“Shi Shuo Xin Yu" should not be taken as a novel

Fabrication and conscientious creating consciousness are the two criterions for judging a literature work to be a novel. Writers before the Tang dynasty lacked these features and failed in artistic fabrication. So it is concluded that there was no real novel at that time. In terms of purpose, “Shi Shuo Xin Yu” was aimed to provide a guide for those who wished to enter the official circle, so the content in the book might not be true. In terms of writing technique, LI Yiqing, the writer, abandoned fabrication, instead, he used the technique of “facts recording” to write anecdotes of those high-rank people. Together with its beautiful language, the book has a high value as a historical document. In terms of social effect, the book provided many true stories which were adopted in “Jin Book written by Tang Renxiu. All the above facts prove that”Shi Shuo Xin Yu should be taken as a historical stories collection rather than a novel.