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When ghosts meet a good man – Reflections on “The Haunted House”
This reflection on The Haunted House introduces real‑life official Li Huaxi. It explores why Pu Songling set the ghost tale in his mansion, noting harmless phantoms and the moral that good deeds ward off evil spirits.
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The Haunted House
From Liaozhai, this uncanny tale unfolds in Mr. Li’s haunted mansion. Shape‑shifting phantom household objects emerge, and tutor Wang Junsheng witnesses a horrifying miniature ghost‑funeral procession which vanishes after he shouts in terror.
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A Comment on “The Monster in the Buckwheat Field”
This commentary analyzes The Monster in the Buckwheat Field. Drawing on The Art of War, it interprets the tale: complacency after partial victories, isolation and lost vigilance lead to disaster, warning against persistent cunning adversaries.
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The Monster in the Buckwheat Field
From *Liaozhai*, this grim tale depicts old farmer An’s repeated run‑ins with a huge red‑haired demon in his buckwheat field. Though they drive it off with spears and crossbows, the beast fatally bites An, then vanishes without a trace.
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Catching the Fox
From *Liaozhai*, this light‑toned tale tells of fearless Old Man Sun catching a shape‑shifting fox‑spirit that causes sleep paralysis. The fox shrinks and swells its body, then mysteriously slips away before he can kill it.
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Biting the Ghost
“Biting the Ghost” blends horror with everyday domestic life. The old man’s quick thinking (pretending to sleep, then biting) turns him from a passive victim into an active fighter – a rare moment of agency against supernatural terror. The story also plays on the tension between belief and scepticism, and the uneasy boundary between…