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Strange tales from a Chinese studio / Pu Songling ; translated and edited by John Minford.

By: Contributor(s): Material type: TextTextLanguage: English Original language: Chinese Series: Penguin classicsPublication details: London ; New York : Penguin, 2006.Description: xxxviii, 562 p. : ill., maps ; 20 cmISBN:
  • 0140447407 (pbk.)
  • 9780140447408 (pbk.)
Uniform titles:
  • Liao zhai zhi yi. English. Selections
Subject(s):
Contents:
Homunculus -- An otherwordly examination -- Living dead -- Spitting water -- Talking pupils -- The painted wall -- The troll -- Biting a ghost -- Catching a fox -- The monster in the buckwheat -- The haunted house -- Stealing a peach -- Growing pears -- The Taoist priest of Mount Lao -- The monk of Changqing -- The snake-charmer -- The wounded python -- The fornicating dog -- The god of hail -- The golden goblet -- Grace and pine -- A most exemplary monk -- Magical arts -- Wild dog -- Past lives -- Fox in the bottle -- Wailing ghosts -- Thumb and thimble -- Scorched moth and the Taoist -- Friendship beyond the grave -- Karmic debts -- Ritual cleansing -- The doctor god and the thief -- The painted skin -- A passion for snakes -- The merchant's son -- A latter-day Buddha -- Fox enchantment -- Eating stones -- The laughing girl -- The magic sword and the magic bag -- The devoted mouse -- An earthquake -- Snake Island -- Generosity -- The giant fish -- The giant turtle -- Making animals -- The little mandarin -- Dying together -- The alligator's revenge -- Sheep skin -- Sharp sword -- Lotus fragrance -- King of the nine mountains -- The fox of Fenzhou -- Silkworm -- Vocal virtuosity -- Fox as prophet -- This transformation -- Fox control -- Dragon dormant -- Cut sleeve -- The girl from Nanking -- Twenty years a dream -- Mynah bird -- Lamp dog -- Doctor five hides -- Butterfly -- The black beast -- The stone bowl -- A fatal joke -- Raining money -- Twin lanterns -- Ghost foiled, fox put to rout -- Frog chorus -- Performing mice -- The clay scholar -- Flowers of illusion -- Dwarf -- Bird -- Princess lotus -- The girl in green -- Duck justice -- Big sneeze -- Steel shirt -- Fox trouble -- Lust punished by foxes -- Mountain City -- A cure for marital strife -- A prank -- Adultery an
Summary: The strange tales of Pu Songling are exquisite miniatures regarded as the pinnacle of classical Chinese fiction. With their elegant prose, witty wordplay and subtle charm, the 104 stories in this selection reveal a world in which nothing is as it seems.
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library NonFiction 895.13 P976 Available 33111006425223
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

The Strange Tales of Pu Songling (1640-1715) are exquisite and amusing miniatures that are regarded as the pinnacle of classical Chinese fiction. With their elegant prose, witty wordplay and subtle charm, the 104 stories in this selection reveal a world in which nothing is as it seems. Here a Taoist monk conjures up a magical pear tree, a scholar recounts his previous incarnations, a woman out-foxes the fox-spirit that possesses her, a child bride gives birth to a thimble-sized baby, a ghostly city appears out of nowhere and a heartless daughter-in-law is turned into a pig. In his tales of humans coupling with shape-shifting spirits, bizarre phenomena, haunted buildings and enchanted objects, Pu Songling pushes back the boundaries of human experience and enlightens as he entertains.

Includes bibliographical references.

Homunculus -- An otherwordly examination -- Living dead -- Spitting water -- Talking pupils -- The painted wall -- The troll -- Biting a ghost -- Catching a fox -- The monster in the buckwheat -- The haunted house -- Stealing a peach -- Growing pears -- The Taoist priest of Mount Lao -- The monk of Changqing -- The snake-charmer -- The wounded python -- The fornicating dog -- The god of hail -- The golden goblet -- Grace and pine -- A most exemplary monk -- Magical arts -- Wild dog -- Past lives -- Fox in the bottle -- Wailing ghosts -- Thumb and thimble -- Scorched moth and the Taoist -- Friendship beyond the grave -- Karmic debts -- Ritual cleansing -- The doctor god and the thief -- The painted skin -- A passion for snakes -- The merchant's son -- A latter-day Buddha -- Fox enchantment -- Eating stones -- The laughing girl -- The magic sword and the magic bag -- The devoted mouse -- An earthquake -- Snake Island -- Generosity -- The giant fish -- The giant turtle -- Making animals -- The little mandarin -- Dying together -- The alligator's revenge -- Sheep skin -- Sharp sword -- Lotus fragrance -- King of the nine mountains -- The fox of Fenzhou -- Silkworm -- Vocal virtuosity -- Fox as prophet -- This transformation -- Fox control -- Dragon dormant -- Cut sleeve -- The girl from Nanking -- Twenty years a dream -- Mynah bird -- Lamp dog -- Doctor five hides -- Butterfly -- The black beast -- The stone bowl -- A fatal joke -- Raining money -- Twin lanterns -- Ghost foiled, fox put to rout -- Frog chorus -- Performing mice -- The clay scholar -- Flowers of illusion -- Dwarf -- Bird -- Princess lotus -- The girl in green -- Duck justice -- Big sneeze -- Steel shirt -- Fox trouble -- Lust punished by foxes -- Mountain City -- A cure for marital strife -- A prank -- Adultery an

The strange tales of Pu Songling are exquisite miniatures regarded as the pinnacle of classical Chinese fiction. With their elegant prose, witty wordplay and subtle charm, the 104 stories in this selection reveal a world in which nothing is as it seems.

Translated from the Chinese.

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