SOURCE: Ma, Y. W. “The Chinese Historical Novel: An Outline of Themes and Contexts.” Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 34, No. 2 (February, 1975): 277-93.

In this essay, Ma examines examples of historical novels in order to determine the themes that appear most often within the genre, including dynasty building and national security. Ma also notes an emphasis on self-abnegation and on instruction in the genre.

In China, as in the West, fiction is a late development in the literary scene and serious fiction criticism is correspondingly a recent endeavor.¹ The similarity goes further in the case of the historical novel, which critics of Chinese and Western fiction alike have either consciously avoided or customarily regarded with critical disfavor. In the Chinese case, the San-kuo chih yen-a^a (The Three Kingdoms) is the only historical novel which has received constant serious attention, but many of its features are exceptions rather than...