Strange Tales from Liaozhai: The Painted Skin is among the most renowned tales in Chinese literature.
Qing Feng, a cornerstone of Pu Songling’s Strange Tales from Liaozhai, masterfully blends supernatural fantasy with humanistic warmth. Centered on a love affair between a mortal scholar and a fox spirit, it explores profound tensions between authentic emotion, rigid social orthodoxy, and personal liberation.
Strange Tales from Liaozhai: Wang Lan recounts the supernatural journey of Wang Lan from Licheng County, Shandong.
Mei Ouchang, a juren from south of the Yangtse River, once told me of a strange case which his friend Sun from the same hometown had handled, while he was an official at Dezhou, in Shandong Province.
The story Forty Thousand Coins from Strange Tales from Liaozhai by Pu Song ling serves as a karmic allegory, illustrating the Buddhist-Confucian principle that debts — whether material or moral — must inevitably be repaid.
In the household of Minister Wang of Xincheng, his chief steward — wealthy though untitled — dreamed suddenly of a man charging into his room, declaring: “You owe forty thousand coins. Repay it now!”