History of Strange Tales Fiction Before the Tang Dynasty

Author: Li Jianguo
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-01-01
Features: This book gathers the (heart and soul) of over 20 years of research by the renowned scholar, Professor Li Jianguo. Based on meticulous, detailed, and solid material research, it systematically organizes and discusses the creation and artistic style of Chinese pre-Tang Dynasty strange tales. It is an essential and brilliant read for the study of ancient Chinese fiction. Twenty years ago, the author published a monograph on the same topic. Over the past two decades, numerous new achievements in the study of pre-Tang fiction have emerged. Therefore, the author has rewritten this book with the dedication of 20 years of research, correcting many existing arguments while delving deeply into some works that had not received sufficient attention from academia. Significant effort has been devoted to textual research and argumentation on works such as Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio: Sequences, and Strange Tales of the Marvellous. The dating of some works has been reassessed, recent research findings have been incorporated, and forgeries have been removed while newly discovered works and materials have been added. Over the 20 years between the original and revised editions, the author has strived to incorporate as much as possible based on their observations, while also revising annotations, verifying citations, and supplementing the bibliography.