The Greatest Books of All Time Set in China

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This list represents a comprehensive and trusted collection of the greatest books. Developed through a specialized algorithm, it brings together 759 'best of' book lists to form a definitive guide to the world's most acclaimed books. For those interested in how these books are chosen, additional details can be found on the rankings page.

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Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
172 Man's Fate Andre Malraux 1933 French French
281 The Good Earth Pearl S. Buck 1931 American English
367 Journey to the West Wu Cheng'en 1592 Chinese Chinese
379 The Second World War Winston Churchill 1948 British English
484 Dream of the Red Chamber Cao Xueqin 1754 Chinese Chinese
585 Tao Te Ching Lao Tsu -300 Chinese Classical chinese
621 Analects Confucius -479 Chinese Classical chinese
738 The Joy Luck Club Amy Tan 1989 American English
787 Quotations from Chairman Mao Mao 1964 Chinese Chinese
802 Romance of the Three Kingdoms Guanzhong Luo 1400 Chinese Chinese
815 Around the World in Eighty Days Jules Verne 1872 French French
817 Rickshaw Boy Lao She 1936 Chinese Chinese
835 The Art of War Sun Tzu -500 Chinese Classical chinese
873 Call to Arms Lu Xun 1922 Chinese Chinese
903 Wild Swans Jung Chang 1991 Chinese English
1037 The Woman Warrior Maxine Hong Kingston 1976 American English
1051 The Phenomenon Of Man Pierre Teilhard de Chardin 1955 French French
1098 Seven Years in Tibet Heinrich Harrer 1952 Austrian German
1102 I Ching China -1000 Chinese Chinese
1151 The Water Margin Shi Naian 1370 Chinese Chinese
1244 The Travels of Marco Polo Marco Polo 1300 Italian Old french
1282 The Plum in the Golden Vase Unknown 1610 Chinese Chinese
1566 Love In A Fallen City Eileen Chang 1943 Chinese Chinese
1569 Empire of the Sun J. G. Ballard 1984 British English
1595 The Forbidden Kingdom Jan Jacob Slauerhoff 1932 Dutch Dutch
1622 Fortress Besieged Qian Zhongshu 1947 Chinese Chinese
1805 A Hero Born Jin Yong 1957 Chinese Chinese
1906 Red Sorghum Yan Mo 1986 Chinese Chinese
1913 Mencius Mencius -300 Chinese Classical chinese
2032 Cosmos Alexander von Humboldt 1845 German German
2149 The Book of Songs China -600 Chinese Classical chinese
2206 The Gate of Heavenly Peace Jonathan Spence 1981 American English
2208 Waiting Ha Jin 1999 Chinese English
2213 Collected Stories W. Somerset Maugham 1951 British English
2328 The Three-Body Problem Cixin Liu 2006 Chinese Chinese
2355 Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress Dai Sijie 2000 Chinese French
2425 Into Thin Air Jon Krakauer 1997 American English
2427 Soul Mountain Xingjian Gao 1990 Chinese Chinese
2497 The Garden Of Forking Paths Jorge Luis Borges 1941 Argentinian Spanish
2594 Tales Of Hulan River Xiao Hong 1942 Chinese Chinese
2620 To Live Yu Hua 1993 Chinese Chinese
2623 Border Town Shen Congwen 1934 Chinese Chinese
2736 Severance Ling Ma 2018 American English
2895 Teahouse Lao She 1957 Chinese Chinese
3067 Tintin In Tibet Hergé 1960 Belgian French
3077 River Town Peter Hessler 2001 American English
3089 Factory Girls Leslie T. Chang 2008 American English
3213 Snow Flower and the Secret Fan Lisa See 2005 Chinese English
3273 Iron & Silk Mark Salzman 1986 American English
3384 Wandering On The Way Zhuangzi, Victor H. Mair -369 Chinese Classical chinese
3388 Death Of A Red Heroine Qiu Xiaolong 2000 Chinese English
3400 Brothers Yu Hua 2005 Chinese Chinese
3504 Heavy Wings Jie Zhang 1981 Chinese Chinese
3536 The Death of Woman Wang MMP Jonathan Spence 1978 American English
3543 The Good Women Of China Xinran 2002 Chinese Chinese
3569 My City Xi Xi 1975 Chinese Chinese
3610 The Blue Lotus Hergé 1936 Belgian French
3637 The Collected Songs of Cold Mountain Han Shan 600 Chinese Classical chinese
3637 Gods, Graves, And Scholars C. W. Ceram 1949 German German
3823 The Search For Modern China Jonathan Spence 1990 American English
3892 Oriental Tales Marguerite Yourcenar 1938 French French
3925 Half of Man is Woman Zhang Xianliang 1985 Chinese Chinese
4074 The Song Of Everlasting Sorrow Wang Anyi 1995 Chinese Chinese
4102 Life And Death In Shanghai Nien Cheng 1986 Chinese English
4160 China To Me Emily Hahn 1944 American English
4189 Age of Ambition Evan Osnos 2014 American English
4193 Oriental Despotism Karl August Wittfogel 1957 German English
4214 Miss Sophie's Diary And Other Stories Ding Ling 1928 Chinese Chinese
4234 Schuim En Asch J.J. Slauerhoff 1930 Dutch Dutch
4264 The Importance Of Living Lin Yutang 1937 Chinese English
4371 Crazy Rich Asians Kevin Kwan 2013 American English
4624 The Party Richard McGregor 2010 Unknown English
4628 The Opium War Julia Lovell 2011 British English
4760 Baptism Yang Jiang 1988 Chinese Chinese
4765 400 Million Customers Carl Crow 1937 American English
4796 The Good Person of Szechwan Bertolt Brecht 1943 German German
4846 The Last Quarter Of The Moon Chi Zijian 2005 Chinese English
4851 Peking Story David Kidd 1960 American English
5089 The Butterfly Lovers Unknown -389 Chinese Chinese
5123 Creation Gore Vidal 1981 American English
5147 Six Records Of A Floating Life Shen Fu 1809 Chinese Chinese
5153 Midnight In Peking Paul French 2012 British English
5159 With Love And Irony Lin Yutang 1934 Chinese English
5165 Forgotten Kingdom Peter Goullart 1955 Russian English
5187 The World's Religions Huston Smith 1958 American English
5190 Caravan For China Frank Stanley Stuart 1941 British English
5239 Travels With Myself And Another Martha Gellhorn 1978 American English
5378 Bridge of Birds Barry Hughart 1984 American English
5444 1587, A Year Of No Significance Ray Huang 1981 Chinese English
5459 Forgotten Ally Rana Mitter 2013 British English
5524 Mao's China And After Maurice Meisner 1977 American English
5595 World War Z Max Brooks 2006 American English
5668 Baiyun Oder Die Freundschaftsgesellschaft Adolf Muschg 1980 Swiss German
5939 The Turning Point Fritjof Capra 1982 American English
5939 Der Bedrohte Friede Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker 1982 German German
5969 Imperial China, 900–1800 F. W. Mote 1999 Chinese English
5971 Falling Leaves Adeline Yen Mah 1997 Chinese English
5982 Soulstealers Philip A. Kuhn 1990 American English
5984 Shanghai Baby Wei Hui 1999 Chinese Chinese
6139 Poems Of Du Fu Du Fu 759 Chinese Classical chinese
6213 Under A Lucky Star Roy Chapman Andrews 1943 American English
6229 The Chinese Enlightenment Vera Schwarcz 1986 Unknown English
6252 Why Nations Fail Daron Acemoğlu, James A. Robinson 2012 American English
6273 Cold Nights Ba Jin 1947 Chinese Chinese
6295 Oracle Bones Peter Hessler 2006 American English
6340 China Pop Jianying Zha 1995 Unknown English
6349 Nineteen Ways Of Looking At Wang Wei Eliot Weinberger 1987 American English
6382 An Essay On Universal History, The Manners, And Spirit Of Nations Voltaire 1756 French French
6382 A Voyage Round The World Georg Forster 1777 German German
6408 In Xanadu William Dalrymple 1989 British English
6418 The Bonesetter's Daughter Amy Tan 2001 American English
6430 The Jade King Huo Da 1988 Unknown Chinese
6431 Riding The Iron Rooster Paul Theroux 1988 American English
6445 Eaarth Bill McKibben 2010 American English
6453 News from Tartary Peter Fleming 1936 British English
6459 Science and Civilisation in China Joseph Needham 1954 British English
6462 Air Geoff Ryman 2005 British English
6465 Red Azalea Anchee Min 1993 Chinese English
6468 Disputers Of The Tao A. C. Graham 1989 British English
6478 Second World War John Keegan 1989 British English