A Brief History of Song and Yuan Novels -- A Series of Brief Histories of Ancient Novels by Dynasty

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—represent two types of fiction with distinct characteristics, different developmental 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 Elegant and Vulgar fiction formally diverged. Based on this characteristic, this small book will outline the developmental contours of mutual penetration, influence, and progress between Elegant and Vulgar fiction during the Song and Yuan dynasties, trace the reasons for their development and some of their changing patterns, establish their historical positions in their respective developmental rivers, and more accurately determine the positions of these two types of fiction in their respective coordinate systems, thereby establishing their places in the history of Chinese fiction.