Novels/Classic Literature - Chinese-authored

Analects, The

Confucius (551 B.C. - 479 B.C.)
This book doesn't represent the beginning of Chinese culture, but it's probably the best place to begin reading about it. One of the world's most influential works. I recommend reading more than one translation of any Chinese philosophical work, because you'll stand a better chance of catching different facets of the text that way.

Art of War, The
Sun Tzu
Ancient classic

Dream of the Red Chamber, The
Translated as The Story of the Stone

I Ching
Translation ‘ Book of Changes’
Used to predict the future and as a source of ancient wisdom

Jin Ping Mei
Erotic epic about a wealthy man and his six wives
banned in China

Journey to the West

Two Years in the Forbidden City (1911)

Der Ling
Der Ling, the daughter of a high-ranking Manchu official, received a Western education. After returning to China from France, she served as first lady-in-waiting to the Empress Dowager Cixi until March 1905. In 1907 she married an American.

Water Margin, The
Translated as Rebels of the Marsh