• Temptation and survival in “Prince of the Sea”

    Strange Tales from Liaozhai: Prince of the Sea (Hai Gongzi) by Pu Songling narrates a tale of seduction, adventure, and survival set on the mythical Guji Island.

  • Prince of the Sea

    On Guji Island in the East Sea, there grew a flower called the naidonghua ( or the flower that fears not winter). Its blossoms came in all colors and they never faded, whatever the season. No one lived on that island and few outsiders ever went there.

  • Earthquake

    On the seventeenth day of the sixth lunar month in the seventh year of the Kangxi reign period (1668) between seven and nine in the evening, there was a great earthquake.

  • The Rat’s Vengeance

    The Loyal Mouse is a brief yet meaningful story from Strange Tales from Liaozhai, written by Pu Songling of the Qing Dynasty. This tale tells of the deep bond between two mice and the extraordinary courage and wisdom displayed by one mouse in attempting to save its companion.

  • The Loyal Mouse

    According to Yang Tianyi, once he saw two mice coming out of a hole. One was swallowed by a snake. The other stared at the snake with its small, prickly ash-like eyes, looking very angry.

  • Love, morality, and redemption in “Nie Xiaoqian”

    Strange Tales from Liaozhai: Nie Xiaoqian, a renowned tale by Qing writer Pu Songling, weaves a fantasy of love, ethics, and salvation through a human-ghost romance.