The Chinese Knight-Errant

Book excerpt: This book, first published in 1967, is a comprehensive study of knight-errantry in Chinese history and literature from the fourth century BC to the twentieth century. After discussing the social and intellectual backgrounds of knight-errantry, it gives examples of historical knights and describes the development of the theme of knight-errantry in poetry, fiction and drama. Many biographies, anecdotes, poems and tales are translated in full, while long prose romances and dramatic works are summarized and discussed. As background to these, sketches of the developments of Chinese fiction and drama are provided. In a final chapter, comparisons are made between Chinese and European knights, and between Chinese and Western chivalric literature.