Twelve classical Chinese texts sit at the centre of the HKDSE Chinese Language syllabus, and candidates are expected to know them well enough to recite key lines, explain individual words, and discuss content and technique, not just recognise the passage. The list runs from Confucius and Mencius through to the Song dynasty essayists, mixing prose with a run of selected poems and lyrics.
What are the 12 DSE Chinese Language set texts?
The Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority designates 12 classical works for close study in the Chinese Language subject. Roughly by era, they are: three excerpts drawn from the pre-Qin philosophers (the Analects, Mencius, and Zhuangzi), a fourth pre-Qin excerpt from Xunzi, a Han-dynasty historical biography, five works spanning the Three Kingdoms period through the Tang dynasty, and two Song-dynasty essays plus a set of selected Song lyrics. All 12 originals are in the public domain, since their authors died well over five hundred years ago.
Which set texts come from the pre-Qin period?
Four of the 12 texts predate the Qin dynasty, and together they lay out the core positions of early Confucian and Daoist thought:
- Lunyu: On Ren, Filial Piety, and the Junzi (論仁、論孝、論君子), a set of sixteen short chapters drawn from across the Analects, covering Confucius’s teaching on benevolence (ren), the proper attitude behind filial duty, and the character of the junzi, or cultivated person.
- Fish Is What I Desire (魚我所欲也), where Mencius uses the choice between fish and bear’s paw as an analogy for choosing moral duty over life itself when the two cannot both be kept.
- Free and Easy Wandering, excerpt (逍遙遊節錄), in which Zhuangzi uses Huizi’s story of a giant gourd and a giant tree to argue that what looks useless can still have its own kind of freedom.
- An Exhortation to Learning, excerpt (勸學節錄), where Xunzi builds a case for steady, cumulative effort in study through a series of extended comparisons.
Which set texts span the Han dynasty to the Tang dynasty?
Five texts cover roughly a thousand years, from Han-dynasty history to Tang-dynasty prose and poetry:
- The Biographies of Lian Po and Lin Xiangru, excerpt (廉頗藺相如列傳節錄), Sima Qian’s account from the Records of the Grand Historian of the “returning the jade intact to Zhao” episode, the meeting at Mianchi, and the eventual reconciliation between the two officials.
- Memorial on Dispatching the Troops (出師表), Zhuge Liang’s memorial to the young ruler Liu Shan before a northern campaign, urging him to heed advice, apply reward and punishment fairly, and keep worthy officials close.
- Account of First Visiting West Hill (始得西山宴遊記), written by Liu Zongyuan during his exile in Yongzhou, describing his first outing to West Hill and the sense of losing himself in the scenery.
- On Teachers (師說), in which Han Yu argues for the importance of learning from a teacher and criticises the social attitude of his time that treated seeking a teacher as something shameful.
- Three Tang Poems (唐詩三首), a set of three selected poems, including Wang Wei’s “Autumn Twilight in the Mountains”, Li Bai’s “Drinking Alone under the Moon”, and Du Fu’s “Climbing the Tower”.
Which set texts are from the Song dynasty?
Two essays and a set of poems close out the list, all from the Song dynasty:
- On Yueyang Tower (岳陽樓記), Fan Zhongyan’s essay contrasting Dongting Lake’s two moods, gloom and brightness, to express an ideal of worrying before the world worries and enjoying happiness only after the world does.
- On the Six States (六國論), where Su Xun argues that the six rival states fell because they bought off the state of Qin with territory rather than resisting it, framed as a warning to his own Song-dynasty contemporaries.
- Three Song Ci Poems (詞三首), a set of three selected lyrics spanning both the bold and the delicate styles, including Su Shi’s “Nian Nu Jiao: Remembering the Red Cliff”, Li Qingzhao’s “Sheng Sheng Man: Autumn Feelings”, and Xin Qiji’s “Qing Yu An: Lantern Festival Night”.
How are the set texts tested in the DSE Chinese Language exam?
The 12 set texts are assessed in the Paper 1 reading component, which includes a dedicated section for the designated texts. Questions cover recitation of key lines, the meaning of individual words and phrases, comprehension of content, and recognition of rhetorical technique and main idea, so memorising the wording alone is not enough. A candidate who can recite a passage but cannot explain a word in context or identify what technique a line is using is still exposed on this part of the paper.
How does a revision app cover all 12 in one place?
A resource built specifically around this list needs to hold the full text, a line-by-line translation, and practice questions for all 12 works, since a school’s teaching pace rarely leaves time to revisit earlier texts once the class has moved on. The RiverMap Learning DSE 範文 app pairs each of the 12 original texts with an original, line-by-line vernacular translation and word gloss, alongside 212 practice questions and 172 vocabulary flashcards covering recitation, comprehension, and rhetorical technique, plus a one-page study summary for each text. All content is in Traditional Chinese, matching how the texts are taught and examined. Every translation, gloss, and question is written from scratch and does not reproduce any publisher, tutoring centre, or HKEAA wording, only the 12 original texts themselves, which are in the public domain. This app is an independent revision aid, not affiliated with or endorsed by the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority or the Education Bureau.