Strange Tales from Liaozhai - Vol. 2The weird and whimsical short stories in Strange Tales from Liaozhai show their author, Pu Songling (1640-1715), to be both an explorer of the macabre, like Edgar Allan Poe, and a moralist, like Aesop. In this first complete translation of the collection's 494 stories into English, readers will encounter supernatural creatures, natural disasters, magical aspects of Buddhist and Daoist spirituality, and a wide range of Chinese folklore. Annotations are provided to clarify unfamiliar references or cultural allusions, and introductory essays have been included to explain facets of Pu Songling's work and to provide context for some of the unique qualities of his uncanny tales. This is the second of 6 volumes. |
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... plaguing him. Pu also exhibits the ethnographer's interest in relating the behavior of the members of cultural groups to demographic factors like socioeconomic status (Swanson and Siegel, 1-3): Xing De Strange Tales from Liaozhai xix.
... Xing De (in “The Greedy Man” [laotao]), possessed of a strength that gives him a unique talent with the crossbow, should have no problem obtaining a livelihood as a hunter, soldier, or bodyguard. However, due to the fact that “he always ...
... Xing abandons his wife for the title beauty of “A-Xia” (a-xia), the Hell King sees to it that Jing fails the civil service examination he would otherwise have passed, and the disgraced scholar is informed—having been judged, even though ...
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