A Brief History of Novel Collections -- A Series of Brief Histories on Ancient Novel Classification

Author: Zhang Bing
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-06-01
Features: When discussing the development history of Chinese novels, Mr. Lu Xun, a leading figure in the modern cultural revolution of China, once said: "In conclusion, the influence of the Song people's storytelling was extremely significant. Nine-tenths of the later novels were based on storytelling. The storytelling he referred to is the storytelling novel discussed in this book. It is an indispensable link in the history of the development of vernacular novels in ancient China and has had a broad and lasting impact on the development of later literature. It is almost on par with poetry, ci, prose, and opera, becoming one of the important literary genres of the Song and Yuan dynasties. Some even called the era of the flourishing storytelling during the Song, Liao, Jin, and Yuan dynasties the era of Pinghua, showing its significant position in the history of Chinese literature. Lu Xun also said: "I believe that Tolstoy and Flaubert could have emerged from ballads and storytelling. This prophecy still holds great vitality today. It inspires us to conduct a more in-depth study of Song and Yuan storytelling. The title of this book is 'A Brief History of Storytelling Novels,' and as the name suggests, its main purpose is to show people the historical process of the development of storytelling novels in China."