In the region of Zhengding (in present‑day Hebei Province), there was an orphan girl. When she was only six or seven years old, she was taken into her future husband’s family to be raised as a child bride. After two or three years of living together, the boy (her young husband) seduced her, and she became pregnant.
Her belly swelled, and thinking she was ill, she told her mother‑in‑law (or the elder woman of the house). The woman asked: “Does it move?” The girl replied: “Yes, it moves.” The elder woman found this even more unusual. However, because the girl was so young, she did not dare to confirm it was pregnancy.
Before long, the girl gave birth to a son. The mother‑in‑law sighed and said: “I never expected that a fist‑sized womb would produce a needle‑sized child!” (A proverbial expression meaning she never imagined such a tiny, youthful girl could bear a child.)
Note
The story is one of the shortest in Liaozhai, yet it packs a social critique. It quietly exposes the consequences of the child‑bride system, where young girls were placed in vulnerable positions without protection. Pu Songling does not explicitly condemn the practice, but the stark, matter‑of‑fact narration and the grandmother’s ambiguous sigh leave the reader to reflect on the injustice.
Zhengding (真定):
An ancient city in Hebei Province, historically known as a strategic and cultural centre. The name “Zhengding” appears in several tales in the Strange Tales, often used simply as a generic location for rural or regional settings.
Child bride / Future husband’s family (童养媳):
In traditional Chinese society, it was common for poor families to send their daughters to live with their future husband’s family at a very young age. These girls, known as 童养媳 (tongyangxi, child brides), were raised as servants or helpers and were expected to marry the son when both came of age.
The practice of child‑brides can be traced back to the Three Kingdoms period, with relevant records in Records of the Three Kingdoms. It became an established marital custom in the Song Dynasty. During the Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty, the child‑bride system was widely practiced in Ruijin, Jiangxi, due to the high cost of betrothal gifts. The practice, though widespread, often led to abuse, and it was legally abolished only in the 20th century.
Age and pregnancy:
The girl is about 8–10 years old when she becomes pregnant (since she was 6–7 upon arrival and “two or three years” pass). This is an extreme case, highlighting both the harshness of the child‑bride system and the biological rarity of such early childbirth. The story does not moralise explicitly, but the shock of the grandmother’s final remark implies the social and physical abnormality of the situation.
“Does it move?”:
In traditional Chinese folk medicine, the standard way to distinguish pregnancy from a tumour or other abdominal swelling was to ask if the foetus was kicking. The girl’s positive reply (“It moves”) confirms the pregnancy.
Fist‑sized womb, needle‑sized child:
This is a folk proverb or exclamation, roughly meaning: “Who would have thought that a womb no bigger than a fist could produce a child as tiny as a needle?” It combines the sense of wonder at the girl’s youthful fertility with a touch of dark humour, and also reflects the grandmother’s resignation – she had suspected but could not believe it until the birth.
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