CHILD CHARACTER MOTIP IN ANCIENT CHINESE LITERATURE

Abstract

In ancient Chinese literature, some children figures convey various meanings, especially herd boys and servant children. However, there has not been any research focusing on this topic. This research use methods of collecting, classifying and analyzing data to explain the cultural origins of these characters. The research pays attention to their accommodation, daily life and culture from which cultural values (innocence, freedom, honesty, piety, and heroism) are drawn. The research brings out deeper understanding of ancient Chinese literature. It also shows the relation between the child figure of ancient Vietnamese literature and that of ancient Chinese one. Accordingly, Vietnamese children’s life and moral education can be partly known thanks to the poets’ paying attention to the public’s as well as children’s life on those days.