Shen Congwen has been considered a realist who heralded the trend of 'country literature' in modern China. Critics usually praise the pastoralism and regionalism of his works about the countryside, but they rarely pay attention to his works in the experimental mode or those that explore such marginal genres as the fantastic, the romance of aboriginal tribes, and the reworkedn Buddhist tale. Yet these works that depart radically from the realistic tradition constitute a considerable proportion of shen's total output. This study aims to analyze how these works reflect Shen Congwen's personal stance in face of the mainstream literary tradition.