The Historical Fiction Based on True Stories: An Analysis of the Menghui Gushu by Huang Jianhua with the Aid of Historical Records and Archaeological Objects of Art

Abstract

The Gushu Chuanqi [Legend of Ancient Shu] trilogy is historically grounded, although it is largely fictional. Five characteristics of the society represented in the trilogy, i.e., walled cities, sacred statues, silk fabrics, burials, and pottery, were examined with the aid of related historical records and archaeological objects of art unearthed in Sichuan. This paper made a comparative study of these things with their respective textual descriptions in the Menghui Gushu [Ancient Shu Revisited in the Dream], the first volume of the Gushu Chuanqi [Legend of Ancient Shu] trilogy by Huang Jianhua. The results support the assertion that the trilogy is not a free interpretation of history but historical fiction based on true stories.