These two books were written by Pu Songling and Wu Jinzi . They were the best Qing Dynasty novels .
“Mastery Tales Told in a Chat Room” comprised in fact more than 490 novelettes , inheriting the traditions of the mystery tales in the Wei-Jin Dynasties and the tales of the marvelous in the Tang and Song Dynasties . On the basis of these traditions this work developed further and created its own unique style . The novelettes contained in the “Mystery Tales Told in a Chat Room” were mostly about love affairs between men and foxes , ghosts or demons , betraying the intense wishes of the youth of the time for breaking away from the feudal ethical codes and for free marriage , The writing technique was concise and fluent . Each novelette had only four or five hundred words , but had a complicated , fascinating plot . In a couplet hung on the gateway of Pu Sonling’s former residence , Guo Moruo commented quite aptly : “Superior in writing up ghosts and demons . Keen in ridiculing the corrupt and tyrannous”.
The “Unofficial History of Scholars” was the first long colloquial and satirical novel in Chinese history with the intelligentsia as its subject matter . Its appearance signified that the Chinese satirical literature had entered a new stage . It was the forerunner of modern denouncing novels .
The novel portrayed the characters of a swarm of feudal scholars and directed its criticism at the eight-part essay civil service examination system . Like a bright mirror , it shows the maladies of the feudal society and the darkness of a feudal empire toward the end of the feudalist history . In portraying the characters , it was keenly insightful with its simple style . For instance ,when the imperial college student Yan was dying in bed ,he would not die off but point his fingers at two lit lamp wicks to indicate that one was enough , a vivid image of a diehard miser . Again , when his legal wife Wang was suffering from a fatal disease , his concubine Zhao wailed and prayed every night , for letting herself die in place of the legal wife . However , as Wang proposed to let Zhao be the legal wife after her death , Zhao said hastily , “Call in quickly the old man . Let him hear what the old woman said.” Just a few words show the real mind of Zhao , he concubine .
