The 85 best books from China

Dream of the Red Chamber by Cao Xueqin, Tao Te Ching by Laozi and The True Story of Ah Q by Lu Xun lead the 85 best books from China, ranked by literary regard. To start, The True Story of Ah Q by Lu Xun is the most approachable of the highly regarded books here, about 1.5 hours to read.

Each point of light is one of the 85, placed by how hard it is to read. The brighter, the higher it ranks. The dotted line is one way up.

85
books
950
hours to read
6
free to read here
Start low: The True Story of Ah QSee all 85
Easy4 booksModerate26 booksChallenging42 booksDifficult13 books

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No. 1 of 85

Dream of the Red Chamber

Cao Xueqin · 1791

Difficulty 78/10097 hours

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Showing 85 books

About 950 hours for 84 of 85 books with measured lengths. Estimates use 250 words a minute, adjusted for each book's difficulty. At 2 hours a day, about 476 days for those books.

1–10 · 199 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 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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  3. 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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  4. 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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  5. 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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  6. No. 6 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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  7. No. 7 on this list. Call to Arms

    Lu Xun · 1923

    Challenging4.4 hours

    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.

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  8. No. 8 on this list. Romance of the Three Kingdoms

    Luo Guanzhong

    Moderate41 hours

    Included in: UNESCO Collection of Representative Works

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

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

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

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11–20 · 62 hours

  1. No. 11 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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  2. No. 12 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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  3. No. 13 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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  4. No. 14 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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  5. No. 15 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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  6. No. 16 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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  7. No. 17 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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  8. No. 18 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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  9. No. 19 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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  10. No. 20 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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21–30 · 152 hours

  1. No. 21 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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  2. No. 22 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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  3. No. 23 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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  4. No. 24 on this list. The Complete Poems of Li Qingzhao · Li Qingzhao · 1155

    The standard woman poet of the Chinese canon, memorised in schools and present in every anthology of world poetry by women.

    Moderate1.3 hours

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  5. No. 25 on this list. Family · Ba Jin · 1933

    A set text in Chinese schools and the standard example of May Fourth anti-feudal fiction in modern Chinese literature courses.

    Moderate8.6 hours

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  6. No. 26 on this list. Tales of Hulan River · Xiao Hong · 1942

    A standard text in Chinese literature and Chinese women's writing courses, and among the most reprinted modern Chinese books in the mainland.

    Challenging5.6 hours

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  7. No. 27 on this list. The Story of the Western Wing · Wang Shifu · 1300

    The best-known Yuan drama, standard in premodern Chinese literature courses and published in a scholarly University of California edition.

    Challenging5.7 hours

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  8. No. 28 on this list. Four Generations Under One Roof · Lao She · 1949

    A standard text in Chinese literature courses and one of the most adapted modern Chinese novels for television, though less read abroad than Rickshaw Boy.

    Challenging23 hours

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  9. No. 29 on this list. The Song of Everlasting Sorrow · Wang Anyi · 1995

    Taught as the central contemporary Shanghai novel, published by Columbia University Press and widely used in Chinese literature courses abroad.

    Challenging15 hours

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  10. No. 30 on this list. Midnight · Mao Dun · 1933

    A set text in Chinese literary history as the exemplar of 1930s social realism, and the novel the Mao Dun Prize is named for.

    Challenging14 hours

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31–40 · 89 hours

  1. No. 31 on this list. The Field of Life and Death

    Xiao Hong · 1935

  2. No. 32 on this list. Lust, Caution

    Eileen Chang · 1979

  3. No. 33 on this list. The August Sleepwalker

    Bei Dao · 1988

  4. No. 34 on this list. Half a Lifelong Romance

    Eileen Chang · 1948

  5. No. 35 on this list. To Live

    Yu Hua · 1993

  6. No. 36 on this list. The Rice-Sprout Song

    Eileen Chang · 1955

  7. No. 37 on this list. Frog

    Mo Yan · 2009

  8. No. 38 on this list. The Republic of Wine

    Mo Yan · 1992

  9. No. 39 on this list. Cold Nights

    Ba Jin · 1947

  10. No. 40 on this list. Sandalwood Death

    Mo Yan · 2001

41–50 · 137 hours

  1. No. 41 on this list. The Legend of the Condor Heroes

    Jin Yong · 1959

  2. No. 42 on this list. The Sun Shines over the Sanggan River

    Ding Ling · 1948

  3. No. 43 on this list. Lenin's Kisses

    Yan Lianke · 2004

  4. No. 44 on this list. Cold Mountain Poems

    Hanshan · 800

  5. No. 45 on this list. Chronicle of a Blood Merchant

    Yu Hua · 1995

  6. No. 46 on this list. Dream of Ding Village

    Yan Lianke · 2006

  7. No. 47 on this list. Death's End

    Liu Cixin · 2010

  8. No. 48 on this list. Miss Sophia's Diary

    Ding Ling · 1928

  9. No. 49 on this list. A Thousand Years of Good Prayers

    Yiyun Li · 2005

  10. No. 50 on this list. Baotown

    Wang Anyi · 1985

51–60 · 122 hours

  1. No. 51 on this list. Raise the Red Lantern

    Su Tong · 1990

  2. No. 52 on this list. Soul Mountain

    Gao Xingjian · 1990

  3. No. 53 on this list. Waiting

    Ha Jin · 1999

  4. No. 54 on this list. Ruined City

    Jia Pingwa · 1993

  5. No. 55 on this list. Cries in the Drizzle

    Yu Hua · 1991

  6. No. 56 on this list. Beijing Coma

    Ma Jian · 2008

  7. No. 57 on this list. The Three-Body Problem

    Liu Cixin · 2008

  8. No. 58 on this list. The Wandering Earth

    Liu Cixin · 2000

  9. No. 59 on this list. The Boat to Redemption

    Su Tong · 2009

  10. No. 60 on this list. Frontier

    Can Xue · 2008

61–70 · 76 hours

  1. No. 61 on this list. The Vagrants

    Yiyun Li · 2009

  2. No. 62 on this list. Wolf Totem

    Jiang Rong · 2004

  3. No. 63 on this list. Red Dust: A Path Through China

    Ma Jian · 2001

  4. No. 64 on this list. The Crazed

    Ha Jin · 2002

  5. No. 65 on this list. Love in the New Millennium

    Can Xue · 2013

  6. No. 66 on this list. Elsewhere

    Yan Ge · 2024

  7. No. 67 on this list. War Trash

    Ha Jin · 2005

  8. No. 68 on this list. Rice

    Su Tong · 1991

  9. No. 69 on this list. The Last Lover

    Can Xue · 2005

  10. No. 70 on this list. One Man's Bible

    Gao Xingjian · 2000

71–80 · 66 hours

  1. No. 71 on this list. The Day the Sun Died

    Yan Lianke · 2015

  2. No. 72 on this list. Strange Beasts of China

    Yan Ge · 2006

  3. No. 73 on this list. The Book of Goose

    Yiyun Li · 2022

  4. No. 74 on this list. Severance

    Ling Ma · 2018

  5. No. 75 on this list. Cinema Love

    Jiaming Tang · 2024

  6. No. 76 on this list. The Funeral Cryer

    Wenyan Lu · 2023

  7. No. 77 on this list. Analects

    Confucius · c. 479 BCE

  8. No. 78 on this list. Zhuangzi

    Zhuangzi · c. 300 BCE

  9. No. 79 on this list. Mencius

    Mencius · c. 300 BCE

  10. No. 80 on this list. The Art of War

    Sun Tzu · c. 500 BCE

81–85 · 48 hours

  1. No. 81 on this list. I Ching: The Book of Changes

    Anonymous (Chinese Classical)

  2. No. 82 on this list. Han Feizi

    Han Fei · c. 233 BCE

  3. No. 83 on this list. Xunzi

    Xunzi · c. 250 BCE

  4. No. 84 on this list. The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons

    Liu Xie · 501

  5. No. 85 on this list. Mozi

    Mozi · c. 390 BCE

About this list

These 85 books are the highest-scoring eligible books from China currently in the catalogue. About 950 hours of reading in all, for the 84 with measured lengths. Difficulty runs from 52 to 65 out of 100 for the middle half of the list; the summit is Zhuangzi at 83.

This is a computed ranking ordered by literary regard, with a consistent order for equal scores. Membership follows authors and co-authors, not translators or editors. The list keeps to literature: fiction, poetry, drama and philosophy, its novels, poems and plays first and its philosophy after them, and no more than three works by one author. 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 from China?
By literary regard, which weighs canonical status, critical standing and influence: Dream of the Red Chamber by Cao Xueqin, Tao Te Ching by Laozi, The True Story of Ah Q by Lu Xun, Journey to the West by Wu Cheng'en and The Selected Poems of Li Po by Li Bai. ReadingRate ranks 85 such books, each with a difficulty score and a reading-time estimate.
Which books from China should I read first?
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.
What are the shortest of the best books from China?
Among the top 25, the shortest are The Complete Poems of Li Qingzhao by Li Qingzhao (about 1.3 hours), The Selected Poems of Wang Wei by Wang Wei (about 1.7 hours) and The Selected Poems of T’ao Ch’ien by Tao Yuanming (about 1.6 hours), at an average pace of 250 words a minute adjusted for each book's difficulty.
Which of the best books from China are the established classics?
By canonical status, how firmly a book sits in curricula, anthologies and the canon: Dream of the Red Chamber by Cao Xueqin, The True Story of Ah Q by Lu Xun, Tao Te Ching by Laozi, Analects by Confucius and Journey to the West by Wu Cheng'en.
Can I read any of these books from China for free?
6 of the 85 open in ReadingRate's reader with a free account, from public-domain editions: Dream of the Red Chamber, Tao Te Ching, Journey to the West, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Analects and 1 more.
How long would it take to read the top ten?
About 199 hours, at an average pace of 250 words a minute adjusted for each book's difficulty: 100 days at two hours a day. Set your own pace on the page and the list's reading times change to it.
How hard are books from China to read?
Most of this list sits between 52 and 65 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.
What are the Four Great Classical Novels?
Dream of the Red Chamber, Journey to the West, Water Margin, and Romance of the Three Kingdoms. All four appear on this list, and by the difficulty data Journey to the West and Water Margin read considerably more easily than Dream of the Red Chamber.
Is the Tao Te Ching hard to read?
It is short and scores moderately, but the difficulty is interpretive rather than technical: the sentences are plain and the meaning is deliberately open. Translations differ from each other more than for almost any other book on this list, so which one you pick matters.
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. Lists by country, author, period, theme or difficulty keep to literature (fiction, poetry, drama and philosophy), their novels, poems and plays first and their philosophy after them; a list of a kind of book, such as memoir or criticism, keeps every book of that kind. Every list holds at most three works by one author.