A Brief History of Song and Yuan Fiction

Author: Xiao Xiangkai
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-06-01
Features: The traditional classical prose fiction—Elegant Fiction, which has been passed down from the Han Dynasty to the Wei, Jin, Sui, and Tang Five Dynasties, and the emerging popular fiction—Vulgar Fiction, which originated in the Tang Dynasty and flourished in the Song Dynasty, are two types of fiction with distinct characteristics, different development lines, patterns, and reasons, as well as different theoretical guidance. The history of fiction development during the Song and Yuan dynasties is composed of the histories of these two types of fiction. The Song and Yuan period was precisely the time when these two categories of fiction formally diverged. Based on this characteristic, this small book will outline the development profile of the mutual penetration, influence, and progress between the Elegant and Vulgar Fiction during the Song and Yuan dynasties, describe the reasons for their development and some of their changing patterns, establish the historical status of these two types of fiction in their respective developmental rivers, and more accurately determine the position of these two types of fiction in their respective coordinate systems during the Song and Yuan period, thereby establishing their status in the history of Chinese fiction.