Appreciation of the Art of Writing in Liaozhai

Author: Lei Qunming
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-12-01
Features: Critics have long been more praising than criticizing Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio. The earliest critic, Wang Yuyang, read the manuscript and was greatly impressed. It is said that he even offered 30,000 taels of silver to buy the manuscript to publish it himself. Later, many critics even praised it as a "masterpiece unparalleled in history," with "writing skills that are unparalleled in the ages," believing that "contemporary fiction would set the standard with this work, and all others are inferior to it." It is noteworthy that almost everyone affirmed Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio from the perspective of writing art, saying, "The way of writing, I have gained more enlightenment from this." (But Minglun, Preface to Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio) Some said that there was such a "fervor for Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio" in history: "Scholars with mouths would speak of Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio; scholars with eyes would read Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio; and scholars with hands and pens would inevitably emulate its style." (Preface to the Complete Collection of Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio) Some said that Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio was "equipped with all methods and reached perfection in every way." (Feng Zhuanluan, Reading Miscellaneous Notes) Even critics like Ji Yun and Yu Yue who had some reservations about Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio had to admit that it was "the work of a genius," with "ornaments that were not without ancient charm."