Liu Yiqing ( 刘义庆 403- 443), was originally from Pengcheng (now Xuzhou City, Jiangsu Province).  Came from the royal family of  the Song  State, he was  a famous writer in the South Dynasty.

New Anecdotes of Social Talk 《世说新语》compiled by Liu Yiqing (AD403-444) belonged to the category of  "anecdotal fiction" during the period of Wei Jin and the Northern and Southern Dynasties. It has been well preserved.

The fiction epitomized the achievements that "anecdotal fiction" made in its earlystages". New Anecdotes of Social Talk devoted most of its pages to describingthe "unconventional" ways of scholars at the time. Some stories in thebook recorded the Sima family's despotism and other rich and powerfulfamilies' decadent indulgences in the Jin period. Other stories eulogizedcharitable persons and their beneficence.

The novel was very successful.its artistic achievements could be summarized as: skillful portrayal ofcharacters' personalities through distinctive details, flawless blending ofdialogue with storytelling, and concise and subtle language.

NewAnecdotes of Social Talk became the rudimentary text for Chinese literarysketches and had a far-reaching influence on later developments inChinese literature. Many stories in the book were used as sourcematerial by later writers.