| Abstract |
This paper discusses the compilation of Yi Wen Ji, the first anthology of Chinese fiction, and attempts to explore its significance as concerns the classicization of Tang Dynasty fiction. According to the current scholarship on Yi Wen Ji, we know that the collection consisted of a number of excellent works. Moreover, most of them can be found in modern selections of Tang Dynasty fiction, thus allowing the two forms of classicization to echo each other. Furthermore, the ways of classification, annotation and revision of the whole book likewise reflect the processes of classicization of Tang Dynasty. In addition, the Song dynasty reference books which included Yi Wen Ji the adaptation of Tang Dynasty fiction in storytelling and traditional opera. References to Yi Wen Ji found in ancient books and records of Song, Jin and Yuan Dynasties also demonstrate the spread of Yi Wen Ji and the popularization of Tang Dynasty fiction, manifesting the interrelationship between the classicization of Tang Dynasty and Yi Wen Ji.
|
