This course includes two parts: outline of ancient Chinese literature and close reading of literary works. It will make students know the distinguish of different literary forms, acquire the method of reading classics and cultivate the interest to ancient Chinese literature by attending the lecture and analyzing the writings. This course is based on the development and evolution of ancient literature. The lecture will be given on representative authors and literary aesthetic trend in that era, and we will select some of their works to read and analyze. This course is divided into several parts according to the ancient history of China. We select representative works as reading materials in different parts. Students will be grouped to discuss and give a presentation about these literary works. All the materials are the most famous literary forms in that dynasty as follow: prose in pre-Qin, rhyme-prose in Han dynasty, parallel and poetry in Wei-Jin six dynasties, classical tales and poetry in Tang dynasty, poetry and song lyric in Song dynasty, colloquial song and variety play in Yuan dynasty, “eight part” essay and fiction in Ming dynasty, poetry and vulgar literature in Qing dynasty. We give the macro description of ancient Chinese literature history and the close reading classes will be a slight leaning towards your own thoughts about literary works. This course will be carried out in Chinese. On top of meeting the basic attendance requirement, the students are expected to actively engage in reading required materials and discussing with teacher and students about what you think in classes. The assessment of the coursework mainly consists of the grades based on the group reports which take place from the fourth week on, and those based on the final paper which is at least 2000 characters. All of these need students’ independent and critical thinking.