本书是作者1920-1924年在北京大学讲授中国小说史课程的讲义。本书共28篇，始于神话与传说，迄于清末谴责小说，叙述中国古代小说演变的历程。说小说未必要说小说史，但读完小说史，我们才有可能给每部小说一个准确的定位。假如你是一位写小说的作家，小说史可以告诉你写作的起点在哪里，可以告诉你哪一些构思已经被前人用过了......假如你是一位读小说的 "看官"，小说史可以告诉你手中的这部书居于何等的地位，有何等的价值 ......假如两者都不是，就请你慕"鲁迅"之大名打开这本书。"鲁迅"二字就已经价值连城。建议以下人群阅读本书：所有喜欢鲁迅的人，所有不喜欢鲁迅的人，大学生与研究生，研究家或一般干部，望子成龙的家长...... 本书叙述中国古代小说发生、发展、演变的过程，是中国第一部小说专史。本书将各种类型的小说及其发展，放到当时各种社会条件下进行考察，勾勒出一条脉络清晰的数千年中国小说"进行的线索"。为撰此书，作者辑录汉至隋之古小说36种，搜集宋至清末小说41种的史料，并参考明清人所撰著作70余种。本书以言简意赅之笔法，公允平当之态度，评判历代小说之思想、艺术，许多见解，至今仍是中国古典小说研究的指导性意见。本书代表了一个时代中国人研究中国小说史的最高水平。（This is the teaching material for Lu Xun's course of History of Chinese Novels at Peking University from 1920 to 1924. There are 28 chapters, starting from mythologies and legends and ends at late Qing novels of exposure to trace the evolution of ancient Chinese novels. Though history of novels is not a must in the study of novels, after reading the history we can better judge the importance of each novel. If you are a novelist yourself, the history of novels will tell you the starting point of writing and which conception has already been discovered by predecessors...If you are a "spectator" of novels, the history of novels will reveal the status and value of the book you are reading...Even if you are neither a novelist nor a fan of novels, you can also open this book for the reason that it was written by Lu Xun, one of the greatest writers in 20th century. We recommend this book to the following people: those who love Lu Xun's works, those who dislike Lu Xun, university undergraduates and graduates, researchers and government officials, parents who have great expectations for their children...The book delineates the advent, growth and evolution of ancient Chinese novels, being the first history dedicated to Chinese novels. The book scrutinizes different types of novels and their development in the light of their respective social conditions and reveals an "ongoing thread" for the thousand years of logical development of Chinese novels. To prepare for this book the author has compiled 36 ancient novels from Han to Sui, collected materials for 41 novels from Song to late Qing, and referred to over 70 writings in Ming and Qing dynasties. Lu Xun commented on the central ideas and art of novels of past dynasties with a sketching and concise writing style and an impartial and fair attitude. Some of his viewpoints remain the guiding principle for the study of classical Chinese novels. The book represents the highest level of the scholarship on history of Chinese novels by the Chinese of the time.）