This Daoist‑style parable recounts how frightened Mao mistakes a fellow traveler for a ghost and pushes him into a river. They later meet and discover fear, not spirits, created their shared terrifying illusion.
From Liaozhai, it depicts the loyal friendship between two scholars. Cheng risks everything to rescue wrongfully‑imprisoned Zhou. Later Cheng becomes an immortal, swapping bodies with Zhou and revealing worldly illusions before they transcend mortal life.
There was a scholar in Binzhou, Shandong Province. One day,he was reading in his studio when there was a knock at the door. He answered it and saw a white-haired old man in plain clothes. The scholar let him in and asked his name.
Scholar Han, descendant of a well-known aristocratic family, was very fond of guests. A man named Xu in the same village often went to his place to drink.
After reading Strange Tales from Liaozhai Studio: The Painted Wall (The Mural), many may wonder: did the temple mural physically change? Zhu Juren (Zhu Xiaolian) insists the celestial maiden’s hairstyle transformed–from a maiden’s coiffure to a matron’s bun–after his journey into the painting.