Chuanqi (short story and novella)

Chuanqi is a form of fictional short story or novella in Classical Chinese first formed in the Tang dynasty. The term often refers specifically to fictions written in the Tang dynasty, in which case the fictions are also called Tang chuanqi or chuanqi wen. Chuanqi originated from the zhiguai xiaoshuo of the Six Dynasties, was first formed in Early Tang dynasty, became popular in Middle Tang and dwindled in the Song dynasty. Chuanqi has four main themes: love, gods and demons, xiayi (heroes and knights-errant) and history.

Well known works of chuanqi include Youxian ku by Zhang Zhuo, "The World Inside a Pillow" and "Renshi zhuan" ("The Tale of Miss Ren" or "The Story of Lady Ren") by Shen Jiji, Yingying's Biography by Yuan Zhen, The Tale of Huo Xiaoyu by Jiang Fang, The Tale of Li Wa by Bai Xingjian, "The Governor of Nanke" by Li Gongzuo, "The Tale of Hongxian" by Yuan Jiao, "Du Zichun" by Niu Sengru, "Tale of the Transcendent Marriage of Dongting Lake" by Li Chaowei, "Nie Yinniang" by Pei Xing, Chang hen ge zhuan by Chen Hong, and The Tale of the Curly-Bearded Guest by Du Guangting. Unlike general biji xiaoshuo and zhiguai xiaoshuo, most chuanqi stories have a complicated plot with twists and detailed descriptions and are meaningful literary creations instead of mere recordings of factual events.^[1]: 230 They are some of the earliest Chinese literature written in the form of short stories and have provided valuable inspiration plot-wise and in other ways for fiction and drama in later eras. Many were preserved in the 10th-century anthology, Taiping Guangji (Extensive Records of the Taiping Era).^[2]