Soushen Ji – Records of the Supernatural

The term xiaoshuo originally referred to trivial, shallow talk or hearsay. So, the works called xiaoshuo by ancient people were very mixed in content. Among them, the ones most related to the modern concept of fiction were various stories about gods, spirits, and strange occurrences. Such writings began to flourish in the Wei and Jin dynasties, marking the beginning of the history of fiction. Earlier scholars called them zhiguai fiction. 

Among the zhiguai tales of the Wei and Jin dynasties, Soushen Ji has the largest number of surviving stories and is one of the most representative works. Its author, Gan Bao (?-336), was a renowned historian during the transition between the Western and Eastern Jin dynasties. He firmly believed in the theories of yin-yang, the five elements, and the interaction between heaven and humanity. He wrote this book to show that the ways of gods and ghosts were not empty talk, but were closely connected to human fortune and misfortune and to the successes and failures of state governance. He hoped to provide lessons for his own time and for later generations.  

Soushen Ji is rich and diverse in content. The original work had thirty volumes but has been lost. The existing versions were compiled by later scholars and are divided into either twenty or thirty volumes. It is one of the most influential surviving zhiguai works and served as a major source of material for Tang dynasty romances, Song and Yuan dynasty storytelling scripts, and Ming and Qing dynasty dramas and novels.  

In terms of narrative style, Soushen Ji uses strong exaggeration and rich imagination, giving it a romantic quality. The writing is simple, concise, elegant, and crisp. Compared with the fragmentary legends of earlier times, the stories in Soushen Ji generally have a complete structure—with a beginning, development, climax, and ending—showing a more fully developed artistic conception. This demonstrates both continuity with the past and creative development.