In the science fiction of late Qing dynasty, the scientific and technological achievements invented by experts and specialists were weaved into the narration in the form of imaginary "things", and became the material cornerstone for novelists to construct the fictional space. In the functional imagination of this "things", the literariness of Late Qing science fiction was weakened by the authors' exaggeration of the performance of "thing", repetition of political theme of "science saving China", and their overt concern of society. Despite of these, the spirit of embracing science and exploring the unknown in these fictional texts still has considerable artistic values.

Late Qing science fiction  /  "thing"  /  functional imagination