今人提及《夢溪筆談》一書讚揚的是它內容的博廣以及考証的精細,也因此沈括一向被譽為宋朝最具有所謂科學精神的學者,其光芒甚至掩蓋沈括在軍事、外交以及文學上的成就。但是在《夢溪筆談》卷二十、卷二十一卻出現〈神奇〉〈異事〉等令人有些好奇不解的卷名,其內容似乎與《夢溪筆談》作為一本中國偉大的科學巨著的評價有所衝突,因此筆者即以卷二十〈神奇〉、卷二十一〈異事〉二卷的內容作為探析之對象。本論文可分成一、前言:論述創作動機與方法。二、《夢溪筆談》與中國筆記小說的關係,試圖讓讀者從筆記小說的角度認識該書。三、〈神奇〉〈異事〉內容分類與探析,此為本論文之主軸,將歸納探析其內容所呈現的內涵與特色。最後則為四、結論,為本文作一精要之總結。
People are now talking about <<Meng-Xi-Bi-Tan>>. They are praising its extensive content and meticulous detail, included the most scientific scholars of the Song Dynasty. Its fame has exceeded even all achievements in military, diplomacy and literature. However in <<Meng-Xi-Bi-Tan>> chapter twenty and twenty-one there appear some chapters like <<Shen-Ji>> and <<Yi-Shi>> which make people indissoluble, the content seems to have some conflict about <<Meng-Xi-Bi-Tan>> as the great scientific literary work, so the writer uses chapter twenty <<Shen-Ji>> and chapter twenty-one <<Yi-Shi>> as the investigative target. My paper can be divided into four parts. First, treatise of the motive and the way of writing. Second, description of the book <<Meng-Xi-Bi-Tan>>, its relationship with Chinese novels and its ability to let readers get to know this book in the way as a type of literature consisting mainly of short sketches. Third, classification of the content in <<Shen-Ji>> and <<Yi-Shi>>. This is the main point of my paper, it concludes the meaning and character about the book. Fourth, is the conclusion.