Editing Jin Shengtan (section)

==Literary theory and criticism==

He was known for formulating a list of what he called the "{{ill|Six Works of Genius|zh|六才子書}}": the ''[[Zhuangzi (book)|Zhuangzi]]'', the poem ''[[Li Sao]]'', ''[[Records of the Grand Historian|Shiji]]'', [[Du Fu]]'s poems, ''[[Romance of the Western Chamber]]'', and the ''[[Water Margin]]''. This list contained both highly classical works, like ''Li Sao'' and Du Fu's poems, and novels or plays in vernacular Chinese that had their origins in the streets and marketplace.  The six works were chosen based on their literary merit, as opposed to their upstanding morals. For these reasons, Jin was considered an eccentric and made many enemies among the conservative [[Confucian]] scholars of his day.<ref name="Findlay"/> Jin edited, commented on, and added introductions and interlinear notes to the popular novels the ''Water Margin'' and ''[[Romance of the Three Kingdoms]]'', and the [[Yuan dynasty]] drama, ''Romance of the Western Chamber''.

Jin is often grouped with [[Mao Zonggang]], and [[Zhang Zhupo]] as commentator/editors. Mao's commentarial edition of [[Romance of the Three Kingdoms]] and Zhang's commentary on [[Jin Ping Mei|The Plum in the Golden Vase]] featured {{lang|zh|dufa}} (讀法 lit. "way to read") which interpreted the novels using a vocabulary and critical standards which up to then had been limited to poetry and painting. This innovation raised the status of fiction for Chinese readers and made the writing of fiction into a respectable activity for educated people.<ref>{{cite book |last = Wang|first = Rumei 王汝梅  |year = 1999 |title = Jin Shengtan, Mao Zonggang, Zhang Zhupo <nowiki>金圣叹·毛宗岗·张竹坡 </nowiki>|publisher = Chunfeng wenyi chubanshe| location = Shenyang |isbn = 7531320290}}</ref>

Jin believed that only the emperor and wise sages could truly "author" a work. He points out that even Confucius took pains to avoid being named the author of the ''[[Spring and Autumn Annals]]''. In Jin's view, the authoring of books by commoners would lead to the undermining of heavenly order and peace.  He saw his commentary as the only way to minimize the damage caused by books "authored" by those who were unworthy to do so.<ref name='Huang'>{{cite journal|title=Author(ity) and Reader in Traditional Chinese Xiaoshuo Commentary (in Essays and Articles)|journal=Chinese Literature: Essays, Articles, Reviews| first=Martin W.|last=Huang|volume=16|pages=41–67|date=December 1994|doi=10.2307/495306|publisher=Chinese Literature: Essays, Articles, Reviews, Vol. 16|jstor=495306}}<!--|accessdate=13 September 2007--></ref> In writing his commentaries, Jin firmly believed that the story that was written should be read on its own terms, apart from reality.  In his commentary on ''Romance of the Western Chamber'', he wrote, "the meaning lies in the writing, and does not lie in the event".  In other words, it is the story that is written that matters, rather than how well that story emulates reality.<ref>Ge (2003), p. 3.</ref>  At the same time, Jin believed that authorial intention is less important than the commentator's reading of a story.  In his ''Romance of the Western Chamber'' commentary, he writes, "''Xixiang Ji'' is not a work written by an individual named Wang Shifu alone; If I read it carefully, it will also be a work of my own creation, because all the words in ''Xixiang Ji'' happen to be the words that I want to say and that I want to write down".<ref name='Huang'/>