Strange Stories From a Chinese Studio (selections from Volume 1)

Songling Pu (1640 - 1715)
Translated by Herbert Allen Giles (1845 - 1935)

"Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio" or "Strange Tales of Liaozhai") is a collection of nearly five hundred mostly supernatural tales written by Pu Songling during the early Qing Dynasty. It was written in Classical Chinese rather than Vernacular Chinese. Pu is believed to have completed the majority of the tales sometime in 1679, though he could have added entries as late as 1707. He borrows from a folk tradition of oral storytelling to put to paper a series of captivating, colorful stories, where the boundary between reality and the odd or fantastic is blurred. The cast of characters includes vixen spirits, ghosts, scholars, court officials, Taoist exorcists and beasts. Moral purposes are often inverted between humans and the supposedly degenerate ghosts or spirits, resulting in a satirical edge to some of the stories. Ghosts and spirits are often bold and trustworthy, while humans are on the other hand weak, indecisive and easily manipulated, reflecting the author's own disillusionment with his society. (Summary from Wikipedia)

Genre(s): Myths, Legends & Fairy Tales, Short Stories

Language: English

Section Chapter Reader Time
Play 00 Introduction Jc Guan
00:31:19
Play 01 Examination for the Post of Guardian Angel David Barnes
00:07:37
Play 02 The Talking Pupils Ashwin Jain
00:07:48
Play 03 The Painted Wall Ashwin Jain
00:09:15
Play 04 Planting a Pear-Tree Ashwin Jain
00:07:07
Play 05 The Taoist Priest of Lao-Shan Alan Davis Drake (1945-2010)
00:09:29
Play 06 The Buddhist Priest of Ch'angch'ing Alan Davis Drake (1945-2010)
00:08:12
Play 07 The Marriage of the Fox’s Daughter Jennie Hughes
00:12:33
Play 08 Miss Chiao-No Jennie Hughes
00:23:46
Play 09 Magical Arts David Barnes
00:12:44
Play 10 Joining the Immortals David Barnes
00:26:58
Play 11 The Fighting Quails TriciaG
00:16:37
Play 12 The Painted Skin Vivian Chan
00:16:37
Play 13 The Trader’s Son Scott Carpenter
00:10:40
Play 14 Judge Lu Scott Carpenter
00:25:34
Play 15 Miss Ying-Ning, or the Laughing Girl TriciaG
00:30:06
Play 16 The Magic Sword Vivian Chan
00:25:00
Play 17 The Shui-Mang Plant TriciaG
00:11:35
Play 18 Little Chu HC
00:20:06
Play 19 Miss Quarta Hu TriciaG
00:10:06
Play 20 Mr. Chu, the Considerate Husband Vivian Chan
00:04:55