正史 Standard Histories

• 史記 Records of the Grand Historian - 109-91 BCE. The first of the standard Chinese histories by 司馬遷 Sima Qian with a partial English translation
• 漢書 Book of Han - 111 CE. The second of the standard Chinese histories by 班固 Ban Gu with others, covering the 西漢 Western [Former] Han dynasty 206 BCE - 25 CE
• 後漢書 Book of Later Han - 5th century. The third of the standard Chinese histories, compiled by 範曄 Fan Ye, covering the 東漢 Eastern [Later] Han dynasty25-220 CE
• 三國志 Records of the Three Kingdoms - C. 289. The fourth of the standard Chinese histories, compiled by 陳壽 Chen Shou and annotations by 裴松之 Pei Songzhi, covering the end of the Eastern Han dynasty and the Three Kingdoms (220–280)
• 晉書 Book of Jin - C. 648. The fifth of the standard Chinese histories, compiled by 房玄齡 Fang Xuanling, covering the Jin dynasty (265-420)
• 宋書 Book of Song - C. 493. The sixth of the standard Chinese histories, compiled by 沈約 Shen Yue, covering the Liu Song dynasty (420–479)
• 南齊書 Book of Southern Qi - 537. The seventh of the standard Chinese histories, compiled by 蕭子顯 Xiao Zixian, covering the Southern Qi dynasty (479-502)
• 梁書 Book of Liang - 636. The eigth of the standard Chinese histories, compiled by 姚思廉 Yao Silian, covering the Liang dynasty (502–557)
• 陳書 Book of Chen - 636 CE. The ninth of the standard Chinese histories, compiled by 姚思廉 Yao Silian, covering the Chen dynasty (557-58)
• 魏書 Book of Wei - 554 CE. The tenth of the standard Chinese histories, compiled by 魏收 Wei Shou, covering the Northern Wei and Eastern Wei dynasties from 386 to 550
• 北齊書 Book of Northern Qi - 554 CE. The eleventh of the standard Chinese histories, compiled by 李百藥 Li Baiyao, covering the Northern Qi dynasty (550-577)
• 周書 Book of Zhou - 636 CE. The twelfth of the standard Chinese histories, compiled by 令狐德棻 Linghu Defen, covering the Northern Zhou dynasty (557-581)
• 隋書 Book of Sui - 636 CE. The thirteenth of the standard Chinese histories, compiled by 魏徵 Wei Zheng, 令狐德棻 Linghu Defen, and 長孫無忌 Zhangsun Wuji covering the Sui dynasty (581-618)
• 南史 History of the Southern Dynasties659 CE. The fourteenth of the standard Chinese histories, compiled by 李延壽 Li Yanshou, covering the Liu Song, Southern Qi, Liang, and Chen dynasties
• 北史 History of the Northern Dynasties - 659 CE. The fifteenth of the standard Chinese histories, compiled by 李延壽 Li Yanshou, covering the Northern Wei, Western Wei, Eastern Wei, Northern Zhou, Northern Qi, and Sui dynasties
• 舊唐書 Old Book of Tang - 945 CE. The sixteenth of the standard Chinese histories, compiled by 劉昫 Liu Xu, covering the Tang dynasty (618–907)
• 新唐書 New Book of Tang - 1060 CE. The seventeenth of the standard Chinese histories, compiled by 歐陽脩 Ouyang Xiu, covering the Tang dynasty (618–907)
• 舊五代史 Old History of the Five Dynasties - 974 CE. The eighteenth of the standard Chinese histories, compiled by 薛居正 Xue Juzheng, covering the Five Dynasties (907-960)
• 舊五代史 New History of the Five Dynasties - 1053 CE. The nineteenth of the standard Chinese histories, compiled by 歐陽脩 Ouyang Xiu, covering the Five Dynasties (907-960)
• 宋史 History of Song - 1345 CE. The twentieth of the 二十四史 twenty four standard histories, compiled under the supervision of 脫脫 Toqto with a group of scholars including 歐陽玄 Ouyang Xuan, covering the Song dynasty (960-1279)
• 遼史 History of Liao - 1344 CE. The twenty first of the 二十四史 twenty four standard histories, compiled under the supervision of 脫脫 Toqto with a group of scholars including 歐陽玄 Ouyang Xuan, covering the Liao dynasty (907–1125)
• 金史 History of Jin - 1345 CE. The twenty second of the 二十四史 twenty four standard histories, compiled under the supervision of 脫脫 Toqto with a group of scholars including 歐陽玄 Ouyang Xuan, covering the Jin dynasty (1115–1234)
• 元史 History of Yuan - 1370 CE. The twenty third of the 二十四史 twenty four standard histories, compiled under the supervision of 宋濂 Song Lian, covering the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368)
• 明史 History of Ming - 1739 CE. The twenty fourth of the 24 dynastic histories 二十四史, compiled under 張廷玉 Zhang Tingyu covering the Ming dynasty 1368-1644

別史 Other Histories

• 竹書紀年 Bamboo Annals - Pre-Qin. Based on the court annals of 魏 the State of Wei
• 國語 Guoyu - Pre-Qin. Also known as Discourses of the States, attributed to 左丘明 Zuo Qiuming, covering the Spring and Autumn period
• 戰國策 Stratagems of the Warring States - Pre-Han. An early collection of dialogs describing important events of the Warring States, compiled by 刘向 Liu Xiang
• 山海經 Classic of Mountains and Seas - Pre-Han. An early text on geography
• 越絕書 Yue Jue Shu - Han. An account of the early history of the Yue peoples
• 鹽鐵論 Discourses on Salt and Iron - Han. A debate held at the imperial court in 81 BCE on state policy for sale of iron goods

Han Dynasty Literature

• 新語 New Discussions by Western Han scholar 陸賈 Lu Jia (d. 170 BCE)
• 新書 Xin Shu by Western Han scholar 賈誼 Jia Yi (d. 169 BCE)
• 春秋繁露 Luxuriant Dew of the Spring and Autumn Annals - Also known as Chunqiu Fanlu, attributed to Han scholar 董仲舒 Dong Zhongshu
• 太玄經 Canon of Supreme Mystery - 2 BCE. A text on divination by Han scholar 扬雄 Yang Xiong
• 法言 Exemplary Figures - 9 CE. Composed by Han scholar 扬雄 Yang Xiong

集 Collections

• 楚辭 Songs of Chu - Han. An early collection of Warring States poems by 屈原 Qu Yuan, compiled by Liu Xiang 劉向 in the Han
• 文選 Wenxuan 520-530 CE. An anthology of poetry covering the Warring States to c. 500 by 萧统 Xiao Tong (501-531) with commentary by 李善 Li Shan (630-689)
• 陶淵明集 Tao Yuanming Collected Poems 365-427 Poems of 陶潛 Tao Qian
• Tang Poetry 618—907 CE. A small collection of poems by well known authors

道教 Taoism

• 道德經 Daode Jing - Pre-Qin. With commentary by 王弼 Wang Bi
• 列子 Liezi - Pre-Qin. Attributed to 杨朱 Yang Zhu
• 莊子 Zhuangzi - Pre-Qin A foundational Taoist text with English translation by James Legge

Historic Dictionaries

• 爾雅 Er Ya - Qin to Western Han. Earliest Chinese dictionary
• 說文解字 Shuo Wen Jie Zi - 100-121 CE. Dictionary attributed to Xu Shen

Post Han Literature

• 文心雕龍 The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons - 465－520 CE. An early Chinese text in literature theory by 劉勰 Liu Xie
• 千字文 Thousand Character Classic - c. 521. Commissioned by 周興嗣 Zhou Xingsi (470–521)
• 顏氏家訓 The Family Instructions of Master Yan - c. 591. Yan Zhitui (531 - c. 591), including a collection of essays on morality and philogical subjects
• 四書章句集注 Commentaries on the Four Books - 1150-1200. By Neo-Confucian philosopher Zhu Xi 朱熹 (1130—1200)
• 茶經 The Classic of Tea - 760-780 CE. The first monograph ever on tea and its culture, written by Lu Yu 陆羽
• 水滸傳 Water Margin - c. 1372 by Shi Naian 施耐庵, also known as Outlaws of the Marsh and The Marshes of Mount Liang, one of the four great novels of Chinese literature
• 三國演義 Romance of the Three Kingdoms - c. 1400, a novel by Luo Guanzhong, one of the four great novels of Chinese literature
• 西遊記 Journey to the West - c. 1582, Ming dynasty novel by Wu Cheng'en 吳承恩, one of the Four Classic Novels of Chinese literature
• 儒林外史 The Scholars - 1750. Also known as Unofficial History of the Scholars, a satirical novel by 吴敬梓 Wu Jingzi 1701—1754
• 红楼梦 Dream of the Red Chamber - 1791. One of the four great Chinese novels by 曹雪芹 Cao Xueqin c. 1715-1763

Language Learning

• Literary Chinese Notes Pre-Han to Tang bilingual prose. A short introduction to literary Chinese and a small selection of historic texts from well known writers with English translations

Modern

• 老舍 Lao She. A very small number of phrases from the writings of Lao She (1899-1966)
• 叶圣陶 Ye Shengtao. A very small number of phrases from the writings of Ye Shengtao (1894-1988)
• Media articles Mass media articles in modern Chinese

Word frequencies for entire corpus