A History of Chinese Literature is a history of Chinese literature written by Herbert Giles and published in 1901.

[1] In his preface, Giles claims that such a work of history was not already available, even in Chinese, [2] since Chinese scholars realized the "utter hopelessness" of "achieving even comparative success in a general historical survey of the subject".

But he adds that "It may be said without offence that a work which would be inadequate to the requirements of a native public, may properly be submitted to English readers as an introduction into the great field which lies beyond".

A large part of the book is devoted to translations, "enabling the Chinese author, so far as is possible, to speak for himself".

[3] The scholar and writer Lin Yutang commented that "'History of Chinese Literature' was a misnomer; it was a series of attempted essays on certain Chinese works, and was not even an outline covering the successive periods.” [4] Qian Zhongshu noted what he called an "amusing mistake" in Giles' "very readable book."