Abstract: As a literary genre, the essay is a concept that came into being in modern times. It has, however, a long history with the first climax in the Wei, Jin, the Northern and Southern dynasties, and reached its heyday in the Ming dynasty through the development of Tang and Song dynasties. In terms of the style of writing, the essay puts emphasis on conciseness and tasteful appeal to feelings as a result of the influence of historic works and Chinese metaphysics, both of which focus on conciseness and perspicuity. Its theory stems from Zhuangzi′s ideology which advocates artistic life and individual ease. This artistic life attitude endows the essay with an aesthetic and entertaining function. The twofold origins literally transformed verbal expressions into aesthetic symbols, and aesthetically featured the essay narration with an artistic conception. Thus, the essay is differentiated from fiction narration characterized by conflicts in plot and character development. It has played an important role in the establishment and development of the essay in the ancient Chinese essay' s transformation from applied narration to literary narration. The present paper is a historical and critical review of this genre' s in Wei, Jin, and Ming dynasties, aiming at the abovementioned conclusions.

Key words: essay, metaphysics, artistic conception, taste and appeal