The top ten vernacular works on the China Famous Books Ranking included Dream of the Red Chamber, Journey to the West, Water Margins, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, The Scholars, Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, Flowers in the Mirror, Romance of the Gods, The Appearance of officialdom, and Records of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty. These works were classic works of ancient China literature. They were written in the vernacular language and told various stories and legendary experiences of characters. They have an important position in China culture and are loved and respected by the majority of readers.

The Four Great Classics were written in the vernacular.
The top 50 Chinese classics were as follows: 1 Dream of the Red Chamber-Qing Dynasty 2 Journey to the West-Ming Dynasty 3 Water Margins-Yuan Dynasty Romance of the Three Kingdoms-Yuan Dynasty 5 The Scholars-Qing Dynasty 6 Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio-Qing Dynasty Dream of the Red Chamber-Qing Dynasty 8 Water Margins-Yuan Dynasty Romance of the Three Kingdoms-Yuan Dynasty Journey to the West-Ming Dynasty 11 The Scholars-Qing Dynasty Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio-Qing Dynasty Water Margins-Yuan Dynasty Romance of the Three Kingdoms-Yuan Dynasty Dream of the Red Chamber-Qing Dynasty Journey to the West-Ming Dynasty 17 The Scholars-Qing Dynasty 18 Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio-Qing Dynasty Water Margins-Yuan Dynasty Romance of the Three Kingdoms-Yuan Dynasty Dream of the Red Chamber-Qing Dynasty 22 The Scholars-Qing Dynasty 23 Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio-Qing Dynasty Water Margins-Yuan Dynasty Romance of the Three Kingdoms-Yuan Dynasty Journey to the West-Ming Dynasty Dream of the Red Chamber-Qing Dynasty 28 The Scholars-Qing Dynasty Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio-Qing Dynasty Water Margins-Yuan Dynasty Romance of the Three Kingdoms-Yuan Dynasty Journey to the West-Ming Dynasty Dream of the Red Chamber-Qing Dynasty The Scholars-Qing Dynasty Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio-Qing Dynasty Water Margins-Yuan Dynasty Romance of the Three Kingdoms-Yuan Dynasty Journey to the West-Ming Dynasty Dream of the Red Chamber-Qing Dynasty The Scholars-Qing Dynasty Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio-Qing Dynasty Water Margins-Yuan Dynasty Romance of the Three Kingdoms-Yuan Dynasty Journey to the West-Ming Dynasty Dream of the Red Chamber-Qing Dynasty The Scholars-Qing Dynasty Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio-Qing Dynasty Water Margins-Yuan Dynasty Romance of the Three Kingdoms-Yuan Dynasty Journey to the West-Ming Dynasty
The classical Chinese and the vernacular Chinese were two different ways of writing, each with its own characteristics and development process. The classical Chinese was a form of written expression in ancient China that originated from the pre-Qin period and matured in the Han Dynasty. With its unique grammar and expression, classical Chinese shows a high degree of specialization and rigor. It is often used in ancient academic works, official documents, and literary works. The classical Chinese had gone through many evolutions and gradually developed into a part of modern Chinese. For example, the idioms and two-part sayings in modern Chinese were the variants of the classical Chinese. The vernacular was a form of modern Chinese that originated from the late Qing Dynasty and matured in the early 20th century. The vernacular language, with its unique spoken language and expression, shows a kind of easy-to-understand and flexibility. It is often used in modern novels, prose, poetry and news. The development of vernacular Chinese was influenced by the social background at that time, such as the acceleration of the process of industrialization, modernisation and urban development, as well as the arrival of the cultural revolution. The classical Chinese and the vernacular Chinese are two different ways of writing, each with its own unique characteristics and development process.
The vernacular and classical Chinese are two different forms of literary and literary reading, which have a long history in the history of Chinese culture. The classical Chinese was an ancient language used on the basis of Chinese. Its origin could be traced back to the pre-Qin period. It was the official language of ancient China. It was mainly used to record history, philosophy, literature, science and other aspects of knowledge. The characteristics of classical Chinese were that the grammar structure was rigorous, the words used were precise, and it had a certain sense of rhyme. Vernacular Chinese referred to modern Chinese, which was developed on the basis of classical Chinese. It was mainly used for daily communication and the publication of literary works. The characteristic of vernacular Chinese was that the grammar structure was relatively free, the words were easy to understand, the expression was concise and clear, and it had a strong oral expression ability. In literary works, classical Chinese and vernacular Chinese each had their own unique way of expression and charm. For example, many classic works in Chinese classical literature were written in classical Chinese, such as "Dream of the Red Chamber" and "Journey to the West". Modern literary works, such as novels, essays, and poems, used more vernacular.
The Four Great Classics referred to the four Chinese classical novels, Dream of the Red Chamber, Journey to the West, Water Margins, and Romance of the Three Kingdoms. They were all written in classical Chinese. However, with the passage of time, these novels gradually developed into the vernacular version, which is what we are now familiar with. Among them, the vernacular version of 'Dream of the Red Chamber' was the most famous and became one of the representative works of vernacular Chinese classical novels. In addition, Journey to the West, Water Margins, and Romance of the Three Kingdoms also had their own vernacular versions and were widely studied and discussed in modern literary studies. Therefore, it could be said that there was indeed a vernacular version of the Four Great Classics, not just classical Chinese without vernacular Chinese.
The Four Great Classics were Dream of the Red Chamber, Journey to the West, Water Margins, and Romance of the Three Kingdoms, all of which were half-classical or half-vernacular works. Among them,"Dream of the Red Chamber" was known as the pinnacle of ancient Chinese novels with its graceful writing style, exquisite description, and complicated plot. It was a classic in the history of Chinese literature. Journey to the West became one of the great works in the history of Chinese literature with its thrilling plot, magical description and profound philosophy. Water Margins, on the other hand, expressed the rebellious spirit and sense of justice of the ancient Chinese peasant class with distinctive characters, vivid plots and profound topics. Romance of the Three Kingdoms, on the other hand, presented the political struggles, military wars, and cultural styles of the Three Kingdoms period in ancient China with grand scenes, wonderful descriptions, and fine character portrayals.
Ancient Chinese and vernacular Chinese were not exactly the same. Although they may have some similarities in some aspects, they have great differences in expressions, grammar structures, words, and so on. Ancient prose usually used more professional vocabulary and grammar structures, and the way of expression was more concise. It often used some figurative, symbolic, and other rhetorical devices to convey ideas. The vernacular paid more attention to the accuracy and understandability of expression, using more easy-to-understand vocabulary and grammar structures, and paying more attention to the logic and cohesiveness of expressing ideas. The difficulty of reading ancient and vernacular Chinese was also different. Reading ancient texts might require a certain foundation and reading ability in classical Chinese, while vernacular Chinese was relatively easier. Ancient Chinese and vernacular Chinese were very different in terms of language form and expression of ideas. It was necessary to choose the reading target according to different reading needs and purposes.
The history of vernacular refers to historical books or articles written in vernacular. The purpose is to make historical knowledge easier to understand and accept. In the history of the vernacular, historical events, people, and place names are usually written in easy-to-understand language so that readers can understand them more easily. The history of vernacular Chinese began in the early 20th century. With the development of vernacular literature, the history of vernacular literature gradually became a popular historical writing style. In the history of vernacular Chinese, people usually use vernacular Chinese to record and explain historical events, such as conveying historical information by describing the background, characters and influences of historical events. The vernacular history also promoted the popularity of historical knowledge, allowing more people to understand the truth of historical events.
Vernacular Chinese was a form of literature that was easy to understand and was usually used to express and spread knowledge. Its advantage was that it could directly convey information without too many complicated language and grammar structures, so it was easier for the public to understand and accept. However, vernacular writing also had some shortcomings. One of the most obvious is that its ability to express is limited, it is difficult to express some deep or complex thoughts, so in some cases it may seem shallow or lack depth. In addition, the grammar structure of vernacular Chinese was relatively simple and easy to fall into grammar or semantical errors. Therefore, vernacular might not be suitable for novels that needed to express deep thoughts and rich emotions. Of course, this didn't mean that vernacular couldn't be used as a novel. It just needed special treatment and improvement.
The person who invented ancient prose into vernacular was called Lu Xun.