Jin Shengtan was a great writer in the early Qing Dynasty, the first person in the history of China's literary criticism, and the founder of Ten Talented Scholars. At first, he called the poems of Zhuangzi, Li Sao, Shi Ji and Du Fu, Water Margin and the West Chamber in traditional classic works "one village with two Sao, three histories and four Du, five water margins and six West Chambers". This theory shocked the literary world at that time: some people accepted it; Others think that he is deviant: it is sheer nonsense to put Zhuangzi and Historical Records together with The Water Margin and The West Chamber, and then name and sort them by the books of gifted scholars.
Li Yu, Jin Shengtan's good friend and great dramatist, said to him: "Water Margin is a novelist, which is different from history; The Romance of the West Chamber is a lyric poem, which is different from the novel. Jin Shengtan accepted Li Yu's opinion, and they * * * recommended the Romance of the Three Kingdoms commented by Mao Lun and Mao Zonggang as the first talented book, followed by Good Biography, Yujiao Pear, Hirayama Lengyan, Water Margin and The West Chamber. On his initiative, Mr. Mauren approved Pipa and named it Pipa of the Seventh Talented Man. Zhong Daicang, a gifted scholar in Lingnan, imitated Mao Lun and made comments on Hua Jijian, which was named Eight Books of Talented Scholars. Since then, some people have approved Ghost Hunt and Spring Garden Residence. In this way, the top ten talented books have been formed.