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  • Published: 17 July 2006
  • ISBN: 9780140447408
  • Imprint: Penguin Classics
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 608
  • RRP: $27.99

Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio




A major new translation of a classic of Chinese literature almost completely unknown to the English-speaking world

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.

  • Published: 17 July 2006
  • ISBN: 9780140447408
  • Imprint: Penguin Classics
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 608
  • RRP: $27.99

Other books in the series

Maldoror and Poems
On Sparta
Love
Annals
Military Dispatches

About the author

Pu Songling

Pu Songling (1645-1715) spent much of his life studying for, and failing, various exams in an attempt to secure a career in the Chinese civil service.  He supported his family as a lowly private secretary and tutor in the household of a wealthy local family, and devoted his spare time to reading and writing, producing verse, essays, practical handbooks, ballads, drama, and nearly five hundred Strange Tales, on which his reputation now rests.

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