Pu Songling Critical Essay | Critical Essay by Judith T. Zeitlin

Critical Essay by Judith T. Zeitlin

"The Discourse on the Strange," in Historian of the Strange: Pu Songling and the Chinese Classical Tale, Stanford University Press, 1993, pp. 15-42.

In the following essay, Zeitlin reviews how P'u's Strange Stories has been received over time and comments on the many varied interpretations of the stories.

The Master did not speak of prodigies, feats of strength, disorder, and gods.

—The Analects of Confucius, 7.21

"Here is that crazy scholar who didn't believe in ghosts and spirits and who presecuted our minions when he was alive." The King of the Ghosts glared irately at the prisoner: "You possess five sound limbs and inborn intelligence—haven't you heard the line 'Abundant are the virtues of ghosts and spirits'? Confucius was a sage, but still he said: 'Revere them but keep your distance from them!' . . ....
(read more)