The Evolution of the Concept of Chinese Novels in the Perspective of “New Zixue”

Abstract: From the perspective of new Zixue (" 新子学”), in the pre Qin period, shuo (" 说”)was relative to and was a short story collection with the purpose of explaining argumentation. The basic form was shuo style (" 说体”), including jing shuo (" 经说”) yao shuo (" 要说”) and pure shuo (" 纯说”). After Zhuang Zi, a certain stylistic idea was formed, which distinguished dashuo (" 大说”) and xiaoshuo (" 小说”). In the Han Dynasty, Ban Gu believed that Zhu Zi xiaoshuo (" 小说”) was a combination of elements of style, content, and thought. Its style was shuo style, story was fictitious, main thrust was not profound enough, otherwise, it should be classified into the category of other philosophers. Ban Gu’s concept of xiaoshuo preserved the basic tradition and characteristics of the pre Qin xiaoshuo, but it stood in the position of Confucian classics and put pressure on it. Si Ku Quan Shu ( 《四库全书》 ) inherited and changed these things, it was an important delivery room in the Revolution in the Novel Circles during the period of late Qing Dynasty and the concept of modern Chinese novels.