潘綸恩《道聽塗說》係創作於清朝道光、咸豐間的志怪傳奇小說集，主要著眼於社會案件的刻劃，書中大量收錄謀殺事件，在一定程度上呈現當時社會問題，同時反映出潘綸恩的某些主觀意識。本文即以《道聽塗說》中謀殺事件進行研究，透過謀害者欲置人於死地之心態，加害者多係被害者的骨肉至親，書中描摹殺人過程之細膩，及殺人理由以貪財慕色為主之探討，始更能夠明白當時吏治、人倫和民風的衰落窳敗現象，喚起讀者對社會黑暗的省思。再者，此類故事雖流於因果報應的道德教化模式，透過法律制裁及雷殛處分懲治加害者的惡行，卻也開啟亂世百姓對社會的希望。這對於在太平天國亂後出版，在人心仍惶惶不安的情況下，是具有撫慰百姓的功效，還能提供作清中葉後社會觀察之途徑。

Pan Lun En’s “Dao Ting Tu Shuo” was a fiction novel collection written during Qing Daoguang and Xianfeng, and it mainly focuses on portrayals of social affairs. Massive murder cases were collected in this book, which presents social issues at the time and reflects subjective consciousness of Pan Lun En. This research explores murders in “Dao Ting Tu Shuo” and discovers that mentality of murderers was to put someone into fatal position, and most victimizers were victims’ kindred relatives. The novel explicitly depicts murder processes and concludes that murder motivation mainly resulted from avarice for wealth and beauty. The above manifest the decline and corruption of governing, human relation, and folk custom, and they also arouse readers’ reflection toward the underworld. Furthermore, although such stories tend to emphasize karma as moral reclamation, they inspire people of chaotic age to remain hope toward the society by punishing the evil deeds with the means of legal sanction and lightning strike. Published after Taiping Rebellion, this novel not only comforts the disquieted people but also provids a way to conduct social observation after the middle of Qing Dynasty.