| Sumario: | The article discusses the publishing history of Qing literature in China during the period 1860 to 1911. To develop the analysis, literary criticisms of the novels "Qinglou meng" (A Dream of Green Bowers), by Yu Da and "Ershinian muduzhi guaixianzhuang" (Strange Events Eye-Witnessed Over Two Decades), by Wu Jianeren are presented to argue that the authors were driven by money concerns, fame and sensitivity to the reader as a potential buyer. The authors of the period were said to have led their readership through contemporary strategies but maintained the mystique of the connection between writer and reader. The theme of searching for one's soulmate in the novels especially at the fall of the Qing dynasty was said to have consumed the writers and readers of the period.
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