This reflection on The Haunted House introduces real‑life official Li Huaxi. It explores why Pu Songling set the ghost tale in his mansion, noting harmless phantoms and the moral that good deeds ward off evil spirits.
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 commentary analyzes The Monster in the Buckwheat Field. Drawing on The Art of War, it interprets the tale: complacency after partial victories, isolation and lost vigilance lead to disaster, warning against persistent cunning adversaries.
From *Liaozhai*, this grim tale depicts old farmer An’s repeated run‑ins with a huge red‑haired demon in his buckwheat field. Though they drive it off with spears and crossbows, the beast fatally bites An, then vanishes without a trace.
January 193: Cao Cao counters Yuan Shu’s advance In January 193 AD, Yuan Shu launched a northern campaign against Chenliu, preparing to attack Cao Cao in the northwestern part of Yan Province(Yanzhou).
My brother-in-law’s grandfather Master Song Tao, a local recipient of a government stipend for bachelors of letters, was lying sick in bed one day when an officer bearing a summons and leading a white-blazed horse came to him and said, ”You are requested to be present at the examination.”