Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c10.35

v2.c10.35

Hong Mai (1123-1202) was a well-known scholar and novelist in the Southern Song Dynasty. It is said that his *Record of the Listener* consisted of 420 volumes, but the best-preserved edition has only over 200 volumes available, less than half the original book. Even so, the book was still the largest collection of classical Chinese novels in China and included over 2,700 novels. However, the *Record of the Listener* was also the compilation of earlier works. At least 700 persons contributed materials to him, and most of the works were created based on various folklores. His work clearly showed the influence of Buddhism, for example, the Buddha’s story, the pagoda involving supernatural or magical powers, Bodhisattva, Vajrasattva, Yama, Yaksa, and Daughter of the Dragon, Karma, Samsara and reincarnation.