The series Graded Readers for Chinese Language Learners is
composed of 50 books, divided into three subseries, namely folktales, literary
stories and historical stories, corresponding to Levels 1-3 respectively. The
rich and fun content and easy-to-understand language makes it easy for
everyone, whether they are foreigners learning Chinese, children with parents
of Chinese origin, ethnic minority students of the Chinese language, or even primary
school students in China, to read this series. It enables the readers to
gradually improve their Chinese reading skills and enhance their understanding
of Chinese culture by reading and enjoying stories.
The “Literary Stories” subseries is based on the Four Great Classical
Novels in ancient China. From each novel some epic snippets are extracted and
adapted into 4-6 books, each with 20-30 thousand characters. Altogether there
are 20 books in the subseries, six of which are from Romance of the
Three Kingdoms, four from Water Margin, six from Journey
to the West and four from Dream of the Red Chamber.
Journey to the West is a mythological novel,
telling the story of a Tang Dynasty monk called Xuanzang (Monk Tang) who, under
the order of the Tang emperor, went west on a pilgrimage for Buddhist
scriptures with his three disciples Sun Wukong the Monkey King, Zhu Bajie the
Pigsy and Monk Sha. During the journey, they defeated demons and monsters and
experienced all kinds of ordeals. There are six books in this series based on
this novel, namely Havoc in Heaven, The Pilgrimage for
Buddhist Scriptures, Three Battles with the White Bone Demon, The
Flaming Mountains, The Real and Fake Monkey King and The
Leiyin Temple.
Three Battles with
the White Bone Demon tells that Xuanzang and his disciples met
with White Bone Demon, who transformed herself into human beings three times to
cheat Xuanzang, but she was identified and killed by Monkey King. Xuanzang thought
Monkey King a murder and drove him away. Zhu Bajie the Pigsy and Monk Sha couldn't
defeat the evil and had to ask Monkey King back. Monkey King came and rescued
his Master.
Later,
they met with Red Boy, a demon who was able to breathe out fire. Monkey King came
to Bodhisattva Guanyin for her help. Bodhisattva
Guanyin subdued the Red Boy.
Ms. Chen Xianchun is a professor at Beijing Language and Culture
University who has engaged in the teaching of Chinese as a foreign language
since 1975, equipped with rich Chinese teaching experience. Professor Chen has
made profound research into the teaching of Chinese reading and has published,
in addition to more than 20 academic papers, many monographs and textbooks such
asTeaching
Reading and Psychology, Typical Characters and Events in Chinese Culture, A
Primer on Modern Chinese Reading, AnIntensive
Chinese Course,
and Read
This Way.