History of Mythological Fiction

Author: Hu Sheng
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-06-01
Features: Regarding the classification of supernatural novels, Mr. Lin Chen divides them into four categories in the Preface to A History of Supernatural Novels: historical tales, worldly tales, allegorical tales, and tales of gods, demons, and immortals. Here, we combine them into three categories: historical tales, Buddhist and Taoist tales, and allegorical tales.
Historical tales take real historical events or figures as clues to construct plots and develop imagination, where fantasy is indulged through historical events. Classical short stories like The Legend of Emperor Wu of Han and The Story of Emperor Wu of Han belong to this category, as do long, serial novels like The Investiture of the Gods and The Western Journey of the Eunuch Sanbao.
Buddhist and Taoist tales primarily narrate the origins, cultivation, and deeds of deities, demons, and folk gods in Buddhism and Taoism, as well as their subduing demons and helping the world. Their themes draw from secular religious legends and often reflect the collective beliefs and psychological acceptance of the people. During the Han, Wei, and Six Dynasties periods, when Buddhism flourished, such works were extremely popular, exemplified by The Miraculous Response of Guanyin. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, works like The Twenty-Four Arhats Who Attained Enlightenment and The Origin and Cultivation of Guanyin were also produced for religious purposes.
The third category, allegorical tales, is characterized by using fantasy to convey meaning or satirize the world. These works share similarities with realistic satirical novels in their strong satirical tone but differ significantly. Allegorical satire must rely on fantasy and non-realistic imagery to achieve the purpose of satirizing and admonishing society. Notable examples from the Tang Dynasty include The Story of the Pillow and The Story of the Governor of Nanke. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, representative works include The Three Teachings Open the Eyes and Return to Righteousness and The Eastern Journey of Scaring Demons and Teaching Morality.
Of course, these three categories do not fully encompass the attributes of supernatural novels. Works like The Classic of Mountains and Seas, The Classic of Strange Things, and The Records of the Marvelous fall outside this classification. Additionally, many other works cannot be precisely categorized. Therefore, our classification is not a precise division and does not carry stable categorical significance. It is merely for the purpose of exploring and explaining the evolutionary traces of such novels, for convenience in discussion, and is done with flexibility.