Strange Tales from Liaozhai: The Painted Skin is among the most renowned tales in Chinese literature.
It follows Wang, a scholar from Taiyuan, Shandong, who encounters a stunning woman claiming persecution by a wealthy man’s jealous wife. Moved by pity(attracted by her beauty in reality), Wang shelters her secretly. Later, a Daoist priest warns Wang he is haunted by evil, but Wang dismisses him — until he discovers the woman is a demon wearing human skin. The demon kills Wang upon exposure.
Wang’s wife Chen begs the priest for help. He slays the demon and directs her to a mad beggar whose phlegm she must swallow to resurrect Wang. Enduring humiliation, Chen succeeds.
Allegorical Analysis
Illusion vs. Reality
The demon’s painted skin symbolizes how “alluring facades mask malice” in reality. The tale warns against trusting appearances — beauty may conceal predation.
Moral Consequences of Desire
Wang’s fate stems from ignoring his wife’s counsel and the priest’s warning, reflecting Confucian emphasis on restraining lust and heeding wisdom.
Loyalty and Sacrifice
Chen’s endurance of degradation to save Wang embodies conjugal devotion, elevating her as a paragon of traditional virtue.
Karmic Justice
- Wang’s death punishes his moral failings.
- Chen’s reward (Wang’s resurrection) honors her sacrifice.
This mirrors the maxim: “Virtue brings reward; vice invites retribution.”
Supernatural as Human Mirror
- The demon’s skin-masking and murderous rage reflect extreme egoism — harming others for self-gain, akin to human greed.
- Wang’s hypocrisy (hiding the woman) and lust parallel the demon’s evil, jointly critiquing the darkness within humanity.
Pu Songling’s Timeless Warning:
In an era of illusions and temptations, “discern truth, restrain desire, guard your true self” remains vital — lest the painted skins of life consume us.
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