | Chang Hen-shui | 1925 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 13917 | Son's Big Doll | Huang Chun-ming | 1968 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 1805 | A Hero Born | Jin Yong | 1957 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 4212 | Miss Sophie's Diary And Other Stories | Ding Ling | 1928 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 13932 | The Deer And The Cauldron | Jin Yong | 1969 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 13227 | Flower In A Sea Of Sin | Zeng Pu | 1905 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 13234 | Making Trouble | Loa Ho | 1930 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 14548 | An Oxcart For Dowry | Wang Chen-ho | 1988 | Taiwanese | Chinese | |
| 15580 | The Alien Realm | Bo Yang | 1996 | Chinese | Unknown | |
| 14678 | Zeng Guofan | Tang Haoming | 1992 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 13519 | My Native Land | Chung Li-ho | 1956 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 14708 | White Deer Plain | Chen Zhongshi | 1993 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 4072 | The Song Of Everlasting Sorrow | Wang Anyi | 1995 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 14487 | The Jiling Chronicles | Li Yung-p'ing | 1986 | Chinese | Unknown | |
| 14663 | Yellow Peril | Wang Lixiong | 1991 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 14073 | 狂风 | Sima Zhongyuan | 1974 | Chinese | Unknown | |
| 13794 | 艷陽天 | Hao Ran | 1964 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 13254 | 公墓 | Mu Shiying | 1933 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 15633 | 舊址 | Li Rui | 1998 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 13520 | 星星.月亮.太陽 | Su Xu | 1955 | Chinese | Unknown | |
| 14433 | Taiwanese Trilogy | Chung Chao-cheng | 1984 | Taiwanese | Chinese | |
| 4758 | Baptism | Yang Jiang | 1988 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 14165 | The Whirlwind | Chiang Kuei | 1977 | Chinese | Unknown | |
| 13306 | Lotus Creek | Sun Li | 1950 | Chinese | Unknown | |
| 3569 | My City | Xi Xi | 1975 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 15668 | The Love Story Of A Young Monk | Wang Zengqi | 2011 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 14361 | 鐵漿 | Chu Hsi-ning | 1980 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 14645 | Fin De Siècle Splendor | Chu Tʽien-wen | 1990 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 13294 | Legend Of The Swordsmen Of The Mountains Of Shu | Huanzhulouzhu | 1932 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 14046 | 又見棕櫚, 又見棕櫚 | Yu Lihua | 1971 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 14550 | Turbulence | Jia Pingwa | 1987 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 13564 | The Young Newcomer In The Organizational Department | Wang Meng | 1980 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 13304 | The Death Of Yuli | Xu Zhenya | 1912 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 14850 | City Of The Queen | Shin Shu-ching | 1994 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 13305 | Moment In Peking | Lin Yutang | 1939 | Chinese | English | |
| 13307 | 倪煥之 | Ye Shengtao | 1928 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 13308 | Spring Peach | Xu Dishan | 1930 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 14155 | Mulberry And Peach | Hualing Nieh | 1976 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 13801 | The Blue And The Black | Wang Lan | 1963 | Chinese | Unknown | |
| 13309 | Threshold Of Spring | Rou Shi | 1932 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 13310 | 風蕭蕭 | Xu Xu | 1947 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 14429 | A Small Town Called Hibiscus | Gu Hua | 1983 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 13311 | 地之子 | Tai Jingnong | 1948 | Chinese | Unknown | |
| 12018 | Memories Of Peking | Lin Hai-yin | 1960 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 14552 | The Ancient Ship | Zhang Wei | 1987 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 13803 | The Drunkard | Liu Yichang | 1963 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 13737 | Song Never to End | Nelson I. Wu | 1959 | Unknown | Unknown | |
| 3504 | Heavy Wings | Jie Zhang | 1981 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 13315 | Records Of Orchard City | Shi Tuo | 1946 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 14374 | Stones In The Wall | Dai Houying | 1980 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 7055 | Golden Age | Wang Xiaobo | 1997 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 14518 | Dogshit Food | Liu Heng | 1986 | Chinese | Unknown | |
| 14616 | Chess King | Shi-Kuo Chang | 1988 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 14584 | Lai Suo | Huang Fan | 1987 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 14664 | Raise The Red Lantern | Su Tong | 1990 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 14495 | Farewell To My Concubine | Lilian Lee | 1985 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 9273 | The Butcher's Wife And Other Stories | Li Ang | 1983 | Taiwanese | Chinese | |
| 13992 | Chu Liuxiang | Gu Long | 1967 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 13811 | Outside The Window | Chiung Yao | 1963 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 15677 | Silent Island | Su Wei-chen | 2021 | Chinese | Unknown | |
| 13595 | The Bride With White Hair | Liang Yusheng | 1957 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 15600 | The Old Capital | Chu Tʽien-hsin | 1996 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 14330 | Execution Of Mayor Yin | Chen Ruoxi | 1978 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 15678 | Lucky Worries About His Country | Chang Ta-chun | 2001 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 14617 | The Story Of Hay Bo | Yi Shu | 1988 | Chinese | Unknown | |
| 3925 | Half of Man is Woman | Zhang Xianliang | 1985 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 13330 | The General's Head | Shi Zhecun | 1932 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 14496 | Blue Blood Being | Ni Kuang | 1985 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 13331 | Bizarre Happenings Eyewitnessed Over Two Decades | Jianren Wu | 1908 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 2619 | To Live | Yu Hua | 1993 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 14618 | Ten years and Ten Cases of Hysteria | Lin Jinlan | 1988 | Chinese | Unknown | |
| 13332 | North Pole Landscape Painting | Wumingshi | 1943 | Chinese | Unknown | |
| 14665 | Yongzheng Emperor | Eryue He | 1990 | Chinese | Chinese | |
| 14497 | The Lure Of The Gangdise Mountains | Ma Yuan | 1985 | Chinese | Unknown |