This book introduces the origin and development of Chinese fiction before late Qing dynasty. It covers a broad range of topics in traditional Chinese fiction studies including novels written in classical and vernacular Chinese, structure and narrative of fiction writing, the relationship between fiction and other traditional Chinese literary genres such as legends and proses of the pre-Qin philosophers. This book is a classic introduction to history of Chinese fiction studies since being first published in 1995.

Changyu Shi graduated from the Chinese Language and Literature Department of Central China Normal University in 1962, and in 1981 he graduated from the Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences with a master’s degree. He is a researcher and doctoral supervisor of the Institute of Literature at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.