Why didn't the Investiture of the Gods become one of the Four Great Classics?

2024-09-21 22:36

There were several reasons why the Investiture of the Gods did not become one of the Four Great Classics: 1. Age Restriction: The Investiture of the Gods was written in the Ming Dynasty, while the Four Great Masterpieces were widely read and selected in the late Qing Dynasty. The Investiture of the Gods was written earlier and lacked the modern cultural recognition and historical background that was comparable to the last three masterpieces. 2. Unpleasing literary style: The literary style of the Investiture of the Gods is more cumbersome, lengthy, and the description of the characters is more abundant, but the story is relatively complicated and difficult to attract the interest of the readers. In contrast, the story of the last three masterpieces was relatively simple and the characters were more vivid and more easily accepted by the readers. 3. Political interference: When the Romance of the Gods was written, the Ming Dynasty was in a period of political turmoil. Political factors may affect the quality and circulation of the work. In addition, some of the political events and relationships involved in the Investiture of the Gods may not be in line with the political reality of the society at that time, resulting in its limited spread. 4. Different reader preferences: The Four Great Masterpieces are classics in the history of Chinese literature and are deeply loved by readers. Although the Investiture of the Gods was also an excellent novel, its audience was relatively small and could not be compared with the other three masterpieces. To sum up, the reason why the Investiture of the Gods did not become one of the Four Great Masterpieces was mainly due to the limitations of the era, literary style, storyline, and readers 'preferences.