Why were three of the "Seven Great Classics" changed to "Four Great Classics" deleted?

In the past, the term "seven masterpieces" appeared in the 1930s. However, in 1952, the China Federation of Literature and Art Circles made a report on the selection criteria and results of literary masterpieces. They thought that there were some problems with the term "seven masterpieces", so they decided to simplify the seven books into four masterpieces, including "Dream of the Red Chamber","Journey to the West","Water Margins" and "Romance of the Three Kingdoms". Among them,"Dream of the Red Chamber" was thought to have been deleted due to "complicated plot, numerous characters, and beautiful language", while "Journey to the West","Water Margins", and "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" were thought to have not been deleted due to "limitations in content that could not fully reflect the social reality of the time". In fact, there were already some problems with these masterpieces at that time. For example, some contents in Journey to the West were considered to be inconsistent with Confucian morality, while some descriptions in Water Margins were considered to be too violent and negative. These problems led to a major revolution in the history of Chinese literature.

In the past, there were seven famous works in the history of Chinese literature, namely Dream of the Red Chamber, Journey to the West, Water Margins, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Scholars, and Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio. However, with the passage of time, this saying was gradually forgotten by people. In the end, only four works, Dream of the Red Chamber, Journey to the West, Water Margins, and Romance of the Three Kingdoms, remained as classics in the history of Chinese literature. Among them, the Water Margins and Romance of the Three Kingdoms had undergone great changes in the later historical development and became legends in history. The Scholars was criticized for its overly pessimistic and negative remarks. In addition, its plot was more complicated and not suitable for reading as a novel. Thus, The Scholars was gradually deleted. As for 'Dream of the Red Chamber', because the plot of the novel was too complicated, it needed more in-depth research to understand, so it became a classic masterpiece in the history of Chinese literature. It was also adapted into many art forms such as opera, movies, and television dramas.

In the past, there were seven famous works in China: Dream of the Red Chamber, Journey to the West, Water Margins, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio. However, with the passage of time, this statement gradually changed and eventually became the "Four Great Masterpieces", namely "Dream of the Red Chamber","Journey to the West","Water Margins" and "Romance of the Three Kingdoms". It was said that the reason why three novels were deleted was that when the standard was set, computer typing was not yet widely available in China, so editors had to manually proofread each book. However, due to the difficulty of the editors in accurately determining the errors in a book, sometimes they would find some errors or flaws that might affect the authority of the standard. Therefore, in order to correct this mistake, some editors chose to delete three of the novels to ensure the authority of this standard. But now, the term "Four Great Masterpieces" had become an indispensable part of Chinese literature and culture, and was widely praised and accepted.

In the past, the Chinese literary world once proposed the concept of "seven masterpieces", which was widely used in the 1950s. However, in the 1980s, the concept of the "Four Great Masterpieces" appeared in the Chinese literary world and gradually became widely accepted. As for why the "Four Great Classics" were deleted, one explanation was that they were not official literary classics but were recommended as must-see literary works on certain occasions. However, their content was somewhat old and not attractive enough. In addition, there were some problems in the writing process of some works in the "Four Great Masterpieces". For example, there was a serious plagiarism problem in "Dream of the Red Chamber". Therefore, in the 1980s, the Chinese literary world re-examined and reviewed the "Four Great Masterpieces" and finally deleted some works. However, the "Seven Great Masterpieces" and "Four Great Masterpieces" were both classics in the history of Chinese literature. They played an important role in understanding the history of Chinese literature and Chinese culture.

I'm not a fan of online literature. I'm a person who likes to read novels. I aim to answer all kinds of questions, but I don't have the ability to browse the web. Regarding the issue of the "Seven Great Classics" becoming "Four Great Classics", this change may have different explanations due to different sources and perspectives. But generally speaking, the "Four Great Classics" referred to "Dream of the Red Chamber,""Journey to the West,""Water Margins" and "Romance of the Three Kingdoms." Because of their extremely high status and influence in Chinese culture, they were widely regarded as the pinnacle of ancient Chinese novels. As for why three novels were deleted, there might be different reasons and explanations. One theory was that only Dream of the Red Chamber was officially included in the original "Seven Masterpieces" project. The other novels were not accepted because they caused some controversy and criticism in society at that time. Another theory is that the original names of Journey to the West and Water Margins were not "Journey to the West" and "Water Margins" but another novel. However, due to various reasons, their original names were not adopted and could only be circulated in the name of "Journey to the West" and "Water Margins". These were just some possible explanations. The specific reasons still needed to be analyzed in the context of historical and cultural backgrounds.

This question was related to a historical event in the history of Chinese literature, namely the process of the "Seven Famous Books" becoming the "Four Famous Books". At the beginning of the 20th century, the Chinese writer Lu Xun and others criticized the Chinese classical novels and proposed the concept of "Four Great Masterpieces", namely "Dream of the Red Chamber","Journey to the West","Water Margins" and "Romance of the Three Kingdoms". This concept caused widespread discussion and controversy at the time. However, as time went on, people began to find that the "Four Great Masterpieces" were not enough to represent the highest level of Chinese classical novels, so they proposed the "Four Great Masterpieces", namely "The Scholars","Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio","Flowers in the Mirror" and "Miserable World". In the end, Miserable World, Flowers in the Mirror, and Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio were considered to be more important works outside of the Four Great Masterpieces, while Dream of the Red Chamber, Journey to the West, and Water Margins became the Four Great Masterpieces. In this process, the reason why the "Four Great Classics" became "Four Great Classics" was mainly because they had a high influence at that time, were widely circulated and studied, and were regarded as one of the classics of Chinese literature. However, with the passage of time, people's aesthetic concepts and literary styles are constantly changing. Therefore, the "four great masterpieces" are not a constant concept, nor should they be limited to the scope of the time.

The Four Great Classics referred to the four classic works of Chinese classical novels. They were Dream of the Red Chamber, Journey to the West, Water Margins, and Romance of the Three Kingdoms. These four works were all classics in the history of Chinese literature and were regarded as one of the treasures of Chinese culture. The reason why they were called the "Four Great Classics" was mainly because of their social and cultural influence. These four works are masterpieces in the history of Chinese literature. They have been widely read and studied for a long time, affecting the development of Chinese society and culture. Among them,"Dream of the Red Chamber" was regarded as the pinnacle of ancient Chinese novels and was hailed as "the beginning of the history of Chinese novels.""Journey to the West" was hailed as "the pinnacle of Chinese mythological novels" with its fantastic plot and wonderful description."Water Margins" was famous for describing the heroic characters in Water Margins and became one of the representative works of Chinese martial arts novels. Romance of the Three Kingdoms, with its rich historical background, wonderful descriptions, and profound characters, became one of the famous epic novels in Chinese history. These four works are not only classics in the history of Chinese literature, but also classics in the history of world literature. They have had a profound impact on the development of Chinese culture, thought and literature.

The Four Great Classics referred to the four works of Chinese classical novels. They were Dream of the Red Chamber, Journey to the West, Water Margins, and Romance of the Three Kingdoms. These four works had a very high status in Chinese culture and were known as the classics of Chinese classical literature. Among them, Dream of the Red Chamber was hailed as a masterpiece in the history of Chinese literature and was considered the pinnacle of Chinese novels. The novel depicted the life of the aristocratic society in the Qing Dynasty, showing the richness and complexity of human nature, as well as the pain and joy of love. In addition, the vivid characters in the novel had high artistic and cultural value. Journey to the West, on the other hand, told the story of Sun Wukong and other monkeys who went to the Western Paradise to seek help. It was considered one of the most representative works of ancient Chinese novels. The novel was full of myths and legends, which showed the exploration and pursuit of the unknown world, as well as the greed, selfishness and courage of human nature. " Water Margins " was a story about 108 heroes who rebelled against gold. The novel showed the kindness, justice, and loyalty of human nature. The vivid plot and vivid characters in the novel had high literary value and historical significance. Romance of the Three Kingdoms was a historical story about the Three Kingdoms period. The novel depicted the political struggles and wars during the Three Kingdoms period. The characters in the novel are colorful and the plot is full of ups and downs, which reflects the important events and characters in Chinese history. It has a high historical and literary value. The reason why the four masterpieces were called the four masterpieces was because they had a very high status and influence in Chinese culture. They not only represented the outstanding achievements of ancient Chinese novels, but also reflected the essence and values of Chinese culture.

Dream of the Red Chamber was a masterpiece of Chinese classical literature, and was hailed as a classic in the history of Chinese literature. It was published in 1877 by the Qing Dynasty.

The Four Great Classics referred to the four classic works of Chinese classical novels. They were Dream of the Red Chamber, Journey to the West, Water Margins, and Romance of the Three Kingdoms. The reasons why these four works became classics of Chinese classical novels were as follows: 1. Unique plots and characters: Dream of the Red Chamber depicted the rise and fall of a family with the aristocratic society as the background; Journey to the West described the journey of Tang Sanzang and his three disciples to the West to obtain Buddhist scriptures with the mythical story as the background; Water Margins described the resistance and sacrifice of a group of righteous men with the peasant uprising as the background; Romance of the Three Kingdoms described the political struggles and vivid images of historical figures during the period of the Three Kingdoms. 2. Profound thoughts and cultural implications: Dream of the Red Chamber explored social class, human nature, love, marriage and other issues through the description of aristocratic life; Journey to the West expressed issues about justice, courage, faith and other aspects through mythical stories; Water Margins emphasized loyalty, loyalty, faith and other issues through the description of righteous people's struggles; Romance of the Three Kingdoms discussed history, human nature, morality and other issues through the description of war and political struggles. 3. Spread widely and have great influence: Dream of the Red Chamber is regarded as the pinnacle of Chinese classical novels and the treasure of Chinese culture; Journey to the West is widely read and becomes an important part of Chinese culture; Water Margins and Romance of the Three Kingdoms also have a wide spread and far-reaching influence. To sum up, the reason why the four masterpieces became the classics of Chinese classical novels was because of their unique plots and characters, profound thoughts and cultural implications, as well as their widespread and great influence.