SuaveG – The Gentle Path

Chinese mythology, folktales, and literature

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  • Ding Qianxi

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    Ding Qianxi of Zhucheng, Shandong Province, came from a family which had plenty of money and grain. But, all his life, he was an admirer of Guo Xie, a man noted during the Han Dynasty for his chivalry. Like him, he performed many chivalrous deeds.

  • Temptation and survival in “Prince of the Sea”

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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”

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    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.

  • Nie Xiaoqian

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    Ning Caichen, a native of Zhejiang Province, was noted for his galantry, integrity and upright character. He often used to say, “In my whole life, I’ve only had my wife and never another woman.”

  • Behind Yingning’s laughter

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    The story “Yingning” from Strange Tales from Liaozhai is a classic short story written by Pu Songling, a writer from the Qing Dynasty. This tale centers around the romantic relationship between the protagonist, Scholar Wang, and Yingning, and is filled with elements of fantasy and profound social commentary.