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Monday Reads: Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio

For a compulsive reader like me, libraries are a blessing. A lot of e-books are not available in my part of the world, and books are usually not cheap, so being able to borrow from a good library helps. Besides, the service at Singapore National Library is awesome. And since this is July, and school holidays, I can borrow up to 12 books at a time!

One of the books that I’ve been carrying in my handbag and also in my head is Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio by Pu Songling in the 17th century.

Reading these stories allows you to get lost in a supernatural world where fox-spirits are not uncommon, ghosts roam around in the light of day, and Taoist exorcists save innocent victims from all kinds of evil forces. I’ve thought of foxes as cunning, because most other legends make them out to be so…but it is fascinating how they are seen as evil spirits in these Chinese stories.

The author has a very dry sense of humor, and I love the satire of some of the pieces. I’m sure a lot of the power of the texts has been lost in translation, but what has come through is also very strong indeed.

The stories are available online, and I’ve been lost in their magic world of demons, fairies, men and women overcome by lust, and in some (rare) cases, love. The stories also feature holy men, all kinds of animals, birds, and trees…all with lives and voices of their own, as well as the Underworld.

The characters are very realistic, and their human frailties very well contrasted with their exotic setting. I’ve been whiling away a whole lot of time reading these 500 stories/ vignettes, and even more fascinating are the notes supplied for the interested reader at the end of the book, which discuss a lot of the myth, provide analyses, and offer opinions as to why certain biases colored Chinese folklore of the time.

I’ve now returned the book to the library, but I know I’m going to buy a proper copy for myself. I need to be able to flip its pages from time to time, and re-discover an entertaining story I had half forgotten.

Damyanti Biswas

Damyanti Biswas is the author of You Beneath Your Skin and numerous short stories that have been published in magazines and anthologies in the US, the UK, and Asia. She has been shortlisted for Best Small Fictions and Bath Novel Awards and is co-editor of the Forge Literary Magazine. Her literary crime thriller series, the Blue Mumbai, is represented by Lucienne Diver from The Knight Agency. Both The Blue Bar and The Blue Monsoon were published in 2023.

I appreciate comments, and I always visit back. If you're having trouble commenting, let me know via the contact form, or tweet me up @damyantig !

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9 Comments

  • That is so cool. No excuses not to read when you have such cool stories online for free.

  • Damyanti says:

    Yes, folks, the stories are magical and amazing in a weird, quirky, exotic sort of way…which is why I'm buying that book. Check some of them in the online link I provided, and thank you all so much for your comments!!

    I've lived without libraries for most of my life, but I'm ever so fortunate to be a member of the Singapore National Library..their service is awesome, and they stock an amazingly varied collection of books!

  • Libraries are wonderful. Reading could be an expensive habit otherwise 😉

  • This books sounds great. I personally like books that are thought-provoking and make us question what we've always thought was true. This is a really interesting post. Thanks for stopping by my blog, too!

  • Very nice blog!

    I still love to go to the library.

    I have since I was a child.

    Sometimes I'll just go there to read. There's nothing like the smell of great books waiting to be read.

    Those stories sound amazing.

  • Seshe James says:

    Sounds cool….

  • Talli Roland says:

    The stories sound amazing! And yes, aren't libraries the best? I love my local one.

  • I LOVE that sort of thing. It sounds sooo magical :0)

  • These stories sound so cool! I'll have to check them out. 😀 I wonder if my library has this book.