沈既濟早負文名，然傳世之文章甚少，且皆為唐大曆末至貞元中因事而作之文。新舊書志皆不載其有文集，因疑其生平著述散佚者多，所餘僅為晚期作品，〈枕中記〉亦屬其一。 　　唐德宗即位，初名楊炎為宰相，楊炎薦沈既濟，一朝從冷署閒曹躋入靖要之地，兼修《建中實錄》為一代史臣。《建中實錄》十卷，今不存，其僅見於司馬光《通鑑考異》者，多有揄揚恃宰之辭，司馬光評為沈氏示好於楊炎者是也。 　　楊炎執政不及二年（自大曆十四年以至建中二年七月），罷相兩月後，即因受讒賜死崖州，沈既濟亦隨而謫往東南。計其受職修史，前後僅一年又十月，是其好夢未酣，即遭警醒，按所體驗，當有如〈枕中記〉中之盧生者。益以同年六月，蓋代勳臣郭子儀之喪，為之實錄者，不能無華屋山邱之感，此則於〈枕中記〉結局之安排猶依稀可辨也。 　　總之，〈枕中記〉寫成之年代當不早於唐建中二年（781）十月。

　　　　　A renowned literary man as he was , little of Shen Chi-chi's 沈既濟（740-800） output , mostly written on important occasions between the Ta-li 大曆 and the Chen-yuan 貞元 periods of the T'ang Dynasty , has been known by posterity . Neither the new nor the old T'ang-shu 新舊唐書 recorded that a collection of his writings had existed , and it was presumed that a freat deal of them had been lost , and that the extant ones , including "Chen-chung chi" , were his later writings . 　　At Te-tsung's 德宗 entheronment , Yang Yen 楊炎 was appointed premier of the empire . Thanks to Yang's recommendation , Shen was promoted from a sinecure to an important position , and , as the court historian , undertook the writing of the Annals of the Chien-chung Period 建中實錄 . Ten volumes are believed to have not existed , of which the only extant fragments were recorded in Ssuma Kuang's T'ung-chien k'ao-i 通鑑考異 . These fragments are filled with encomiums of the contemporary premier , and Ssu-ma Kuang's comment is that Shen was soliciting Yang's favor . 　　Yang Yen's rule lasted less than two years（from the fourteenth year of Ta-li to the seventh month of the second year of Chien-chung）. Two months after he had lost his position , he was ordered to commit suicide st Yai Chou 崖州 as a result of a libel suit against him . Thereupon Shen Chi-chi was exiled to the southeastern border . His position as the court historian had lasted only one year and ten months . Likf Scholar Lu 盧生 in "Chen-chung chi" , Shen was awakened from a dream before it came to the happy denouement . In addition , the great heroic courtier Kuo Tzu-I 郭子儀 died in the sixth month of that year . As a court historian , Shen was bound to lament the perishing of power , and one seems to detect a similar development at the edn of "Chen-chung chi" . 　　The author of this article concludes that "Chen-chung chi" was written no early than the tenth month of the second year of Chien-chung（781）.