五四新文學運動後,出現小品文體的散文。歷史小品可說是小品文的分支,故具有小品文篇幅較為簡短、一篇文只圍繞著一個中心主題的特徵,卻又和小品文不盡相同。歷史小品誕生之初,就具有強烈的現實戰鬥目的,惟其並非意味扭曲史實以抨擊現實,毋寧是意圖藉由「揭開歷史的假面具」,以及還復歷史人物的真面目來進行戰鬥,達到以古喻今的目的。有意思的是,當時也出現一種「故事新編」體裁,被視為與「歷史小品」同一形式,惟其在史實追求與現實對話間的比重,些微異於歷史小品,比較二者將能凸顯後者的特性。本文以1930-1940年代的歷史小品為主軸,討論時代思潮如何影響歷史創作的目的與內容,同時也說明1930年代出現的「歷史小品」這一文類,具有何種性質與社會性意義。
The prose of the Essay style appeared after the New Literature Movement, the Historical Essay can be said the one of the branch theme of the Essay. Historical Essay and Essay was similar, both of the content of Historical Essay and Essay were brief, and one article had only one central theme, but Historical Essay not the same as the Essay. At the birth of historical Essay, it had a strong combat purpose, but it does not mean Historical Essay had distorting historical facts to attack reality, it was intended to fight by "revealing the mask of history" and returning the true colors of historical figures. At that time, a genre of "New Redaction from Old Stories" also appeared, which was regarded as the same form as "Historical Essay", but the proportion of "New Redaction from Old Stories" in the pursuit of historical facts and dialogue with reality was slightly different from "Historical Essay". This article intends to discuss how the social environment influenced the purpose and content of historical creation with "Historical Essay" from the 1930s to the 1940s, and also to explain the nature and social significance of "Historical Essay".