From Liaozhai, lazy yet upright Wang Cheng returns a fox‑spirit’s golden hairpin. The kind fox gives him startup funds. After business misfortunes, he strikes fortune with a victorious fighting quail and thrives under the fox’s strict guidance.
From *Liaozhai*, this light‑toned tale tells of fearless Old Man Sun catching a shape‑shifting fox‑spirit that causes sleep paralysis. The fox shrinks and swells its body, then mysteriously slips away before he can kill it.
This tale is a classic ghost story that plays on domestic settings and the horror of the familiar turning monstrous. It also reflects the traditional belief that the spirits of the wrongfully dead could return to haunt the living, and that physical remains, if not properly handled, could retain sinister powers.
“The Peasant” is a highly allegorical story in Strange Tales from Liaozhai (Liaozhai Zhiyi). Through a tale of “long-standing enmity” spanning years between a peasant and a fox demon.
“The Tiger of Zhao Cheng (The Repentant Tiger)” is a story from Strange Tales from Liaozhai (Liaozhai Zhiyi), recounting a tale of filial piety, vengeance, and forgiveness. Set in Zhao Cheng, the story revolves around an elderly woman and her son.
“The Treasury Official” is a concise yet profound short story from Strange Tales from Liaozhai (Liaozhai Zhiyi). Through the mysterious figure of a “Treasury Official of the Netherworld,” it showcases Pu Songling’s philosophical reflections on fate, wealth, and the vicissitudes of life.