Page:A history of Chinese literature - Giles.djvu/322

 3 ic CHINESE LITERATURE

which latter feature seems to point in the direction of stories told by word of mouth and written down later on, and may be taken in connection with the opinion already expressed, that the Chinese novel came origin- ally from Central Asia. Here, however, in four small volumes, we have a charming story of a young graduate who falls in love first with a beautiful and accomplished poetess, and then with the fascinating sister of a fasci- nating friend whose acquaintance the brother's he makes casually by the roadside. The friend and the sister turn out to be one and the same person, a very lively girl, who appears in male or female dress as occasion may require ; and what is more, the latter young lady turns out to be the much-loved orphan cousin of the first and still cherished young lady, and also her intellectual equal. The graduate is madly in love with the two girls, and they are irrevocably in love with him. This is a far simpler matter than it would be in Western countries. The hero marries both, and all three live happily ever afterwards.

The Lieh Kuo Chuan, anonymous as usual, is a historical novel dealing with the exciting times of the Feudal States, and covering the period between the eighth century B.C. and the union of China under the First Emperor. It is introduced to the reader in these words :

"The Lieh Kuo is not like an ordinary novel, which consists mainly of what is not true. TIius the Feng Shen (a tale of the twelfth century B.C.), the Shut Hu, the Hsi Yu Chi, and others, are pure fabrications. Even the San Kuo Chih, which is very near to truth, contains much that is without foundation. Not so the

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