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Classical Chinese Tales of the Supernatural and the Fantastic

Selections from the Third to the Tenth Century

by Karl Kao

In Chinese literary history, the Six Dynasties (317-588) and the T'ang (618-906) were the great creative times for the production of supernatural and fantastic stories in the classical language. This major collection of ninety-six stories, most of them newly translated, represents the very best of this tradition. Presented here are stories which are known in the Chinese tradition as chih-k uai (records of anomalies or the unnatural) and the ch'uan-ch'i (accounts of the extraordinary) .


These are all basically fictional narratives or stories, but, unlike Western supernatural stories, are considered more or less as records of observable facts and have the effect of giving the fantastic a rootedness in historical reality. Underlying the recording of these supernatural stories is a belief in supernaturalism and magic and, above all, the acceptance of the unnatural and the supernormal on their face value as factual.


Professor Kao has provided a brilliant and lengthy introduction explaining the genre and its influence on later Chinese literature right down to the twentieth century.

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Table of Contents

  • Cover
  • Title
  • Copyright
  • Contents
  • Acknowledgments
  • Introduction
  • Abbreviations and References
  • Translators
  • Selections From the Six Dynasties (222-589)
    • Lieh-i chuan
      • (1) Chiang Chi’s Dead Son
      • (2) Ts’ ai Chih’s Wife
      • (3) Sung Ting-po and the Ghost
      • (4) The Man from P’eng-ch’eng
      • (5) Pao Hsüan and the Horse
    • Shou-shen chi
      • (6) Tung Yung, the Filial Son
      • (7) The Jade Maiden from Heaven
      • (8) Hu-mu Pan and the Lord of T’ai-shan
      • (9) Mi Chu and the Fire Messenger
      • (10) The Temple at Mount Chiang
      • (11) Kan Chiang and Mo Yeh
      • (12) The Filial Girl of Tung-hai
      • (13) Fan Shih and Chang Shao
      • (14) P’an-hu, Progenitor of a New Race
      • (15) The Horse and the Silkworm
      • (16) Wang Tao-p’ing and Wen Yü
      • (17) Chia Yü and the Prefect’s Daughter
      • (18) Li O Sent Back from the Dead
      • (19) Su O, the Murdered Woman
      • (20) Ch’in Chü-po and the Ghosts
      • (21) The Daughter of the King of Wu
      • (22) Lu Ch’ung and the Girl Named Wen-hsiu
      • (23) Ni Yen-ssu and the Goblin
      • (24) Chang Hua and the Fox
      • (25) Father and the Fox
      • (26) Li Chi, the Serpent Slayer
      • (27) The Turtle Woman
    • Shen-hsien chuan
      • (28) The Old Man of the River
      • (29) Chang Tao-ling, the Taoist Patriarch
      • (30) Tso Tz’u, the Thaumaturge
    • Ling-kuei chih
      • (31) A Foreign Master
      • (32) Chi Chung-san and the Ghostly Musician
    • Chen-i chi
      • (33) Hsieh Yün and the Entrapped Tiger
      • (34) Ch’in Shu and the Woman Who Lived Alone
    • Sou-shen hou’chi
      • (35) Yüan Hsiang and Ken Shih
      • (36) The Daughter of Hsü Hsüan-fang
      • (37) The Pure Maiden of the White Waters
    • Ch’i-hsieh chi
      • (38) Tung Chao-chih and the King of the Ants
      • (39) Hsüeh Tao-hsün, the Tiger-man
    • Yu-ming lu
      • (40) Liu Ch’en and Juan Chao
      • (41) Huang Yüan and Miao-yin
      • (42) Chen Ch’ung and the Earth God
      • (43) The Girl Who Sold Ceruse
      • (44) Ρ’ang A and the Infatuated Girl
      • (45) One Named Kuang from Yü-hang
      • (46) Shu Li, the Shaman
      • (47) The Cypress Pillow
    • Lu-i chuan
      • (48) Ou Ming and What-you-will
      • (49) Wei Chao’s Last Words
    • Shu-i chi
      • (50) Ou Ching-chih and the Corpse Easter
      • (51) The Girl of the Chu Family
      • (52) Huang Miao Transformed into a Tiger
    • Hsü Ch’ i-hsieh chi
      • (53) The Spirit of the Clear Stream Temple
      • (54) The Scholar from Yang-hsien
    • Ming-hsiang chi
      • (55) Fo-t’iao, the Buddhist Saint
      • (56) Chao T’ai and His Experiences in Hell
      • (57) Ch’eng Tao-hui’s Return from Hell
    • Huan-yüan chi
      • (58) Iron Mortar, the Wronged Ghost
      • (59) Sun Yüan-pi, the Avenging Ghost
      • (60) Yüan Hui’s Revenge
  • Selections From the T’ang (618-906)
    • (61) The Disembodied Soul
    • (62) Old Woman Feng
    • (63) Biography of ‘Red’ Li
    • (64) A Record of Three Dreams
    • (65) Li Chang-wu
    • (66) Lament from the Hsiang River: A Prose Version
    • (67) Huo Hsiao-yü
    • (68) The Story of Ling-ying
    • (69) The Li-yang Traveler
    • (70) The Prefect of Ch’ien-yang
    • (71) Ch’i T’ui’s Daughter
    • (72) Ts’en Shun
    • (73) Kuo Yüan-chen
    • (74) Chang Feng
    • (75) Hsüeh Wei
    • (76) The Inn of Betrothal
    • (77) Li Ching
    • (78) Old Chang
    • (79) Li Tzu-mou
    • (80) The Merchant’s Wife
    • (81) Chin Yu-chang
    • (82) Ch’eng-shih’s Uncle
    • (83) Ts’ui Hsüan-wei
    • (84) The Man from Lu Mountain
    • (85) The Highwayman Monk
    • (86) Third Lady of the Wooden Bridge Inn
    • (87) Wei Tan
    • (88) Hsiao Tung-hsüan
    • (89) Sun K’o
    • (90) Cheng Te-lin
    • (91) Wei Tzu-tung
    • (92) Ts’ui Wei
    • (93) The K’un-lun Slave
    • (94) Nieh Yin-niang
    • (95) Hung-hsien
    • (96) Wang Chih-ku
  • Bio-bibliographic Notes
  • Appendices
    • A. Maps
    • B. Chronology of Chinese History from the Chou to the Τ’ang Dynasty
  • Bibliography

Metadata

  • isbn
    978-0-253-05182-0
  • publisher
    Indiana University Press
  • publisher place
    Bloomington, Indiana USA
  • restrictions
    CC-BY-NC-ND
  • rights
    Copyright © Trustees of Indiana University
  • rights holder
    Indiana University Press
  • rights territory
    World
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