The 76 best books in Chinese

Each point of light is one of the 76, placed by how hard it is to read. The brighter, the higher it ranks. The dotted line is one way up.

76
books
937
hours to read
6
free to read here
Start low: The True Story of Ah QSee all 76
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No. 1 of 76

Dream of the Red Chamber

Cao Xueqin · 1791

Difficulty 78/10097 hours

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About 937 hours for 76 of 76 books with measured lengths. Estimates use 250 words a minute, adjusted for each book's difficulty. At 2 hours a day, about 469 days for those books.

1–10 · 231 hours

  1. No. 1 on this list. Dream of the Red Chamber

    Cao Xueqin · 1791

    Difficult97 hours

    Included in: UNESCO Collection of Representative Works

    Cao Xueqin chronicled the decline of an aristocratic Chinese clan through the consciousness of over four hundred distinct characters, weaving Buddhist philosophy, classical poetry, and granular domestic life into a novel of a scope that European fiction would not attempt for another century. It remains the central work of Chinese narrative art.

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  2. The foundation of Chinese historiography, required in Chinese secondary education and standard in world-history and classical-literature curricula.

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  3. The Tao Te Ching is one of the most translated texts in human history — second only to the Bible in total translations, with over 250 English versions alone. It anchors courses in world philosophy, comparative religion, East Asian studies, and literature at virtually every major university. Its Wikipedia article exists in over 80 languages.

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  4. No. 4 on this list. Analects

    Confucius · c. 479 BCE

    Moderate2 hours

    Confucius's students recorded his sayings on ritual, filial piety, and the gentleman-scholar in terse dialogues that became the moral operating system for East Asian civilization. The examination system built on this text selected China's governing class for over a thousand years.

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  5. No. 5 on this list. Zhuangzi

    Zhuangzi · c. 300 BCE

    Difficult17 hours

    One of the two foundational Daoist texts, taught in world philosophy, Chinese literature and religious studies courses everywhere, in multiple competing English editions.

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  6. Ah Q stands with Quixote, Oblomov, and Babbitt as literature's archetypal national figures. For modern Chinese literature, this text functions as foundational myth—the work that demonstrated vernacular Chinese could carry savage social critique and established Lu Xun as the tradition's father.

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  7. Wu Cheng'en sent a Buddhist monk and his three supernatural companions on a westward pilgrimage through eighty-one trials, creating the great picaresque of Chinese literature — a work that fuses slapstick comedy, Daoist and Buddhist allegory, and some of the most inventive monster-fights in world fiction. The Monkey King, Sun Wukong, became the most recognizable trickster figure in East Asian culture.

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  8. Memorised in Chinese primary schools, standard in every world literature and Chinese poetry syllabus, and available in New Directions, Penguin and Anchor editions.

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  9. No. 9 on this list. Water Margin

    Shi Nai'an

    Moderate33 hours

    Included in: Bibliothèque de la Pléiade

    One of Four Great Classical Novels; foundational for martial arts genre.

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  10. No. 10 on this list. Mencius

    Mencius · c. 300 BCE

    Challenging5.4 hours

    One of the Four Books, memorised by every Chinese examination candidate from 1313 to 1905 and standard in Chinese philosophy syllabuses worldwide.

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11–20 · 95 hours

  1. No. 11 on this list. Call to Arms · Lu Xun · 1923

    Lu Xun compressed the anguish of a civilization in crisis into stories so concentrated they read like detonations — a madman who discovers that Confucian morality is a euphemism for cannibalism, a revolutionary beheaded while the crowd scrambles for bread dipped in his blood. These stories broke Chinese fiction free from classical convention and became the foundational texts of modern Chinese literature.

    Challenging4.4 hours

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  2. No. 12 on this list. Romance of the Three Kingdoms · Luo Guanzhong

    Included in: UNESCO Collection of Representative Works

    One of Four Great Classical Novels; formative for Chinese historical consciousness.

    Moderate41 hours

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  3. No. 13 on this list. Selected Poems of Su Tung-p’o · Su Shi · 1101

    The Red Cliff rhapsodies and the mid-autumn ci are memorised in Chinese schools, and Su Shi is standard in every Song literature course.

    Challenging2.3 hours

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  4. No. 14 on this list. The Songs of the South · Qu Yuan · c. 278 BCE

    One of the two founding anthologies of Chinese poetry alongside the Book of Songs, standard in premodern literature courses and published complete by Penguin.

    Difficult7.8 hours

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  5. No. 15 on this list. Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio · Pu Songling

    Included in: UNESCO Collection of Representative Works

    The standard classical Chinese story collection, taught in every survey of premodern Chinese literature and available in Penguin Classics, Yale and Columbia editions.

    Challenging22 hours

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  6. No. 16 on this list. The Selected Poems of Wang Wei · Wang Wei · 761

    Standard in Chinese poetry courses and in world literature anthologies, with Deer Park among the most reprinted short poems in any language.

    Challenging1.7 hours

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  7. No. 17 on this list. The Book of Songs · Anonymous (Chinese Classical)

    The first of the Five Classics, memorised by every Chinese examination candidate for two thousand years and standard in world literature surveys.

    Challenging4.6 hours

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  8. No. 18 on this list. Fortress Besieged · Qian Zhongshu · 1947

    One of the most celebrated Chinese novels of the twentieth century. Adapted into a hugely popular TV series in 1990.

    Moderate6.8 hours

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  9. No. 19 on this list. The Selected Poems of T’ao Ch’ien · Tao Yuanming · 427

    Standard in Chinese literature courses and school anthologies; Peach Blossom Spring is one of the best known prose texts in the language.

    Moderate1.6 hours

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  10. No. 20 on this list. Border Town · Shen Congwen · 1934

    Voted second among Chinese novels of the twentieth century in the Asia Weekly poll, taught everywhere in Chinese literature, and published by HarperCollins in Kinkley's translation.

    Challenging3.4 hours

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21–30 · 124 hours

  1. No. 21 on this list. The Peony Pavilion · Tang Xianzu · 1598

    The most celebrated play in the Chinese repertory, taught alongside The Story of the Western Wing in every premodern survey and published in a complete Indiana University Press translation.

    Challenging10 hours

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  2. No. 22 on this list. Rickshaw Boy · Lao She · 1937

    A set text in Chinese secondary schools and the standard example of Republican-era realism in Chinese literature courses abroad.

    Moderate6.7 hours

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  3. No. 23 on this list. Wandering · Lu Xun · 1926

    One of the two essential Lu Xun collections, foundational to modern Chinese literature. 'The New Year's Sacrifice' is among the most important Chinese stories.

    Moderate2.6 hours

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  4. No. 24 on this list. Selected Poems of Po Chü-i · Bai Juyi · 846

    Memorised in Chinese schools, standard in Tang poetry courses, and one of the pillars of the Japanese Heian curriculum for a thousand years.

    Moderate2.5 hours

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  5. No. 25 on this list. I Ching: The Book of Changes · Anonymous (Chinese Classical)

    The first of the Five Classics and the oldest book in the Chinese canon, standard in Chinese philosophy syllabuses and permanently in print in Princeton's Wilhelm-Baynes edition.

    Difficult13 hours

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  6. No. 26 on this list. Han Feizi · Han Fei · c. 233 BCE

    The central Legalist text, standard in Chinese philosophy and political theory syllabuses and available in Watson's Columbia and Christoph Harbsmeier's scholarly editions.

    Challenging7.7 hours

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  7. No. 27 on this list. The Art of War · Sun Tzu · c. 500 BCE

    One of the most widely read texts in human history, taught in military academies (West Point, Sandhurst), MBA programs, political science courses, and East Asian studies worldwide. Wikipedia articles exist in over 100 languages. Its maxims have entered common parlance across cultures, and it appears on virtually every 'great books' or 'essential nonfiction' list.

    Moderate2.1 hours

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  8. No. 28 on this list. The Plum in the Golden Vase · Lanling Xiaoxiao Sheng · 1617

    One of the four masterworks of Ming fiction, taught wherever Chinese literature is taught, though it was banned for most of its history and remains restricted in China.

    Challenging55 hours

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  9. No. 29 on this list. The Scholars · Wu Jingzi · 1750

    One of the six classic Chinese novels, standard on university reading lists and used in Chinese schools for the Fan Jin chapter alone.

    Challenging22 hours

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  10. No. 30 on this list. Teahouse · Lao She · 1957

    The most studied modern Chinese play, on the syllabus of every Chinese drama course and in continuous repertory at the Beijing People's Art Theatre since 1958.

    Challenging2.3 hours

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31–40 · 90 hours

  1. No. 31 on this list. The Complete Poems of Li Qingzhao

    Li Qingzhao · 1155

  2. No. 32 on this list. Family

    Ba Jin · 1933

  3. No. 33 on this list. Xunzi

    Xunzi · c. 250 BCE

  4. No. 34 on this list. Tales of Hulan River

    Xiao Hong · 1942

  5. No. 35 on this list. The Story of the Western Wing

    Wang Shifu · 1300

  6. No. 36 on this list. Four Generations Under One Roof

    Lao She · 1949

  7. No. 37 on this list. The Song of Everlasting Sorrow

    Wang Anyi · 1995

  8. No. 38 on this list. Midnight

    Mao Dun · 1933

  9. No. 39 on this list. The Field of Life and Death

    Xiao Hong · 1935

  10. No. 40 on this list. Lust, Caution

    Eileen Chang · 1979

41–50 · 91 hours

  1. No. 41 on this list. The August Sleepwalker

    Bei Dao · 1988

  2. No. 42 on this list. Half a Lifelong Romance

    Eileen Chang · 1948

  3. No. 43 on this list. To Live

    Yu Hua · 1993

  4. No. 44 on this list. The Rice-Sprout Song

    Eileen Chang · 1955

  5. No. 45 on this list. The Republic of Wine

    Mo Yan · 1992

  6. No. 46 on this list. Cold Nights

    Ba Jin · 1947

  7. No. 47 on this list. Sandalwood Death

    Mo Yan · 2001

  8. No. 48 on this list. The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons

    Liu Xie · 501

  9. No. 49 on this list. Mozi

    Mozi · c. 390 BCE

  10. No. 50 on this list. The Classic of Mountains and Seas

    Anonymous (Chinese Classical)

51–60 · 134 hours

  1. No. 51 on this list. The Legend of the Condor Heroes

    Jin Yong · 1959

  2. No. 52 on this list. The Sun Shines over the Sanggan River

    Ding Ling · 1948

  3. No. 53 on this list. Lenin's Kisses

    Yan Lianke · 2004

  4. No. 54 on this list. Cold Mountain Poems

    Hanshan · 800

  5. No. 55 on this list. Six Records of a Floating Life

    Shen Fu · 1809

  6. No. 56 on this list. Chronicle of a Blood Merchant

    Yu Hua · 1995

  7. No. 57 on this list. Dream of Ding Village

    Yan Lianke · 2006

  8. No. 58 on this list. Death's End

    Liu Cixin · 2010

  9. No. 59 on this list. Miss Sophia's Diary

    Ding Ling · 1928

  10. No. 60 on this list. Baotown

    Wang Anyi · 1985

61–70 · 128 hours

  1. No. 61 on this list. Raise the Red Lantern

    Su Tong · 1990

  2. No. 62 on this list. Ruined City

    Jia Pingwa · 1993

  3. No. 63 on this list. Cries in the Drizzle

    Yu Hua · 1991

  4. No. 64 on this list. Beijing Coma

    Ma Jian · 2008

  5. No. 65 on this list. The Three-Body Problem

    Liu Cixin · 2008

  6. No. 66 on this list. The Wandering Earth

    Liu Cixin · 2000

  7. No. 67 on this list. The Boat to Redemption

    Su Tong · 2009

  8. No. 68 on this list. Frontier

    Can Xue · 2008

  9. No. 69 on this list. Wolf Totem

    Jiang Rong · 2004

  10. No. 70 on this list. Red Dust: A Path Through China

    Ma Jian · 2001

71–76 · 44 hours

  1. No. 71 on this list. Love in the New Millennium

    Can Xue · 2013

  2. No. 72 on this list. Rice

    Su Tong · 1991

  3. No. 73 on this list. The Last Lover

    Can Xue · 2005

  4. No. 74 on this list. The Day the Sun Died

    Yan Lianke · 2015

  5. No. 75 on this list. Strange Beasts of China

    Yan Ge · 2006

  6. No. 76 on this list. Red Sorghum

    Mo Yan · 1987

About this list

These 76 books are the highest-scoring eligible books in Chinese currently in the catalogue. By literary regard, it opens with Dream of the Red Chamber, Records of the Grand Historian and Tao Te Ching. About 937 hours of reading in all. Difficulty runs from 52 to 66 out of 100 for the middle half of the list; the summit is Zhuangzi at 83.

This list is ranked by literary regard, with a consistent order for equal scores. Membership follows authors and co-authors, not translators or editors. Catalogue coverage and the historical canon both limit what this list can represent.

When we matched the Canons dataset to our catalogue in October 2026, our canonical-status scores rose with the number of school curricula, publisher series and lists in it that cite a work: the median score was 72 for books one such source cites, 84 at two, 88 at three, 92 at four and 93 at five or more. Prizes are left out of that count. Outside the state curricula, the dataset’s sources choose mostly from what has been translated into English or French, so it is a weaker check on other literatures. Source: Canons (Andrew Piper), CC BY 4.0

Questions people actually ask

What are the best books in Chinese?
By literary regard, which weighs canonical status, critical standing and influence, Dream of the Red Chamber, Records of the Grand Historian, Tao Te Ching, Analects and Zhuangzi lead. ReadingRate ranks 76 such books, each with a difficulty score and a reading-time estimate.
Where should I start with books in Chinese?
Start from difficulty, not from rank. The most approachable books on this list that still carry top literary regard are The True Story of Ah Q by Lu Xun (about 1.5 hours), Fortress Besieged by Qian Zhongshu and The Art of War by Sun Tzu.
How hard are books in Chinese to read?
Most of this list sits between 52 and 66 on ReadingRate's 100-point difficulty scale, where 40 to 55 is moderate. The summit is Zhuangzi at 83. Every entry carries its own score, so a reader can pick a great book at a difficulty they will finish.
How is this list ranked?
On literary-regard data: how canonically established a work is, its critical standing, and its influence on later writing. It is not a readers’ poll, which is why recent bestsellers rarely appear. Membership follows authors and co-authors, not translators or editors. A list that is not a genre list keeps to literature (fiction, poetry, drama and philosophy), with philosophy taking no more than one slot in five while there is literature left to rank; every list holds at most three works by one author.