# Need movies and books set in Ancient China **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 9, 2009, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-movies-and-books-set-in-ancient-china/480572 "2009-01-09T19:54:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![dotchan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@dotchan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dotchan)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-movies-and-books-set-in-ancient-china/480572/21 "2009-01-10T18:22:13Z")
And nobody mentioned Classical Chinese Literature? For SHAME! šŸ˜› \*Romance of the Three Kingdoms, set in the Three Kingdoms period. Historical accuracy often gets sacrificed for the sake of drama, but the author does it so well you tend to forgive the fudges. The rounds of ā€œI know this about X, but does he know I know?ā€ between the strategists are especially fun. (Iā€™m pretty sure the English versions are annotated with ā€œwhat really happenedā€, but I havenā€™t read them.) \*Journey To the West, which is more Historical Fantasy set very loosely in the Tang dynasty, and more of a Heroā€™s Quest thing, but still great to read. Personally I find the first part, where Monkey fights all of the Celestial Bureaucracy for his own bit of sky, is more interesting than ā€œMonkey rescues Monk from the monsters trying to eat himā€, but your mileage may vary. \*Heroes of the Water Margin (or Suikoden for you Japanophiles), set in the Song dynasty. The ending is depressing as hell, but the rest of the stories are a good read. Somehow the author manages to bring _One Hundred and Eight_ heroes (and supporting cast) to life. The moral dissonance of male chauvinism might put some people off, though. \*Dream of the Red Chamber, set vaguely in the Ming (and/or early Qing) dynasty. I havenā€™t read this one myself, but Iā€™ve heard itā€™s pretty massively depressing, too. \*Feng Shen Yan Yi, historical fantasy set at the end of the Yin/beginning of Zhou dynasty. Lots of magic gets tossed around, and personally from the bits I read I find it a lot weaker than Romance of the Three Kingdoms, but itā€™s still alright. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-movies-and-books-set-in-ancient-china/480572/22 "2009-01-10T18:30:36Z")
> [@](#): > > The Judge Dee murder mysteries by Van Gulik(if still in print),Van Gulik was a historian I believe who specialised in chinese history. > Also theyā€™re good reads I came in to suggest those. Van Gulik was a diplomat, though, not a professional historian. His Judge Dee novels are mysteries featuring Djien-Djieh Dee, a Tā€™ang- era ,magistrate who really existed. Theyā€™re excellent. Van Gulik also translated the **Dee Goong An** , published by Dover books, which is an 18th century novel about Judge Dee. Since van Gulikā€™s death, at least two other people have written novels about him, retaining him as a solver of mysteries. See here: > **[Judge Dee](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judge_Dee)** > > Judge Dee, or Judge Di, is a semi-fictional character based on the historical figure Di Renjie, county magistrate and statesman of the Tang court. The character appeared in the 18th-century Chinese detective and gong'an crime novel Di Gong An. After Robert van Gulik came across it in an antiquarian book store in Tokyo, he translated the novel into English and then used the style and characters to write his own original Judge Dee historical mystery stories. > The series is set in Tang dynasty China... ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-movies-and-books-set-in-ancient-china/480572/23 "2009-01-10T19:04:32Z")
> [@Lust4Life](#): > > The Judge Dee murder mysteries by Van Gulik(if still in print),Van Gulik was a historian I believe who specialised in chinese history. > Also theyā€™re good reads. curses, beaten to the suggestion ā€¦ But on the other hand, many people dont know that a Dee Goong An novel was turned into a movie in the early 70s ā€¦ Judge Dee and the Monastary Murders ā€¦ ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-movies-and-books-set-in-ancient-china/480572/24 "2009-01-10T19:07:26Z")
> [@Ro0sh](#): > > \*Shogun \*is a book you can read to learn about Ancient China/China during the start of British trade with them. But itā€™s not an easy or ā€œfunā€ book- at least, I didnā€™t enjoy reading it. But it was interesting every now and then. Hopefully your mileage will vary. Shogun is about Japan under Tokugawa. I think itā€™s fun. Tai Pan is probably what you are thinking of. I thought it was also fun. Pirate traders from England building Hong Kong. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Some\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ad7895/32.png) [@Just\_Some\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Some_Guy)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-movies-and-books-set-in-ancient-china/480572/25 "2009-01-10T22:29:01Z")
> [@dotchan](#): > > And nobody mentioned Classical Chinese Literature? For SHAME! šŸ˜› > > \*Romance of the Three Kingdoms, set in the Three Kingdoms period. Historical accuracy often gets sacrificed for the sake of drama, but the author does it so well you tend to forgive the fudges. The rounds of ā€œI know this about X, but does he know I know?ā€ between the strategists are especially fun. (Iā€™m pretty sure the English versions are annotated with ā€œwhat really happenedā€, but I havenā€™t read them.) > \*Journey To the West, which is more Historical Fantasy set very loosely in the Tang dynasty, and more of a Heroā€™s Quest thing, but still great to read. Personally I find the first part, where Monkey fights all of the Celestial Bureaucracy for his own bit of sky, is more interesting than ā€œMonkey rescues Monk from the monsters trying to eat himā€, but your mileage may vary. > \*Heroes of the Water Margin (or Suikoden for you Japanophiles), set in the Song dynasty. The ending is depressing as hell, but the rest of the stories are a good read. Somehow the author manages to bring _One Hundred and Eight_ heroes (and supporting cast) to life. The moral dissonance of male chauvinism might put some people off, though. > \*Dream of the Red Chamber, set vaguely in the Ming (and/or early Qing) dynasty. I havenā€™t read this one myself, but Iā€™ve heard itā€™s pretty massively depressing, too. > \*Feng Shen Yan Yi, historical fantasy set at the end of the Yin/beginning of Zhou dynasty. Lots of magic gets tossed around, and personally from the bits I read I find it a lot weaker than Romance of the Three Kingdoms, but itā€™s still alright. You hit all of my recommendations but I canā€™t emphasize _Romance of the Three Kingdoms_ enough. Itā€™s like Herodotus for 200 A.D. China: the facts are there tied up with legends of what people thought about them. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-movies-and-books-set-in-ancient-china/480572/26 "2009-01-10T23:30:26Z")
> [@well\_he\_s\_back](#): > > Lightray beat me to it, but let me second Bridge of Birds. A wonderful novel. There are 2 excellent sequels also, though I think they are out of print and a bit tougher to find. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-movies-and-books-set-in-ancient-china/480572/27 "2009-01-10T23:38:03Z")
In [_Creation,_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creation_(novel)) by Gore Vidal, a Persian of the 5th Century B.C. visits China, and meets and has long talks with Confucius and Lao-Tze. See also Gary Jenningsā€™ [_The Journeyer,_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Journeyer) about Marco Polo in Mongol-ruled China (if thatā€™s ā€œancientā€ enough for you). ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-movies-and-books-set-in-ancient-china/480572/28 "2009-01-10T23:41:35Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > Shogun is about Japan under Tokugawa. Except that ā€“ presumably to give himself more freedom of action in plotting and characterization ā€“ Clavell changes all the names: [Tokugawa](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokugawa_Ieyasu) becomes Toranaga, [William Adams](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Adams_(sailor)) becomes John Blackthorne, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-movies-and-books-set-in-ancient-china/480572/29 "2009-01-10T23:44:55Z")
Monkey (aka Journey to the West) > **[Monkey (novel)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monkey_(novel))** > > Monkey: A Folk-Tale of China, more often known as simply Monkey, is an abridged translation published in 1942 by Arthur Waley of the sixteenth-century Chinese novel Journey to the West conventionally attributed to Wu Cheng'en of the Ming dynasty. Waley's remains one of the most-read English-language versions of the novel. The British poet Edith Sitwell characterized Monkey as "a masterpiece of right sound", one that was "absence of shadow, like the clearance and directness of Monkey's mind." Jo... > **[Journey to the West](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journey_to_the_West)** > > Journey to the West (Chinese: č„æ遊čؘ) is a Chinese novel published in the 16th century during the Ming dynasty and attributed to Wu Cheng'en. It is regarded as one of the greatest Classic Chinese Novels, and has been described as arguably the most popular literary work in East Asia. Arthur Waley's 1942 abridged translation, Monkey, is known in English-speaking countries. > The novel is an extended account of the legendary pilgrimage of the Tang dynasty Buddhist monk Xuanzang, who traveled to the "... ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2009, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-movies-and-books-set-in-ancient-china/480572/30 "2009-01-10T23:56:15Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Except that ā€“ presumably to give himself more freedom of action in plotting and characterization ā€“ Clavell changes all the names: [Tokugawa](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokugawa_Ieyasu) becomes Toranaga, [William Adams](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Adams_(sailor)) becomes John Blackthorne, etc. Right. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2009, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-movies-and-books-set-in-ancient-china/480572/31 "2009-01-11T00:11:54Z")
> [@Ro0sh](#): > > (I know Jet Li has made a series of films about various heros in chinese history I just canā€™t recall the nameā€¦) That would be the [Once Upon a Time in China](http://us.imdb.com/find?s=all&q=Once+Upon+a+Time+in+China&x=17&y=12) series, with Li as [Wong Fei Hung](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wong_Fei_Hung) (most of the time), but thatā€™s not really ancient, just late 19th century. Edit to add, find the move [Mongol](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0416044/) if you can. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-movies-and-books-set-in-ancient-china/480572.md?page=1)