ABSTRACT
The Tang novels carried on the tradition of the Wei, Jin and Southern and Northern Dynasties, to produce works such as the Miscellaneous Literary Sketches Collected at Youyang and Yunxi's Friendly Commentaries. The mystery novel was a new genre of the novel developed during the Tang Dynasty. Some people consider the mystery novels of the Tang Dynasty to be urban literature, reflecting the lives, thoughts and interests of urban dwellers. But there is some reason to treat this judgment with caution. The Story of Li Wa could be called the best of the Tang Dynasty mystery novels. As part of the category of novels which traces the redemption of a young rake, it breaks no new ground, but its genius lies in the fact that the heroine both brings Ying Yang low and then rescues him. The development of the mystery novel, which reached its heyday in the Tang Dynasty, began to flounder in the Song Dynasty.
