晚唐薛用弱編纂《集異記》，收有〈王維〉、〈王渙之〉兩篇，描寫盛唐詩人溫卷與旗亭畫壁的故事。人物生動，故事精彩，然證諸史實，卻未必如此。是則，唐人書寫傳奇小說，銳意設幻，非以撰述歷史事件為準的。本文試圖檢核歷史時間與人物，來證明唐人傳奇寫作非以傳述歷史為目的，並且以歷史小說應該具備的精神準則，來討論唐人書寫傳奇小說的想像與企圖，證明唐傳奇小說文體虛構的必然性。

Stories of Extraordinary Characters（集異記）, compiled and edited by Xue Yung-ruo （薛用弱） in late Tang dynasty, includes the following two chapters : “Wang Wei”（王維） and “Wang Huan-zhi”（王煥之）. These chapters delineate “warming books” or “painting the wall of the garden kiosk,” events known to happen to poets in early-mid Tang dynasty. The stories and characters are vivid and attractive in these chapters, but they do not necessarily agree with recorded history. Instead of documenting historical events, the Tang novelists commonly romanticize what would seem to be factual. This article investigates how, and with what intentions, historical materials regarding the Wangs are recreated in the stories. It elucidates the Tang novelists’ necessary use of the imaginary in the light of modern views of the historical novel.