The whole definition of literature in China is different from in the West. The Chinese tradition recognizes many different genres. Ji [notes], lun [dissertations], shuo [discourses], tiba [epilogues] and muzhi [epitaphs] all have an important place in Chinese literature. The concept of biji [literary sketches, or note-form literature] is even more difficult to translate into English.
整個中國文學的定義與西方不同，古代中國文體眾多，書、記、論、說、題跋、墓志，在中國文學史均有重要意義；筆記的概念，更難譯成英文。