Exploitation and oppression in “The Black Beast”

In Strange Tales from Liaozhai: The Black Beast, an elder named Li Jingyi recounts an incident near Shenyang: A gentleman hosting a banquet on a mountaintop witnesses a tiger carrying an object in its mouth. The tiger digs a pit, buries the object (a dead deer), and leaves. The gentleman sends men to retrieve the deer and refill the pit to conceal the act.

Later, the tiger returns with a hairy black beast—treated like an honored guest. At the burial site, the beast crouches to inspect the spot. When the tiger digs and finds the deer missing, it trembles violently and lies prostrate in fear. The black beast, believing itself deceived, strikes the tiger’s forehead, killing it instantly, then departs arrogantly.

Allegorical Analysis

Integrity and Trust:

The tiger’s honest intent to share its prey is thwarted by human interference, leading to fatal mistrust. This reflects how fragile trust is—and how devastating its collapse can be.

Abuse of Power and Authority:

The black beast symbolizes unchecked authority: it assumes deception without evidence, denies the tiger recourse, and executes brutal punishment. This critiques power structures lacking due process.

Natural Order vs. Human Meddling:

Humans disrupt nature’s cycle by stealing the deer, indirectly causing the tiger’s death—a warning against reckless environmental interference.

Appearance vs. Truth:

Superficially, the tiger seems deceitful; in truth, it is victimized. This cautions against snap judgments without investigating complexities.

Collective Numbness of the Oppressed:

The tiger’s submission mirrors the populace’s passive acceptance of exploitation. Pu Songling laments this “era of ignorant compliance” under corrupt rulers.

Questioning the Legitimacy of Oppression:

The beast’s dominance—instilling fear without visible fangs—parallels bureaucratic exploitation. Pu challenges whether such fear stems from natural hierarchy or systemic conditioning, satirizing how oppression becomes normalized.

In essence, The Black Beast uses animal allegory to explore integrity, power dynamics, ecological ethics, and social complacency—urging readers to uphold honesty, wield power justly, and engage the world with discernment.