As for the difference between ancient and modern times, if you get to know the Chinese people of Hong Kong and Taiwan and then go back to Hong-lou meng [Dream of the Red Cham ber] and Ju-lin wai-shih [The Scholars], you'll find the characters pretty familiar.
再說古代和現代的差別：你認識香港、台灣的中國人以後，回頭看紅樓夢、儒林外史，還是很眼熟。