“妙”最早是由老子作为一个哲学范畴提出来的。汉代以后,它才开始演变成一个审美范畴上的评语。魏晋之后,“妙”这一范畴在各种艺术领域里广泛使用。明清小说评点家们经常使用“妙”这一范畴来点评小说的人物形象、叙事技巧和小说语言。由于各自个性和学养等方面的差异,以及所面对的对象不同,明清小说评点家们在运用这个范畴的过程中必然会有所侧重,有所取舍。 “Wonderful ” was first put forward by Lao Tzu as a philosophical category. After the Han Dynasty, it began to evolve into a review of aesthetic categories. After the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the category of “wonderful” was widely used in various art fields. Critics of the novels of the Ming and Qing dynasties often use the category of “wonderful ” to comment on the characters, narrative techniques and fiction language of the novel. Due to their differences in their individuality and academic support, as well as the different objects they face, novels critics in the Ming and Qing dynasties inevitably place a lot of discretion in the application of this category.