Liaozhai Zhiyi

  • Shenguai Fiction

    Shenguai Fiction (“Tales of Gods and Strange Beings”) is a genre of classical Chinese fiction named for its focus on supernatural, divine, and monstrous themes. It is also commonly referred to as “shenmo xiaoshuo” (“gods-and-demons fiction”).

  • Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio: A Gateway to China’s Fantastical Folklore

    In the vast landscape of Chinese literature, few works blend fantasy, romance, social critique, and folklore as masterfully as Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio (Liaozhai Zhiyi). Written by Pu Songling (1640–1715), a scholar of the Qing Dynasty, this collection of over 490 short stories has enchanted readers for centuries with its vivid depictions…

  • Chivalry and tragic heroism in “Tian Qilang”

    “Tian Qilang” is a classic tale from Pu Songling’s Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio (Liaozhai Zhiyi), exploring themes of loyalty, gratitude, and social injustice through the relationship between the impoverished hunter Tian Qilang and the aristocrat Wu Chengxiu.

  • Protected: Huang Jiulang

    There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.

  • The Mural

    Meng Longtan, a native of Jiangxi Province, and a Juren by the name of Zhu (Note: a Juren was one who pasted the imperial examination at the provincial level) were visiting the capital together.

  • Protected: Revenant Resurrection

    There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.

  • Pu Songling and Liaozhai

    Pu Songling was a Qing Dynasty scholar, storyteller, and chronicler of the uncanny, whose life embodied the frustrations of China’s educated class.