Like other Qing anthologies of supernatural stories, Yetan suilu 夜譚隨錄 (Casual Records of Night Talks) by the Manchu writer He Bang'e 和邦額 (fl. 1736-ca. 1779) recounts what the author believes to be factual. Bang'e's references to earlier works suggest that he believed they were more or less factual, and his own preface he baldly states that he has recorded what others have told him. Similarly, variants to legends recorded in other anthologies shows that they adopted some of their material from Yetan suilu. Moreover, remarks that Bang'e appends to his stories refer to the circumstances of recording the stories, which involved hearing them from friends. Finally, assertions by the commentator En Maoxian 恩茂先 about the truth of some of the stories demonstrates that at least one member of Bang'e's audience believed that the stories were factual. Since legends are stories heard from others that the narrator and his audience accept as factual, all of this demonstrates that the stories in Yetan suilu, like those in other anthologies, are legends rather than creative fiction.