The Marriage of the Fox's Daughter

Myths

Strange Stories From a Chinese Studio, volume 1

by Songling PU (1640 - 1715)

"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 by Wikipedia) In this project, Librivox volunteers read from Volume 1 of Herbert Giles' English translation of these classic stories.

Listen next episodes of Strange Stories From a Chinese Studio, volume 1:
A Dwarf , A Flood , A Taoist Priest , Chang's Transformation , Country of the Cannibals , Death by Laughing , Dr Tseng's Dream , Engaged to a Nun , Foot-ball on the Tung-t'ing Lake , Foreign Priests , Hsiang-Ju's Misfortunes , Jen Hsiu, The Gambler , Joining the Immortals , Judge Lu , Little Chu , Magical Arts , Miss A-Pao; or, Perseverance Rewarded , Miss Chiao-no , Miss Lien-Hsiang, The Fox-girl , Miss Quarta Hu , Miss Ying-ning; or, the Laughing Girl , Mr Chu, The Considerate Husband , Playing at Hanging , Ta-nan in Search of his Father , The Boon-Companion , The Fight with the Foxes , The Fighting Quails , The Flower-nymphs , The Gambler's Talisman , The Husband Punished , The King , The Lost Brother , The Magic Sword , The Magnanimous Girl , The Man who was changed into a Crow , The Man who was Thrown Down a Well , The Marriage Lottery , The Master-thief , The Painted Skin , The Performing Mice , The Quarrelsome Brothers , The Rat Wife , The Self-punished Murderer , The Shui-mang Plant , The Singing Frogs , The Sisters , The Three Genii , The Thunder God , The Tiger Guest , The Trader's Son , The Virtuous Daughter-In-Law , The Wonderful Stone , The Young Gentleman who couldn't spell , The Young Lady of the Tung-t'ing Lake , Tiger of Chao-Ch'eng