This essay compares Cheng Xian (Becoming an Immortal) with Water Margin’s Cui‑ping Mountain episode. It explores how friends push men into irreversible choices, contrasting worldly outlawdom with Taoist immortality and questioning noble‑intentioned cruelty.
From Liaozhai, high‑ranking official Dong Mohan’s household is plagued by a fierce fox‑spirit. Taoist priest Jiao Ming’s red talisman fails. He uses a possessed maid as medium, subdues and expels the fox pack, bringing peace.
From Liaozhai, set after the Xie‑Qian rebellion’s massacre, this tale tells how official Wang Qixiang’s house gets haunted. Ghosts mock his worldly power; only a Buddhist Water‑and‑Land ritual pacifies these aggrieved spirits.
This tale is a rare instance of a woman taking direct, decisive action against a supernatural tormentor, without the help of priests or exorcists. Her cleverness – observing the fox’s habit, waiting for the right moment, and using domestic tools (bottle, wadding, cauldron) – turns her from a passive victim into an active victor.…
From Liaozhai, Mr. Zhang is wrongly taken to the underworld and witnesses his sinful monk‑brother’s hellish torture. Revived, he finds the monk bears matching physical agony, who then recovers through sincere repentance.
From Liaozhai, this tale tells of upright official Wang Yuncang visiting the Celestial Master. Learning the Hail‑God will strike his hometown, he pleads for mercy. The deity diverts most hail to valleys, sparing farm crops.