The terminology"mindreading"was initially used in fortune-telling and later adopted by philosophers and then it fared its way well into folk psychology.With the development of cognitive science,"mindreading"has evolved into an important issue of cognitive psychological studies.The term"mindreading"has infiltrated gradually into the area of cognitive literary studies,becoming a keyword of interdisciplinary studies in literature.However,"mindreading"in literature has closely related to the same word used in other branches of knowledge notwithstanding,it cannot be construed as being equal.This paper,starting with the evolution of the terminology,explores the essence of mindreading in literature.The meaning of"mindreading"in the field of literary criticism,to a certain extent,surpasses the meaning given to it by other disciplines,and forms an independent"literary mindreading".