Blackwell Reference Online

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Like the novel in many other cultural traditions, the Chinese novel has humble origins and a long history of evolution. Its current name, changpian xiaoshuo , has two components: changpian means long, full-length, and xiaoshuo is the term for fiction, which, if taken literally, means small talk. Hence, short stories are duanpian xiaoshuo (short-length stories) and novellas are zhongpian xiaoshuo (medium-length stories). Alternatively, both changpian and xiaoshuo can also be a shorthand expression for the full-length novel. An earlier name for the novel is zhanghui xiaoshuo , with the word zhanghui meaning chapters, emphasizing the regular structure of chapters that typically center on the plot to entice the reader to continue. The word xiaoshuo originally referred to writings in both the classical Chinese language and the vernacular that describe fantastic events, manifestations of the supernatural, or any extraordinary events or experiences. The names of those genre that can be grouped in what we now regard as fiction clearly indicate their content and subject matter: zhiguai (records of the strange), huaben (collections of stories), chuanqi (tales of the wondrous), gongan (detective stories), the relatively short pieces of anecdotes or reflections known as biji (jottings), and other genres. All of them had one thing in common, generally speaking: ... log in or subscribe to read full text