On the relationship between the novels and folk beliefs in the Han dynasty

Folk beliefs were important topics and contents of the novels in the Han dynasty which originated from the folk stories.Hanshu Classical Works has classified novels according to the characteristics of folk legends and the limited reference value of the novels which had a close relationship to folk beliefs.The prosperity of folk beliefs in the Han dynasty was related to the social morals at that time while the popularity of folk beliefs offered a large number of folk legends to novelists.The absurdity of the novels in the Han dynasty was determined by the nature of folk beliefs while its unreality was objectively akin to the stylistic features of the fictional story in later ages.Thus,the novels in the Han dynasty were the real origin of Chinese novels in the true sense of the term.