Essays are not a new literary genre. There were "Prose of Six Dynasties" and "Prose of Tang Dynasty" in ancient China. They have long been a member of the literary family. Because prose is meaningful and incisive, and the article is short and easy to write, it has been used to this day and has developed. As for the origin of the word "essay", it comes from ancient Buddhist scriptures. Because in the Buddhist scriptures, there are a full version and an abridged version. The full version is called "masterpiece" and the abridged version is called "sketch". For example, the Brahma Sutra translated by Gao Xiongshi in the late Qin Dynasty is divided into 27 volumes and 1 volumes.
27 volumes are called the Great Prajna Sutra, and 1 volumes are called the Prajna Sutra. This is the origin of "essays" in literary works. The word "sketch" appeared as early as the Jin Dynasty, which belongs to the Buddhist term. Shi's new words-literature ":"Yin Zhongjun reads the text "Liu Xiao notes:" Shi's book distinguishes the empty classics in detail, with details and sketches. The details are big, but slightly. Kumarajiva translated the Paramita Prajna Sutra, and called 27 volumes of it in detail and 1 volumes of it in less detail as Little Prajna. It can be seen that "small" and "big" refer to the abridged version of Buddhist scriptures. Because of its short length, concise language and easy reading and dissemination, it is favored by people. Zhang Rong's Legacy Order: "Laugh at Yun Qi all my life. Coffin 3,, no new lid.
I hold Xiao Jing and Lao Zi in my left hand and Hokkekyo in my right hand. ""(Book of Southern Qi, Volume 41) shows his preference for "sketch". Xia Shufang wrote Xianglinsao in the late Ming Dynasty, which had its own order. "Long Xia Jupei Mountain, the day ceremony" Lotus ",the most famous temple incense, essays into a product." Scholars in the late Ming Dynasty were addicted to Buddhism in order to avoid political disasters, but they just escaped and hid in Zen, and most of them didn't really escape into an empty door. Therefore, they have no patience with the voluminous Buddhist scriptures, but have a soft spot for "essays". With the popularity of "Zen Yue", scholars naturally transplanted the concept of "sketch" into literature.