Mr. Li of Changshan (a district in Shandong) was the nephew of the Da Sikou (Grand Minister of Justice, one of the Nine High Ministers in ancient China). His house was plagued by many strange occurrences.
Once, he saw a long stool (chun deng, a wooden bench) in the veranda. It was flesh‑coloured, smooth, and glossy. Since Li knew he owned no such item, he approached and touched it. As soon as his hand pressed it, the stool bent easily, feeling as soft as flesh. Startled, he withdrew in fright. When he turned back to look, he saw its four legs moving, and it gradually sank into the wall.
On another occasion, he noticed a white staff leaning against the wall – clean, smooth, and slender. He went to support it, but it became slippery, fell, and slithered sinuously into the wall, disappearing only after some time.
In the seventeenth year of the Kangxi reign (1678 CE), a scholar named Wang Junsheng was engaged as a tutor at Li’s house. One evening, when the lamps were first lit, Wang was lying on his bed with his shoes on. Suddenly, he saw a tiny figure, about three inches tall, come in from outside. It wandered about briefly and then left.
Soon after, the same small figure returned, carrying two little stools, which it set in the middle of the hall. The stools looked exactly like those made by children from sorghum stalks. A moment later, two more tiny figures carried in a coffin – only about four inches long – and placed it on the stools. Before they had finished arranging it, a woman, accompanied by several maidservants, appeared – all of them equally minuscule. The woman wore mourning clothes (cui yi, coarse hemp garments), with a hemp sash tied around her waist and her head wrapped in white cloth. She covered her mouth with her sleeve and sobbed in a faint, buzzing voice, like a giant fly.
Wang watched them for a long time, his hair standing on end, his body covered in goosebumps as if touched by frost. He let out a loud shout and jumped up, but in his panic he fell off the bed and lay there trembling, unable to get up. When the other members of the household heard his cries and gathered in the hall, the tiny figures and the coffin had all vanished without a trace.
Note
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.
This tale plays on the unsettling juxtaposition of the mundane and the monstrous. Familiar household objects become eerily alive, and a normal evening in a tutor’s room is invaded by a ghostly funeral parade in miniature. The story also reflects the common belief that certain old or aristocratic houses are inherently haunted, harbouring spirits that mimic human life in eerie, distorted forms.
Changshan (长山):
An ancient county in Shandong Province, China – the home region of many characters in Pu Songling’s tales. It is now part of Zibo City.
Da Sikou (大司寇):
A high official title in ancient China, literally “Grand Minister of Justice.” This was one of the Nine Ministers (Jiǔ Qīng) in the imperial bureaucracy, responsible for judicial affairs and penal law. In the Qing dynasty, the title was often used as an honorific for the President of the Board of Punishments (刑部尚书).
The Minister of Justice in the story was a real‑life historical figure. He was Li Huaxi from Changshan County. A high‑ranking official of the Ming Dynasty, he later surrendered to the Qing Dynasty and rose to the position of Minister of Punishments(刑部尚书). Li’s uncle was a powerful figure, which explains the large household and its tutors.
Kangxi seventeenth year (康熙十七年):
This corresponds to 1678 CE. The Kangxi Emperor was the second emperor of the Qing dynasty, reigning from 1661 to 1722. Specifying the exact year adds a layer of verisimilitude, a common technique in classical Chinese ghost stories.
The long stool (春凳):
A chun deng is a type of rectangular wooden bench, often used in bedrooms or verandas for sitting or lying down. Its name literally means “spring bench,” possibly because it was comfortable for warm weather. Here it appears in a supernatural form – flesh‑coloured, soft, and animate – suggesting it is not a real piece of furniture but a monstrous imitation.
The staff (白梃):
A white wooden staff or stick. In Chinese folklore, everyday objects can become possessed or take on strange forms when a house is haunted. The staff’s ability to slither into the wall like a snake indicates it is a shape‑shifting entity.
Miniature funerary procession:
The tiny figures re‑enact a complete funeral ritual – carrying stools, placing a coffin, and a mourning woman with attendants. This miniature mimicry of human customs is a common motif in Chinese ghost stories, where the supernatural world is often a distorted reflection of the human one.
Mourning attire (衰衣, 麻绠):
The woman wears cui yi (coarse, unhemmed hemp garments) and a hemp sash – the standard dress for heavy mourning (e.g., for a parent or spouse) in traditional Chinese funerary rites. White cloth wrapped around the head further indicates deep grief. Her buzzing sobs, like a giant fly, emphasise the uncanny, grotesque nature of the vision.
“Like children’s toys from sorghum stalks”:
In rural China, children often made miniature furniture and utensils from the hollow stems of sorghum or other grains. This detail highlights the diminutive scale and fragile appearance of the apparitions, making them seem almost whimsical – until the horror sets in.
Pu Songling’s narrative style:
As in many of his tales, Pu presents the account as a witnessed event (the tutor Wang Junsheng), giving it an air of credibility. The sudden, inexplicable disappearance of the apparitions when others arrive heightens the sense of isolation and the ambiguity of the supernatural – are they real, or a product of the observer’s terrified imagination?
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