^gj-CGICAL 
 
 PL 2998. P97 L6 V.2 
 
 Strange stories from a 
 Chinese studio 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2016 
 
 https://archive.org/details/strangestoriesfr02pusu 
 
STRANGE STORIES 
 
 FROM A 
 
 CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
STRANGE STORIES 
 
 FROM A 
 
 CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 TRANSLATED AND ANNOTATED 
 
 BY 
 
 HERBERT A. GILES, 
 
 Of H,M's Consular Service, 
 
 IN TWO VOLUMES. 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 THOS. DE LA RUE & CO. 
 
 no, BUNHILL ROW. 
 
 l88 〇 . 
 
THOMAS DE LA RUE AND CO., BUNHILL ROW, 
 LONDON. 
 
STRANGE STORIES 
 
 FROM A 
 
 CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 LXIII. 
 
 THE LO-CH‘A COUNTRY AND THE 
 SEA-MARKET . 1 
 
 Once upon a time there was a young man, named Ma 
 Chiin, who was also known as Lung-mei. He was the 
 son of a trader, and a youth of surpassing beauty. His 
 manners were courteous, and he loved nothing better 
 than singing and playing. He used to associate with 
 actors, and with an embroidered handkerchief round his 
 head the effect was that of a beautiful woman. Hence 
 he acquired the sobriquet of the Beauty. At fourteen 
 years of age he graduated and began to make a name for 
 himself; but his father, who was growing old and wished 
 to retire from business, said to him, “ My boy, book- 
 
 1 The term “ sea-market ” is generally understood in the sense of 
 mirage, or some similar phenomenon. 
 
 VOL. II. B 
 
2 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 learning will never fill your belly or put a coat on your 
 back , you had much better stick to the old thing. 
 Accordingly, Ma from that time occupied himself with 
 scales and weights, with principle and interest, and such 
 matters. 
 
 He made a voyage across the sea, and was carried 
 away by a typhoon. After being tossed about for many 
 days and nights he arrived at a country where the 
 people were hideously ugly. When these people saw 
 Ma they thought he was a devil and all ran screeching 
 away. Ma was somewhat alarmed at this, but finding 
 that it was they who were frightened at him, he quickly 
 turned their fear to his own advantage. If he came 
 across people eating and drinking he would rush upon 
 them, and when they fled away for fear, he would regale 
 himself upon what they had left. By-and-by he went to 
 a village among the hills, and there the people had at 
 any rate some facial resemblance to ordinary men. But 
 they were all in rags and tatters like beggars. So Ma 
 sat down to rest under a tree, and the villagers, not 
 daring to come near him, contented themselves with 
 looking at him from a distance. They soon found, how- 
 ever, that he did not want to eat them, and by degrees 
 approached a little closer to him. Ma, smiling, began 
 to talk ; and although their language was different, yet 
 he was able to make himself tolerably intelligible, and 
 told them whence he had come. The villagers were 
 much pleased, and spread the news that the stranger was 
 not a man-eater. Nevertheless, the very ugliest of all 
 would only take a look and be off again ; they would 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 3 
 
 not come near him. Those who did go up to him were 
 not very much unlike his own countrymen, the Chinese. 
 They brought him plenty of food and wine. Ma asked 
 them what they were afraid of. They replied, u We had 
 heard from our forefathers that 26,000 li to the west 
 there is a country called China* We had heard that the 
 people of that land were the most extraordinary in ap- 
 pearance you can possibly imagine. Hitherto it has 
 been hearsay ; we can now believe it.” He then asked 
 them how it was they were so poor. They answered, 
 ‘‘You see, in our country everything depends, not on 
 literary talent, but on beauty. The most beautiful are 
 made ministers of state ; the next handsomest are made 
 judges and magistrates ; and the third class in looks are 
 employed in the palace of the king. Thus these are 
 enabled out of their pay to provide for their wives and 
 families. But we, from our very birth, are regarded by 
 our parents as inauspicious, and are left to perish, some 
 of us being occasionally preserved by more humane 
 parents to prevent the extinction of the family •” Ma 
 asked the name of their country, and they told him it 
 was Lo-ch c a. Also that the capital city was some 30 li 
 to the north. He begged them to take him there, and 
 next day at cock-crow he started thitherwards in their 
 company, arriving just about dawn. The walls of the 
 city were made of black stone, as black as ink, and the 
 city gate-houses were about 100 feet high. Red stones 
 were used for tiles, and picking up a broken piece Ma 
 found that it marked his finger-nail like vermilion. They 
 arrived just when the Court was rising, and saw all the 
 
4 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 equipages of the officials. The village people pointed 
 out one who they said was Prime Minister. His ears 
 drooped forward in flaps ; he had three nostrils, and his 
 eye-lashes were just like bamboo screens hanging in 
 front of his eyes. Then several came out on horseback, 
 and they said these were the privy councillors. So they 
 went on, telling him the rank of all the ugly uncouth 
 fellows he saw. The lower they got down in the official 
 scale the less hideous the officials were. By-and-by Ma 
 went back, the people in the streets marvelling very 
 much to see him, and tumbling helter-skelter one over 
 another as if they had met a goblin. The villagers 
 shouted out to re-assure them, and then they stood at a 
 distance to look at him. "When he got back, there was 
 not a man, woman, or child in the whole nation but 
 knew that there was a strange man at the village ; and 
 the gentry and officials became very desirous to see him. 
 However, if he went to any of their houses the porter 
 always slammed the door in his face, and the master, 
 mistress, and family, in general, would only peep at, and 
 speak to him through the cracks. Not a single one 
 dared receive him face to face ; but, finally, the village 
 people, at a loss what to do, bethought themselves of a 
 man who had been sent by a former king on official 
 business among strange nations. “He,” said they, 
 “ having seen many kinds of men, will not be afraid of 
 you.” So they went to his house, where they were 
 received in a very friendly way. He seemed to be about 
 eighty or ninety years of age; his eye-balls protruded, 
 and his beard curled up like a hedge-hog. He said, 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 5 
 
 “In my youth I was sent by the king among many 
 nations, but I never went to China- I am now one 
 hundred and twenty years of age, and that I should be 
 permitted to see a native of your country is a fact which 
 it will be my duty to report to the Throne. For ten 
 years and more I have not been to Court, but have re- 
 mained here in seclusion ; yet I will now make an effort 
 on your behalf.” Then followed a banquet, and when 
 the wine had already circulated pretty freely, some dozen 
 singing girls came in and sang and danced before them. 
 The girls all wore white embroidered turbans, and long 
 scarlet robes which trailed on the ground. The words 
 they uttered were unintelligible, and the tunes they 
 played perfectly hideous. The host, however, seemed to 
 enjoy it very much, and said to Ma (( Have you music in 
 China?” He replied that they had, and the old man 
 asked for a specimen. Ma hummed him a tune, beating 
 time on the table, with which he was very much pleased, 
 declaring that his guest had the voice of a phoenix and 
 the notes of a dragon, such as he had never heard 
 before. The next day he presented a memorial to the 
 Throne, and the king at once commanded Ma to appear 
 before him. Several of the ministers, however, repre- 
 sented that his appearance was so hideous it might 
 frighten His Majesty, and the king accordingly desisted 
 from his intention. The old man returned and told Ma, 
 being quite upset about it. They remained together 
 some time until they had drunk themselves tipsy. Then 
 Ma, seizing a sword, began to attitudinize, smearing his 
 face all over with coal-dust. He acted the part of Chang 
 
6 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 Fei , 2 at which his host was so delighted that he begged 
 him to appear before the Prime Minister in the character 
 of Chang Fei. Ma replied “I don’t mind a little 
 amateur acting, but how can I play the hypocrite 3 for 
 my own personal advantage?” On being pressed he 
 consented, and the old man prepared a great feast, and 
 asked some of the high officials to be present, telling Ma 
 to paint himself as before. When the guests had 
 arrived, Ma was brought out to see them ； whereupon 
 they all exclaimed u Ai-yah ! how is it he was so ugly 
 before and is now so beautiful ? ” By-and-by, when they 
 were all taking wine together, Ma began to sing them a 
 most bewitching song, and they got so excited over it 
 that next day they recommended him to the king. The 
 king sent a special summons for him to appear, and 
 asked him many questions about the government of 
 China, to all of which Ma replied in detail, eliciting sighs 
 of admiration from His Majesty. He was honoured 
 with a banquet in the royal guest-pavilion, and when the 
 king had made himself tipsy he said to him u I hear you 
 are a very skilful musician. Will you be good enough to 
 let me hear you?” Ma then got up and began to 
 attitudinize, singing a plaintive air like the girls with the 
 turbans. The king was charmed, and at once made him 
 a privy councillor, giving him a private banquet, and be- 
 stowing other marks of royal favour. As time went on 
 
 2 A famous General who played a leading part in the wars of the 
 Three Kingdoms. See No. XCIII., note 8. 
 
 3 A hit at the hypocrisy of the age. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 7 
 
 his fellow-officials found out the secret of his painted 
 face , 4 and whenever he was among them they were 
 always whispering together, besides which they avoided 
 being near him as much as possible. Thus Ma was left 
 to himself, and found his position anything but pleasant 
 in consequence. So he memorialized the Throne, asking 
 to be allowed to retire from office, but his request was 
 refused. He then said his health was bad, and got three 
 months’ sick leave, during which he packed up his 
 valuables and went back to the village. The villagers on 
 his arrival went down on their knees to him, and he dis- 
 tributed gold and jewels amongst his old friends. They 
 were very glad to see him, and said “Your kindness 
 shall be repaid when we go to the sea-market ; we will 
 bring you some pearls and things.” Ma asked them 
 where that was. They said it was at the bottom of the 
 sea, where the mermaids 5 kept their treasures, and that 
 as many as twelve nations were accustomed to go thither 
 to trade. Also that it was frequented by spirits, and that 
 to get there it was necessary to pass through red vapours 
 and great waves. u Dear Sir,^ they said, u do not your- 
 self risk this great danger, but let us take your money 
 and purchase these rare pearls for you. The season is 
 now at hand.” Ma asked them how they knew this. 
 They said u Whenever we see red birds flying backwards 
 and forwards over the sea, we know that within seven 
 days the market will open.” He asked when they were 
 
 4 Shewing that hypocrisy is bad policy in the long run. 
 
 5 The tears of Chinese mermaids are said to be pearls. 
 
8 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 going to start, that he might accompany them ; but they 
 begged him not to think of doing so. He replied “ I 
 am a sailor: how can I be afraid of wind and waves ? ;, 
 Very soon after this people came with merchandise to 
 forward, and so Ma packed up and went on board the 
 vessel that was going. 
 
 This vessel held some tens of people, was flat-bottomed 
 with a railing all round, and, rowed by ten men, it cut 
 through the water like an arrow. After a voyage of 
 three days they saw afar off faint outlines of towers and 
 minarets, and crowds of trading vessels. They soon 
 arrived at the city, the walls of which were made of 
 bricks as long as a man’s body, the tops of its buildings 
 being lost in the Milky Way . 6 Having made fast their 
 boat they went in, and saw laid out in the market rare 
 pearls and wondrous precious stones of dazzling beauty, 
 such as are quite unknown amongst men. Then they 
 saw a young man come forth riding upon a beautiful 
 steed. The people of the market stood back to let him 
 pass, saying he was the third son of the king ; but when 
 the Prince saw Ma， he exclaimed “This is no foreigner,” 
 and immediately an attendant drew near and asked his 
 name and country. Ma made a bow, and standing at 
 one side told his name and family. The prince smiled, 
 and said, u For you to have honoured our country thus 
 is no small piece of good luck •” He then gave him a 
 horse and begged him to follow. They went out of the 
 city gate and down to the sea-shore, whereupon their 
 
 6 See No. XIX., note i. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 9 
 
 horses plunged into the water. Ma was terribly 
 frightened and screamed out; but the sea opened dry 
 before them and formed a wall of water on either side. 
 In a little time they reached the king’s palace， the beams 
 of which were made of tortoise-shell and the tiles of 
 fishes' scales. The four walls were of crystal, and 
 dazzled the eye like mirrors. They got down off their 
 horses and went in, and Ma was introduced to the king. 
 The young prince said, “Sire， I have been to the 
 market, and have got a gentleman from China, Where- 
 upon Ma made obeisance before the king, who ad- 
 dressed him as follows : — “Sir, from a talented scholar 
 like yourself I venture to ask for a few stanzas upon our 
 sea-market. Pray do not refuse.” Ma thereupon made 
 a kofou^ and undertook the king J s command. Using an 
 ink-slab of crystal, a brush of dragon’s beard, paper as 
 white as snow, and ink scented like the larkspur , 7 Ma 
 immediately threw off some thousand odd verses, which 
 he laid at the feet of the king. When His Majesty saw 
 them, he said, ‘‘ Sir, your genius does honour to these 
 marine nations of ours. ,J Then, summoning the members 
 of the royal family, the king gave a great feast in the 
 Coloured Cloud pavilion; and, when the wine had 
 circulated freely, seizing a great goblet in his hand, the 
 king rose and said before all the guests, u It is a thousand 
 pities, Sir, that you are not married. What say you to 
 
 7 Good ink of the kind miscalled (i Indian/* is usually very highly 
 scented ; and from a habit the Chinese have of sucking their 
 writing-brushes to a fine point, the phrase u to eat ink J, has become 
 a synonym of “ to study.” 
 
IO 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 entering the bonds of wedlock?” Ma rose blushing, 
 and stammered out his thanks; upon which the king 
 looking round spoke a few words to the attendants, and 
 in a few moments in came a bevy of court ladies sup- 
 porting the king’s daughter, whose ornaments went 
 tinkle, tinkle, as she walked along. Immediately the 
 nuptial drums and trumpets began to sound forth, and 
 bride and bridegroom worshipped Heaven and Earth to- 
 gether . 8 Stealing a glance Ma saw that the princess was 
 endowed with a fairy-like loveliness. When the cere- 
 mony was over she retired, and by-and-by the wine-party 
 broke up. Then came several beautifully-dressed 
 waiting-maids, who with painted candles escorted Ma 
 within. The bridal couch was made of coral adorned 
 with eight kinds of precious stones, and the curtains 
 were thickly hung with pearls as big as acorns. Next 
 day at dawn a crowd of young slave-girls trooped into 
 the room to offer their services ； whereupon Ma got up 
 and went off to Court to pay his respects to the king. 
 He was then duly received as royal son-in-law and made 
 an officer of state. The fame of his poetical talents 
 spread far and wide, and the kings of the various seas 
 sent officers to congratulate him, vying with each other 
 in their invitations to him. Ma dressed himself in 
 gorgeous clothes, and went forth riding on a superb steed, 
 with a mounted body-guard all splendidly armed. 
 There were musicians on horseback and musicians in 
 
 8 This all-important point in a Chinese marriage ceremony is the 
 equivalent of our own “ signing in the vestry.” 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 chariots, and in three days he had visited every one 
 of the marine kingdoms, making his name known in 
 all directions. In the palace there was a jade tree, 
 about as big round as a man could clasp. Its roots 
 were as clear as glass, and up the middle ran, as it were, 
 a stick of pale yellow. The branches were the size of 
 one’s arm; the leaves like white jade, as thick as a 
 copper cash. The foliage was dense, and beneath its 
 shade the ladies of the palace were wont to sit and sing. 
 The flowers which covered the tree resembled grapes, 
 and if a single petal fell to the earth it made a ringing 
 sound. Taking one up, it would be found to be exactly 
 like carved cornelian, very bright and pretty to look at. 
 From time to time a wonderful bird came and sang 
 there. Its feathers were of a golden hue, and its tail as 
 long as its body. Its notes were like the tinkling of 
 jade, very plaintive and touching to listen to. When Ma 
 heard this bird sing, it called up in him recollections of 
 his old home, and accordingly he said to the princess, 
 u I have now been away from my own country for three 
 years, separated from my father and mother. Thinking 
 of them my tears flow and the perspiration runs down 
 my back. Can you return with me ? His wife replied, 
 u The way of immortals is not that of men. I am 
 unable to do what you ask, but I cannot allow the feel- 
 ings of husband and wife to break the tie of parent and 
 child Let us devise some plan.” When ]VIa heard this 
 he wept bitterly, and the princess sighed and said, “We 
 cannot both stay or both go.” The next day the king 
 said to him I hear that you are pining after your old 
 
12 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 home. Will to-morrow suit you for taking leave ? Ma 
 thanked the king for his great kindness, which he de- 
 clared he could never forget, and promised to return 
 very shortly. That evening the princess and Ma talked 
 over their wine of their approaching separation. Ma 
 said they would soon meet again ； but his wife averred 
 that their married life was at an end. Then he wept 
 afresh, but the princess said, ‘‘ Like a filial son you are 
 going home to your parents. In the meetings and 
 separations of this life, a hundred years seem but a 
 single day; why, then, should we give way to tears like 
 children ? I will be true to you ; do you be faithful to 
 me ; and then, though separated, we shall be united in 
 spirit, a happy pair. Is it necessary to live side by side in 
 order to grow old together ? If you break our contract 
 
 your next marriage will not be a propitious one ; but if 
 loneliness 9 10 overtakes you then choose a concubine. 
 There is one point more of which I would speak, with 
 reference to our married life. I am about to become a 
 mother, and I pray you give me a name for your child. 
 To this Ma replied, u If a girl I would have her called 
 Lung Kung; if a boy, then name him Fu-Hai . 13 10 The 
 princess asked for some token of remembrance, and Ma 
 gave her a pair of jade lilies that he had got during his 
 stay in the marine kingdom. She added “ On the 8th 
 of the 4th moon, three years hence, when you once 
 
 9 Literally, 6i if you have no one to cook your food. n 
 
 10 ‘‘Dragon Palace” and ‘‘Happy Sea,” respectively. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 13 
 
 more steer your course for this country, I will give you 
 up your child.” She next packed a leather bag full of 
 jewels and handed it to Ma, saying, “Take care of this ; 
 it will be a provision for many generations.” When the 
 day began to break a splendid farewell feast was given him 
 by the king, and Ma bade them all adieu. The princess, 
 in a car drawn by snow-white sheep, escorted him to the 
 boundary of the marine kingdom, where he dismounted 
 and stepped ashore. “ Farewell !’’ cried the princess, as 
 her returning car bore her rapidly away, and the sea, 
 closing over her, snatched her from her husband’s sight. 
 Ma returned to his home across the ocean. Some had 
 thought him long since dead and gone ; all marvelled at 
 his story. Happily his father and mother were yet alive, 
 though his former wife had married another man ; and 
 so he understood why the princess had pledged him to 
 constancy, for she already knew that this had taken 
 place. His father wished him to take another wife, but 
 he would not. He only took a concubine. Then, after 
 the three years had passed away, he started across the 
 sea on his return journey, when lo ! he beheld, riding on 
 the wave-crests and splashing about the water in playing, 
 two young children. On going near, one of them seized 
 hold of him and sprung into his arms ; upon which the 
 elder cried until he, too, was taken up. They were a boy 
 and girl, both very lovely, and wearing embroidered caps 
 adorned with jade lilies. On the back of one of them 
 was a worked case, in which Ma found the following 
 letter : 一 
 
 il I presume my father and mother-in-law are well. 
 
14 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 Three years have passed away and destiny still keeps us 
 apart Across the great ocean, the letter-bird would find 
 no path . 11 I have been with you in my dreams until I 
 am quite worn out. Does the blue sky look down upon 
 any grief like mine ? Yet Ch‘ang-ngo 12 lives solitary in 
 the moon, and Chih Nii 13 laments that she cannot cross 
 the Silver River. Who am I that I should expect hap- 
 piness to be mine ? Truly this thought turns my tears 
 into joy. Two months after your departure I had twins, 
 who can already prattle away in the language of child- 
 hood, at one moment snatching a date, at another a 
 pear. Had they no mother they would still live. These 
 I now send to you, with the jade lilies you gave me in 
 their hats, in token of the sender. When you take them 
 upon your knee, think that I am standing by your side. 
 I know that you have kept your promise to me, and I 
 am happy. I shall take no second husband, even unto 
 death. All thoughts of dress and finery are gone from 
 me ; my looking-glass sees no new fashions ; my face has 
 long been unpowdered, my eyebrows unblacked. You 
 are my Ulysses, I am your Penelope ; 14 though not 
 actually leading a married life, how can it be said that 
 
 11 Alluding to an old legend of a letter conveyed by a bird. 
 
 12 See No. V., note 2. 
 
 13 The “ Spinning Damsel,” or name of a star in Lyra, connected 
 with which there is a celebrated legend of its annual transit across 
 the Milky Way. 
 
 14 These are of course only the equivalents of the Chinese names 
 in the text. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 15 
 
 we are not husband and wife. Your father and mother 
 will take their grandchildren upon their knees, though 
 they have never set eyes upon the bride. Alas ! there is 
 something wrong in this. Next year your mother will 
 enter upon the long night. I shall be there by the side 
 of the grave as is becoming in her daughter-in-law. 
 From this time forth our daughter will be well ; later on 
 she will be able to grasp her mother’s hand. Our boy, 
 when he grows up, may possibly be able to come to and 
 fro. Adieu, dear husband, adieu, though I am leaving 
 much unsaid.” Ma read the letter over and over again, 
 his tears flowing all the time. His two children clung 
 round his neck, and begged him to take them home. 
 “Ah, my children,” said he, “where is your home?” 
 Then they all wept bitterly, and Ma, looking at the great 
 ocean stretching away to meet the sky, lovely and path- 
 less, embraced his children, and proceeded sorrowfully to 
 return. Knowing, too, that his mother could not last 
 long, he prepared everything necessary for the ceremony 
 of interment, and planted a hundred young pine-trees at 
 her grave . 15 The following year the old lady did die, 
 and her coffin was borne to its last resting-place, when 
 lo ! there was the princess standing by the side of the 
 grave. The lookers-on were much alarmed, but in a 
 moment there was a flash of lightning, followed by a 
 clap of thunder and a squall of rain, and she was gone. 
 
 lo To keep off the much-dreaded wind, which disturbs the rest of 
 the departed. 
 
i6 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 It was then noticed that many of the young pine-trees 
 which had died were one and all brought to life. Sub- 
 sequently, Fu Hai went in search of the mother for 
 whom he pined so much, and after some days’ absence 
 returned. Lung Kung, being a girl, could not accom- 
 pany him, but she mourned much in secret. One dark 
 day her mother entered and bid her dry her eyes, saying, 
 u My child, you must get married. Why these tears ? ” 
 She then gave her a tree of coral eight feet in height, 
 some Baroos camphor , 16 one hundred valuable pearls, 
 and two boxes inlaid with gold and precious stones, as 
 her dowry. Ma having found out she was there, rushed 
 in and seizing her hand began to weep for joy, when 
 suddenly a violent peal of thunder rent the building, and 
 the princess had vanished. 
 
 16 For which a very high price is obtained in China. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 17 
 
 LXIV. 
 
 THE FIGHTING CRICKET. 
 
 During the reign of Hsiian Te, 1 cricket fighting was 
 very much in vogue at court, levies of crickets, being 
 exacted from the people as a tax. On one occasion the 
 magistrate of Hna-yin, wishing to make friends with 
 the Governor, presented him with a cricket which, on 
 being set to fight, displayed very remarkable powers ; so 
 much so that the Governor commanded the magistrate 
 to supply him regularly with these insects. The latter, in 
 his turn, ordered the beadles of his district to provide 
 him with crickets ; and then it became a practice for 
 people who had nothing else to do to catch and rear 
 them for this purpose. Thus the price of crickets rose 
 very high; and when the beadle’s 2 runners came to 
 
 1 Of the Ming dynasty; reigned a.d. 1426 — 1436. 
 
 2 These beadles are chosen by the officials from among the 
 respectable and substantial of the people to preside over a small 
 area and be responsible for the general good behaviour of its 
 inhabitants. The post is one of honour and occasional emolument, 
 since all petitions presented to the authorities, all mortgages, 
 transfers of land, &c., should bear the beadle J s seal or signature in 
 
 VOL. II. C 
 
1 8 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 exact even a single one, it was enough to ruin several 
 families. 
 
 Now in the village of which we are speaking there 
 lived a man named Ch^ng, a student who had often 
 failed for his bachelor’s degree ; and, being a stupid sort 
 of fellow, his name was sent in for the post of beadle. 
 He did all he could to get out of it, but without 
 success ; and by the end of the year his small patrimony 
 was gone. Just then came a call for crickets, and 
 Ch‘eng, not daring to make a like call upon his neigh- 
 bours, was at his wits , end, and in his distress determined 
 to commit suicide. “ What’s the use of that ?” cried his 
 wife. ‘‘ You’d do better to go out and try to find some.” 
 So off went Ch J eng in the early morning, with a bamboo 
 tube and a silk net, not returning till late at night ; and 
 he searched about in tumble-down walls, in bushes, 
 under stones, and in holes, but without catching more 
 than two or three, do what he would. Even those he 
 did catch were weak creatures, and of no use at all, 
 which made the magistrate fix a limit of time, the result 
 of which was that in a few days Ch 4 eng got one hundred 
 blows with the bamboo. This made him so sore that he 
 was quite unable to go after the crickets any more, and, 
 
 evidence of their bond fide character. On the other hand, the 
 beadle is punished by fine, and sometimes bambooed, if robberies 
 are too frequent within his jurisdiction, or if he fails to secure the 
 person of any malefactor particularly wanted by his superior 
 officers. And other causes may combine to make the post a 
 dangerous one ; but no one is allowed to refuse acceptance of it 
 point-blank. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 19 
 
 as he lay tossing and turning on the bed, he determined 
 once again to put an end to his life. 
 
 About that time a hump-backed fortune-teller of great 
 skill arrived at the village, and Ch^ng^ wife, putting to- 
 gether a trifle of money, went off to seek his assistance. 
 The door was literally blocked up — fair young girls and 
 white-headed dames crowding in from all quarters. A 
 room was darkened, and a bamboo screen hung at the 
 door, an altar being arranged outside at which the 
 fortune-seekers burnt incense in a brazier, and prostrated 
 themselves twice, while the soothsayer stood by the side, 
 and, looking up into vacancy, prayed for a response. His 
 lips opened and shut, but nobody heard what he said, all 
 standing there in awe waiting for the answer. In a few 
 moments a piece of paper was thrown from behind the 
 screen, and the soothsayer said that the petitioner^ de- 
 sire would be accomplished in the way he wished. 
 Ch ‘ 各 ng’s wife now advanced, and, placing some money 
 on the altar, burnt her incense and prostrated herself in 
 a similar manner. In a few moments the screen began 
 to move, and a piece of paper was thrown down, on 
 which there were no words, but only a picture. In the 
 middle was a building like a temple, and behind this a 
 small hill, at the foot which were a number of curious 
 stones, with the long, spiky feelers of innumerable 
 crickets appearing from behind. Hard by was a frog, 
 which seemed to be engaged in putting itself into various 
 kinds of attitudes. The good woman had no idea what 
 it all meant ; but she noticed the crickets, and accord- 
 ingly went off home to tell her husband. “ Ah,” said 
 
 c 2 
 
20 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 he, “ this is to shew me where to hunt for crickets ; ” 
 and, on looking closely at the picture, he saw that the 
 building very much resembled a temple to the east of their 
 village. So he forced himself to get up, and, leaning on 
 a stick, went out to seek crickets behind the temple. 
 Rounding an old grave, he came upon a place where 
 stones were lying scattered about as in the picture, and 
 then he set himself to watch attentively. He might as 
 well have been looking for a needle or a grain of mus- 
 tard-seed ; and by degrees he became quite exhausted, 
 without finding anything, when suddenly an old frog 
 jumped out Ch 4 eng was a little startled, but imme- 
 diately pursued the frog, which retreated into the bushes. 
 He then saw one of the insects he wanted sitting at the 
 root of a bramble; but on making a grab at it, the 
 cricket ran into a hole, from which he was unable to 
 move it until he poured in some water, when out the 
 little creature came. It was a magnificent specimen, 
 strong and handsome, with a fine tail, green neck, and 
 golden wings ; and, putting it in his basket, he returned 
 home in high glee to receive the congratulations of his 
 family. He would not have taken anything for this 
 cricket, and proceeded to feed it up carefully in a bowl 
 Its belly was the colour of a crab’s, its back that of a 
 sweet chestnut; and Ch^eng tended it most lovingly, 
 waiting for the time when the magistrate should call 
 upon him for a cricket. 
 
 Meanwhile, a son of Ch^en^s, aged nine, one day 
 took the opportunity of his father being out to open the 
 bowl Instantaneously the cricket made a spring for- 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 21 
 
 ward and was gone; and all efforts to catch it again 
 were unavailing. At length the boy made a grab at it 
 with his hand, but only succeeded in seizing one of its 
 legs, which thereupon broke, and the little creature soon 
 afterwards died. Ch ‘ 合 ng’s wife turned deadly pale when 
 her son, with tears in his eyes, told her what had hap- 
 pened. “ Oh ! won’t you catch it when your father 
 comes home,” said she ; at which the boy ran away, 
 crying bitterly. Soon after Ch^ng arrived, and when he 
 heard his wife’s story he felt as if he had been turned to 
 ice, and went in search of his son, who, however, was 
 nowhere to be found, until at length they discovered his 
 body lying at the bottom of a well. Their anger was 
 thus turned to grief, and death seemed as though it 
 would be a pleasant relief to them as they sat facing 
 each other in silence in their thatched and smokeless 3 
 hut. At evening they prepared to bury the boy ; but, 
 on touching the body, lo ! he was still breathing. Over- 
 joyed, they placed him upon the bed, and towards the 
 middle of the night he came round; but a drop of 
 bitterness was mingled in his parents’ cup when they 
 found that his reason had fled. His father, however, 
 caught sight of the empty bowl in which he had kept 
 the cricket, and ceased to think any more about his son, 
 never once closing his eyes all night; and as day 
 gradually broke, there he lay stiff and stark, until 
 suddenly he heard the chirping of a cricket outside 
 
 A favourite Chinese expression, signifying the absence of food. 
 
22 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 the house door. Jumping up in a great hurry to see, 
 there was his lost insect ; but, on trying to catch it, 
 away it hopped directly. At last he got it under his 
 hand, though, when he came to close his fingers on it, 
 there was nothing in them. So he went on, chasing it 
 up and down, until finally it hopped into a corner of the 
 wall; and then, looking carefully about, he espied it 
 once more, no longer the same in appearance, but small, 
 and of a dark red colour. Ch^eng stood looking at it, 
 without trying to catch such a worthless specimen, when 
 all of a sudden the little creature hopped into his sleeve ; 
 and, on examining it more nearly, he saw that it really 
 was a handsome insect, with well-formed head and neck, 
 and forthwith took it indoors. He was now anxious to try 
 its prowess ; and it so happened that a young fellow of 
 the village, who had a fine cricket which used to win 
 every bout it fought, and was so valuable to him that he 
 wanted a high price for it, called on Ch f eng that very 
 day. He laughed heartily at Ch^ng^s champion, and, 
 producing his own, placed it side by side, to the great 
 disadvantage of the former. Ch ‘ 合 ng’s countenance fell, 
 and he no longer wished to back his cricket ; however, 
 the young fellow urged him, and he thought that there 
 was no use in rearing a feeble insect, and that he had 
 better sacrifice it for a laugh ; so they put them together 
 in a bowl The little cricket lay quite still like a piece 
 of wood, at which the young fellow roared again, and 
 louder than ever when it did not move even though 
 tickled with a pi^s bristle. By dint of tickling it was 
 roused at last, and then it fell upon its adversary with 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 2 3 
 
 such fury, that in a moment the young fellow’s cricket 
 would have been killed outright had not its master inter- 
 fered and stopped the fight. The little cricket then 
 stood up and chirped to Ch c eng as a sign of victory ; and 
 Ch 4 eng, overjoyed, was just talking over the battle with 
 the young fellow, when a cock caught sight of the insect, 
 and ran up to eat it. Ch c eng was in a great state of 
 alarm ; but the cock luckily missed its aim, and the 
 cricket hopped away, its enemy pursuing at full speed. 
 In another moment it would have been snapped up, 
 when, lo ! to his great astonishment, Ch f eng saw his 
 cricket seated on the cock’s head, holding firmly on to 
 its comb. He then put it into a cage, and by-and-by 
 sent it to the magistrate, who, seeing what a small one 
 he had provided, was very angry indeed Ch 4 eng told 
 the story of the cock, which the magistrate refused to 
 believe, and set it to fight with other crickets, all of 
 which it vanquished without exception. He then tried it 
 with a cock, and as all turned out as Ch^ng had said, 
 he gave him a present, and sent the cricket in to the 
 Governor. The Governor put it into a golden cage, and 
 forwarded it to the palace, accompanied by some re- 
 marks on its performances ; and when there, it was 
 found that of all the splendid collection of His Imperial 
 Majesty, not one was worthy to be placed alongside of 
 this one. It would dance in time to music, and thus 
 became a great favourite, the Emperor in return bestow- 
 ing magnificent gifts of horses and silks upon the 
 Governor. The Governor did not forget whence he had 
 obtained the cricket, and the magistrate also well re- 
 
24 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 warded Ch c eng by excusing him from the duties of 
 beadle, and by instructing the Literary Chancellor to 
 pass him for the first degree. A few months afterwards 
 Ch^en^s son recovered his intellect, and said that he had 
 been a cricket, and had proved himself a very skilful 
 fighter . 4 The Governor, too, rewarded Ch f eng hand- 
 somely, and in a few years he was a rich man, with flocks, 
 and herds, and houses, and acres, quite one of the 
 wealthiest of mankind 
 
 4 That is to say, his spirit had entered, during his period of tem- 
 porary insanity, into the cricket which had allowed itself to be 
 caught by his father, and had animated it to fight \Wth such extra- 
 ordinary Wgour in order to make good the loss occasioned by his 
 carelessness in letting the other escape. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 25 
 
 LXV. 
 
 TAKING REVENGE. 
 
 Hsiang Kao, otherwise called Ch { u-tan, was a 
 T £ ai-yiian man, and deeply attached to his half-brother 
 Sheng. Sheng himself was desperately enamoured of 
 a young lady named Po-ssu, 1 who was also very fond 
 of him : but the mother wanted too much money for 
 her daughter. Now a rich young fellow named Chuang 
 thought he should like to get Po-ssu for himself, and 
 proposed to buy her as a concubine. “No ， no,” said 
 Po-ssti to her mother, u I prefer being Shen^s wife to 
 becoming Chuang^s concubine.” So her mother con- 
 sented, and informed Sheng, who had only recently 
 buried his first wife; at which he was delighted and 
 made preparations to take her over to his own house. 
 When Chuang heard this he was infuriated against 
 Sheng for thus depriving him of Po-ssu ; and chancing 
 to meet him out one day, set to and abused him 
 
 1 This is the term used by the Chinese for “Persia,” often put 
 by metonymy for things which come from that country, sc, 
 “valuables.” Thus, “to be poor in Persia” is to have but few 
 jewels, gold and silver ornaments, and even clothes. 
 
26 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 roundly. Sheng answered him back, and then Chuang 
 ordered his attendants to fall upon Sheng and beat him 
 well, which they did, leaving him lifeless on the ground. 
 When Hsiang heard what had taken place he ran out 
 and found his brother lying dead upon the ground. 
 Overcome with grief, he proceeded to the magistrate’s, 
 and accused Chuang of murder ; but the latter bribed 
 so heavily that nothing came of the accusation. This 
 worked Hsiang to frenzy, and he determined to assas- 
 sinate Chuang on the high road ; with which intent he 
 daily concealed himself, with a sharp knife about him, 
 among the bushes on the hill-side, waiting for Chuang 
 to pass. By degrees, this plan of his became known 
 far and wide, and accordingly Chuang never went out 
 except with a strong body-guard, besides which he 
 engaged at a high price the services of a very skilful 
 archer, named Chiao T‘ung, so that Hsiang had no 
 means of carrying out his intention. However, he con- 
 tinued to lie in wait day after day, and on one occasion 
 it began to rain heavily, and in a short time Hsiang 
 was wet through to the skin. Then the wind got up, 
 and a hailstorm followed, and by-and-by Hsiang was 
 quite numbed with the cold. On the top of the hill 
 there was a small temple wherein lived a Taoist priest, 
 whom Hsiang knew from the latter having occasionally 
 begged alms in the village, and to whom he had often 
 given a meaL This priest, seeing how wet he was, 
 gave him some other clothes, and told him to put 
 them on ; but no sooner had he done so than he 
 crouched down like a dog, and found that he had 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 27 
 
 been changed into a tiger, and that the priest had 
 vanished It now occurred to him to seize this 
 opportunity of revenging himself upon his enemy ; and 
 away he went to his old ambush, where lo and behold ! 
 he found his own body lying stiff and stark. Fearing 
 lest it should become food for birds of prey, he guarded 
 it carefully, until at length one day Chuang passed by. 
 Out rushed the tiger and sprung upon Chuang, biting 
 his head off, and swallowing it upon the spot ; at which 
 Chiao T‘ung, the archer, turned round and shot the 
 animal through thie heart. Just at that moment 
 Hsiang awaked as though from a dream, but it was 
 some time before he could crawl home, where he ar- 
 rived to the great delight of his family, who didn’t 
 know what had become of him. Hsiang said not a 
 word, lying quietly on the bed until some of his people 
 came in to congratulate him on the death of his great 
 enemy Chuang. Hsiang then cried out, ‘‘ I was that 
 tiger,” and proceeded to relate the whole story, which 
 thus got about until it reached the ears of Chuang’s 
 son, who immediately set to work to bring his father’s 
 murderer to justice. The magistrate, however, did not 
 consider this wild story as sufficient evidence against 
 him, and thereupon dismissed the case. 
 
28 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 LXVI. 
 
 THE TIPSY TURTLE. 
 
 At Lin-t c iao there lived a Mr. Feng, whose other 
 name the person who told me this story could not 
 remember ; he belonged to a good family, though now 
 somewhat falling into decay. Now a certain man, who 
 caught turtles, owed him some money which he could 
 not pay, but whenever he captured any turtles he used 
 to send one to Mr. Feng. One day he took him an 
 enormous creature, with a white spot on its forehead ; 
 but Feng was so struck with something in its appear- 
 ance, that he let it go again. A little while after- 
 wards he was returning home from his son-in-law’s, 
 and had reached the banks of the river , 1 when in the 
 dusk of the evening he saw a drunken man come 
 rolling along, attended by two or three servants. No 
 
 1 The name here used is the Heng or ceaseless river, which is 
 applied by the Chinese to the Ganges. A certain number, extend- 
 ing to fifty-three places of figures, is called “Ganges sand,” in 
 allusion to a famous remark that ** Buddha and the Bodhisatvas 
 knew of the creation and destruction of every grain of dust in 
 Jambudwipa (the universe); how much more the number of the 
 sand-particles in the river Ganges ? 5, 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 29 
 
 sooner did he perceive Feng than he called out, ‘‘Who 
 are you?” to which Feng replied that he was a tra- 
 veller. ‘‘ And haven’t you got a name ? ’’ shouted out 
 the drunken man in a rage, iC that you must call your- 
 self a traveller ? ,y To this Feng made no reply, but 
 tried to pass by; whereupon he found himself seized 
 by the sleeve and unable to move. His adversary 
 smelt horribly of wine, and at length Feng asked him, 
 saying, “ And pray who are you ? ” “Oh, I am the 
 late magistrate at Nan-tu,” answered he; u what do 
 you want to know for ? ” “ A nice disgrace to society 
 
 you are, too,” cried Feng; u however, I am glad to 
 hear you are only late magistrate, for if you had been 
 present magistrate there would be bad times in store 
 for travellers.” This made the drunken man furious, 
 and he was proceeding to use violence, when Feng 
 cried out, “My name is So-and-so, and I’m not the 
 man to stand this sort of thing from anybody.” No 
 sooner had he uttered these words than the drunken 
 man’s rage was turned into joy, and, falling on his 
 knees before Feng, he said, u My benefactor ! pray 
 excuse my rudeness.” Then getting up, he told his 
 servants to go on ahead and get something ready; 
 Feng at first declining to go with him, but yielding on 
 being pressed. Taking his hand, the drunken man led 
 him along a short distance until they reached a village, 
 where there was a very nice house and grounds, quite 
 like the establishment of a person of position. As his 
 friend was now getting sober, Feng inquired what 
 might be his name. “ Don’t be frightened when I tell 
 
3〇 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 you，” said the other ; a I am the Eighth Prince of the 
 丁 ‘iao river. I have just been out to take wine with 
 a friend, and somehow I got tipsy; hence my bad be- 
 haviour to you, which please forgive. Feng now knew 
 that he was not of mortal flesh and blood; but, seeing 
 how kindly he himself was treated, he was not a bit afraid. 
 A banquet followed, with plenty of wine, of which the 
 Eighth Prince drank so freely that Feng thought he 
 would soon be worse than ever, and accordingly said 
 he felt tipsy himself, and asked to be allowed to go to 
 bed. “Never fear,” answered the Prince, who per- 
 ceived Feng^ thoughts; u many drunkards will tell you 
 that they cannot remember in the morning the ex- 
 travagances of the previous night, but I tell you this 
 is all nonsense, and that in nine cases out of ten 
 those extravagances are committed wittingly and with 
 malice prepense . 2 Now, though I am not the same 
 order of being as yourself, I should never venture to 
 behave badly in your good presence ; so pray do not 
 leave me thus •” Feng then sat down again and said 
 to the Prince, u Since you are aware of this, why not 
 change your ways ? v “ Ah,” replied the Prince, “ when 
 I was a magistrate I drank much more than I do now; 
 but I got into disgrace with the Emperor and was 
 banished here, since which time, ten years and more, I 
 
 2 Drunkenness is not recognised in China as an extenuating 
 circumstance; neither, indeed, is insanity, — a lunatic who takes 
 another man's life being equally liable with ordinary persons to the 
 forfeiture of his own. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 3 1 
 
 have tried to reform. Now, however, I am drawing 
 near the wood , 3 and being unable to move about much, 
 the old vice has come upon me again ; I have found it 
 impossible to stop myself, but perhaps what you say 
 may do me some good.” "While they were thus talking, 
 the sound of a distant bell broke upon their ears ; and 
 the Prince, getting up and seizing Feng^ hand, said, 
 u We cannot remain together any longer ; but I will give 
 you something by which I may in part requite your 
 kindness to me. It must not be kept for any great 
 length of time; when you have attained your wishes, 
 then I will receive it back again.” Thereupon he spit 
 out of his mouth a tiny man, no more than an inch 
 high, and scratching Feng^ arm with his nails until Feng 
 felt as if the skin was gone, he quickly laid the little 
 man upon the spot. When he let go, the latter had 
 already sunk into the skin, and nothing was to be seen 
 but a cicatrix well healed over. Feng now asked what 
 it all meant, but the Prince only laughed, and said, “ It’s 
 time for you to go,” and forthwith escorted him to the 
 door. The prince here bade him adieu, and when he 
 looked round, Prince, village, and house had all dis- 
 appeared together, leaving behind a great turtle which 
 
 3 A favourite Chinese figure expressive of old age. It dates back 
 to the celebrated commentary by Tso Ch‘iu Ming on Confucius’ 
 Spring and Autumn (See No. XLI., note 2): — ^Hsi is twenty- 
 three and I am twenty-five ; and marrying thus we shall approach 
 the wood together;” the “wood” being, of course, that of the 
 coffin. 
 
32 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 waddled down into the water, and disappeared likewise. 
 He could now easily account for the Prince’s present to 
 him ; and from this moment his sight became intensely 
 keen. He could see precious stones lying in the bowels 
 of the earth, and was able to look down as far as Hell 
 itself; besides which he suddenly found that he knew 
 the names of many things of which he had never heard 
 before. From below his own bedroom he dug up many 
 hundred ounces of pure silver, upon which he lived 
 very comfortably ; and once when a house was for sale, 
 he perceived that in it lay concealed a vast quantity of 
 gold, so he immediately bought it, and so became im- 
 mensely rich in all kinds of valuables. He secured a 
 mirror, on the back of which was a phoenix, surrounded 
 by water and clouds, and portraits of the celebrated 
 wives of the Emperor Shun , 4 so beautifully executed that 
 each hair of the head and eyebrows could easily be 
 counted. If any woman’s face came upon the mirror, 
 there it remained indelibly fixed and not to be rubbed 
 out; but if the same woman looked into the mirror 
 again, dressed in a different dress, or if some other 
 woman chanced to look in, then the former face would 
 gradually fade away. 
 
 Now the third princess in Prince Su^ family was very 
 beautiful ; and Feng, who had long heard of her fame, 
 concealed himself on the K^ung-tung hill, when he knew 
 the Princess was going there. He waited until she 
 
 See No. VIII., note 3. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 33 
 
 alighted from her chair, and then getting the mirror full 
 upon her, he walked off home. Laying it on the table, 
 he saw therein a lovely girl in the act of raising her 
 handkerchief, and with a sweet smile playing over her 
 face ; her lips seemed about to move, and a twinkle was 
 discernible in her eyes . 5 Delighted with this picture, he 
 put the mirror very carefully away ; but in about a year 
 his wife had let the story leak out, and the Prince, hear- 
 ing of it, threw Feng into prison, and took possession 
 of the mirror. Feng was to be beheaded ; however, he 
 bribed one of the Prince’s ladies to tell His Highness 
 that if he would pardon him all the treasures of the 
 earth might easily become his ; whereas, on the other 
 hand, his death could not possibly be of any advantage 
 to the Prince. The Prince now thought of confiscating 
 all his goods and banishing him ; but the third princess 
 observed, that as he had already seen her, were he to 
 die ten times over it would not give her back her lost 
 face, and that she had much better marry him. The 
 Prince would not hear of this, whereupon his daughter 
 shut herself up and refused all nourishment, at which 
 the ladies of the palace were dreadfully alarmed, and 
 reported it at once to the Prince. Feng was accordingly 
 liberated, and was informed of the determination of the 
 Princess, which, however, he declined to fall in with, 
 
 Move these eyes ? 
 
 Here are severed lips. 5 * 
 
 一 Merchant of Venice^ Act. iii., sc. 2. 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 D 
 
34 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 saying that he was not going thus to sacrifice the wife 
 of his days of poverty , 6 and would rather die than 
 carry out such an order. He added that if His High- 
 ness would consent, he would purchase his liberty at the 
 price of everything he had. The Prince was exceedingly 
 angry at this, and seized Feng again ; and meanwhile 
 one of the concubines got Feng's wife into the palace, 
 intending to poison her. Fen^s wife, however, brought 
 her a beautiful present of a coral stand for a looking-glass, 
 and was so agreeable in her conversation, that the concu- 
 bine took a great fancy to her, and presented her to the 
 Princess, who was equally pleased, and forthwith deter- 
 mined that they would both be Fen^s wives . 7 When 
 Feng heard of this plan, he said to his wife, “ "With a 
 Prince’s daughter there can be no distinctions of first 
 and second ^ife f but Mrs. Feng paid no heed to him, 
 and immediately sent off to the Prince such an enor-* 
 mous quantity of valuables that it took a thousand men 
 to carry them, and the Prince himself had never before 
 heard of such treasures in his life. Feng was now 
 liberated once more, and solemnized his marriage with 
 the Princess. 
 
 One night after this he dreamt that the Eighth 
 Prince came to him and asked him to return his 
 former present, saying that to keep it too long would 
 
 6 See No. LIII., note i. 
 
 7 This method of arranging a matrimonial difficulty is a common 
 one in Chinese fiction, but I should say quite unknown in real life. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 35 
 
 be injurious to his chances of life. Feng asked him to 
 take a drink, but the Eighth Prince said that he had 
 forsworn wine, acting under Feng^ advice, for three 
 years. He then bit Feng’s arm, and the latter waked up 
 with the pain to find that the cicatrix on his arm was no 
 longer there. 
 
 D 2 
 
3 6 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 LX VII. 
 
 THE MAGIC PATH. 
 
 In the province of Kuangtung there lived a scholar 
 named Kuo, who was one evening on his way home from 
 a friend’s, when he lost his way among the hills. He 
 got into a thick jungle, where, after about an hou^s wan- 
 dering, he suddenly heard the sound of laughing and 
 talking on the top of the hill. Hurrying up in the 
 direction of the sound, he beheld some ten or a dozen 
 persons sitting on the ground engaged in drinking. No 
 sooner had they caught sight of Kuo than they all cried 
 out， ‘‘ Come along ! just room for one more ; you’re in 
 the nick of time.” So Kuo sat down with the company, 
 most of whom, he noticed, belonged to the literati , 1 * * * * and 
 began by asking them to direct him on his way home ; 
 
 1 This term, while really including all literary men, of no matter 
 
 what rank or standing, is more usually confined to that large section 
 
 of unemployed scholarship made up of ( I ) those who are waiting to 
 get started in an o 伍 cial career, (2) those who have taken one or 
 
 more degrees and are preparing for the next, (3) those who have 
 failed to distinguish themselves at the public examinations, and eke 
 
 out a small patrimony by taking pupils, and (4) scholars of suffi- 
 
 ciently high qualifications who have no taste for official life. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 37 
 
 but one of them cried out, u A nice sort of fellow you 
 are, to be bothering about your way home, and paying 
 no attention to the fine moon we have got to-night.” 
 The speaker then presented him with a goblet of wine of 
 exquisite bouquet, which Kuo drank off at a draught, 
 and another gentleman filled up again for him at once. 
 Now, Kuo was pretty good in that line, and being very 
 thirsty withal from his long walk, tossed off bumper after 
 bumper, to the great delight of his hosts, who were 
 unanimous in voting him a jolly good fellow. He was, 
 moreover, full of fun, and could imitate exactly the note 
 of any kind of bird ; so all of a sudden he began on the sly 
 to twitter like a swallow, to the great astonishment of the 
 others, who wondered how it was a swallow could be out 
 so late. He then changed his note to that of a cuckoo, 
 sitting there laughing and saying nothing, while his hosts 
 were discussing the extraordinary sounds they had just 
 heard. After a while he imitated a parrot, and cried, 
 “ Mr. Kuo is very drunk : you’d better see him home ; ” 
 and then the sounds ceased, beginning again by-and-by, 
 when at last the others found out who it was, and all 
 burst out laughing. They screwed up their mouths and 
 tried to whistle like Kuo, but none of them could do so ; 
 and soon one of them observed, u What a pity Madam 
 Ch‘ing isn’t with us : we must rendezvous here again at 
 mid-autumn, and you, Mr. Kuo, must be sure and 
 come.” Kuo said he would, whereupon another of his 
 hosts got up and remarked that, as he had given them 
 such an amusing entertainment, they would try to shew 
 him a few acrobatic feats. They all arose, and one of 
 
38 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 them planting his feet firmly, a second jumped up on to 
 his shoulders, a third on to the second’s shoulders, and a 
 fourth on to his, until it was too high for the rest to jump 
 up, and accordingly they began to climb as though it 
 had been a ladder. When they were all up, and the 
 topmost head seemed to touch the clouds, the whole 
 column bent gradually down until it lay along the 
 ground transformed into a path. Kuo remained for 
 some time in a state of considerable alarm, and then, 
 setting out along this path, ultimately reached his own 
 home. Some days afterwards he revisited the spot, and 
 saw the remains of a feast lying about on the ground, 
 with dense bushes on all sides, but no sign of a path. 
 At mid-autumn he thought of keeping his engagement ; 
 however, his friends persuaded him not to go. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 39 
 
 LXVIII. 
 
 THE FAITHLESS WIDOW . 1 
 
 Mr. Niu was a Kiangsi man who traded in piece 
 goods. He married a wife from the Cheng family, by 
 whom he had two children, a boy and a girl. When 
 thirty-three years of age he fell ill and died, his son 
 Chung being then only twelve and his little girl eight or 
 nine. His wife did not remain faithful to his memory, 
 but, selling off all the property, pocketed the proceeds 
 and married another man, leaving her two children 
 almost in a state of destitution with their aunt, Niu’s 
 sister-in-law, an old lady of sixty, who had lived with 
 them previously, and had now nowhere to seek a shelter. 
 
 1 Unless under exceptional circumstances it is not considered 
 creditable in China for widows to marry again. It may here be 
 mentioned that the honorary tablets conferred from time to time by 
 His Imperial Majesty upon virtuous widows are only given to 
 women who, widowed before the age of thirty, have remained in 
 that state for a period of thirty years. The meaning of this is 
 obvious : temptations are supposed to be fewer and less dangerous 
 after thirty, which is the equivalent of forty with us; and it is 
 wholly improbable that thirty years of virtuous life, at which period 
 the widow would be at least fifty, would be followed by any act 
 that might cast a stain upon the tablet thus bestowed. 
 
4〇 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 A few years later this aunt died, and the family fortunes 
 began to sink even lower than before ; Chung, however, 
 was now grown up, and determined to carry on his 
 father’s trade, only he had no capital to start with. His 
 sister marrying a rich trader named Mao, she begged her 
 husband to lend Chung ten ounces of silver, which he 
 did, and Chung immediately started for Nanking. On 
 the road he fell in with some bandits, who robbed him 
 of all he had, and consequently he was unable to 
 return ; but one day when he was at a pawnshop he 
 noticed that the master of the shop was wonderfully like 
 his late father, and on going out and making inquiries 
 he found that this pawnbroker bore precisely the same 
 names. In great astonishment, he forthwith proceeded 
 to frequent the place with no other object than to watch 
 this man, who, on the other hand, took no notice of 
 Chung ; and by the end of three days, having satisfied 
 himself that he really saw his own father, and yet not 
 daring to disclose his own identity, he made application 
 through one of the assistants, on the score of being 
 himself a Kiangsi man, to be employed in the shop. 
 Accordingly, an indenture was drawn up ; and when the 
 master noticed Chung’s name and place of residence he 
 started, and asked him whence he came. With tears in 
 his eyes Chung addressed him by his father’s name, and 
 then the pawnbroker became lost in a deep reverie, 
 by-and-by asking Chung how his mother was. Now 
 Chung did not like to allude to his father’s death, and 
 turned the question by saying, u My father went away on 
 business six years ago, and never came back ; my 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 41 
 
 mother married again and left us, and had it not been 
 for my aunt our corpses would long ago have been cast 
 out in the kennel.” Then the pawnbroker was much 
 moved, and cried out, “ I am your father !” seizing his 
 son’s hand and leading him within to see his step-mother. 
 This lady was about twenty-two, and, having no children 
 of her own, was delighted with Chung, and prepared a 
 banquet for him in the inner apartments. Mr. Niu him- 
 self was, however, somewhat melancholy, and wished to 
 return to his old home ; but his wife, fearing that there 
 would be no one to manage the business, persuaded him 
 to remain ; so he taught his son the trade, and in three 
 months was able to leave it all to him. He then pre- 
 pared for his journey, whereupon Chung informed his 
 step-mother that his father was really dead, to which she 
 replied in great consternation that she knew him only as 
 a trader to the place, and that six years previously he 
 had married her, which proved conclusively that he 
 couldn’t be dead He then recounted the whole story, 
 which was a perfect mystery to both of them ; and 
 twenty-four hours afterwards in walked his father, leading 
 a woman whose hair was all dishevelled. Chung looked 
 at her and saw that she was his own mother; and Niu 
 took her by the ear and began to revile her, saying, 
 Why did you desert my children?” to which the 
 wretched woman made no reply. He then bit her 
 across the neck, at which she screamed to Chung for 
 assistance, and he, not being able to bear the sight, 
 stepped in between them. His father was more than 
 ever enraged at this, when, lo ! Chunks mother had dis- 
 
42 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 appeared. While they were still lost in astonishment at 
 this strange scene, Mr. Niu’s colour changed ; in another 
 moment his empty clothes had dropped upon the ground, 
 and he himself became a black vapour and also vanished 
 from their sight The step-mother and son were much 
 overcome; they took Niu’s clothes and buried them, 
 and after that Chung continued his father’s business and 
 soon amassed great wealth. On returning to his native 
 place he found that his mother had actually died on the 
 very day of the above occurrence, and that his father 
 had been seen by the whole family. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 43 
 
 LXIX. 
 
 THE PRINCESS OF THE TUNG-PING 
 LAKE. 
 
 Ch^n Pi-chi ao was a Pekingese; and being a poor 
 man he attached himself as secretary to the suite of a 
 high military official named Chia. On one occasion, 
 while anchored on the Tung-t4ng lake, they saw a 
 dolphin 1 floating on the surface of the water ; and 
 General Chia took his bow and shot at it, wounding 
 the creature in the back. A fish was hanging on to 
 its tail, and would not let go; so both were pulled out 
 of the water together, and attached to the mast There 
 
 1 Literally, a “pig old-woman dragon.” Porpoise (Fr. pore- 
 poissort) suggests itself at once; but I think fresh- water dolphin is 
 the best term, especially as the Tung-t*ing lake is many hundred 
 miles inland. The commentator explains it by t l o, which would be 
 “alligator ” or “cayman,” and is of course out of the question. 
 My friend, Mr. L. C. Hopkins, has taken the trouble to make some 
 investigations for me on this subject. He tells me that this fish, 
 also called the “river pig,” has first to be surrounded and secured 
 by a strong net. Being too large to be hauled on board a boat, it 
 is then driven ashore, where oil is extracted from the carcase and 
 used for giving a gloss to silk thread, 
 
44 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 they lay gasping, the dolphin opening its mouth as if 
 pleading for life, until at length young Ch f en begged the 
 General to let them go again; and then he himself half 
 jokingly put a piece of plaster upon the dolphin’s wound, 
 and had the two thrown back into the water, where they 
 were seen for some time afterwards diving and rising 
 again to the surface. About a year afterwards, Ch‘en 
 was once more crossing the Tung-t‘ing lake on his way 
 home, when the boat was upset in a squall, and he him- 
 self only saved by clinging to a bamboo crate, which 
 finally, after floating about all night, caught in the over- 
 hanging branch of a tree, and thus enabled him to 
 scramble on shore. By-and-by, another body floated in, 
 and this turned out to be his servant; but on dragging 
 him out, he found life was already extinct. In great 
 distress, he sat himself down to rest, and saw beautiful 
 green hills and waving willows, but not a single human 
 being of whom he could ask the way. From early dawn 
 till the morning was far advanced he remained in that 
 state; and then, thinking he saw his servant’s body move, 
 he stretched out his hand to feel it, and before long 
 the man threw up several quarts of water and recovered 
 his consciousness. They now dried their clothes in the 
 sun, and by noon these were fit to put on; at which 
 period the pangs of hunger began to assail them, and 
 accordingly they started over the hills in the hope of 
 coming upon some habitation of man. As they were 
 walking along, an arrow whizzed past, and the next 
 moment two young ladies dashed by on handsome 
 palfreys. Each had a scarlet band round her head, 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 45 
 
 with a bunch of pheasant^ feathers stuck in her hair, 
 and wore a purple riding-jacket with small sleeves, 
 confined by a green embroidered girdle round the waist. 
 One of them carried a cross-bow for shooting bullets, 
 and the other had on her arm a dark-coloured bow-and- 
 arrow case. Reaching the brow of the hill, Ch^n 
 beheld a number of riders engaged in beating the 
 surrounding cover, all of whom were beautiful girls 
 and dressed exactly alike. Afraid to advance any 
 further, he inquired of a youth who appeared to be in 
 attendance, and the latter told him that it was a hunting 
 party from the palace; and then, having supplied him 
 with food from his wallet, he bade him retire quickly, 
 adding that if he fell in with them he would assuredly 
 be put to death. Thereupon Ch 4 en hurried away; and 
 descending the hill, turned into a copse where there was 
 a building which he thought would in all probability be 
 a monastery. On getting nearer, he saw that the place 
 was surrounded by a wall, and between him and a half- 
 open red-door was a brook spanned by a stone bridge 
 leading up to it. Pulling back the door, he beheld 
 within a number of ornamental buildings circling in the 
 air like so many clouds, and for all the world resembling 
 the Imperial pleasure-grounds ; and thinking it must 
 be the park of some official personage, he walked quietly 
 in, enjoying the delicious fragrance of the flowers as 
 he pushed aside the thick vegetation which obstructed 
 his way. After traversing a winding path fenced in by 
 balustrades, Ch^en reached a second enclosure, wherein 
 were a quantity of tall willow-trees which swept the red 
 
46 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 eaves of the buildings with their branches. The note of 
 some bird would set the petals of the flowers fluttering 
 in the air, and the least wind would bring the seed- 
 vessels down from the elm-trees above; and the effect 
 upon the eye and heart of the beholder was something 
 quite unknown in the world of mortals. Passing 
 through a small kiosque, Ch^en and his servant came 
 upon a swing which seemed as though suspended from 
 the clouds, while the ropes hung idly down in the utter 
 stillness that prevailed . 2 Thinking by this that they 
 were approaching the ladies , apartments , 3 Ch^en would 
 have turned back, but at that moment he heard sounds 
 of horses’ feet at the door, and what seemed to be 
 the laughter of a bevy of girls. So he and his servant 
 hid themselves in a bush ; and by-and-by, as the sounds 
 came nearer, he heard one of the young ladies say, 
 “ We’ve had but poor sport to-day whereupon another 
 cried out, “ If the princess hadn’t shot that wild goose, 
 we should have taken all this trouble for nothing. 
 Shortly after this, a number of girls dressed in red 
 came in escorting a young lady, who went and sat down 
 
 2 Literally, in the utter absence of anybody. 
 
 3 In passing near to the women’s quarters in a friend’s house, it 
 is etiquette to cough slightly, that inmates may be warned and 
 withdraw from the doors or windows in time to escape observation. 
 Over and over again at interviews with mandarins of all grades I 
 have heard the rustling of the ladies’ dresses from some coigne of 
 vantage, whence every movement of mine was being watched by 
 an inquisitive crowd; and on one occasion I actually saw an eye 
 peering through a small hole in the partition behind me. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 47 
 
 under the kiosque. She wore a hunting costume with 
 tight 4 sleeves, and was about fourteen or fifteen years old. 
 Her hair looked like a cloud of mist at the back of her 
 head, and her waist seemed as though a breath of 
 wind might snap it 5 — incomparable for beauty, even 
 among the celebrities of old. Just then the attendants 
 handed her some exquisitely fragrant tea, and stood 
 glittering round her like a bank of beautiful embroid- 
 ery. In a few moments the young lady arose and 
 descended the kiosque ; at which one of her attendants 
 cried out, c< Is your Highness too fatigued by riding 
 to take a turn in the swing ? 39 The princess replied 
 that she was not ; and immediately some supported 
 her under the shoulders, while others seized her arms, 
 and others again arranged her petticoats, and brought 
 her the proper shoes . 6 Thus they helped her into the 
 swing, she herself stretching out her shining arms, and 
 putting her feet into a suitable pair of slippers ； and 
 then — away she went, light as a flying-swallow, far up 
 into the fleecy clouds. As soon as she had had enough, 
 the attendants helped her out, and one Of them ex- 
 
 4 Literally, “bald” 一 i.e” without the usual width and orna- 
 mentation of a Chinese lady's sleeve. 
 
 5 Small waists are much admired in China, but any such artificial 
 aids as stays and tight lacing are quite unknown. A certain Prince 
 Wei admitted none but the possessors of small waists into his 
 harem; hence his establishment came to be called the Palace of 
 Small Waists. 
 
 6 Probably of felt or some such material, to prevent the young 
 lady from slipping as she stood, not sat, in the swing. 
 
43 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 claimed, “ Truly, your Highness is a perfect angel ! ’’ 
 At this the young lady laughed, and walked away, 
 Ch^en gazing after her in a state of semi-consciousness, 
 until, at length, the voices died away, and he and his 
 servant crept forth. Walking up and down near the 
 swing, he suddenly espied a red handkerchief near 
 the paling, which he knew had been dropped by one 
 of the young ladies ; and, thrusting it joyfully into his 
 sleeve, he walked up and entered the kiosque. There, 
 upon a table, lay writing materials, and taking out 
 the handkerchief he indited upon it the following 
 lines : — 
 
 “ What form divine was just now sporting nigh ? 一 
 ’T was she, I trow of ‘golden lily * fame ; 
 
 Her charms the moon’s fair denizens might shame, 
 
 Her fairy footsteps bear her to the sky. J, 
 
 Humming this stanza to himself, Ch^n walked along 
 seeking for the path by which he had entered ; but 
 every door was securely barred, and he knew not what 
 to do. So he went back to the kiosque, when suddenly 
 one of the young ladies appeared, and asked him in 
 astonishment what he did there. “ I have lost my way,” 
 replied Ch 4 en; “ I pray you lend me your assistance.” 
 “ Do you happen to have found a red handkerchief ?” said 
 the girl. “ I have, indeed,” answered Ch ‘ 各 n, “ but I fear 
 I have made it somewhat dirty ; and, suiting the action to 
 the word, he drew it forth, and handed it to her. u Wretched 
 man ! cried the young lady, u you are undone. This 
 is a handkerchief the princess is constantly using, and you 
 have gone and scribbled all over it ; what will become of 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 49 
 
 you now ? ’’ Ch 4 en was in a great fright, and begged the 
 young lady to intercede for him ; to which she replied, 
 “ It was bad enough that you should come here and 
 spy about; however, being a scholar, and a man of 
 refinement, I would have done my best for you; but 
 after this, how am I to help you ? ’’ Off she then ran 
 with the handkerchief, while Ch 4 en remained behind 
 in an agony of suspense, and longing for the wings of a 
 bird to bear him away from his fate. By-and-by, the 
 young lady returned and congratulated him, saying, 
 u There is some hope for you. The Princess read your 
 verses several times over, and was not at all angry. You 
 will probably be released; but, meanwhile, wait here, 
 and don’t climb the trees, or try to get through the 
 walls, or you may not escape after all.” Evening was 
 now drawing on, and Ch 4 en knew not, for certain, what 
 was about to happen ; at the same time he was very 
 empty, and, what with hunger and anxiety, death would 
 have been almost a happy release. Before long, the 
 young lady returned with a lamp in her hand, and 
 followed by a slave-girl bearing wine and food, which 
 she forthwith presented to Ch^en. The latter asked if 
 there was any news about himself ; to which the young 
 lady replied that she had just mentioned his case to 
 the Princess who, not knowing what to do with him 
 at that hour of the night, had given orders that he 
 should at once be provided with food, u which, at any 
 rate,” added she, “is not bad news.” The whole night 
 long Ch c en walked up and down unable to take rest ; 
 and it was not till late in the morning that the young 
 
 VOL. II. E 
 
5 ° 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 lady appeared with more food for him. Imploring her 
 once more to intercede on his behalf, she told him that 
 the Princess had not instructed them either to kill or to 
 release him, and that it would not be fitting for such as 
 herself to be bothering the Princess with suggestions. 
 So there Ch c en still remained until another day had 
 almost gone, hoping for the welcome moment ; and then 
 the young lady rushed hurriedly in, saying, a You are 
 lost ! Some one has told the Queen, and she, in a fit 
 of anger, threw the handkerchief on the ground, and 
 made use of very violent language. Oh dear ! oh dear ! 
 I’m sure something dreadful 'vill happen.” Ch^en threw 
 himself on his knees, his face as pale as ashes, and 
 begged to know what he should do ; but at that moment 
 sounds were heard outside, and the young lady waved 
 her hand to him, and ran away. Immediately a crowd 
 came pouring in through the door, with ropes ready 
 to secure the object of their search ; and among them 
 was a slave-girl, who looked fixedly at our hero, and 
 cried out, “ Why, surely you are Mr. Ch‘§n, aren’t you ? ’’ 
 at the same time stopping the others from binding him 
 until she should have reported to the Queen. In a few 
 minutes she came back, and said the Queen requested 
 him to walk in ; and in he went, through a number 
 of doors, trembling all the time with fear, until he 
 reached a hall, the screen before which was ornamented 
 with green jade and silver. A beautiful girl drew aside 
 the bamboo curtain at the door, and announced, u Mr. 
 Ch t en; J, and he himself advanced, and fell down before 
 a lady, who was sitting upon a dais at the other end, 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 5 1 
 
 knocking his head upon the ground, and crying out, 
 “ Thy servant is from a far-off country ; spare, oh ! 
 spare his life.” “ Sir !” replied the Queen, rising hastily 
 from her seat, and extending a hand to Ch 4 en, U but for 
 you, I should not be here to-day. Pray excuse the 
 rudeness of my maids.” Thereupon a splendid repast 
 was served, and wine was poured out in chased goblets, 
 to the no small astonishment of Ch^en, who could not 
 understand why he was treated thus. “Your kindness,” 
 observed the Queen, u in restoring me to life, I am 
 quite unable to repay ; however, as you have made 
 my daughter the subject of your verse, the match is 
 clearly ordained by fate, and I shall send her along 
 to be your handmaid.” Ch^en hardly knew what to 
 make of this extraordinary accomplishment of his wishes, 
 but the marriage was solemnized there and then ; bands 
 of music struck up wedding-airs, beautiful mats were laid 
 do^Ti for them to walk upon, and the whole place was 
 brilliantly lighted with a profusion of coloured lamps. 
 Then Ch^en said to the Princess, “That a stray and 
 unknown traveller like myself, guilty of spoiling your 
 Highness’s handkerchief, should have escaped the 
 fate he deserved, was already more than could be 
 expected ; but now to receive you in marriage — this, 
 indeed, far surpasses my wildest expectations.” “My 
 mother,” replied the Princess, “ is married to the King 
 of this lake, and is herself a daughter of the River 
 Prince. Last year, when on her way to visit her parents, 
 she happened to cross the lake, and was wounded by an 
 arrow ; but you saved her life, and gave her plaster for 
 
52 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 the wound. Our family, therefore, is grateful to you, 
 and can never forget your good act. And do not regard 
 me as of another species than yourself ; the Dragon King 
 has bestowed upon me the elixir of immortality, and this 
 I will gladly share with you.” Then Ch^n knew that 
 his wife was a spirit, and by-and-by he asked her how 
 the slave-girl had recognised him ； to which she replied, 
 that the girl was the small fish which had been found 
 hanging to the dolphin’s tail. He then inquired why, 
 as they didn’t intend to kill him, he had been kept so 
 long a prisoner. “I was charmed with your literary- 
 talent, answered the Princess, u but I did not venture 
 to take the responsibility upon myself; and no one saw 
 how I tossed and turned the livelong night.” “Dear 
 friend,” said Ch ‘ 合 n but, come, tell me who was it that 
 brought my food.” “A trusty waiting-maid of mine,” 
 replied the Princess ; “her name is A-nien.” Ch 4 en 
 then asked how he could ever repay her, and the 
 Princess told him there would be plenty of time to 
 think of that ; and when he inquired where the king, 
 her father, was, she said he had gone off with the God 
 of War to fight against Ch^ih-yu , 7 and had not returned. 
 A few days passed, and Ch 4 en began to think his people 
 at home would be anxious about him ; so he sent off 
 his servant with a letter to tell them he was safe and 
 
 7 A rebel chieftain of the legendary period of China’s history, 
 who took up arms against the Emperor Huang Ti (b.c. 2697— 
 2597), but was subsequently defeated in what was perhaps the first 
 decisive battle of the world. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 53 
 
 sound, at which they were all overjoyed, believing him 
 to have been lost in the wreck of the boat, of which 
 event news had already reached them. However, they 
 were unable to send him any reply, and were considerably 
 distressed as to how he would find his way home again. 
 Six months afterwards Ch^n himself appeared, dressed 
 in fine clothes, and riding on a splendid horse, with 
 plenty of money, and valuable jewels in his pocket — 
 evidently a man of wealth. From that time forth he 
 kept up a magnificent establishment ; and in seven or 
 eight years had become the father of five children. 
 Every day he kept open house, and if any one , asked 
 him about his adventures, he would readily tell them 
 without reservation. Now a friend of his, named Liang, 
 whom he had known since they were boys together, and 
 who, after holding an appointment for some years in 
 Nan-fu, was crossing the Tung-t 4 ing Lake, on his way 
 home, suddenly beheld an ornamental barge, with carved 
 wood-work and red windows, passing over the foamy 
 waves to the sound of music and singing from within. 
 Just then a beautiful young lady leant out of one of the 
 windows, which she had pushed open, and by her side 
 Liang saw a young man sitting, in a neglige attitude, 
 while two nice-looking girls stood by and shampooed 8 
 
 8 This favourite process consists in gently thumping the person 
 operated upon all over the back with the soft part of the closed fists. 
 Compare Lane, Arabian Nights, Wo\. I., p. 551 ： — u She then pressed 
 me to her bosom, and laid me on the bed, and continued gently 
 kneading my limbs until slumber overcame me.” 
 
54 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 him. Liang, at first, thought it must be the party of 
 some high official, and wondered at the scarcity of 
 attendants ; 9 but, on looking more closely at the young 
 man, he saw it was no other than his old friend Ch c en. 
 Thereupon he began almost involuntarily to shout out 
 to him ; and when Ch c en heard his own name, he 
 stopped the rowers, and walked out towards the figure- 
 head , 10 beckoning Liang to cross over into his boat, 
 where the remains of their feast was quickly cleared 
 away, and fresh supplies of wine, and tea, and all kinds 
 of costly foods spread out by handsome slave-girls. 
 “ It’s ten years since we met,” said Liang, “and what a 
 rich man you have become in the meantime.” “Well,” 
 replied Ch f en, do you think that so very extraordinary 
 for a poor fellow like me ? ” Liang then asked him who 
 was the lady with whom he was taking wine, and Ch c en 
 said she was his wife, which very much astonished Liang, 
 who further inquired whither they were going. u West- 
 wards, w answered Ch^en, and prevented any further ques- 
 tions by giving a signal for the music, which effectually 
 put a stop to all further conversation . * 11 By-and-by, 
 Liang found the wine getting into his head, and seized 
 
 9 See No. LVI, note 5. A considerable number of the attend- 
 ants there mentioned would accompany any high official, some in 
 the same, the rest in another barge. 
 
 10 Generally known as the “cut- wave God.” 
 
 11 At all great banquets in China a theatrical troupe is engaged to 
 perform while the dinner, which may last from four to six hours, 
 drags its slow length along. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 55 
 
 the opportunity to ask Ch { en to make him a present of 
 one of his beautiful slave-girls. “You are drunk ， 12 my 
 friend，” replied Ch‘en ; “ however， I will give you the 
 price of one as a pledge of our old friendship.” And, 
 turning to a servant, he bade him present Liang with 
 a splendid pearl, saying, u Now you can buy a Green 
 Pearl ; 13 you see I am not stingy ; }i adding forthwith, 
 u but I am pressed for time, and can stay no longer with 
 my old friend •” So he escorted Liang back to his boat, 
 
 and, having let go the rope, proceeded on his way. Now, 
 when Liang reached home, and called at Ch^n^ house, 
 whom should he see but Ch 4 en himself drinking with 
 a party of friends. “ Why, I saw you only yesterday,” 
 crien Liang, u upon the Tung-t l ing. How quickly you 
 have got back ! ’’ Ch 4 en denied this, and then Liang 
 repeated the whole story, at the conclusion of which, 
 Ch^en laughed, and said, u You must be mistaken. Do 
 you imagine I can be in two places at once?” The 
 company were all much astonished, and knew not what 
 to make of it ; and subsequently when Ch*en, who died 
 at the age of eighty, was being carried to his grave, 
 the bearers thought the coffin seemed remarkably light, 
 and on opening it to see, found that the body had 
 disappeared. 
 
 12 See No. LIV., note i. 
 
 13 The name of a celebrated beauty. 
 
STRANGE STORIES 
 
 55 
 
 LXX. 
 
 THE PRINCESS LILY. 
 
 At Chiao-chou there lived a man named Tou Hsun, 
 otherwise known as Hsiao-huL One day he had just 
 dropped off to sleep when he beheld a man in serge 
 clothes standing by the bedside, and apparently anxious 
 to communicate something to him. Tou inquired his 
 errand ; to which the man replied that he was the bearer 
 of an invitation from his master. “And who is your 
 master?” asked Tou. “Oh, he doesn’t live far off,” 
 replied the other ; so away they went together, and after 
 some time came to a place where there were innumer- 
 able white houses rising one above the other, and shaded 
 by dense groves of lemon-trees. They threaded their 
 way past countless doors, not at all similar to those 
 usually used, and saw a great many official-looking men 
 and women passing and repassing, each of whom called 
 out to the man in serge, ‘‘ Has Mr. Tou come? ” to 
 which he always replied in the affirmative. Here a 
 mandarin met them and escorted Tou into a palace, 
 upon which the latter remarked, “This is really very 
 kind of you ; but I haven't the honour of knowing you, 
 and I feel somewhat diffident about going in. ,> “Our 
 Prince, answered his guide, <4 has long heard of you as 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 57 
 
 a man of good family and excellent principles, and is 
 very anxious to make your acquaintance,” u Who is 
 your Prince ?” inquired Tou. “ You’ll see for yourself 
 in a moment,” said the other ; and just then out came 
 two girls with banners, and guided Tou through a great 
 number of doors until they came to a throne, upon 
 which sat the Prince. His Highness immediately de- 
 scended to meet him, and made him take the seat of 
 honour ; after which ceremony exquisite viands of all 
 kinds were spread out before them. Looking up, Tou 
 noticed a scroll, on which was inscribed, The Cassia 
 Courts and he was just beginning to feel puzzled as to 
 what he should say next, when the Prince addressed him 
 as follows : 一 “ The honour of having you for a neigh- 
 bour is, as it were, a bond of affinity between us. Let 
 us, then, give ourselves up to enjoyment, and put away 
 suspicion and fear.” Tou murmured his acquiescence ; 
 and when the wine had gone round several times there 
 arose from a distance the sound of pipes and singing, 
 unaccompanied, however, by the usual drum, and very 
 much subdued in volume. Thereupon the Prince 
 looked about him and cried out, “We are about to 
 set a verse for any of you gentlemen to cap ; here you 
 are : — 1 Genius seeks the Cassia Court? ” While the 
 courtiers were all engaged in thinking of some fit 
 antithesis , 1 Tou added, ^Refinement loves the Lily flower ； J, 
 
 1 In this favourite pastime of the literati in China the important 
 point is that each word in the second line should be a due and 
 proper antithesis of the word in the first line to which it corre- 
 sponds. 
 
STRANGE STORIES 
 
 58 
 
 upon which the Prince exclaimed, u How strange ! Lily 
 is my daughters name ; and, after sucli a coincidence, 
 she must come in for you to see her. ,> In a few mo- 
 ments the tinkling of her ornaments and a delicious 
 fragrance of musk announced the arrival of the Princess, 
 who was between sixteen and seventeen and endowed 
 with surpassing beauty. The Prince bade her make an 
 obeisance to Tou, at the same time introducing her as 
 his daughter Lily; and as soon as the ceremony was 
 over the young lady moved away. Tou remained in a 
 state of stupefaction, and, when the Prince proposed 
 that they should pledge each other in another bumper, 
 paid not the slightest attention to what he said Then 
 the Prince, perceiving what had distracted his guest’s 
 attention, remarked that he was anxious to find a con- 
 sort for his daughter, but that unfortunately there was 
 the difficulty of species^ and he didn't know what to do ; 
 but again Tou took no notice of what the Prince was 
 saying, until at length one of the bystanders plucked his 
 sleeve, and asked him if he hadn’t seen that the Prince 
 wished to drink with him, and had just been addressing 
 some remarks to him. Thereupon Tou started, and, re- 
 covering himself at once, rose from the table and 
 apologized to the Prince for his rudeness, declaring that 
 he had taken so much wine he didn^ know what he 
 was doing. “Besides,” said he, “your Highness has 
 doubtless business to transact ; I will therefore take my 
 leave. “I am extremely pleased to have seen you，” 
 replied the Prince, iC and only regret that you are in such 
 a hurry to be gone. However, I won J t detain you now ; 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 59 
 
 but, if you don’t forget all about us， I shall be very glad 
 to invite you here again.” He then gave orders that Tou 
 should be escorted home; and on the way one of the 
 courtiers asked the latter why he had said nothing when 
 the Prince had spoken of a consort for his daughter, as 
 his Highness had evidently made the remark with an 
 eye to securing Tou as his son-in-law. The latter was 
 now sorry that he had missed his opportunity ; mean- 
 while they reached his house, and he himself awoke. 
 The sun had already set, and there he sat in the gloom 
 thinking of what had happened. In the evening he put 
 out his candle, hoping to continue his dream ； but, alas ! 
 the thread was broken, and all he could do was to pour 
 forth his repentance in sighs. One night he was sleep- 
 ing at a friend^ house when suddenly an officer of the 
 court walked in and summoned him to appear before the 
 Prince; so up he jumped, and hurried off at once to the 
 palace, where he prostrated himself before the throne. 
 The Prince raised him and made him sit down, saying 
 that since they had last met he had become aware that 
 Tou would be willing to marry his daughter, and hoped 
 that he might be allowed to offer her as a handmaid. 
 Tou rose and thanked the Prince, who thereupon gave 
 orders for a banquet to be prepared ; and when they had 
 finished their wine it was announced that the Princess 
 had completed her toilet Immediately a bevy of young 
 ladies came in with the Princess in their midst, a red 
 veil covering her head, and her tiny footsteps sounding 
 like rippling water as they led her up to be introduced to 
 Tou. When the ceremonies were concluded, Tou said 
 
6〇 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 to the Princess, u In your presence, Madam, it would be 
 easy to forget even death itself ; but,* tell me, is not this 
 all a dream ? ” “ And how can it be a dream,” asked 
 the Princess, u when you and I are here together ? 
 
 Next morning Tou amused himself by helping the 
 Princess to paint her face , 2 and then, seizing a girdle, 
 began to measure the size of her waist 3 and the length 
 of her fingers and feet. “Are you crazy?” cried she, 
 laughing; to which Tou replied, U I have been deceived 
 so often by dreams, that I am now making a careful 
 record. If such it turns out to be, I shall still have 
 something as a souvenir of you.” While they were thus 
 chatting a maid rushed into the room, shrieking out, 
 4 { Alas, alas! a great monster has got into the palace: 
 the Prince has fled into a side chamber : destruction is 
 surely come upon us.” Tou was in a great fright when 
 he heard this, and rushed off to see the Prince, who 
 grasped his hand and, with tears in his eyes, begged him 
 not to desert them. “ Our relationship,” cried he, “ was 
 cemented when Heaven sent this calamity upon us ; and 
 now my kingdom will be overthrown. What shall I 
 do?” Tou begged to know what was the matter ; and 
 then the Prince laid a despatch upon the table, telling 
 Tou to open it and make himself acquainted with its 
 contents. This despatch ran as follows : — “The Grand 
 Secretary of State, Black Wings, to His Royal Highness, 
 
 2 See No. LXII., note i. 
 
 3 See No. LXIX., note 5. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 6l 
 
 announcing the arrival of an extraordinary monster, and 
 advising the immediate removal of the Court in order to 
 preserve the vitality of the empire. A report has just 
 been received from the officer in charge of the Yellow 
 Gate stating that, ever since the 6th of the 5th moon, a 
 huge monster, 10,000 feet in length, has been lying 
 coiled up outside the entrance to the palace, and that it 
 has already devoured 13,800 and odd of your Highness’s 
 subjects, and is spreading desolation far and wide. On 
 receipt of this information your servant proceeded to 
 make a reconnaissance, and there beheld a venomous 
 reptile with a head as big as a mountain and eyes like 
 vast sheets of water. Every time it raised its head, 
 whole buildings disappeared down its throat ; and, on 
 stretching itself out, walls and houses were alike laid in 
 ruins. In all antiquity there is no record of such a 
 scourge. The fate of our temples and ancestral halls is 
 now a mere question of hours ; we therefore pray your 
 Royal Highness to depart at once with the Royal Family 
 and seek somewhere else a happier abode.” 4 When 
 Tou had read this document his face turned ashy pale ; 
 and just then a messenger rushed in, shrieking out, 
 u Here is the monster ! at which the whole Court burst 
 into lamentations as if their last hour was at hand The 
 Prince was beside himself with fear; all he could do 
 
 4 The language in which this fanciful document is couched is 
 precisely such as would be used by an officer of the Government in 
 announcing some national calamity; hence the value of these tales, 
 一 models as they are of the purest possible style. 
 
62 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 was to beg Tou to look to his own safety without regard- 
 ing the wife through whom he was involved in their 
 misfortunes. The Princess, however, who was standing 
 by bitterly lamenting the fate that had fallen upon them, 
 begged Tou not to desert her; and, after a moment’s 
 hesitation, he said he should be only too happy to place 
 his own poor home at their immediate disposal if they 
 would only deign to honour him. “ How can we talk of 
 deigning^ cried the Princess, u at such a moment as 
 this? I pray you take us there as quickly as possible.” 
 So Tou gave her his arm, and in no time they had ar- 
 rived at Toil’s house， which the Princess at once 
 pronounced to be a charming place of residence, and 
 better even than their former kingdom. u But I must 
 now ask you,^ said she to Tou, u to make some arrange- 
 ment for my father and mother, that the old order of 
 things may be continued here.” Tou at first offered 
 objections to this ; whereupon the Princess said that a 
 man who would not help another in his hour of need 
 was not much of a man, and immediately went off into 
 a fit of hysterics, from which Tou was trying his best to 
 recall her, when all of a sudden he awoke and found 
 that it was all a dream. However, he still heard a 
 buzzing in his ears which he knew was not made by any 
 human being, and, on looking carefully about he dis- 
 covered two or three bees which had settled on his 
 pillow. He was very much astonished at this, and con- 
 sulted with his friend, who was also greatly amazed at 
 his strange story; and then the latter pointed out a 
 number of other bees on various parts of his dress, none 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 6 3 
 
 of which would go away even when brushed off. His 
 friend now advised him to get a hive for them, which he 
 did without delay ; and immediately it was filled by a 
 whole swarm of bees, which came flying from over the 
 wall in great numbers. On tracing whence they had come, 
 it was found that they belonged to an old gentleman who 
 lived near, and who had kept bees for more than thirty 
 years previously. Tou thereupon went and told him the 
 story ; and when the old gentleman examined his hive 
 he found the bees all gone. On breaking it open he 
 discovered a large snake inside of about ten feet in 
 length, which he immediately killed, recognising in it 
 the “ huge monster ’’ of Toil’s adventure. As for the 
 bees, they remained with Tou, and increased in numbers 
 every year. 
 
64 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 LXXI. 
 
 THE DONKEY’S REVENGE. 
 
 Chung Ch c ing-yu was a scholar of some reputation, 
 who lived in Manchuria. When he went up for his 
 master’s degree, he heard that there was a Taoist priest 
 at the capital who would tell people’s fortunes, and was 
 very anxious to see him ; and at the conclusion of the 
 second part of the examination , 1 he accidentally met 
 him at Pao-t‘u-ch‘iian . 2 The priest was over sixty years 
 of age, and had the usual white beard flowing down 
 over his breast. Around him stood a perfect wall of 
 people inquiring their future fortunes, and to each the 
 old man made a brief reply : but when he saw Chung 
 among the crowd, he was overjoyed, and, seizing him by 
 the hand, said, u Sir, your virtuous intentions command 
 my esteem.” He then led him up behind a screen, and 
 asked if he did not wish to know what was to come ; 
 and when Chung replied in the affirmative, the priest 
 
 1 The examination consists of three bouts of three days each, 
 during which periods the candidates remain shut up in their exami- 
 nation cells day and night. 
 
 2 The name of a place. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 65 
 
 informed him that his prospects were bad, “ You may 
 succeed in passing this examination,” continued he, “ but 
 on returning covered with honour to your home, I fear 
 that your mother will be no longer there.” Now Chung 
 was a very filial son ; and as soon as he heard these 
 words, his tears began to flow, and he declared that he 
 would go back without competing any further. The 
 priest observed that if he let this chance slip, he could 
 never hope for success; to which Chung replied that, on 
 the other hand, if his mother were to die he could never 
 hope to have her back again, and that even the rank of 
 Viceroy would not repay him for her loss. “Well,” 
 said the priest, 66 you and I were connected in a former 
 existence, and I must do my best to help you now.” 
 So he took out a pill which he gave to Chung, and told 
 him that if he sent it post-haste by some one to his 
 mother, it would prolong her life for seven days, and 
 thus he would be able to see her once again after the 
 examination was over. Chung took the pill, and went 
 off in very low spirits ; but be soon reflected that the 
 span of human life is a matter of destiny, and that 
 every day he could spend at home would be one more 
 day devoted to the service of his mother. Accordingly, 
 he got ready to start at once, and, hiring a donkey, 
 actually set out on his way back When he had gone 
 about half-a-mile, the donkey turned round and ran 
 home; and when he used his whip, the animal threw 
 itself down on the ground. Chung got into a great 
 perspiration, and his servant recommended him to 
 remain where he was ; but this he would not hear of, 
 
 VOL. II. F 
 
66 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 and hired another donkey, which served him exactly 
 the same trick as the other one. The sun was now 
 sinking behind the hills, and his servant advised his 
 master to stay and finish his examination while he 
 himself went back home before him. Chung had no 
 alternative but to assent, and the next day he hurried 
 through with his papers, starting immediately afterwards, 
 and not stopping at all on the way either to eat or to 
 sleep. All night long he went on, and arrived to find 
 his mother in a very critical state ; however, when he 
 gave her the pill she so far recovered that he was able 
 to go in and see her. Grasping his hand, she begged 
 him not to weep, telling him that she had just dreamt 
 she had been down to the Infernal Regions, where the 
 King of Hell had informed her with a gracious smile 
 that her record was fairly clean, and that in view of the 
 filial piety of her son she was to have twelve years more 
 of life. Chung was rejoiced at this, and his mother 
 was soon restored to her former health. 
 
 Before long the news arrived that Chung had passed 
 his examination ; upon which he bade adieu to his 
 mother, and went off to the capital, where he bribed ' the 
 eunuchs of the palace to communicate with his friend 
 the Taoist priest The latter was very much pleased, 
 and came out to see him, whereupon Chung prostrated 
 himself at his feet “Ah,” said the priest, “ this 
 success of yours, and the prolongation of your good 
 mothers life, is all a reward for your virtuous conduct 
 What have I done in the matter ? Chung was very 
 much astonished that the priest should already know 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 67 
 
 what had happened ; however, he now inquired as to 
 his own future. “You will never rise to high rank，’’ 
 replied the priest, u but you will attain the years of an 
 octogenarian. In a former state of existence you and 
 I were once travelling together, when you threw a stone 
 at a dog, and accidentally killed a frog. Now that frog 
 has re-appeared in life as a donkey, and according to 
 all principles of destiny you ought to suffer for what 
 you did ; but your filial piety has touched the Gods, a 
 protecting star-influence has passed into your nativity 
 sheet, and you will come to no harm. On the other 
 hand, there is your wife ; in her former state she was 
 not as virtuous as she might have been, and her punish- 
 ment in this life was to be widowed quite young ; you, 
 however, have secured the prolongation of your own 
 term of years, and therefore I fear that before long 
 your wife will pay the penalty of death.” Chung 
 was much grieved at hearing this ; but after a while 
 he asked the priest where his second wife to 
 be was living. “At Chung-chou，” replied the latter; 
 “she is now fourteen years old.” The priest then 
 bade him adieu, telling him that if any mischance 
 should befall him he was to hurry off towards the south- 
 east. About a year after this, Chung’s wife did die ; 
 and his mother then desiring him to go and visit his 
 uncle, who was a magistrate in Kiangsi, on which 
 journey he would have to pass through Chung-chou, 
 it seemed like a fulfilment of the old priest’s prophecy. 
 As he went along, he came to a village on the banks 
 of a river, where a large crowd of people was gathered 
 f 2 
 
68 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 together round a theatrical performance which was going 
 on there. Chung would have passed quietly by, had 
 not a stray donkey followed so close behind him that he 
 turned round and hit it over the ears. This startled 
 the donkey so much that it ran off full gallop， and 
 knocked a rich gentleman’s child, 'vho was sitting with 
 its nurse on the bank, right into the water, before any 
 one of the servants could lend a hand to save it. 
 Immediately there was a great outcry against Chung, 
 who gave his mule the rein and dashed away, mindful 
 of the priest’s warning, towards the south-east After 
 riding about seven miles, he reached a mountain village, 
 where he saw an old man standing at the door of a 
 house, and, jumping off his mule, made him a low 
 bow. The old man asked him in, and inquired his 
 name and whence he came ; to which Chung replied by 
 telling him the whole adventure. “ Never fear,” said 
 the old man ; u you can stay here, while I send out to 
 learn the position of affairs. w By the evening his mes- 
 senger had returned, and then they knew for the first 
 time that the child belonged to a wealthy family. The 
 old man looked grave and said, <£ Had it been anybody 
 else’s child， I might have helped you ; as it is I can do 
 nothing.” Chung was greatly alarmed at this ; however, 
 the old man told him to remain quietly there for the 
 night, and see what turn matters might take. Chung 
 was overwhelmed with anxiety, and did not sleep a 
 wink ； and next morning he heard that the constables 
 were after him, and that it was death to any one who 
 should conceal him. The old man changed counte- 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 69 
 
 nance at this, and went inside, leaving Chung to his own 
 reflections; but towards the middle of the night he 
 came and knocked at Chunks door, and, sitting down, 
 began to ask how old his wife was. Chung replied that 
 he was a widower ; at which the old man seemed rather 
 pleased, and declared that in such case help would be 
 forthcoming for,” said he, ‘‘ my sister’s husband has 
 taken the vows and become a priest , 3 and my sister 
 herself has died, leaving an orphan girl who has now no 
 
 home ; and if you would otily marry her ” 
 
 Chung was delighted, more especially as this would be 
 both the fulfilment of the Taoist priest’s prophecy， and a 
 means of extricating himself from his present difficulty; 
 at the same time, he declared he should be sorry to 
 implicate his future father-in-law. “Never fear about 
 that,” replied the old man ; “ my sister’s husband is 
 pretty skilful in the black art. He has not mixed much 
 with the world of late ; but when you are married, you 
 can discuss the matter with my niece.” So Chung 
 married the young lady, who was sixteen years of age, 
 and very beautiful; but whenever he looked at her he 
 took occasion to sigh. At last she said, “I may be 
 ugly; but you needn’t be in such a hurry to let me 
 
 3 This interesting ceremony is performed by placing little conical 
 pastilles on a certain number of spots, varying from three to twelve, 
 on the candidate’s head. These are then lighted and allowed to 
 burn down into the flesh, while the surrounding parts are vigorously 
 rubbed by attendant priests in order to lessen the pain. The whole 
 thing lasts about twenty minutes, and is always performed on the 
 eve of Shakyamuni Buddha’s birthday. The above was well de- 
 scribed by Mr. S. L. Baldwin in the Foochow Herald. 
 
7 ° 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 know it whereupon Chung begged her pardon, and 
 said he felt himself only too lucky to have met with such 
 a divine creature; adding that he sighed because he 
 feared some misfortune was coming ^on them which 
 would separate them for ever. He then told her his 
 story, and the young lady was very angry that she should 
 have been drawn into such a difficulty without a word of 
 warning. Chung fell on his knees, and said he had 
 already consulted with her uncle, who was unable him- 
 self to do anything, much as he wished it. He con- 
 tinued that he was aware of her power; and then, 
 pointing out that his alliance was not altogether beneath 
 her, made all kinds of promises if she would only help 
 him out of this trouble. The young lady was no 
 longer able to refuse, but informed him that to apply 
 to her father would entail certain disagreeable conse- 
 quences, as he had retired from the world, and did 
 not any more recognise her as his daughter. That 
 night they did not attempt to sleep, spending the in- 
 terval in padding their knees with thick felt concealed 
 beneath their clothes ; and then they got into chairs and 
 were carried off to the hills. After journeying sdme 
 distance, they were compelled by the nature of the road 
 to alight and walk ; and it was only by a great effort 
 that Chung succeeded at last in getting his wife to the 
 top. At the door of the temple they sat down to rest, 
 the powder and paint on the young lady’s face having 
 all mixed with the perspiration trickling down; but when 
 Chung began to apologize for bringing her to this pass, 
 she replied that it was a mere trifle compared with what 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 71 
 
 was to come. By-and-by, they went inside ; and 
 threading their way to the wall beyond, found the 
 young lady’s father sitting in contemplation , 4 his eyes 
 closed, and a servant-boy standing by with a chowry . 5 
 Everything was beautifully clean and nice, but before 
 the dais were sharp stones scattered about as thick as 
 the stars in the sky. The young lady did not venture 
 to select a favourable spot ; she fell on her knees at once, 
 and Chung did likewise behind her. Then her father 
 opened his eyes, shutting them again almost instanta- 
 neously; whereupon the young lady said, “For a long 
 time I have not paid my respects to you. I am now 
 married, and I have brought my husband to see you.” 
 A long time passed away, and then her father opened 
 his eyes and said, “You’re giving a great deal of 
 trouble,” immediately relapsing into silence again. 
 There the husband and wife remained until the stones 
 seemed to pierce into their very bones; but after a 
 while the father cried out, “Have you brought the 
 donkey ? ’’ His daughter replied that they had not ; 
 whereupon they were told to go and fetch it at once, 
 which they did, not knowing what the meaning of this 
 order was. After a few more days’ kneeling, they 
 suddenly heard that the murderer of the child had been 
 caught and beheaded, and were just congratulating each 
 
 4 There is a room in most Buddhist temples specially devoted 
 to this purpose. 
 
 5 The Buddhist emblem of cleanliness; generally a yak's tail, and 
 commonly used as a fly-brush. 
 
72 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 other on the success of their scheme, when a servant 
 came in with a stick in his hand, the top of which had 
 been chopped off. “ This stick,” said the servant, “died 
 instead of you. Bury it reverently, that the wrong done 
 to the tree may be somewhat atoned for . ,?6 Then Chung 
 saw that at the place where the top of the stick had 
 been chopped off there were traces of blood ; he there- 
 fore buried it with the usual ceremony, and immediately- 
 set off with his wife, and returned to his own home. 
 
 6 Tree-worship can hardly be said to exist in China at the present 
 day ; though at a comparatively recent epoch this phase of religious 
 sentiment must have been widely spread. See Ttie Flower Nymphs 
 and Mr, Willow. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 73 
 
 LXXII. 
 
 THE WOLF DREAM. 
 
 Mr. Pai was a native of Chi-li, and his eldest son 
 was called Chia. The latter had been some two years 
 holding an appointment 1 as magistrate in the south ; but 
 because of the great distance between them, his family 
 had heard nothing of him. One day a distant con- 
 nection, named Ting, called at the house ; and Mr. Pai, 
 not having seen this gentleman for a long time, treated 
 him with much cordiality. Now Ting was one of those 
 persons who are occasionally employed by the Judge of 
 the Infernal Regions to make arrests on earth ; 2 and, as 
 they were chatting together, Mr. Pai questioned him 
 about the realms below. Ting told him all kinds of 
 strange things, but Pai did not believe them, answering 
 only by a smile. Some days afterwards, he had just lain 
 
 1 Literally, <c had been allotted the post of Nan-fu magistrate, n 
 such appointments being always determined by drawing lots. 
 
 2 Such is one common explanation of catalepsy (see No. I., 
 note 5), it being further averred that the proper lictors of the 
 Infernal regions are unable to remain long in the light of the 
 upper world. 
 
74 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 down to sleep when Ting walked in and asked him to go 
 for a stroll; so they went off together, and by-and-by 
 reached the city. “There,” said Ting, pointing to a 
 door, “lives your nephew, alluding to a son of Mr. 
 Pai^s elder sister, who was a magistrate in Honan ; and 
 when Pai expressed his doubts as to the accuracy of this 
 statement, Ting led him in, when, lo and behold ! there 
 was his nephew, sitting in his court dressed in his official 
 robes. Around him stood the guard, and it was impos- 
 sible to get near him ; but Ting remarked that his son^ 
 residence was not far off, and asked Pai if he would not 
 like to see him too. The latter assenting, they walked 
 along till they came to a large building, which Ting said 
 was the place. However, there was a fierce wolf at the 
 entrance , 3 and Mr. Pai was afraid to go in. Ting bade 
 him enter, and accordingly they walked in, when they 
 found that all the employes of the place, some of whom 
 were standing about and others lying down to sleep, 
 were all wolves. The central pathway was piled up with 
 whitening bones, and Mr. Pai began to feel horribly 
 alarmed ; but Ting kept close to him all the time, and 
 at length they got safely in. Pai^ son, Chia, was just 
 coming out ; and when he saw his father accompanied 
 by Ting, he was overjoyed, and, asking them to sit 
 
 3 Upon a wall at the entrance to every official residence is painted 
 a huge fabulous animal, called Greed, in such a position that the 
 resident mandarin must see it every time he goes out of his front 
 gates. It is to warn him against greed and the crimes that are sure 
 to flow from it. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 H r* 
 
 /D 
 
 down, bade the attendants serve some refreshment. 
 Thereupon a great big wolf brought in in his mouth 
 the carcase of a dead man, and set it before them, at 
 which Mr. Pai rose up in consternation, and asked his 
 son what this meant. “ It’s only a little refreshment for 
 you, father,” replied Chia; but this did not calm Mr. 
 Pai J s agitation, who would have retired precipitately, had 
 it not been for the crowd of wolves which barred the 
 path. Just as he was at a loss what to do, there was a 
 general stampede among the animals which scurried 
 away, some under the couches and some under the 
 tables and chairs ; and while he was wondering what the 
 cause of this could be, in marched two knights in golden 
 armour, who looked sternly at Chia, and, producing a 
 black rope, proceeded to bind him hand and foot. Chia 
 fell down before them, and was changed into a tiger with 
 horrid fangs ; and then one of the knights drew a glit- 
 tering sword and would have cut off its head, had not 
 the other cried out, u Not yet ! not yet ! that is for the 
 fourth month next year. Let us now only take out its 
 teeth/’ Immediately that knight produced a huge 
 mallet, and, with a few blows, scattered the tiger ? s teeth 
 all over the floor, the tiger roaring so loudly with pain as 
 to shake the very hills, and frightening all the wits out of 
 Mr. Pai — who woke up with a start. He found he had 
 been dreaming, and at once sent off to invite Ting to 
 come and see him ; but Ting sent back to say he must 
 beg to be excused. Then Mr. Pai, pondering on what 
 he had seen in his dream, despatched his second son 
 with a letter to Chia, full of warnings and good advice ; 
 
76 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 and lo ! when his son arrived, he found that his elder 
 brother had lost all his front teeth, these having been 
 knocked out, as he averred, by a fall he had had from 
 his horse when tipsy ; and, on comparing dates, the day 
 of that fall was found to coincide with the day of his 
 father’s dream. The younger brother was greatly amazed 
 at this, and took out their father's letter, which he gave 
 to Chia to read. The latter changed colour, but imme- 
 diately asked his brother what there was to be astonished 
 at in the coincidence of a dream. And just at that time 
 he was busily engaged in bribing his superiors to put him 
 first on the list for promotion, so that he soon forgot all 
 about the circumstance ; while the younger, observing 
 what harpies Chia’s subordinates were, taking presents 
 from one man and using their influence for another, in 
 one unbroken stream of corruption, sought out his elder 
 brother, and, with tears in his eyes, implored him to put 
 some check upon their rapacity. “ My brother,” replied 
 Chia, u your life has been passed in an obscure village ; 
 you know nothing of our official routine. We are pro- 
 moted or degraded at the will of our superiors, and not 
 by the voice of the people. He, therefore, who gratifies 
 his superiors is marked out for success ; 4 whereas he 
 who consults the wishes of the people is unable to gratify 
 his superiors as well.” Chia’s brother saw that his advice 
 was thrown away ; he accordingly returned home and 
 told his father all that had taken place. The old man 
 
 4 Such, indeed, is the case at the present day in China, and else- 
 where. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 77 
 
 was much affected, but there was nothing that he could do 
 in the matter, so he devoted himself to assisting the poor, 
 and such acts of charity, daily praying the Gods that the 
 wicked son alone might suffer for his crimes, and not 
 entail misery on his innocent wife and children. The 
 next year it was reported that Chia had been recom- 
 mended for a post in the Board of Civil Office , 5 and 
 friends crowded the fathers door, offering their congratu- 
 lations upon the happy event. But the old man sighed 
 and took to his bed, pretending he was too unwell to 
 receive visitors. Before long another message came, in- 
 forming them that Chia had fallen in with bandits while 
 on his way home, and that he and all his retinue had 
 been killed. Then his father arose and said, ^Verily the 
 Gods are good unto me, for they have visited his sins 
 upon himself alone and he immediately proceeded to 
 burn incense and return thanks. Some of his friends 
 would have persuaded him that the report was probably 
 untrue ; but the old man had no doubts as to its correct- 
 ness, and made haste to get ready his son^ grave. But 
 Chia was not yet dead. In the fatal fourth moon he 
 had started on his journey and had fallen in with 
 bandits, to whom he had offered all his money and 
 valuables ; upon which the latter cried out, u We have 
 come to avenge the cruel wrongs of many hundreds of 
 victims; do you imagine we want only thatV^ They 
 then cut off his head, and the head of his wicked secre- 
 tar} r , and the heads of several of his servants who had 
 
 5 See No. VII., note i. 
 
73 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 been foremost in carrying out his shameful orders, and 
 were now accompanying him to the capital. They then 
 divided the booty between them, and made off with all 
 speed. Chia’s soul remained near his body for some 
 time, until at length a high mandarin passing by asked 
 who it was that was lying there dead. One of his 
 servants replied that he had been a magistrate at such 
 and such a place, and that his name was Pai. “ What ! ’’ 
 said the mandarin, u the son of old Mr. Pai ? It is hard 
 that his father should live to see such sorrow as this. 
 Put his head on again.’’ 6 Then a man stepped forward 
 and placed Chia’s head upon his shoulders again, when 
 the mandarin interrupted him, saying, u A crooked- 
 minded man should not have a straight body: put his 
 head on sideways.” By-and-by Chia’s soul returned to 
 its tenement ; and when his wife and children arrived to 
 take away the corpse, they found that he was still breath- 
 ing. Carrying him home, they poured some nourishment 
 down his throat, which he was able to swallow ; but there 
 he was at an out-of-the-way place, without the means of 
 continuing his journey. It was some six months before 
 his father heard the real state of the case, and then he 
 sent off the second son to bring his brother home. Chia 
 had indeed come to life again, but he was able to see 
 down his own back, and was regarded ever afterwards 
 
 6 The great sorrow of decapitation as opposed to strangulation is 
 that the body will appear in the realms below without a head. The 
 family of any condemned man who may have sufficient means 
 always bribe the executioner to sew it on again. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 79 
 
 more as a monstrosity than as a man. Subsequently the 
 nephew, whom old Mr. Pai had seen sitting in state 
 surrounded by officials, actually became an Imperial 
 Censor, so that every detail of the dream was thus 
 strangely realised . 7 
 
 7 This story is an admirable expose of Chinese official corruption, 
 as rampant at the present day as ever in the long history of China. 
 
8 〇 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 LXXIII. 
 
 THE UNJUST SENTENCE. 
 
 Mr. Chu was a native of Yang-ku, and, as a young 
 man, was much given to playing tricks and talking in a 
 loose kind of way. Having lost his wife, he went off to 
 ask a certain old woman to arrange another match for 
 him; and on the way, he chanced to fall in with a 
 neighbours wife who took his fancy very much. So he 
 said in joke to the old woman, w Get me that stylish- 
 looking, handsome lady, and I shall be quite satisfied 
 “ I’ll see what I can do,” replied the old woman, also 
 joking, “if you will manage to kill her present hus- 
 band ; upon which Chu laughed and said he certainly 
 would do so. Now about a month afterwards, the said 
 husband, who had gone out to collect some money due 
 to him, was actually killed in a lonely spot; and the 
 magistrate of the district immediately summoned the 
 neighbours and beadle 1 and held the usual inquest, but 
 was unable to find any clue to the murderer. However, 
 the old woman told the story of her conversation with 
 Chu, and suspicion at once f^ll upon him. The con- 
 
 See No. LXIV, note 2. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 8 1 
 
 stables came and arrested him; but he stoutly denied 
 the charge ; and the magistrate now began to suspect the 
 wife of the murdered man. Accordingly, she was 
 severely beaten and tortured in several ways until her 
 strength failed her, and she falsely acknowledged her 
 guilt . 2 Chu was then examined, and he said, “This 
 
 2 Such has, doubtless, been the occasional result of torture in 
 China ; but the singular keenness of the mandarins, as a body, in 
 recognising the innocent and detecting the guilty, — that is, when 
 their own avaricious interests are not involved, 一 makes this con- 
 tingency so rare as to be almost unknown. A good instance came 
 under my own notice at Swatow in 1876. For years a Chinese 
 servant had been employed at the foreign Custom House to carry a 
 certain sum of money every week to the bank, and at length his 
 honesty was above suspicion. On the occasion to which I allude 
 he had been sent as usual with the bag of dollars, but after a short 
 absence he rushed back with a frightful gash on his right arm, evi- 
 dently inflicted by a heavy chopper, and laying the bone bare. 
 The money was gone. He said he had been invited into a tea- 
 house by a couple of soldiers whom he could point out ; that they 
 had tried to wrest the bag from him, and that at length one of 
 them seized a chopper and inflicted so severe a wound on his arm, 
 that in his agony he dropped the money, and the soldiers made off 
 with it. The latter were promptly arrested and confronted with 
 their accuser ; but, with almost indecent haste, the police magistrate 
 dismissed the case against them, and declared that he believed the 
 man had made away with the money and inflicted the wound on 
 himself. And so it turned out to be, under overwhelming evidence. 
 This servant of proved fidelity had given way to a rash hope of 
 making a little money at the gaming-table ; had hurried into one 
 of these hells and lost everything in three stakes ; had wounded 
 himself on the right arm (he was a left-handed man), and had con- 
 cocted the story of the soldiers, all within the space of about 
 twenty-five minutes. When he saw that he was detected, he con- 
 fessed everything, without having received a single blow of the 
 bamboo ; but up to the moment of his confession the foreign 
 feeling against that police-magistrate was undeniably strong. 
 
 VOL. II. G 
 
82 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 delicate woman could not bear the agony of your tor- 
 tures ; what she has stated is untrue ; and, even should 
 her wrong escape the notice of the Gods, for her to die 
 in this way with a stain upon her name is more than I 
 can endure. I will tell the whole truth. I killed the 
 husband that I might secure the wife : she knew nothing 
 at all about it.” And when the magistrate asked for 
 some proof, Chu said his bloody clothes would be 
 evidence enough ; but when they sent to search his 
 house, no bloody clothes were forthcoming. He was 
 then beaten till he fainted ; yet when he came round he 
 still stuck to what he had said. “ It is my mother,” 
 cried he, u who will not sign the death-warrant of her 
 son. Let me go myself and I will get the clothes.” So 
 he was escorted by a guard to his home, and there he 
 explained to his mother that whether she gave up or 
 withheld the clothes, it was all the same ; that in either 
 case he would have to die, and it was better to die early 
 than late. Thereupon his mother wept bitterly, and 
 going into the bedroom, brought out, after a short delay, 
 the required clothes, which were taken at once to the 
 magistrate’s. There was now no doubt as to the truth of 
 Chu’s story; and as nothing occurred to change the 
 magistrate’s opinion, Chu was thrown into prison to 
 await the day for his execution. Meanwhile, as the 
 magistrate was one day inspecting his gaol, suddenly a 
 man appeared in the hall, who glared at him fiercely and 
 roared out, “ Dull-headed fool ! unfit to be the guardian 
 of the people’s interests ! ” 一 whereupon the crowd of ser- 
 vants standing round rushed forward to seize him, but with 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 83 
 
 one sweep of his arms he laid them all flat on the ground. 
 The magistrate was frightened out of his wits, and tried 
 to escape, but the man cried out to him, “ I am one of 
 Kuan Ti’s 3 lieutenants. If you move an inch you are 
 lost.” So the magistrate stood there, shaking from head 
 to foot with fear, while his visitor continued, “The 
 murderer is Kung Piao : Chu had nothing to do with 
 it.” 
 
 The lieutenant then fell down on the ground, and 
 was to all appearance lifeless ; however, after a while he 
 recovered, his face having quite changed, and when they 
 asked him his name, lo ! it was Kung Piao. Under the 
 application of the bamboo he confessed his guilt. 
 Always an unprincipled man, he had heard that the 
 murdered man was going out to collect money, and 
 thinking he would be sure to bring it back with him, he 
 had killed him, but had found nothing. Then when he 
 learnt that Chu had acknowledged the crime as his own 
 doing, he had rejoiced in secret at such a stroke of luck. 
 How he had got into the magistrate’s hall he was quite 
 unable to say. The magistrate now called for some ex- 
 planation of Chu's bloody clothes, which Chu himself 
 was unable to give ; but his mother, who was at once 
 sent for, stated that she had cut her own arm to stain 
 them, and when they examined her they found on her 
 left arm the scar of a recent wound. The magistrate 
 was lost in amazement at all this ; unfortunately for him 
 
 3 See No. I., note 3. 
 
 G 2 
 
84 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 the reversal of his sentence cost him his appointment, 
 and he died in poverty, unable to find his way home. 
 As for Chu, the widow of the murdered man married 
 him 4 in the following year, out of gratitude for his noble 
 behaviour. 
 
 4 See No. LXVIII., note i. The circumstances which led to this 
 marriage would certainly be considered “exceptional.” 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 85 
 
 LXXIV. 
 
 A RIP VAN WINKLE . 1 
 
 [The story runs that a Mr. Chia, after obtaining, with 
 the assistance of a mysterious friend, his master’s degree, 
 became alive to the vanity of mere earthly honours, and 
 determined to devote himself to the practice of Taoism, 
 in the hope of obtaining the elixir of immortality. 2 ] 
 
 So early one morning Chia and his friend, whose 
 name was Lang, stole away together, without letting 
 Chia’s family know anything about it; and by-and-by 
 they found themselves among the hills, in a vast cave 
 where there was another world and another sky. An old 
 man was sitting there in great state, and Lang presented 
 Chia to him as his future master. ‘‘ Why have you come 
 so soon ?” asked the old man ; to which Lang replied, 
 “ My friend’s determination is firmly fixed : I pray you 
 receive him amongst you.” ‘‘ Since you have come,” 
 said the old man, turning to Chia, “ you must begin by 
 
 1 This being a long and tedious story, I have given only such 
 part of it as is remarkable for its similarity to Washington Irving’s 
 famous narrative. 
 
 2 See No. IV., note 1. 
 
86 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 putting away from you your earthly body. ,> Chia mur- 
 mured his assent, and was then escorted by Lang to a 
 sleeping-chamber where he was provided with food, 
 after which Lang went away. The room was beautifully 
 clean : 3 the doors had no panels and the windows no 
 lattices; and all the furniture was one table and one 
 couch. Chia took off his shoes and lay down, with the 
 moon shining brightly into the room; and beginning 
 soon to feel hungry, he tried one of the cakes on the 
 table, which he found sweet and very satisfying. He 
 thought Lang would be sure to come back, but there he 
 remained hour after hour by himself, never hearing a 
 sound. He noticed, however, that the room was fragrant 
 with a delicious perfume ; his viscera seemed to be re- 
 moved from his body, by which his intellectual faculties 
 were much increased ; and every one of his veins and 
 arteries could be easily counted. Then suddenly he 
 heard a sound like that of a cat scratching itself ; and, 
 looking out of the window, he beheld a tiger sitting under 
 the verandah. He was horribly frightened for the 
 moment, but immediately recalling the admonition of 
 the old man, he collected himself and sat quietly down 
 again. The tiger seemed to know that there was a man 
 inside, for it entered the room directly afterwards, and 
 walking straight up to the couch sniffed at Chia^ feet 
 Whereupon there was a noise outside, as if a fowl were 
 having its legs tied, and the tiger ran away. Shortly 
 
 3 Borrowed from Buddhism. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 87 
 
 afterwards a beautiful young girl came in, suffusing an 
 exquisite fragrance around ; and going up to the couch 
 where Chia was, she bent over him and whispered, 
 “Here I am.” Her breath was like the sweet odour of 
 perfumes; but as Chia did not move, she whispered 
 again, “Are you sleeping?” The voice sounded to 
 Chia remarkably like that of his wife; however, he re- 
 flected that these were all probably nothing more than 
 tests of his determination, so he closed his eyes firmly 
 for a while. But by-and-by the young lady called him 
 by his pet name, and then he opened his eyes wide to 
 discover that she was no other than his own wife. On 
 asking her how she had come there, she replied that Mr. 
 Lang was afraid her husband would be lonely, and had 
 sent an old woman to guide her to him. Just then they 
 heard the old man outside in a towering rage, and 
 Chia’s wife, not knowing where to conceal herself, 
 jumped over a low wall near by and disappeared. In 
 came the old man, and gave Lang a severe beating 
 before Chia 7 s face, bidding him at once to get rid of his 
 visitor ; so Lang led Chia away over the low wall, saying, 
 u I knew how anxious you were to consummate your 
 immortality, and accordingly I tried to hurry things on 
 a bit; but now I see that your time has not yet come: 
 hence this beating I have had. Good-by : we shall meet 
 again some day.” He then shewed Chia the way to his 
 home, and waving his hand bade him farewell. Chia 
 looked down — for he was in the moon — and beheld the 
 old familiar village ; and recollecting that his wife was 
 not a good walker and would not have got very far, 
 
88 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 hurried on to overtake her. Before long he was at his 
 own door, but he noticed that the place was all tumble- 
 down and in ruins, and not as it was when he went away. 
 As for the people he saw, old and young alike, he did 
 not recognise one of them ; and recollecting the story of 
 how Liu and Yiian came back from heaven , 4 he was 
 afraid to go in at the door. So he sat down and rested 
 outside ; and after a while an old man leaning on a staff 
 came out, whereupon Chia asked him which was the 
 house of Mr. Chia. “ This is it,” replied the old man ; 
 u you probably wish to hear the extraordinary story con- 
 nected with the family ? I know all about it. They say 
 that Mr. Chia ran away just after he had taken his 
 master’s degree, when his son was only seven or eight 
 years old; and that about seven years afterwards the 
 child’s mother went into a deep sleep from which she 
 did not awake. As long as her son was alive he changed 
 his mother’s clothes for her according to the seasons, but 
 when he died, her grandsons fell into poverty, and had 
 nothing but an old shanty to put the sleeping lady into. 
 Last month she awaked, having been asleep for over a 
 hundred years. People from far and near have been 
 coming in great numbers to hear the strange story ; of 
 
 4 Alluding to a similar story, related in the Record of the 
 Immortals^ of how these two friends lost their way while gather- 
 ing simples on the hills, and were met and entertained by two 
 lovely young damsels for the space of half-a-year. When, however, 
 they subsequently returned home, they found that ten generations 
 had passed away. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 89 
 
 late, however, there have been rather fewer. Chia was 
 amazed when he heard all this, and, turning to the old 
 man, said, “ I am Chia Feng-chih.” This astonished the 
 old man very much, and off he went to make the an- 
 nouncement to Chi^s family. The eldest grandson was 
 dead ; and the second, a man of about fifty, refused to 
 believe that such a young-looking man was really his 
 grandfather ; but in a few moments out came Chia’s 
 wife, and she recognised her husband at once. They 
 then fell upon each other’s necks and mingled their tears 
 together. 
 
 [After which the story is drawn out to a considerable 
 length, but is quite devoid of interest .] 5 
 
 5 Besides the above, there is the story of a man named Wang, 
 who, wandering one day in the mountains, came upon some old 
 men playing a game of wei-chH (see Appendix) ; and after watching 
 them for some time, he found that the handle of an axe he had 
 with him had mouldered away into dust. Seven generations of 
 men had passed away in the interval. Also, a similar legend of a 
 horseman, who, when riding over the hills, saw several old men 
 playing a game with rushes, and tied his horse to a tree while he 
 himself approached to observe them. A few minutes afterwards he 
 turned to depart, but found only the skeleton of his horse and the 
 rotten remnants of the saddle and bridle. He then sought his 
 home, but that was gone too ; and so he laid himself down upon 
 the ground and died of a broken heart. 
 
9 〇 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 LXXV. 
 
 THE THREE STATES OF EXISTENCE. 
 
 A certain man of the province of Hunan could 
 recall what had happened to him in three previous lives. 
 In the first, he was a magistrate ; and, on one occasion, 
 when he had been nominated Assistant-Examiner , 1 a 
 candidate, named Hsing, was unsuccessful. Hsing went 
 home dreadfully mortified, and soon after died; but his 
 spirit appeared before the King of Purgatory, and read 
 aloud the rejected essay, whereupon thousands of other 
 shades, all of whom had suffered in a similar way, 
 thronged around, and unanimously elected Hsing as 
 their chief. The Examiner was immediately summoned 
 to take his trial, and when he arrived the King asked 
 him, saying, “ As you are appointed to examine the 
 various essays, how is it that you throw out the able 
 and admit the worthless ? ’’ “ Sire,” replied he, “the 
 
 ultimate decision rests with the Grand Examiner ; I 
 only pass them on to him.” The King then issued a 
 warrant for the apprehension of the Grand Examiner, 
 
 See Appeyidix A. 
 
FROM A* CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 91 
 
 and, as soon as he appeared, he was told what had 
 just now been said against him; to which he answered, 
 “ I am only able to make a general estimate of the 
 merits of the candidates. Valuable essays may be kept 
 back from me by my Associate-Examiners, in which case 
 I am powerless .” 2 But the King cried out, “ It’s all very 
 well for you two thus to throw the blame on each other ; 
 you are both guilty, and both of you must be bambooed 
 according to la'v.” This sentence was about to be 
 carried into effect, when Hsing, who was not at all 
 satisfied with its lack of severity, set up such a fearful 
 screeching and howling, in which he was well supported 
 by all the other hundreds and thousands of shades, that 
 the King stopped short, and inquired what was the 
 
 2 If there is one institution in the Chinese empire which is 
 jealously guarded and honestly administered, it is the great system 
 of competitive examinations which has obtained in China now for 
 many centuries. And yet frauds do take place, in spite of the 
 exceptionally heavy penalties incurred upon detection. Friends are 
 occasionally smuggled through by the aid of marked essays ; and 
 dishonest candidates avail themselves of if sleeve editions, as they 
 are called, of the books in which they are to be examined. On the 
 whole, the result is a successful one. As a rule the best candidates 
 pull through ; while, in exceptional cases, unquestionably good men 
 are rejected. Of the latter class, the author of this work is a 
 most striking instance. Excelling in literary attainments of the 
 highest order, he failed ’ more than once to obtain his master’s 
 degree, and finally threw up in disgust. Thenceforward he became 
 the enemy of the mandarinate ; and how he has lashed the cor- 
 ruption of his age may be read in such stories as The Wolf 
 Dreamy and many others, while the policy that he himself would 
 have adopted, had he been fortunate enough to succeed, must 
 remain for ever a matter of doubt and speculation. 
 
92 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 matter. Thereupon Hsing informed His Majesty that 
 the sentence was too light, and that the Examiners 
 should both have their eyes gouged out, so as not to 
 be able to read essays any more. The King would 
 not consent to this, explaining to the noisy rabble 
 that the Examiners did not purposely reject good 
 essays, but only because they themselves were naturally 
 wanting in capacity. The shades then begged that, at 
 any rate, their hearts might be cut out, and to this 
 the King was obliged to yield ; so the Examiners were 
 seized by the attendants, their garments stripped off, 
 and their bodies ripped open with sharp knives. The 
 blood poured out on the ground, and the victims 
 screamed with pain; at which all the shades rejoiced 
 exceedingly, and said, “ Here we have been pent up, 
 with no one to redress our wrongs ; but now Mr. Hsing 
 has come, our injuries are washed away.” They then 
 dispersed with great noise and hubbub. As for our 
 Associate-Examiner, after his heart had been cut out, he 
 came to life again as the son of a poor man in Shensi; 
 and when he was twenty years old he fell into the hands 
 of the rebels, who were at that time giving great trouble to 
 the country. By-and-by， a certain official was sent at the 
 head of some soldiers to put down the insurrection, and 
 he succeeded in capturing a large number of the rebels, 
 among whom was our hero. The latter reflected that he 
 himself was no rebel, and he was hoping that he would 
 be able to obtain his release in consequence, when he 
 noticed that the officer in charge was also a man of his 
 own age, and, on looking more closely, he saw that it 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 93 
 
 was his old enemy, Hsing. “ Alas !” cried he, “such 
 is destiny;” and so indeed it turned out, for all the 
 other prisoners were forthwith released, and he alone 
 was beheaded. Once more his spirit stood before the 
 King of Purgatory, this time with an accusation against 
 Hsing. The King, however, would not summon Hsing 
 at once, but said he should be allowed to complete his 
 term of official life on earth ; and it was not till thirty 
 years afterwards that Hsing appeared to answer to the 
 charge. Then, because he had made light of the lives 
 of his people, he was condemned to be born again as a 
 brute-beast ; and our hero, too, inasmuch as he had 
 been known to beat his father and mother, was sen- 
 tenced to a similar fate. The latter, fearing the future 
 vengeance of Hsing, persuaded the King to give him 
 the advantage of size ; and, accordingly, orders were 
 issued that he was to be born again as a big, and 
 Hsing as a little, dog. The big dog came to life in a 
 shop in Shun-t^en Fu, and was one day lying down in 
 the street, when a trader from the south arrived, 
 bringing with him a little golden-haired dog, about the 
 size of a wild cat, which, lo and behold ! turned out to 
 be Hsing. The other, thinking Hsin^s size would 
 render him an easy prey, seized him at once ; but the 
 little one caught him from underneath by the throat, 
 and hung there firmly, like a bell. The big dog tried 
 hard to shake him off, and the people of the shop did 
 their best to separate them, but all was of no avail, and 
 in a few moments both dogs were dead. Upon their 
 spirits presenting themselves, as usual, before the King, 
 
94 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 each with its grievance against the other, the King cried 
 out, “ When will ye have done with your wrongs and 
 your animosities ? I will now settle the matter finally 
 for you;” and immediately commanded that Hsing 
 should become the other’s son-in-law in the next world. 
 The latter was then born at Ch^ing-yiin, and when he 
 was twenty-eight years of age took his master’s degree. 
 He had one daughter, a very pretty girl, whom many of 
 his wealthy neighbours would have been glad to get for 
 their sons; but he would not accept any of their 
 offers. On one occasion, he happened to pass through 
 the prefectural city just as the examination for bachelor’s 
 degree was over ; and the candidate who had come out 
 at the top of the list, though named Li, was no other 
 than Mr. Hsing. So he led this man away, and took 
 him to an inn, where he treated him with the utmost 
 cordiality, finally arranging that, as Mr. Li was still 
 unmarried, he should marry his pretty daughter. Every- 
 one, of course, thought that this was done in admiration 
 of Li's talents, ignorant that destiny had already decreed 
 the union of the young couple. No sooner were they 
 married than Li, proud of his own literary achievements, 
 began to slight his father-in-law, and often passed many 
 months without going near him ; all of which the 
 father-in-law bore very patiently, and when, at length, 
 Li had repeatedly failed to get on any farther in his 
 career, he even went so far as to set to work, by all 
 manner of means, to secure his success ; after which they 
 lived happily together as father and son. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 95 
 
 LXXVI. 
 
 IN THE INFERNAL REGIONS. 
 
 Hsi Fang-p c ing was a native of Tung-an. His 
 father’s name was Hsi-Lien — a hasty-tempered man, 
 who had quarrelled with a neighbour named Yang. 
 By-and-by Yang died : and some years afterwards when 
 Lien was on his death-bed, he cried out that Yang 
 was bribing the devils in hell to torture him. His 
 body then swelled up and turned red, and in a few mo- 
 ments he had breathed his last. His son wept bitterly, 
 and refused all food, saying, “ Alas ! my poor father is 
 now being maltreated by cruel devils ; I must go down 
 and help to redress his wrongs.” Thereupon he ceased 
 speaking, and sat for a long time like one dazed, his 
 soul having already quitted its tenement of clay. To 
 himself he appeared to be outside the house, not 
 knowing in what direction to go, so he inquired from 
 one of the passers-by which was the way to the district 
 city . 1 Before long he found himself there, and, direct- 
 
 1 The Infernal Regions are supposed to be pretty much a counter- 
 part of the world above, excepting in the matter of light. 
 
96 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 ing his steps towards the prison, found his father lying 
 outside 2 in a very shocking state. When the latter 
 beheld his son, he burst into tears, and declared that 
 the gaolers had been bribed to beat him, which they 
 did both day and night, until they had reduced him to 
 his present sorry plight. Then Fang-p J ing turned round 
 in a great rage, and began to curse the gaolers. “Out 
 upon you ! cried he ; u if my father is guilty he should 
 be punished according to law, and not at the will of a 
 set of scoundrels like you.” Thereupon he hurried 
 away, and prepared a petition, which he took with him 
 to present at the morning session of the City God ; but 
 his enemy, Yang, had meanwhile set to work, and 
 bribed so effectually, that the City God dismissed his 
 petition for want of corroborative evidence . 3 Fang-p‘ing 
 was furious, but could do nothing; so he started at 
 once for the prefectural city, where he managed to get 
 his plaint received, though it was nearly a month before 
 it came on for hearing, and then all he got was a 
 reference back to the district city, where he was severely 
 tortured, and escorted back to the door of his own 
 home, for fear he should give further trouble. How- 
 
 2 The visitor to Canton cannot fail to observe batches of prisoners 
 with chains on them sitting in the street outside the prisons, many 
 of them engaged in plying their particular trades. 
 
 3 The judge in a Chinese court is necessarily very much dependent 
 on his secretaries ; and, except in special cases, he takes his cue 
 almost entirely from them. They take theirs from whichever party 
 to the case knows best how to “cross the palm.” 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 97 
 
 ever, he did not go in, but stole away and proceeded 
 to lay his complaint before one of the ten Judges of 
 Purgatory ; whereupon the two mandarins who had 
 previously ill-used him, came forward and secretly offered 
 him a thousand ounces of silver if he would withdraw 
 the charge. This he positively refused to do ; and some 
 days subsequently the landlord of the inn, where he was 
 staying, told him he had been a fool for his pains, and 
 that he would now get neither money nor justice, the 
 Judge himself having already been tampered with. 
 Fang-p 4 ing thought this was mere gossip, and would 
 not believe it; but, when his case was called, the Judge 
 utterly refused to hear the charge, and ordered him 
 twenty blows with the bamboo, which were administered 
 in spite of all his protestations. He then cried out, 
 “ Ah ! it’s all because I have no money to give you ; 
 which so incensed the Judge, that he told the lictors to 
 throw Fang-p £ ing on the fire-bed This was a great 
 iron couch, with a roaring fire underneath, which made 
 it red-hot; and upon that the devils cast Fang-p‘ing, 
 having first stripped off his clothes, pressing him down 
 on it, until the fire ate into his very bones, though in 
 spite of that he could not die. After a while the devils 
 said he had had enough, and made him get off the iron 
 bed, and put his clothes on again. He was just able 
 to walk, and when he went back into court, the Judge 
 asked him if he wanted to make any further complaints. 
 “ Alas !” cried he, “ my wrongs are still unredressed, 
 、and I should only be lying were I to say I would 
 complain no more.” The Judge then inquired what he 
 
 VOL. II. H 
 
9 8 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 had to complain of; to which Fang-p‘ing replied that it 
 was of the injustice of his recent punishment. This 
 enraged the Judge so much that he ordered his atten- 
 dants to saw Fang-p 4 ing in two. He was then led away 
 by devils, to a place where he was thrust in between a 
 couple of wooden boards, the ground on all sides being 
 wet and sticky with blood. Just at that moment he 
 was summoned to return before the Judge, who asked 
 him if he was still of the same mind; and, on his 
 replying in the affirmative, he was taken back again, 
 and bound between the two boards. The saw was then 
 applied, and as it went through his brain he experienced 
 the most cruel agonies, which, however, he managed to 
 endure without uttering a cry. 4 4 He^ a tough cus- 
 
 tomer, said one of the devils, as the saw made its 
 way gradually through his chest; to which the other 
 replied, Truly, this is filial piety; and, as the poor 
 fellow has done nothing, let us turn the saw a little out 
 of the direct line, so as to avoid injuring his heart.” 
 Fang_p‘ing then felt the Saw make a curve inside him, 
 which caused him even more pain than before ; and, in 
 a few moments, he was cut through right down to the 
 ground, and the two halves of his body fell apart, along 
 with the boards to which they were tied, one on either 
 side. The devils went back to report progress, and 
 were then ordered to join Fang-p‘ing together again, 
 and bring him in. This they accordingly did, — the cut 
 all down Fang-p^ing^ body hurting him dreadfully, and 
 feeling as if it would re-open every minute. But, as 
 Fang-p f ing was unable to walk, one of the devils took 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 99 
 
 out a cord and tied it round his waist, as a reward, he 
 said, for his filial piety. The pain immediately ceased, 
 and Fang-p 4 ing appeared once more before the Judge, 
 this time promising that he would make no more com- 
 plaints. The Judge now gave orders that he should be 
 sent up to earth, and the devils, escorting him out of 
 the north gate of the city, shewed him his way home, 
 and went away. Fang-p‘ing now saw that there was 
 even less chance of securing justice in the Infernal 
 Regions than upon the earth above ; and, having no 
 means of getting at the Great King to plead his case, 
 he bethought himself of a certain upright and benevo- 
 lent God, called Erh Lang, who was a relative of the 
 Great King's, and him he determined to seek. So he 
 turned about and took his way southwards, but was 
 immediately seized by some devils, sent out by the 
 Judge to watch that he really went back to his home. 
 These devils hurried him again into the Judged pre- 
 sence, where he was received, contrary to his expecta- 
 tion, with great affability; the Judge himself praising 
 his filial piety, but declaring that he need trouble no 
 further in the matter, as his father had already been 
 born again in a wealthy and illustrious family. “And 
 upon you,” added the Judge, “ I now bestow a present 
 of one thousand ounces of silver to take home with you, 
 as well as the old age of a centenarian, with which I 
 hope you will be satisfied” He then shewed Fang-p c ing 
 the stamped record of this, and sent him away in charge 
 of the devils. The latter now began to abuse him for 
 giving them so much trouble, but Fang-p ( ing turned 
 
 H 2 
 
IOO 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 sharply upon them, and threatened to take them back 
 before the Judge. They were then silent, and marched 
 along for about half-a-day, until at length they reached a 
 village, where the devils invited Fang-p c ing into a house, 
 the door of which was standing half-open. Fang-p‘ing 
 was just going in, when suddenly the devils gave him a 
 shove from behind, and . . . . there he was, bom 
 
 again on earth as a little girl. For three days he pined 
 and cried, without taking any food, and then he died. 
 But his spirit did not forget Erh Lang, and set out at 
 once in search of that God. He had not gone far when 
 he fell in with the retinue of some high personage, 
 and one of the attendants seized him for getting in the 
 way, and hurried him before his master. He was taken 
 to a chariot, where he saw a handsome young man, 
 sitting in great state; and thinking that now was his 
 chance, he told the young man, who he imagined to be 
 a high mandarin, all his sad story from beginning to 
 end. His bonds were then loosed, and he went along 
 with the young man until they reached a place where 
 several officials came out to receive them ; and to one 
 of these he confided Fang-p c ing, who now learnt that 
 the young man was no other than God himself, the 
 officials being the nine princes of heaven, and the one 
 to whose care he was entrusted no other than Erh Lang. 
 This last was very tall, and had a long white beard, not 
 at all like the popular representation of a God ; and 
 when the other princes had gone, he took Fang-p‘ing 
 into a court-room, where he saw his father and their old 
 enemy, Yang, besides all the lictors and others who had 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 IOI 
 
 been mixed up in the case. By-and-by, some criminals 
 were brought in in cages, and these turned out to be 
 the Judge, Prefect, and Magistrate. The trial was then 
 commenced, the three wicked officers trembling and 
 shaking in their shoes; and when he had heard the 
 evidence, Erh Lang proceeded to pass sentence upon 
 the prisoners, each of whom he sentenced, after en- 
 larging upon the enormity of their several crimes, to 
 be roasted, boiled, and otherwise put to most excru- 
 ciating tortures. As for Fang-p c ing, he accorded him 
 three extra decades of life, as a reward for his filial 
 piety, and a copy of the sentence was put in his pocket. 
 Father and son journeyed along together, and at length 
 reached their home ; that is to say, Fang-p c ing was the 
 first to recover consciousness, and then bade the ser- 
 vants open his fathers coffin, which they immediately 
 did, and the old man at once came back to life. But 
 when Fang-p £ ing looked for his copy of the sentence, 
 lo ! it had disappeared. As for the Yang family, 
 poverty soon overtook them, and all their lands passed 
 into Fang-p c ing’s hands; for as sure as any one else 
 bought them, they became sterile forthwith, and would 
 produce nothing ； but Fang-p‘ing and his father lived 
 on happily, both reaching the age of ninety and odd 
 years . 4 
 
 4 The whole story is of course simply a satire upon the venality 
 and injustice of the ruling classes in China. 
 
102 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 LXXVII. 
 
 SINGULAR CASE OF OPHTHALMIA. 
 
 A Mr, Ku, of Chiang-nan, was stopping in an inn 
 at Chi-hsia, when he was attacked by a very severe 
 inflammation of the eyes. Day and night he lay on his 
 bed groaning, no medicines being of any avail ; and 
 when he did get a little better, his recovery was accom- 
 panied by a singular phenomenon. Every time he 
 closed his eyes, he beheld in front of him a number of 
 large buildings, with all their doors wide open, and 
 people passing and repassing in the background, none 
 of whom he recognised by sight. One day he had just 
 sat down to have a good look, when, all of a sudden, he 
 felt himself passing through the open doors. He went 
 on through three court-yards without meeting any one ; 
 but, on looking into Some rooms .on either side, he saw 
 a great number of young girls sitting, lying, and kneel- 
 ing about on a red carpet, which was spread on the 
 ground. Just then a man came out from behind the 
 building, and, seeing Ku, said to him, u Ah, the Prince 
 said there was a stranger at the door; I suppose you 
 are the person he meant.” He then asked Ku to walk 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 103 
 
 in, which the latter was at first unwilling to do ; how- 
 ever, he yielded to the man^ instances, and accom- 
 panied him in, asking whose palace it was. His 
 guide told him it belonged to the son of the Ninth 
 Prince, and that he had arrived at the nick of time, 
 for a number of friends and relatives had chosen this 
 very day to come and congratulate the young gentleman 
 on his recent recovery from a severe illness. Meanwhile 
 another person had come out to hurry them on, and they 
 soon reached a spot where there was a pavilion facing 
 the north, with an ornamental terrace and red balus- 
 trades, supported by nine pillars. Ascending the 
 steps, they found the place full of visitors, and then 
 espied a young man seated with his face to the north , 1 
 whom they at once knew to be the Prince’s son, and 
 thereupon they prostrated themselves before him, the 
 whole company rising as they did so. The young 
 Prince made Ku sit down to the east of him, and 
 caused wine to be served ; after which some singing- 
 girls came in and performed the Hua-feng-chu . 2 They 
 had got to about the third scene, when, all of a sudden, 
 Ku heard the landlord of the inn and his servant 
 shouting out to him that dinner was ready, and was 
 
 1 In Book V. of Mencius* works we read that Shun, the perfect 
 man, stood with his face to the south, while the Emperor Yao (see 
 No. VIII., note 3) and his nobles faced the north. This arrange- 
 ment is said to have been adopted in deference to Shun^ virtue ; 
 for in modern times the Emperor always sits facing the south. 
 
 2 Name of a celebrated play. 
 
i 〇 4 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 dreadfully afraid that the young Prince, too, had heard. 
 No one, however, seemed to have noticed anything, 
 so Ku begged to be excused a moment, as he wished to 
 change his clothes, and immediately ran out He then 
 looked up, and saw the sun low in the west, and his 
 servant standing by his bedside, whereupon he knew 
 that he had never left the inn. He was much cha- 
 grined at this, and wished to go back as fast as he 
 could; he, therefore, dismissed his servant, and on 
 shutting his eyes once more, he found everything just 
 as he had left it, except that where, on the first 
 occasion, he had observed the young girls, there were 
 none now to be seen, but only some dishevelled hump- 
 backed creatures, who cried out at him, and asked him 
 what he meant by spying about there. Ku didn’t dare 
 reply, but hurried past them as quickly as he could, 
 and on to the pavilion of the young Prince. There he 
 found him still sitting, but with a black beard over a 
 foot in length; and the Prince was anxious to know 
 where he had been, saying that seven scenes of the 
 play were already over. He then seized a big goblet 
 of wine, and made Ku drink it as a penalty, by which 
 time the play was finished, and the list was handed up 
 for a further selection, The “ Marriage of P$ng Tsu ” 
 was selected, and then the singing-girls began to hand 
 round the wine in cocoa-nuts big enough to hold about 
 five quarts, which Ku declined, on the ground that he 
 was suffering from weak eyes, and was consequently 
 afraid to drink too much. “ If your eyes are bad,” 
 cried the young Prince, u the Court physician is at hand, 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 I0 5 
 
 and can attend to you.” Thereupon, one of the guests 
 sitting to the east came forward, and opening Ku’s 
 eyes with his fingers, touched them with some white 
 ointment, which he applied from the end of a jade 
 pin. He then bade Ku close his eyes, and take a 
 short nap ; so the Prince had him conducted into a 
 sleeping-room, where he found the bed so soft, and 
 surrounded by such delicious perfume, that he soon 
 fell into a deep slumber. By-and-by he was awaked 
 by what appeared to be the clashing of cymbals, and 
 fancied that the play was still going on ; but on opening 
 his eyes, he saw that it was only the inn-dog, which was 
 licking an oilman’s gong . 3 His ophthalmia, however, 
 was quite cured ; and when he shut his eyes again he 
 could see nothing. 
 
 3 These are about as big as a cheese-plate and attached to a short 
 stick, from which hangs suspended a small button of metal in such 
 a manner as to clash against the face of the gong at every turn of 
 the hand. The names and descriptions of various instruments em- 
 ployed by costermongers in China would fill a good-sized volume. 
 
io6 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 LXXVIII. 
 
 CHOU ^O-CH^ANG AND HIS GHOST. 
 
 At Huai-shang there lived a graduate named Chou 
 T^en-i, who, though fifty years of age, had but one son, 
 called K‘o-ch‘ang, 'vhom he loved very dearly. This 
 boy, when about thirteen or fourteen, was a handsome, 
 well-favoured fellow, strangely averse to study, and often 
 playing truant from school, sometimes for the whole day, 
 without any remonstrance on the part of his father. One 
 day he went away and did not come back in the even- 
 ing ; neither, after a diligent search, could any traces of 
 him be discovered. His father and mother were in 
 despair, and hardly cared to live ; but after a year and 
 more had passed away, lo and behold ! Ko-ch^ang re- 
 turned, saying that he had been beguiled away by a 
 Taoist priest, who, however, had not done him any 
 harm, and that he had seized a moment while the priest 
 was absent to escape and find his way home again. His 
 father was delighted, and asked him no more questions, 
 but set to work to give him an education j and K‘o-ch‘ang 
 was so much cleverer and more intelligent than he had 
 been before, that by the following year he had taken his 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 107 
 
 bachelors degree and had made quite a name for him- 
 self. Immediately all the good families of the neigh- 
 bourhood wanted to secure him as a son-in-law. Among 
 others proposed there was an extremely nice girl, the 
 daughter of a gentleman named Chao, who had taken 
 his doctor’s degree, and K‘o-ch‘ang’s father was very 
 anxious that he should marry the young lady. The 
 youth himself would not hear of it, but stuck to his 
 books and took his masters degree, quite refusing to en- 
 tertain any thought of marriage ; and this so exasperated 
 his mother that one day the good lady began to rate him 
 soundly. K‘o-ch‘ang got up in a great rage and cried 
 out, “I have long been wanting to get away, and have 
 only remained for your sakes. I shall now say farewell, 
 and leave Miss Chao for any one that likes to marry her.” 
 At this his mother tried to detain him, but in a moment 
 he had fallen forwards on the ground, and there was 
 nothing left of him but his hat and clothes. They were 
 all dreadfully frightened, thinking that it must have been 
 K‘o-ch‘ang’s ghost who had been with them, and gave 
 themselves up to weeping and lamentation ; however, the 
 very next day K‘o-ch‘ang arrived, accompanied by a 
 retinue of horses and servants, his story being that he 
 had formerly been kidnapped 1 and sold to a wealthy 
 trader, who, being then childless, had adopted him, but 
 who, when he subsequently had a son born to him by his 
 own wife, sent K^-ch^ang back to his old home. And 
 
 1 See No. XXIII., note io. 
 
I 〇 8 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 as soon as his father began to question him as to his 
 studies, his utter dulness and want of knowledge soon 
 made it clear that he was the real K c o-ch 4 ang of old ; but 
 he was already known as a man who had got his master’s 
 degree, (that is, the ghost of him had got it,) so it was 
 determined in the family to keep the whole affair secret 
 This K £ o-ch { ang was only too ready to espouse Miss 
 Chao ; and before a year had passed over their heads 
 his wife had presented the old people with the much 
 longed-for grandsoa 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 109 
 
 LXXIX. 
 
 THE SPIRITS OF THE PO-YANG LAKE. 
 
 An official, named Chai, was appointed to a post at 
 Jao-chou, and on his way thither crossed the Po-yang 
 lake. Happening to visit the shrine of the local spirits, 
 he noticed a carved image of the patriotic Ting Pu-lang， 1 
 and another of a namesake of his own, the latter occu- 
 pying a very inferior position. “ Come ! come !” said 
 Chai, “ my patron saint shan’t be put in the background 
 like that ; so he moved the image into a more honour- 
 able place, and then went back on board his boat again. 
 Soon after, a great wind struck the vessel, and carried 
 away the mast and sails ; at which the sailors, in great 
 alarm, set to work to howl and cry. However, in a few 
 moments they saw a small skiff come cutting through the 
 waves, and before long they were all safely on board. 
 The man who rowed it was strangely like the image in 
 the shrine, the position of which Chai had changed ; 
 but they were hardly out of danger when the squall had 
 passed over, and skiff and man had both vanished. 
 
 1 A famous official who lived in the reign of Hung Wu, first 
 Emperor of the Ming dynasty (a.d. 1368-1399). I have not been 
 able to discover what was the particular act for which he has been 
 celebrated as “ loyal to the death.” 
 
no 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 LXXX. 
 
 THE STREAM OF CASH. 
 
 A certain gentleman’s servant was one day in his 
 master’s garden, when he beheld a stream of cash 1 
 flowing by, two or three feet in breadth and of about the 
 same depth. He immediately seized two large handfuls, 
 and then threw himself down on the top of the stream in 
 order to try and secure the rest. However, when he got 
 up he found that it had all flowed away from under him, 
 none being left except what he had got in his two 
 hands. 
 
 [“ Ah !” says the commentator, “ money is properly a 
 circulating medium, and is not intended for a man to 
 lie upon and keep all to himself. J, ] 2 、 
 
 1 See No. II., note 2. 
 
 2 The Chinese, fond as they are of introducing water, under the 
 form of miniature lakes, into their gardens and pleasure-grounds, do 
 not approve of a running stream Dear the dwelling-house, I myself 
 knew a case of a man, provided with a pretty little house, rent 
 free, alongside of which ran a mountain-rill, who left the place and 
 paid for lodgings out of his own pocket rather than live so close to 
 a stream which he averred carried all his good liuk away. Yet this 
 man was a fair scholar and a graduate to boot. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 LXXXI. 
 
 THE INJUSTICE OF HEAVEN. 
 
 % 
 
 Mr. Hsu was a magistrate at Shantung. A certain 
 upper chamber of his house was used as a store-room ; 
 but some creature managed so frequently to get in and 
 make havoc among the stores, for which the servants 
 were always being scolded, that at length some of the 
 latter determined to keep watch. By-and-by they saw a 
 huge spider as big as a peck measure, and hurried off to 
 tell their master, who thought it so strange that he gave 
 orders to the servants to feed the insect with cakes. It 
 thus became very tame, and would always come forth 
 when hungry, returning as soon as it had taken enough 
 to eat . 1 Years passed away, and one day Mr. Hsii 
 was consulting his archives, when suddenly the spider 
 appeared and ran under the table. Thinking it was 
 hungry, he bade his servants give it a cake; but the 
 next moment he noticed two snakes, of about the thick- 
 ness of a chop-stick, lying one on each side. The spider 
 
 1 That Chinaman thinks his a hard lot who cannot <4 eat till he 
 is full.” It may be noticed here that the Chinese seem not so much 
 to enjoy the process of eating as the subsequent state of repletion. 
 As a rule, they bolt their food, and get their enjoyment out of it 
 afterwards. 
 
I 12 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 drew in its legs as if in mortal fear, and the snakes began 
 to swell out until they were as big round as an egg ; at 
 which Mr. Hsli was greatly alarmed, and would have 
 hurried away, when crash ! went a peal of thunder, 
 killing every person in the house. Mr. Hsii himself re- 
 covered consciousness after a little while, but only to see 
 his wife and servants, seven persons in all, lying dead ; 
 and after a month's illness he, too, departed this life. 
 Now Mr. Hsii was an upright, honourable man, who 
 really had the interests of the people at heart. A sub- 
 scription was accordingly raised to pay his funeral 
 expenses, and on the day of his burial the air was rent 
 for miles round with cries of weeping and lamentation. 
 
 [Hereon the commentator, I Shih-shih, makes the 
 following remark : — u That dragons play with pearls 1 2 I 
 have always regarded as an old woman’s tale. Is it 
 possible, then, that the story is a fact? I have heard, 
 too, that the thunder strikes only the guilty man ; 3 * and, 
 if so, how could a virtuous official be visited with this 
 dire calamity? ”] 
 
 1 The full explanation and origin of this saying I have failed to 
 
 elucidate. Dragons are often represented with pearls before their 
 mouths ; and these they are supposed to spit out or swallow as 
 fancy may take them. The pearl, too, is said to be the essence of 
 the dragon 5 s nature, without which it would be powerless ; but this 
 is all I know about the subject. 
 
 3 Such is the common belief in China at the present day. There 
 
 is a God of Thunder who punishes wicked people ; the lightning is 
 
 merely a mirror, by the aid of which he singles out his victims. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 H3 
 
 LXXXII. 
 
 THE SEA-SERPENT. 
 
 A trader named Chia was voyaging on the south 
 seas, when one night it suddenly became as light as day 
 on board his ship. Jumping up to see what was the 
 matter, he beheld a huge creature with its body half out 
 of the water, towering up like a hilL Its eyes resembled 
 two suns, and threw a light far and wide ; and when the 
 trader asked the boatmen what it was, there was not one 
 who could say. They all crouched down and watched 
 it ; and by-and-by the monster gradually disappeared in 
 the water again, leaving everything in darkness as before. 
 And when they reached port, they found all the people 
 talking about a strange phenomenon of a great light that 
 had appeared in the night, the time of which coincided 
 exactly with the strange scene they themselves had wit- 
 nessed . 1 
 
 1 The “sea-serpent” in this case was probably nothing more or 
 less than some meteoric phenomenon. 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
1 14 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 LXXXIII. 
 
 THE MAGIC MIRROR.1 
 
 u ... . But if you would really like to have some- 
 thing that has belonged to meZ ， said she, u you shall. 
 Whereupon she took out a mirror and gave it to him, 
 saying, u Whenever you want to see me, you must look 
 for me in your books ; otherwise I shall not be visible ; }, 
 — and in a moment she had vanished. Liu went home 
 very melancholy at heart; but when he looked in the 
 mirror, there was Feng-hsien, standing with her back to 
 him, gazing, as it were, at some one who was going away, 
 and about a hundred paces from her. He then be- 
 thought himself of her injunctions, and settled down to 
 his studies, refusing to receive any visitors ; and a few 
 days subsequently, when he happened to look in the 
 mirror, there was Feng-hsien, with her face turned to- 
 wards him, and smiling in every feature. After this, he 
 was always taking out the mirror to look at her ; how- 
 ever, in about a month his good resolutions began to 
 disappear, and he once more went out to enjoy himself 
 
 1 The following is merely a single episode taken from a long and 
 otherwise uninteresting story. Miss Feng-hsien was a fox ; hence 
 her power to bestow such a singular present as the mirror here 
 described, the object of which was to incite her lover to success 一 
 the condition of their future union. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 XI S 
 
 and waste his time as before. When he returned home 
 and looked in the mirror, Feng-hsien seemed to be 
 crying bitterly ; and the day after, when he looked at her 
 again, she had her back turned towards him as on the 
 day he received the mirror. He now knew that it was 
 because he had neglected his studies, and forthwith set 
 to work again with all diligence, until in a month’s time 
 she had turned round once again. Henceforward, when- 
 ever anything interrupted his progress, Feng-hsien's 
 countenance became sad ; but whenever he was getting 
 on well， her sadness was changed to smiles. Night and 
 morning Liu would look at the mirror, regarding it quite 
 in the light of a revered preceptor ; and in three years’ 
 time he took his degree in triumph. ‘‘ Now,” cried he, 
 “ I shall be able to look Feng-hsien in the face.” And 
 there, sure enough, she was, with her delicately-pencilled 
 arched eye-brows, and her teeth just showing between 
 her lips, as happy-looking as she could be, when, all of a 
 sudden, she seemed to speak, and Liu heard her say, 
 “ A pretty pair we make, I must allow ” 一 and the next 
 moment Feng-hsien stood by his side. 
 
 12 
 
STRANGE STORIES 
 
 Il6 
 
 LXXXIV. 
 
 COURAGE TESTED. 
 
 Mr. Tung was a Hsii-chou man, very fond of playing 
 broad-sword, and a light-hearted, devil-may-care fellow, 
 who was often involving himself in trouble. One day he 
 fell in with a traveller who was riding on a mule and 
 going the same way as himself ; whereupon they entered 
 into conversation, and began to talk to each other about 
 feats of strength and so on. The traveller said his name 
 was T^ung , 1 and that he belonged to Liao-yang; that he 
 had been twenty years away from home, and had just 
 returned from beyond the sea. “ And I venture to say,” 
 cried Tung, u that in your wanderings on the Four Seas 2 
 
 1 Besides the all-important aspirate, this name is pronounced in 
 a different 办财 from the first-mentioned “Tung;” and is moreover 
 expressed in writing by a totally different character. To a Chinese 
 ear, the two words are as unlikely to be confounded as Brown and 
 Jones. 
 
 2 The Four Seas are supposed by the Chinese to bound the 
 habitable portions of the earth, which, by the way, they further believe 
 to be square. In the centre of all is China, extending far and wide 
 in every direction, — the eye of the universe, the Middle Kingdom. 
 Away at a distance from her shores lie a number of small islands, 
 wherein dwell such barbarous nations as the English, French, 
 Dutch, etc. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 you have seen a great many people ; but have you seen 
 any supernaturally clever ones ? ’’ T‘ung asked him to 
 what he alluded ; and then Tung explained what his own 
 particular hobby was, adding how much he would like to 
 learn from them any tricks in the art of broad-sword. 
 “ Supernaturals，” replied the traveller, “ are to be found 
 everywhere. It needs but that a man should be a loyal 
 subject and a filial son for him to know all that the 
 supernaturals know.” ‘‘ Right you are, indeed !’’ cried 
 Tung, as he drew a short sword from his belt, and, 
 tapping the blade with his fingers, began to accompany 
 it with a song. He then cut down a tree that was by 
 the wayside, to shew T 4 ung how sharp it was ; at which 
 T £ ung smoothed his beard and smiled, begging to be 
 allowed to have a look at the weapon. Tung handed it 
 to him, and, when he had turned it over two or three 
 times, he said, This is a very inferior piece of steel ; 
 now, though I know nothing about broad-sword myself, 
 I have a weapon which is really of some use.” He then 
 drew from beneath his coat a sword of a foot or so in 
 length, and with it he began to pare pieces off Tung’s 
 sword, which seemed as soft as a melon, and which he 
 cut quite away like a horse’s hoof. Tung was greatly 
 astonished, and borrowed the other’s sword to examine 
 it, returning it after carefully wiping the blade. He then 
 invited T c ung to his house, and made him stay the night ; 
 and, after begging him to explain the mystery of his 
 sword, began to nurse his leg and sit listening respect- 
 fully without saying a word. It was already pretty late, 
 when suddenly there was a sound of scuffling next door, 
 
Il8 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 where Tung’s father lived ; and, on putting his ear to the 
 wall, he heard an angry voice saying, u Tell your son to 
 come here at once, and then I will spare you.” This 
 was followed by other sounds of beating and a continued 
 groaning, in a voice which Tung knew to be his father’s. 
 He therefore seized a spear, and was about to rush forth, 
 but T‘ung held him back ， saying, “You’ll be killed for a 
 certainty if you go. Let us think of some other plan.” 
 Tung asked what plan he could suggest; to which the 
 other replied, “The robbers are killing your father : 
 there is no help for you ; but as you have no brothers, 
 just go and tell your wife and children what your last 
 wishes are, while I try and rouse the servants. Tung 
 agreed to this, and ran in to tell his wife, who clung to 
 him and implored him not to go, until at length all his 
 courage had ebbed away, and he went upstairs with her 
 to get his bow and arrows ready to resist the robbers 
 attack. At that juncture he heard the voice of his friend 
 T 4 ung, outside on the eaves of the house, saying, with a 
 laugh, “All right; the robbers have gone;” but on 
 lighting a candle, he could see nothing of him. He 
 then stole out to the front door, where he met his father 
 with a lantern in his hand, coming in from a party at a 
 neighbour’s house ; and the whole court-yard was covered 
 with the ashes of burnt grass, whereby he knew that 
 T 4 ung the traveller was himself a supernatural . 3 
 
 3 The commentator, I Shih-shih, adds a note to this story which 
 might be summed up in our own — 
 
 “The [wo] man that deliberates is lost.” 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 II 9 
 
 LXXXV. 
 
 THE DISEMBODIED FRIEND. 
 
 Mr. Ch c en, M.A., of Shun-t £ ien Fu, when a boy of 
 sixteen, went to school at a Buddhist temple . 1 There 
 were a great many scholars besides himself, and, among 
 others, one named Ch c u, who said he came from Shan- 
 tung. This Ch‘u was a very hard-working fellow ; he 
 never seemed to be idle, and actually slept in the school- 
 room, not going home at all. Ch^n became much 
 attached to him, and one day asked him why he never 
 went away. “Well, you see,” replied Ch ‘u, “my 
 people are very poor, and can hardly afford to pay for 
 my schooling; but, by dint of working half the night, 
 two of my days are equal to three of anybody else’s.” 
 Thereupon Ch c en said he would bring his own bed to 
 the school, and that they would sleep there together ; to 
 which Ch ( u replied that the teaching they got wasn J t 
 worth much, and that they would do better by putting 
 
 1 Buddhist priests not unusually increase the revenue of their 
 monastery by taking pupils ; and it is only fair to them to add that 
 the curriculum is strictly secular, the boys learning precisely what 
 they would at an ordinary school and nothing else. 
 
120 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 themselves under a certain old scholar named Lii. This 
 they were easily able to do, as the arrangement at the 
 temple was monthly, and at the end of each month any- 
 one was free to go or to come. So off they went to this 
 Mr. Lii, a man of considerable literary attainments, who 
 had found himself in Shun-t 2 * 4 ien Fu without a cash in his 
 pocket, and was accordingly obliged to take pupils. He 
 was delighted at getting two additions to his number; 
 and, Ch { u showing himself an apt scholar, the two soon 
 became very great friends, sleeping in the same room and 
 eating at the same table. At the end of the month Ch‘u 
 asked for leave of absence, and, to the astonishment of 
 all, ten days elapsed without anything being heard of 
 him. It then chanced that Ch^n went to the T^en-ning 
 temple, and there he saw Ch^u under one of the veran- 
 dahs, occupied in cutting wood for lucifer-matches. ? 
 The latter was much disconcerted by the arrival of 
 Ch^en, who asked him why he had given up his studies ; 
 so the latter took him aside, and explained that he was 
 so poor as to be obliged to work half a month to scrape 
 together funds enough for his next month’s schooling. 
 
 2 These consist simply of thin slips of wood dipped in brimstone, 
 and resemble those used in England as late as the first quarter of 
 the present century. They are said to have been invented by the 
 people of Hang-chou, the capital of Chekiang ; but it is quite 
 possible that the hint may have first reached China from the west. 
 They were called yin kiiang bring light,** (cf. Ivcifer), fa chu 
 
 “give forth illumination,” and other names. Lucifer matches are 
 now generally spoken of as tzu lai huo ^self-come fire, n and are 
 
 almost universally employed, except in remote parts where the flint 
 and steel still hold sway* 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 121 
 
 u You come along back with me, 11 cried Ch c en, on hearing 
 this, u I will arrange for the payment, ^ which Ch 4 u im- 
 mediately consented to do on condition that Ch £ en would 
 keep the whole thing a profound secret. Now Ch ‘ 会 n’s 
 father was a wealthy tradesman, and from his till Ch c en 
 abstractedmoneywherewithtopayforCh‘u;andby- 
 and-by, when his father found him out, he confessed why 
 he had done so. Thereupon ChSn’s father called him a 
 fool, and would not let him resume his studies ; at which 
 Ch‘u was much hurt, and would have left the school too, 
 but that old Mr. Lii discovered what had taken place, and 
 gave him the money to return to Ch ‘ 合 n’s father， keeping 
 him still at the school, and treating him quite like his 
 own son. So Ch c en studied no more, but whenever he 
 met Ch f u he always asked him to join in some refresh- 
 ment at a restaurant, Ch c u invariably refusing, but 
 yielding at length to his entreaties, being himself loth to 
 break off their old acquaintanceship. 
 
 Thus two years passed away, when Ch^n^ father died, 
 and Ch c en went back to his books under the guidance of 
 old Mr. Lii, who was very glad to see such determi- 
 nation. Of course Ch c en was now far behind Ch‘u ; 
 and in about six months Lii’s son arrived, having begged 
 his way in search of his father, so Mr. Lu gave up his 
 school and returned home with a purse which his pupils 
 had made up for him, Ch c u adding nothing thereto but 
 his tears. At parting, Mr. Lii advised Ch^en to take 
 Ch f u as his tutor, and this he did, establishing him com- 
 fortably in the house with him. The examination was 
 very shortly to commence, and Ch c en felt convinced that 
 
122 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 he should not get through ; but Ch £ u said he thought he 
 should be able to manage the matter for him. On the 
 appointed day he introduced Ch 4 en to a gentleman who 
 he said was a cousin of his, named Liu, and asked 
 Ch^n to accompany this cousin, which Ch^n was just 
 proceeding to do when Ch‘u pulled him back from be- 
 hind , 3 and he would have fallen down but that the 
 cousin pulled him up again, and then, after having 
 scrutinized his appearance, carried him off to his own 
 house. There being no ladies there, Ch*en was put into 
 the inner apartments; and a few days afterwards Liu 
 said to him, “A great many people will be at the 
 gardens to-day ; let us go and amuse ourselves awhile, 
 and afterwards I will send you home again. He then gave 
 orders that a servant should proceed on ahead with tea 
 and wine, and by-and-by they themselves went, and were 
 soon in the thick of the fete. Crossing over a bridge, 
 they saw beneath an old willow tree a little painted skiff, 
 and were soon on board, engaged in freely passing round 
 the wine. However, finding this a little dull, Liu bade 
 his servant go and see if Miss Li, the famous singing- 
 girl, was at home; and in a few minutes the servant 
 returned bringing Miss Li with him. Ch ‘ 合 n had met her 
 before, and so they at once exchanged greetings, while 
 Liu begged her to be good enough to favour them with a 
 song. Miss Li, who seemed labouring under a fit of 
 melancholy, forthwith began a funeral dirge; at which 
 
 3 The whole point of the story hinges on this. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 1 23 
 
 Ch 4 en was not much pleased, and observed that such a 
 theme was hardly suitable to the occasion. With a 
 forced smile, Miss Li changed her key, and gave them a 
 love-song; whereupon Ch 4 en seized her hand, and said, 
 “There’s that song of the Huan-sha river , 4 which you 
 sang once before ; I have read it over several times, but 
 have quite forgotten the words.” Then Miss Li be- 
 gan— 
 
 ** Eyes overflowing with tears, she sits gazing into her glass, 
 
 Lifting the bamboo screen, one of her comrades approaches ; 
 
 She bends her head and seems intent on her bow-like slippers, 
 
 And forces her eyebrows to arch themselves into a smile. 
 
 With her scarlet sleeve she wipes the tears from her perfumed 
 cheek, 
 
 In fear and trembling lest they should guess the thoughts that 
 o’er'vhelm her .” 5 
 
 Ch^en repeated this over several times, until at length 
 the skiff stopped, and they passed through a long veran- 
 dah, where a great many verses had been inscribed on 
 the walls , 6 to which Ch 4 en at once proceeded to add a 
 stanza of his own. Evening was now coming on, and 
 Liu remarked that the candidates would be just about 
 
 4 Beside which lived Hsi Shih, the famous beauty of the fifth 
 century after Christ. 
 
 5 I fear that the translation of this “Singing-girl’s Lament” falls 
 so considerably below the pathetic original as to give but a poor 
 idea of the real merit of the latter as a lyric gem. 
 
 6 The Chinese have precisely the same mania as our Browns, 
 Joneses, and Robinsons, for scribbling and carving their names and 
 compositions all over the available parts of any place of public 
 resort. The literature of inn walls alone would fill many ponderous 
 tomes. 
 
STRANGE STORIES 
 
 124 
 
 leaving the examination-hall ; 7 so he escorted him back 
 to his own home, and there left him. The room was 
 dark, and there was no one with him ; but by-and-by the 
 servants ushered in some one whom at first he took to 
 be Ch‘iL However, he soon saw that it was not Ch‘u, 
 and in another moment the stranger had fallen against 
 him and knocked him down. “ Master J s fainted ! ” 
 cried the servants, as they ran to pick him up ; and then 
 Ch c en discovered that the one who had fallen down was 
 really no other than himself . 8 On getting up, he saw 
 Ch 4 u standing by his side ; and when they had sent away 
 the servants the latter said, “ Don’t be alarmed : I am 
 nothing more than a disembodied spirit. My time for 
 re-appearing on earth 9 is long overdue, but I could not 
 forget your great kindness to me, and accordingly I have 
 remained under this form in order to assist in the accom- 
 plishment of your wishes. The three bouts 10 are over, and 
 your ambition will be gratified.” Ch^n then inquired if 
 Ch c u could assist him in like manner for his doctor’s 
 degree ; to which the latter replied, “ Alas ! the luck 
 descending to you from your ancestors is not equal to 
 that . 11 They were a niggardly lot, and unfit for 'the 
 
 7 The examination, which lasts nine days, has been going on all 
 this time. 
 
 8 That is, his own body, into which Ch‘u’s spirit had temporarily 
 passed, his own occupying, meanwhile, the body of his friend. 
 
 9 That is, for being born again, the sole hope and ambition of a 
 disembodied shade. 
 
 10 See No. LXXI., note 1. 
 
 11 See No. LXI., note 3. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 I2 5 
 
 posthumous honours you would thus confer on them.” 
 Ch 4 en next asked him whither he was going ; and Ch J u 
 replied that he hoped, through the agency of his cousin, 
 who was a clerk in Purgatory, to be born again in old 
 Mr. Lli’s family. They then bade each other adieu ; 
 and, when morning came, Ch c en set off to call on Miss 
 Li, the singing-girl ; but on reaching her house he found 
 that she had been dead some days . 12 He walked on to 
 the gardens, and there he saw traces of verses that had 
 been written on the walls, and evidently rubbed out, so 
 as to be hardly decipherable. In a moment it flashed 
 across him that the verses and their composers 
 belonged to the other world. Towards evening Ch‘u 
 re-appeared in high spirits, saying that he had succeeded 
 in his design, and had come to wish Ch^en a long fare- 
 well. Holding out his open palms, he requested Ch^en 
 to write the word Ch^u on each ; and then, after refusing 
 to take a parting cup, he went away, telling Ch^en that 
 the examination-list would soon be out, and that they 
 would meet again before long. Ch^en brushed away his 
 tears and escorted him to the door, where a man, who 
 had been waiting for him, laid his hand on Ch‘u’s head 
 and pressed it downwards until Ch J u was perfectly flat. 
 The man then put him in a sack and carried him off on 
 his back. A few days afterwards the list came out, 
 and, to his great joy, Ch^n found his name among the 
 successful candidates ; whereupon he immediately started 
 
 12 His own spirit in ChVs body had met her in a disembodied 
 state. 
 
126 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 off to visit his old tutor, Mr. Lil 13 Now Mr. Lii’s wife 
 had had no children for ten years, being about fifty years 
 of age, when suddenly she gave birth to a son, who was 
 born with both fists doubled up so that no one could 
 open them. On his arrival Ch^n begged to see the 
 child, and declared that inside its hands would be found 
 written the word Ch ( u. Old Mr. Lii laughed at this ; 
 but no sooner had the child set eyes on Ch^n than both 
 its fists opened spontaneously, and there was the word as 
 Ch c en had said. The story was soon told, and Ch 4 en 
 went home, after making a handsome present to the 
 family; and later on, when Mr. Lii went up for his 
 doctor’s degree 14 and stayed at Ch l gn’s house, his son 
 was thirteen years old, and had already matriculated as a 
 candidate for literary honours. 
 
 13 Such is the invariable custom. Large presents are usually 
 made by those who can afford the outlay, and the tutor’s name 
 has ever aftenvards an honourable place in the family records. 
 
 14 See No. XLVIII., note i. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 127 
 
 LXXXVI. 
 
 THE CLOTH MERCHANT. 
 
 A certain cloth merchant went to Ch^ng-chou, where 
 he happened to stroll into an old temple, all tumble- 
 down and in ruins. He was lamenting over this sad 
 state of things, when a priest who stood by observed 
 that a devout believer like himself could hardly do 
 better than put the place into repair, and thus obtain 
 favour in the eyes of Buddha. This the merchant con- 
 sented to do ; whereupon the priest invited him to walk 
 into the private quarters of the temple, and treated him 
 with much courtesy ; but he went on to propose that our 
 friend the merchant should also undertake the general 
 ornamentation of the place both inside and out . 1 The 
 
 1 The elaborate gilding and wood-work of an ordinary Chinese 
 temple form a very serious item in the expense of restoration. 
 Public subscriptions are usually the means employed for raising 
 sufficient funds, the names of subscribers and amount given by 
 each being published in some conspicuous position. Occasionally 
 devout priests — black swans, indeed, in China — shut themselves up 
 in boxes studded with nails, one of which they pull out every time 
 a certain donation is g^iven, and there they remain until every nail is 
 withdrawn. But after all it is difficult to say whether they endure 
 
128 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 latter declared he could not afford the expense, and the 
 priest began to get very angry, and urged him so 
 strongly that at last the merchant, in terror, promised to 
 give all the money he had. After this he was preparing to 
 go away, but the priest detained him, saying, “You 
 haven’t given the money of your own free will, and con- 
 sequently you'll be owing me a grudge : I can J t do better 
 than make an end of you at once.” Thereupon he 
 seized a knife, and refused to listen to all the cloth 
 merchant’s entreaties, until at length the latter asked to 
 be allowed to hang himself, to which the priest con- 
 sented ; and, showing him into a dark room, told him to 
 make haste about it 
 
 At this juncture, a Tartar-General * 2 happened to pass 
 by the temple ; and from a distance, through a breach in 
 the old wall, he saw a damsel in a red dress pass into 
 the priest’s quarters. This roused his suspicions , 3 and 
 dismounting from his horse, he entered the temple and 
 searched high and low， but without discovering anything. 
 The dark room above-mentioned was locked and double- 
 
 these trials so much for the faiths sake as for the funds from which 
 they derive more of the luxuries of life, and the temporary notoriety 
 gained by thus coming before the public. A Chinese proverb sa^s, 
 “The image-maker doesn’t worship Buddha. He knows too much 
 about the idol;’’ and the application of this saying may safely be 
 extended to the majority of Buddhist priests in China. 
 
 2 This is the title generally applied to the Manchu commanders 
 of Manchu garrisons, who are stationed at certain of the most 
 important points of the Chinese Empire, and whose presence is 
 intended as a check upon the action of the civil authorities. 
 
 3 See No. VI., note 2 . 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 129 
 
 barred, and the priest refused to open it, saying the place 
 was haunted. The General in a rage burst open the 
 door, and there beheld the cloth merchant hanging from 
 a beam. He cut him down at once, and in a short time 
 he was brought round and told the General the whole 
 story. They then searched for the damsel, but she was 
 nowhere to be found, having been nothing more than a 
 divine manifestation. The General cut off the priest’s 
 head and restored the cloth merchant’s property to him, 
 after which the latter put the temple in thorough repair 
 and kept it well supplied with lights and incense ever 
 afterwards. 
 
 Mr. Chao, M.A., told me this story with all its de- 
 tails . 4 
 
 4 The moral being, of course, that Buddha protects those who look 
 after his interests on earth. 
 
 VOL. II. K 
 
i3 〇 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 LXXXVII. 
 
 A STRANGE COMPANION. 
 
 Han Kung-fu, of Yii-ch^ng, told me that he was one 
 day travelling along a road with a man of his village, 
 named P f eng, when all of a sudden the latter disap- 
 peared, leaving his mule to jog along with an empty 
 saddle. At the same moment, Mr. Han heard his voice 
 calling for assistance, and apparently proceeding from 
 inside one of the panniers strapped across the mule’s 
 back ; and on looking closely, there indeed he was in 
 one of the panniers, which, however, did not seem to be 
 at all displaced by his weight. On trying to get him out 
 the mouth of the pannier closed itself tightly; and it 
 was only when he cut it open with a knife that he saw 
 P c eng curled up in it like a dog. He then helped him 
 out, and asked him how he managed to get in ; but this 
 he was unable to say. It further appeared that his 
 family was under fox influence, many strange things of 
 this kind having happened before. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 I3I 
 
 LXXXVIII. 
 
 SPIRITUALISTIC SEANCES. 
 
 It is customary in Shantung, when any one is sick, for 
 the womenfolk to engage an old sorceress or medium, 
 who strums on a tambourine and performs certain 
 mysterious antics. This custom obtains even more in 
 the capital, where young ladies of the best families fre- 
 quently organize such seances among themselves. On a 
 table in the hall they spread out a profusion of wine and 
 meat, and burn huge candles which make the place as 
 light as day. Then the sorceress, shortening her skirts, 
 stands on one leg and performs the shang-yang} while 
 two of the others support her, one on each side. All 
 this time she is chattering unintelligible sentences , 1 2 some- 
 
 1 It is related in the Family Sayings, an apocryphal work which 
 
 professes to give conversations of Confucius, that a number of one- 
 legged birds having suddenly appeared in Ch*i, the Duke of Ch*i 
 sent off to ask the Sage what was the meaning of this strange 
 phenomenon. Confucius replied, <f The bird is s hang-yang, and 
 
 portends beneficial rain.” And formerly the boys and girls in 
 Shantung would hop about on one leg, crying, ^The shang-yanghd.?, 
 come;” after which rain would be sure to follow. 
 
 2 Speaking in the unknown tongue, like the Irvingites and others. 
 
 K 2 
 
132 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 thing between a song and a prayer, the words being con- 
 fused but uttered in a sort of tune ; while the hall re- 
 sounds with the thunder of drums, enough to stun a 
 person, with which her vaticinations are mixed up and 
 lost. By-and-by her head begins to droop, and her eyes 
 to look aslant ; and but for her two supporters she would 
 inevitably fall to the ground. Suddenly she stretches 
 forth her neck and bounds several feet into the air, upon 
 which the other women regard her in terror, saying, 
 “ The spirits have come to eat and immediately all 
 the candles are blown out and everything is in total 
 darkness. Thus they remain for about a quarter of an 
 hour, afraid to speak a word, which in any case would 
 not be heard through the din, until at length the 
 sorceress calls out the personal name of the head of the 
 family 3 and some others ; whereupon they immediately 
 relight the candles and hurry up to ask if the reply of 
 the spirits is favourable or otherwise. They then see 
 that every scrap of the food and every drop of the wine 
 has disappeared. Meanwhile, they watch the old 
 womans expression, whereby they can tell if the spirits 
 are well disposed ; and each one asks her some ques- 
 tion, to which she as promptly replies. Should there be 
 any unbelievers among the party, the spirits are at once 
 aware of their presence ; and the old sorceress, pointing 
 
 3 This is a clever hit. The “personal” name of a man may not 
 be uttered except by his father or mother, grandfather, grand- 
 mother, uncles, etc. Thus, the mere use of the personal name of 
 the head of a family proves conclusively that the spirit of some 
 one of his ancestors must be present. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 !33 
 
 her finger at such a one, cries out, ‘‘Disrespectful 
 mocker ! where are your trousers ?’’ upon which the 
 mocker alluded to looks down, and lo ! her trousers are 
 gone — gone to the top of a tree in the court-yard, where 
 they will subsequently be found . 4 
 
 Manchu women and girls, especially, are firm believers 
 in spiritualism. On the slightest provocation they con- 
 sult their medium, who comes into the room gorgeously 
 dressed, and riding on an imitation horse or tiger . 5 In 
 her hand she holds a long spear, with which she mounts 
 the couch 6 and postures in an extraordinary manner, 
 the animal she rides snorting or roaring fiercely all the 
 time. Some call her Kuan Ti , 7 others Chang Fei, and 
 others again Chou Kung, from her terribly martial 
 
 4 I consider the whole of the above a curious story to be found 
 in a Chinese work exactly 200 years old, but no part of it more so 
 than the forcible removal of some part of the clothing, which has 
 been so prominent a feature in the seances of our own day. It 
 may be added that in many a court-yard in Peking will be found 
 one or more trees, which cause the view from the city wall to 
 be very pleasing to the eye, in spite of the filth and ruins which a 
 closer inspection reveals. 
 
 5 The arrangement being that of the hobby-horse of by-gone 
 days. 
 
 6 The couches of the north of China are brick beds, heated by a 
 stove underneath, and covered with a mat. Upon one of these is 
 generally a dwarf table and a couple of pillows ; and here it is that 
 the Chinaman loves to recline, his wine-kettle, opium-pipe, or tea- 
 pot within reach, and a friend at his side, with whom he may con- 
 verse far into the night. 
 
 7 See No. LXXIII., note 3. Chang Fei was the bosom-friend of 
 the last, and was his associate-commander in the wars of the Three 
 Kingdoms. Chou Kung was the first Emperor of the Chou 
 
134 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 aspect, which strikes fear into all beholders. And should 
 any daring fellow try to peep in while the seance is going 
 on, out of the window darts the spear, transfixes his hat, 
 and draws it off his head into the room, while women 
 and girls, young and old, hop round one after the other 
 like geese, on one leg, without seeming to get the least 
 fatigued. 
 
 (Jvnasty, and a pattern of wisdom and virtue. He is said by the 
 Chinese to have invented the mariners compass ; but the legend 
 will not bear investigation. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 x 35 
 
 LXXXIX. 
 
 THE MYSTERIOUS HEAD. 
 
 Several traders who were lodging at an inn in 
 Peking, occupied a room which was divided from the ad- 
 joining apartment by a partition of boards from which a 
 piece was missing, leaving an aperture about as big as a 
 basin. Suddenly a girl’s head appeared through the 
 opening, with very pretty features and nicely dressed 
 hair ; and the next moment an arm, as white as polished 
 jade. The traders were much alarmed, and, thinking it 
 was the work of devils, tried to seize the head, which, 
 however, was quickly drawn in again out of their reach. 
 This happened a second time, and then, as they could 
 see no body belonging to the head, one of them took a 
 knife in his hand and crept up against the partition 
 underneath the hole. In a little while the head re- 
 appeared, when he made a chop at it and cut it off, the 
 blood spurting out all over the floor and wall. The 
 traders hurried off to tell the landlord, who immediately 
 reported the matter to the authorities, taking the head 
 with him, and the traders were forthwith arrested and 
 
i3 6 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 examined ; but the magistrate could make nothing of the 
 case, and, as no one appeared for the prosecution, the 
 accused, after about six months’ incarceration, were 
 accordingly released, and orders were given for the girl’s 
 head to be buried. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 1 37 
 
 XC. 
 
 THE SPIRIT OF THE HILLS. 
 
 A man named Li, of I-tu, was once crossing the hills 
 v/hen he came upon a number of persons sitting on the 
 ground engaged in drinking. As soon as they saw Li 
 they begged him to join them, and vied with each other 
 in filling his cup. Meanwhile, he looked about him and 
 noticed that the various trays and dishes contained all 
 kinds of costly food; the wine only seemed to him a 
 little rough on the palate. In the middle of their fun 
 up came a stranger with a face about three feet long and 
 a very tall hat; whereupon the others were very much 
 alarmed, and cried out, “The hill spirit ! the hill 
 spirit !’’ running away in all directions as fast as they 
 could go. Li hid himself in a hole in the ground ; and 
 when by-and-by he peeped out to see what had hap- 
 pened, the wine and food had disappeared, and there 
 was nothing there but a few dirty potsherds and some 
 pieces of broken tiles with efts and lizards crawling over 
 them . 1 
 
 Hr. Li had, doubtless, taken a ‘‘drop too much” before he 
 started on his mountain walk. 
 
STRANGE STORIES 
 
 138 
 
 XCI. 
 
 INGRATITUDE PUNISHED. 
 
 K‘u Ta-Yu was a native of the Yang district, and 
 managed to get a military appointment under the com- 
 mand of Tsu Shu-shun. 1 The latter treated him most 
 kindly, and finally sent him as Major-General of some 
 troops by which he was then trying to establish the 
 dynasty of the usurping Chows. K c u soon perceived 
 that the game was lost, and immediately turned his 
 forces upon Tsu Shu-shun, whom he succeeded in cap- 
 turing, after Tsu had been wounded in the hand, and 
 whom he at once forwarded as a prisoner to head- 
 quarters. That night he dreamed that the Judge of 
 Purgatory appeared to him, and, reproaching him with 
 his base ingratitude, bade the devil-lictors seize him and 
 scald his feet in a cauldron of boiling oil. K‘u then 
 woke up with a start, and found that his feet were very 
 sore and painful ; and in a short time they swelled up, 
 and his toes dropped off. Fever set in, and in his agony 
 he shrieked out, “ Ungrateful wretch that I was indeed,” 
 and fell back and expired. 
 
 Of whom I can learn nothing. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 139 
 
 XCII. 
 
 SMELLING ESSAYS . 1 * * 
 
 Now as they wandered about the temple they came 
 upon an old blind priest sitting under the verandah, 
 engaged in selling medicines and prescribing for patients. 
 “ Ah !” cried Sung, u there is an extraordinary man who 
 is well versed in the arts of composition ; and im- 
 mediately he sent back to get the essay they had just 
 been reading, in order to obtain the old priest’s opinion 
 as to its merits. At the same moment up came their 
 friend from Yii-hang, and all three went along together. 
 Wang began by addressing him as u Professor ; where- 
 upon the priest, who thought the stranger had come to 
 consult him as a doctor, inquired what might be the 
 disease from which he was suffering. Wang then ex- 
 plained what his mission was ; upon which the priest 
 smiled and said, “Who’s been telling you this nonsense? 
 How can a man with no eyes discuss with you the merits 
 
 1 The following extract from a long and otherwise tedious story 
 
 tells its own tale. Wang is the modest man, and the young man 
 
 from Yii-hang the braggart. Sung is merely a friend of Wang 5 s. 
 
14〇 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 of your compositions ? ’’ "Wang replied by asking him to 
 let his ears do duty for his eyes ; but the priest answered 
 that he would hardly have patience to sit out Wan^s 
 three sections, amounting perhaps to some two thousand 
 and more words. “However,” added he, ‘‘if you like 
 to bum it, I’ll try what I can do with my nose.” Wang 
 complied, and burnt the first section there and then ; and 
 the old priest, snuffing up the smoke, declared that it 
 wasn’t such a bad effort, and finally gave it as his 
 opinion that Wang would probably succeed at the 
 examination. The young scholar from Yii-hang didn’t 
 believe that the old priest could really tell anything by 
 these means, and forthwith proceeded to burn an essay 
 by one of the old masters; but the priest no sooner 
 smelt the smoke than he cried out, u Beautiful indeed ! 
 beautiful indeed ! I do enjoy this. The light of genius 
 and truth is evident here.” The Yii-hang scholar was 
 greatly astonished at this, and began to burn an essay of 
 his own ; whereupon the priest said, u I had had but a 
 taste of that one; why change so soon to another?^ 
 “ The first paragraph，” replied the young man, “ was by 
 a friend ; the rest is my own composition.” No sooner 
 had he uttered these words than the old priest began to 
 retch violently, and begged that he might have no more, 
 as he was sure it would make him sicL The Yii-hang 
 scholar was much abashed at this, and went away ; but 
 in a few days the list came out and his name was among 
 the successful ones, while Wan^s was not He at once 
 hurried off to tell the old priest, who, when he heard the 
 news, sighed and said, u I may be blind with my eyes 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 141 
 
 but I am not so with my nose, which I fear is the case 
 with the examiners. Besides,” added he, “ I was talking 
 to you about composition : I said nothing about des- 
 tiny：^ 
 
 2 This is one of our author’s favourite shafts — a sneer at 
 examiners in general, and those who rejected him in particular. 
 
142 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 XCIII. 
 
 HIS FATHER’S GHOST. 
 
 A man named T^ien Tzu-ch c eng, of Chiang-ning, was 
 crossing the Tung-t 4 ing lake, when the boat was cap- 
 sized, and he was drowned His son, Liang-ssu, who, 
 towards the close of the Ming dynasty, took the highest 
 degree, was then a baby in arms ; and his wife, hearing 
 the bad news, swallowed poison forthwith , 1 and left the 
 child to the care of his grandmother. When Liang-ssu 
 grew up, he was appointed magistrate in Hu-pei, where 
 he remained about a year. He was then transferred to 
 Hu-nan, on military service ; but, on reaching the Tung- 
 t‘ing lake, his feelings overpowered him, and he re- 
 turned to plead inability as an excuse for not taking 
 up his post. Accordingly, he was degraded to the rank 
 of Assistant-Magistrate, which he at first declined, but 
 was finally compelled to accept; and thenceforward 
 gave himself up to roaming about on the lakes and 
 
 1 This would be regarded as a very meritorious act by the 
 Chinese. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 M3 
 
 streams of the surrounding country, without paying 
 much attention to his official duties. 
 
 One night he had anchored his boat alongside the 
 bank of a river, when suddenly the cadence of a 
 sweetly-played flageolet broke upon his ear ; so he 
 strolled along by the light of the moon in the direction 
 of the music, until, after a few minutes’ walking, he 
 reached a cottage standing by itself, with a few citron- 
 trees round it, and brilliantly-lighted inside. Approach- 
 ing a window, he peeped in, and saw three persons 
 sitting at a table, engaged in drinking. In the place 
 of honour was a graduate of about thirty years of age; 
 an old man played the host, and at the side sat a 
 much younger man playing on the flageolet. When 
 he had finished, the old man clapped his hands in 
 admiration ; but the graduate turned away with a sigh, 
 as if he had not heard a note. “ Come now, Mr. Lu,” 
 cried the old man, addressing the latter, “ kindly 
 favour us with one of your songs, which, I know, must 
 be worth hearing.” The graduate then began to sing as 
 follows : — 
 
 (< Over the river the wind blows cold on lonely me : 
 
 Each flow’ret trampled under foot, all verdure gone. 
 
 At home a thousand li away, I cannot be ; 
 
 So towards the Bridge my spirit nightly wanders on. ,> 
 
 The above was given in such melancholy tones that 
 the old man smiled and said, u Mr. Lu, these must be 
 experiences of your own,” and, immediately filling a 
 goblet, added, u I can do nothing like that ; but if you 
 will let me, I will give you a song to help us on with 
 
144 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 our wine.” He then sung a verse from “ Li T‘ai-poh ，” 2 
 and put them all in a lively humour again ; after 
 which the young man said he would just go outside 
 and see how high the moon was, which he did, and 
 observing Liang-ssu outside, clapped his hands, and 
 cried out to his companions, 44 There is a man at the 
 window, who has seen all \ve have been doing.” He 
 then led Liang-ssu in; whereupon the other two rose, 
 and begged him to be seated, and to join them in 
 their wine. The wine, however, was cold , 3 and he 
 therefore declined ; but the young man at once per- 
 ceived his reason, and proceeded to warm some for 
 him. Liang-ssu now ordered his servant to go and buy 
 some more, but this his host would not permit him to 
 do. They next inquired Liang-ssu^ name, and whence 
 he came, and then the old man said, u Why, then, you 
 are the father and mother 4 of the district in which I 
 live. My name is River: I am an old resident here. 
 This young man is a Mr. Tu, of Kiang-si; and this 
 gentleman,” added he, pointing to the graduate, “is 
 Mr. Rushten , 5 6 a fellow-provincial of yours.” Mr. 
 
 2 The Byron of China. 
 
 3 Chinese wine — or, more correctly, spints 一 is always taken hot ; 
 hence the term wine-kettle, which frequently occurs in these pages. 
 
 4 The Magistrate ; who is supposed to be towards the people 
 
 what a father is to his children. 
 
 6 This singularly un-Chinese surname is employed to keep up a 
 certain play upon words which exists in the original, and which is 
 important to the denduement of the story. “River” is the simple 
 translation of a name actually in use. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 1 45 
 
 Rushten looked at Liang-ssu in rather a contemptuous 
 way, and without taking much notice of him ; where- 
 upon Liang-ssu asked him whereabouts he lived in 
 Chiang-ning, observing that it was strange he him- 
 self should never have heard of such an accomplished 
 gentleman. “ Alas !” replied Rushten, “it is many a 
 long day since I left my home, and I know nothing 
 even of my own family. Alas, indeed ! ’’ These words 
 were uttered in so mournful a tone of voice that the 
 old man broke in with, “Come, come, now! talking 
 like this, instead of drinking when we’re all so jolly 
 together ; this will never do.” He then drained a 
 bumper himself, and said, “I propose a game of 
 forfeits. We’ll throw with three dice ; and whoever 
 
 throws so that the spots on one die 6 equal those on 
 the other two shall give us a verse with a correspond- 
 ing classical allusion in it. J, He then threw himself, 
 and turned up an ace, a two, and a three ; whereupon 
 he sung the following lines : 一 
 
 ** An ace and a deuce on one side, just equal a three on the other : 
 For Fan a chicken was boiled, though three years had passed, by 
 Chang’s mother . 7 
 
 Thus friends love to meet ! ” 
 
 6 Chinese dice are the exact counterpart of our own, except that 
 the ace and the four are coloured red : the ace because the combina- 
 tion of black and white would be unlucky, and the four because 
 this number once turned up in response to the call of an Emperor 
 of the T*ang dynasty, who particularly wanted a four to win him the 
 partie. All letters, despatches, and such documents, have in- 
 variably something red about them, this being the lucky colour, and 
 to the Chinese, emblematic of prosperity and joy. 
 
 7 Alluding to an ancient story of a promise by a Mr. Fan that he 
 
 VOL. II. L 
 
146 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 Then the young musician threw, and turned up two 
 twos and a four ; whereupon he exclaimed, “Don’t 
 laugh at the feeble allusion of an unlearned fellow like 
 me: — 
 
 * Two deuces are equal to a four : 
 
 Four men united their valour in the old city. 3 
 
 Thus brothers love to meet ! "’ 
 
 Mr. Rushten followed with two aces and a two, and 
 recited these lines : — 
 
 “ Two aces are equal to a two : 
 
 Lu-hsiang stretched out his two arms and embraced his father. 9 
 
 Thus father and son love to meet ! n 
 
 Liang then threw, and turned up the same as Mr. 
 Rushten ; whereupon he said : — 
 
 “ Two aces are equal to a two : 
 
 ^lao-jung regaled Lin-tsung with two baskets. 10 
 
 Thus host and guest love to meet ! ’’ 
 
 would be at his friend Chang^ house that day three years. When 
 the time drew near, Chang’s mother ridiculed the notion of a man 
 keeping a three years’ appointment ; but, acceding to her son’s 
 instances, prepared a boiled chicken, which was barely ready when 
 Fan arrived to eat of it. 
 
 8 Alluding to the celebrated oath of confederation sworn in the 
 peach garden between Kuan Yii, or Kuan Ti (see No. I., note 3), 
 Chang Fei (see No. LXIII., note 2), Liu Pei, who subsequently 
 proclaimed himself Emperor, A.D. 221, and Chu-ko Liang, his cele- 
 brated minister, to whose sage counsels most of the success 
 of the undertaking was due. The whole story is one of the best 
 known of Chinese historical romances, bringing about, as it did, 
 the downfall of the famous Han dynasty, which had endured for 
 over 400 years. 
 
 9 Alluding to the story of a young man who went in search of his 
 missing father. 
 
 10 Lin-tsung saw his host kill a chicken which he thought was 
 destined for himself. However, Mao-jung served up the dainty 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 147 
 
 When the partie was over Liang-ssu rose to go, but 
 Mr. Rushten said, u Dear me ! why are you in such a 
 hurry ; we haven’t had a moment to speak of the old 
 place. Please stay : I was just going to ask you a few 
 questions.” So Liang-ssu sat down again, and Mr. 
 Rushten proceeded. “ I had an old friend,” said he, 
 “who was drowned in the Tung-t‘ing lake. He bore 
 the same name as yourself ; was he a relative ? v “He 
 was my father, replied Liang-ssu ; u how did you know 
 him ? ” “ We were friends as boys together ; and when 
 
 he was drowned, I recovered and buried his body by 
 the river-side ” * 11 Liang-ssu here burst into tears, and 
 thanked Mr. Rushten very warmly, begging him to point 
 out his father’s grave. “ Come again to-morrow,” said 
 Mr. Rushten, “and I will shew it to you. You could 
 easily find it yourself. It is close by here, and has ten 
 stalks of water-rush growing on it.” Liang-ssu now took 
 his leave, and went back to his boat, but he could not 
 sleep for thinking of what Mr. Rushten had told him ; 
 and at length, without waiting for the dawn, he set out 
 to look for the grave. To his great astonishment, the 
 house where he had spent the previous evening had dis- 
 appeared ; but hunting about in the direction indicated 
 
 morsel to his mother, while he and his guest regaled themselves 
 with two baskets of common vegetables. At this instance of filial 
 piety, Lin-tsung had the good sense to be charmed. 
 
 11 The Chinese recognise no act more worthy a virtuous man than 
 that of burying stray bones, covering up exposed coffins, and so 
 forth. By such means the favour of the Gods is most surely 
 obtained, to say nothing of the golden opinions of the living. 
 
 L 2 
 
148 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 by Mr. Rushten, he found a grave with ten water-rushes 
 growing on it, precisely as Mr. Rushten had described. 
 It then flashed across him that Mr. Rushten^ name had 
 a special meaning, and that he had been holding con- 
 verse with none other than the disembodied spirit of his 
 own father. And, on inquiring of the people of the 
 place, he learnt that twenty years before a benevolent 
 old gentleman, named Kao, had been in the habit of 
 collecting the bodies of persons found drowned, and 
 burying them in that spot. Liang then opened the 
 grave, arid carried off his father’s remains to his own 
 home, where his grandmother, to whom he described 
 Mr. Rushten’s appearance, confirmed the suspicion he 
 himself had formed. It also turned out that the young 
 musician was a cousin of his, who had been drowned 
 when nineteen years of age ; and then he recollected 
 that the boy’s father had subsequently gone to Kiang-si, 
 and that his mother had died there, and had been 
 buried at the Bamboo Bridge, to which Mr. Rushten 
 had alluded in his song. But he did not know who the 
 old man was . 12 
 
 12 This is merely our authors way of putting the question of the 
 old man’s identity. He was the Spirit of the Waters — his name, it 
 will be recollected, was River — just, in fact, as we say Old Father 
 Thames. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 149 
 
 XCIV. 
 
 THE BOAT-GIRL BRIDE. 
 
 Wang Kuli-ngan was a young man of good family. 
 It happened once when he was travelling southwards, 
 and had moored his boat to the bank, that he saw in 
 another boat close by a young boat-girl embroidering 
 shoes. He was much struck by her beauty, and con- 
 tinued gazing at her for some time, though she took not 
 the slightest notice of him. By-and-by he began 
 singing— 
 
 ce The Lo-yang lady lives over the way : 
 
 [Fifteen years is her age I should say 5, ] 1 
 
 to attract her attention, and then she seemed to per- 
 ceive that he was addressing himself to her ; but, after 
 just raising her head and glancing at him, she resumed 
 her embroidery as before. Wang then threw a piece 
 of silver towards her, which fell on her skirt; how- 
 ever she merely picked it up, and flung it on to the 
 bank, as if she had not seen what it was^ so Wang 
 
 1 From a poem by Wang Wei, a noted poet of the T c ang 
 dynasty. The second line is not given in the text. 
 
150 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 put it back in his pocket again. He followed up by 
 throwing her a gold bracelet, to which she paid no 
 attention whatever, never taking her eyes off her work. 
 A few minutes after her father appeared, much to the 
 dismay of Wang, who was afraid he would see the 
 bracelet; but the young girl quietly placed her feet 
 over it, and concealed it from his sight. The boatman 
 let go the painter, and away they went down stream, 
 leaving Wang sitting there, not knowing what to do 
 next. And, having recently lost his wife, he regretted 
 that he had not seized this opportunity to make another 
 match ; the more so, as when he came to ask the other 
 boat-people of the place, no one knew anything about 
 them. So Wang got into his own boat, and started off in 
 pursuit ; but evening came on, and, as he could see 
 nothing of them, he was obliged to turn back and 
 proceed in the direction where business was taking 
 him. When he had finished that, he returned, making 
 inquiries all the way along, but without hearing anything 
 about the object of his search. On arriving at home, 
 he was unable either to eat or to sleep, so much did 
 this affair occupy his mind ; and about a year after- 
 wards he went south again, bought a boat, and lived 
 in it as his home, watching carefully every single vessel 
 that passed either up or down, until at last there was 
 hardly one he didn’t know by sight. But all this time 
 the boat he was looking for never reappeared. 
 
 Some six months passed away thus, and then, having 
 exhausted all his funds, he was obliged to go home, 
 where he remained in a state of general inaptitude for 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 151 
 
 anything. One night he dreamed that he entered a 
 village on the river-bank, and that, after passing several 
 houses, he saw one with a door towards the south, 
 and a palisade of bamboos inside. Thinking it was a 
 garden, he walked in and beheld a beautiful magnolia, 
 covered with blossoms, which reminded him of the 
 line — 
 
 “ And Judas-tree in flower before her door.” 2 
 
 A few steps farther on was a neat bamboo hedge, on 
 the other side of which, towards the north, he found 
 a small house, with three columns, the door of which 
 was locked ; and another, towards the south, with its 
 window shaded by the broad leaves of a plaintain-tree. 
 The door was barred by a clothes-horse , 3 on which 
 
 2 From a poem by P‘an T‘ang-shen, which runs : — 
 
 4< Her rustic home stands by the Tung-t^ng lake. 
 
 Ye who would there a pure libation pour, 
 
 Look for mud walls — a roof of rushy make — 
 
 And Judas-tree in flower before the door.” 
 
 The Chinese believe that the Judas-tree will only bloom where 
 fraternal love prevails. 
 
 3 I have already observed that men and women should not let 
 their hands touch when passing things to each other (see No. XL., 
 note 3) ; neither is it considered proper for persons of different 
 sexes to hang their clothes on the same clothes-horse. (See 
 Appendix^ note 42.) 
 
 With regard to shaking hands, I have omitted to mention how 
 hateful this custom is in the eyes of the Chinese, as in vogue among 
 foreigners, without reference to sex. They believe that a bad mail 
 might easily secrete some noxious drug in the palm of his hand, 
 and so convey it into the system of any woman, who would then be 
 at his mercy. 
 
STRANGE STORIES 
 
 was hanging an embroidered petticoat; and, on seeing 
 this, Wang stepped back, knowing that he had got to 
 the ladies’ quarters ; but his presence had already been 
 noticed inside, and, in another moment, out came his 
 heroine of the boat. Overjoyed at seeing her, he was 
 on the point of grasping her hand, when suddenly the 
 girl’s father arrived, and, in his consternation, Wang 
 waked up, and found that it was all a dream. Every 
 incident of it, however, remained clear and distinct in 
 his mind, and he took care to say nothing about it to 
 anybody, for fear of destroying its reality. 
 
 Another year passed away, and he went again to 
 Chinkiang, where lived an official, named Hsii, who 
 was an old friend of the family, and who invited Wang 
 to come and take a cup of wine with him. On his 
 way thither, Wang lost his way, but at length reached 
 a village which seemed familiar to him, and which he 
 soon found, by the door with the magnolia inside, to be 
 identical, in every particular, with the village of his 
 dream. He went in through the doorway, and there 
 was everything as he had seen it in his dream, even .to 
 the boat-girl herself. She jumped up on his arrival, 
 and, shutting the door in his face, asked what his 
 business was there. Wang inquired if she had forgotten 
 about the bracelet, and went on to tell her how long 
 he had been searching for her, and how, at last, she 
 had been revealed to him in a dream. The girl then 
 begged to know his name and family; and when she 
 heard who he was, she asked what a gentleman like 
 himself could want with a poor boat-girl like her, as 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 J 53 
 
 he must have a wife of his own. “But for you,” 
 replied Wang, “I should, indeed, have been married 
 long ago.” Upon which the girl told him if that was 
 really the case, he had better apply to her parents, 
 “although,” added she, ‘‘they have already refused a 
 great many offers for me. The bracelet you gave me 
 is here, but my father and mother are just now away 
 from home ; they will be back shortly. You go away 
 now and engage a match-maker, when I dare say it 
 will be all right if the proper formalities are observed.” 
 Wang then retired, the girl calling after him to re- 
 member that her name was Meng Yiin, and her fathers 
 Meng Chiang-li. He proceeded at once on his way to 
 Mr. Hsii’s, and after that sought out his intended 
 father-in-law, telling him who he was, and offering him 
 at the same time one hundred ounces of silver, as 
 betrothal-money for his daughter. “She is already 
 promised, replied the old man ; upon which Wang 
 declared he had been making careful inquiries, and had 
 heard, on all sides, that the young lady was not en- 
 gaged, winding up by begging to know what objection 
 there was to his suit. “I have just promised her,” 
 answered her father, u and I cannot possibly break my 
 word ; ” so Wang went away, deeply mortified, not 
 knowing whether to believe it or not. That night he 
 tossed about a good deal ; and next morning, braving 
 the ridicule with which he imagined his friend would 
 view his wished-for alliance with a boat-girl, he went 
 off to Mr. Hsii, and told him all about it “Why 
 didn’t you consult me before ?’’ cried Mr. Hsii ; her 
 
STRANGE STORIES 
 
 father is a connection of mine.” Wang then went on 
 to give fuller particulars, which his friend interrupted 
 by saying, ‘‘ Chang-li is indeed poor, but he has never 
 been a boatman. Are you sure you are not making 
 a mistake?” He then sent off his elder son to make 
 inquiries ; and to him the girl’s father said, “ Poor I 
 am, but I don J t sell my daughter . 4 Your friend imagined 
 that I should be tempted by the sight of his money 
 to forego the usual ceremonies, and so I won’t have 
 anything to do with him. But if your father desires 
 this match, and everything is in proper order, I will 
 just go in and consult with my daughter, and see if she 
 is willing.” He then retired for a few minutes, and 
 when he came back he raised his hands in congratu- 
 lation, saying, u Everything is as you wish ; }> whereupon 
 a day was fixed, and the young man went home to 
 report to his father. Wang now sent off betrothal 
 presents, with the usual formalities, and took up his 
 abode with his friend, Mr. Hsii, until the marriage 
 was solemnized, three days after which he bade adieu 
 to his father-in-law, and started on his way northwards. 
 In the evening, as they were sitting on the boat to- 
 gether, Wang said to his wife, u When I first met you 
 near this spot, I fancied you were not of the ordinary 
 boating-class. Where were you then going ? J, “ I was 
 going to visit my uncle, she replied. ‘‘ We are not a 
 
 4 Alluding to Wang’s breach of etiquette in visiting the father 
 himself, instead of sending a go-between, who would have offered 
 the same sum in due form as the usual dowry or present to the 
 bride’s family. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 1 55 
 
 wealthy family, you know, but we don't want anything 
 through an improper channel ; and I couldn’t help 
 smiling at the great eyes you were making at me, all 
 the time trying to tempt me with money. But when I 
 heard you speak, I knew at once you were a man of 
 refinement, though I guessed you were a bit of a rake ; 
 and so I hid your bracelet, and saved you from the 
 wrath of my father. w “And yet,” replied Wang, “you 
 have fallen into my snare after all; ” adding， after a little 
 pressure, u for I can’t conceal from you much longer 
 the fact that I have already a wife, belonging to a high 
 official family.” This she did not believe, until he began 
 to affirm it seriously; and then she jumped up and ran 
 out of the cabin. Wang followed at once, but, before 
 he could reach her, she was already in the river ; where- 
 upon he shouted out to boats to come to their assistance, 
 causing quite a commotion all round about ; but nothing 
 was to be seen in the river, save only the reflection of 
 the stars shining brightly on the water. All night long 
 Wang went sorrowfully up and down, and offered a high 
 reward for the body, which, however, was not forth- 
 coming. So he went home in despair, and then, fearing 
 lest his father-in-law should come to visit his daughter, 
 he started on a visit to a connection of his, who had an 
 appointment in Honan. In the course of a year or two, 
 when on his homeward journey, he chanced to be de- 
 tained by bad weather at a roadside inn of rather cleaner 
 appearance than usual. Within he saw an old woman 
 playing with a child, which, as soon as he entered, held 
 out its arms to him to be taken. Wang took the child 
 
156 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 on his knee, and there it remained, refusing to go back 
 to its nurse ; and, when the rain had stopped, and Wang 
 was getting ready to go, the child cried out, “ Pa-pa 
 gone ! ” The nurse told it to hold its tongue, and, at 
 the same moment, out from behind the screen came 
 Wan^s long-lost wife. “ You bad fellow,” said she, 
 “ what am I to do with this ? ’’ pointing to the child; 
 and then Wang knew that the boy was his own son. He 
 was much affected, and swore by the sun * * * * 5 that the 
 words he had uttered had been uttered in jest, and 
 by-and-by his wife’s anger was soothed She then ex- 
 plained how she had been picked up by a passing boat, 
 the occupant of which was the owner of the house they 
 were in, a man of sixty years of age, who had no 
 children of his own, and who kindly adopted her . 6 She 
 
 b Witnesses in a Chinese court of justice take no oath, in our 
 
 sense of the term. Their written depositions, however, are always 
 
 ended with the words “ the above evidence is the truth ! ’’ In 
 
 ordinary life people call heaven and earth to witness, or, as in this 
 
 case, the sun ; or they declare themselves willing to forfeit their 
 lives ; and so on, if their statements are not true. fi Saucer-break- 
 ing is one of those pleasant inductions from probably a single 
 instance, which may have been the fancy of a moment ; at any rate, 
 it is quite unknown in China as a national custom. “Cock-killing” 
 usually has reference to the ceremonies of initiation performed by 
 the members of the numerous secret societies which exist over the 
 length and breadth of the Empire, in spite of Government pro- 
 hibitions, and the penalty of death incurred upon detection. 
 
 6 Adoption is common all over China, and is regulated by law. 
 For instance, an adopted son excludes all the daughters of the 
 family. A man is not allowed to marry a girl whom he has adopted 
 until he shall have given her away to be adopted in a family of a 
 different surname from his own ; after which fictitious ceremony, his 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 1 57 
 
 also told him how she had had several offers of marriage, 
 all of which she had refused, and how her child was 
 born, and that she had called him Chi-sheng, and that he 
 was then a year old. Wang now unpacked his baggage 
 again, and went in to see the old gentleman and his 
 wife, whom he treated as if they had actually been his 
 wife’s parents. A few days afterwards they set off 
 together towards Wang’s home, where they found his 
 wife’s real father awaiting them. He had been there 
 more than two months, and had been considerably dis- 
 concerted by the mysterious remarks of Wang^' servants; 
 but the arrival of his daughter and her husband made 
 things all smooth again, and when they told him what 
 had happened, he understood the demeanour of the 
 servants which had seemed so strange to him at 
 first. 
 
 marriage with her becomes legal (see No. XV., note 3) ; for the 
 child adopted takes the same surname as that of the family into 
 which he is adopted, and is so far cut off from his own relations, 
 that he would not venture even to put on mourning for his real 
 parents without first obtaining the consent of those who had 
 adopted him. A son or daughter may be sold, but an adopted 
 child may not ; neither may the adopted child be given away in 
 adoption to any one else without the specific consent of his real 
 parents. The general object in adopting children is to leave some 
 one behind at death to look after the duties of ancestral worship. 
 For this boys are preferred ; but the Fortunate Union gives an 
 instance in which these rites were very creditably performed by the 
 heroine of the tale. 
 
STRANGE STORIES 
 
 IS 8 
 
 xcv. 
 
 THE TWO BRIDES. 
 
 Now Chi-sheng, or Wang Sun, was one of the 
 cleverest young fellows in the district ; and his father 
 and mother, who had foreseen his ability from the time 
 when, as a baby in long clothes, he distinguished them from 
 other people, loved him very dearly. He grew up into a 
 handsome lad ; at eight or nine he could compose ele- 
 gantly, and by fourteen he had already entered his name 
 as a candidate for the first degree, after which his mar- 
 riage became a question for consideration. Now his 
 fathers younger sister, Erh-niang, had married a gentle- 
 man named Cheng Tzu-ch^ao, and they had a daughter 
 called Kuei-hsiu, who was extremely pretty, and with 
 whom Chi-sheng fell deeply in love, being soon unable 
 either to eat or to sleep. His parents became extremely 
 uneasy about him, and inquired what it was that ailed 
 him ; and when he told them, they at once sent off a 
 match-maker to Mr. Cheng. The latter, however, was 
 rather a stickler for the proprieties, and replied that the 
 near relationship precluded him from accepting the 
 
 1 This story is a sequel to the last. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 J 59 
 
 offer . 2 Thereupon Chi-sheng became dangerously ill, 
 and his mother, not knowing what to do, secretly tried to 
 persuade Erh-niang to let her daughter come over to 
 their house ; but Mr. Cheng heard of it, and was so 
 angry that Chi-sheng’s father and mother gave up all hope 
 
 of arranging the match. 
 
 At that time there was a gentleman named Chang 
 living near by, who had five daughters, all very pretty, 
 but the youngest, called Wu-k c o, was singularly beautiful, 
 far surpassing her four sisters. She was not betrothed to 
 any one, when one day, as she was on her way to worship 
 at the family tombs, she chanced to see Chi-sheng, and 
 at her return home spoke about him to her mother. Her 
 mother guessed what her meaning was, and arranged 
 with a match-maker, named Mrs. Yii, to call upon Chi- 
 sheng’s parents. This she did precisely at the time when 
 Chi-sheng was so ill, and forthwith told his mother that 
 her son’s complaint was one she, Mrs. Yii, was quite 
 competent to cure ; going on to tell her about Miss 
 Wu-k c o and the proposed marriage, at which the good 
 lady was delighted, and sent her in to talk about it to 
 Chi-sheng himself. u Alas ! 7, cried he, when he had 
 heard Mrs. Yti’s story, “you are bringing me the 
 wrong medicine for my complaint.” “All depends 
 upon the efficacy of the medicine, replied Mrs. Yii; 
 “if the medicine is good, it matters not what is the 
 name of the doctor who administers the draught ; while 
 
 2 The surnames would in this case be different, and no obstacle 
 could be offered on that score. See No. XV., note 3. 
 
l6 〇 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 to set your heart on a particular person, and to lie there 
 and die because that person doesn’t come, is surely 
 foolish in the extreme.” ‘‘ Ah,” rejoined Chi-sheng, 
 “ there’s no medicine under heaven that will do me any 
 good.” Mrs. Yii told him his experience was limited, 
 and proceeded to expatiate by speaking and gesticulating 
 on the beauty and liveliness of Wu-k‘0. But all Chi- 
 sheng said was that she was not what he wanted, and, 
 turning round his face to the wall, would listen to no 
 more about her. So Mrs. Yii was obliged to go away, 
 and Chi-sheng became worse and worse every day, until 
 suddenly one of the maids came in and informed him 
 that the young lady herself was at the door. Imme- 
 diately he jumped up and ran out, and lo ! there before 
 him stood a beautiful girl, whom, however^ he soon dis- 
 covered not to be Kuei-hsiu. She wore a light yellow 
 robe with a fine silk jacket and an embroidered petticoat, 
 from beneath which her two little feet peeped out ; and 
 altogether she more resembled a fairy than anything else. 
 Chi-sheng inquired her name ; to which she replied that 
 it was Wu-k‘o, adding that she couldn’t understand his 
 devoted attachment to Kuei-hsiu, as if there was nobody 
 else in the world Chi-sheng apologized, saying that he 
 had never before seen any one so beautiful as Kuei-hsiu, 
 but that he was now aware of his mistake. He then 
 swore everlasting fidelity to her, and was just grasping 
 her hand, when he awoke and found his mother rubbing 
 him. It was a dream, but so accurately defined in all 
 its details that he began to think if Wu-k 4 o was really 
 such as he had seen her, there would be no further need 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. l6l 
 
 to try for his impracticable cousin. So he communi- 
 cated his dream to his mother ; and she, only too 
 delighted to notice this change of feeling, offered to go 
 to Wu-k‘o’s house herself ; but Chi-sheng would not hear 
 of this, and arranged with an old woman who knew the 
 family to find some pretext for going there, and to report 
 to him what Wu-k^ was like. When she arrived Wu-k*o 
 was ill in bed, and lay with her head propped up by 
 pillows, looking very pretty indeed. The old woman 
 approached the couch and asked what was the matter ; 
 to which \Vu-k‘o made no reply, her fingers fidgetting all 
 the time with her waistband. “ She’s been behaving 
 badly to her father and mother,” cried the latter, who 
 was in the room there’s many a one has offered to 
 marry her, but she says she’ll have none but Chi-sheng : 
 and then when I scold her a bit, she takes on and won’t 
 touch her food for days.” ‘‘ Madam，” said the old 
 woman, “if you could get that young man for your 
 daughter they would make a truly pretty pair ; and as for 
 him, if he could only see Miss \Vu-k‘o ， I’m afraid it 
 would be too much for him. What do you think of my 
 going there and getting them to make proposals ? ’’ “No, 
 thank you,” replied Wu-k‘o I would rather not risk 
 his refusal;” upon which the old woman declared she 
 would succeed, and hurried off to tell Chi-sheng, who 
 was delighted to find from her report that Wu-k 4 o was 
 exactly as he had seen her in his dream, though he 
 didn’t trust implicitly in all the old woman said. By- 
 and-by, when he began to get a little better, he consulted 
 with the old woman as to how he could see Wu-k‘o with 
 VOL. II. M 
 
162 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 his own eyes; and, after some little difficulty, it was 
 arranged that Chi-sheng should hide himself in a room 
 from which he would be able to see her as she crossed 
 the yard supported by a maid, which she did every day 
 at a certain hour. This Chi-sheng proceeded to do, and 
 in a little while out she came, accompanied by the old 
 woman as well, who instantly drew her attention either 
 to the clouds or the trees, in order that she should walk 
 more leisurely. Thus Chi-sheng had a good look at her, 
 and saw that she was truly the young lady of his dream. 
 He could hardly contain himself for joy ; and when the 
 old woman arrived and asked if she would do instead of 
 Kuei-hsiu, he thanked her very warmly and returned to 
 his own home. There he told his father and mother, 
 who sent off a match-maker to arrange the preliminaries ; 
 but the latter came back and told them that Wu-k 4 o was 
 already betrothed. This was a terrible blow for Chi- 
 sheng, who was soon as ill as ever, and offered no reply 
 to his father and mother when they charged him with 
 having made a mistake. For several months he ate 
 nothing but a bowl of rice-gruel a-day, and he became as 
 emaciated as a fowl, when all of a sudden the old woman 
 walked in and asked him what was the matter. “Foolish 
 boy,” said she, when he had told her all; 6i before you 
 wouldn’t have her， and do you imagine she is bound to 
 have you now? But I’ll see if I can’t help you ; for 
 were she the Emperofs own daughter, I should still find 
 some way of getting her.” Chi-sheng asked what he 
 should do, and she then told him to send a servant with 
 a letter next day to Wu-k^^ house, to which his father 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 1 63 
 
 at first objected for fear of another repulse ; but the old 
 woman assured him that Wu-k^^ parents had since re- 
 pented, besides which no written contract had as yet 
 been made and you kno'v the proverb,” added she, 
 u that those who are first at the fire will get their dinner 
 first.” So Chi-sheng’s father agreed, and two servants 
 were accordingly sent, their mission proving a complete 
 success. Chi-sheng now rapidly recovered his health, 
 and thought no more of Kuei-hsiu, who, when she heard 
 of the intended match, became in her turn very seriously 
 ill, to the great anger of her father, who said she might 
 die for all he cared, but to the great sorrow of her 
 mother, who was extremely fond of her daughter. The 
 latter even went so far as to propose to Mr. Chang that 
 Kuei-hsiu should go as second wife, at which he was so 
 enraged that he declared he would wash his hands of the 
 girl altogether. The mother then found out when Chi- 
 sheng^ wedding was to take place; and, borrowing a 
 chair and attendants from her brother under pretence of 
 going to visit him, put Kuei-hsui inside and sent her off 
 to her uncle’s house. As she arrived at the door, the 
 servants spread a carpet for her to walk on, and the 
 band struck up the wedding march. Chi-sheng went out 
 to see what it was all about, and there met a young lady 
 in a bridal veil, from whom he would have escaped had 
 not her servants surrounded them, and, before he knew 
 what he was doing, he was making her the usual saluta- 
 tion of a bridegroom. They then went in together, and, 
 to his further astonishment, he found that the young 
 lady was Kuei-hsiu ; and, being now unable to go and 
 
 m 2 
 
164 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 meet Wu-k^, a message was sent to her father, telling 
 him what had occurred. He, too, got into a great rage, 
 and vowed he would break off the match ; but Wu-k 4 o 
 herself said she would go all the same, her rival having 
 only got the start of her in point of time. And go she 
 did ; and the two wives, instead of quarrelling, as was 
 expected, lived very happily together like sisters, and 
 wore each others clothes and shoes without distinction, 
 Kuei-hsiu taking the place of an elder sister as being 
 somewhat older than Wu-k‘o. 3 One day, after these 
 
 events, Chi-sheng asked Wu-k c o why she had refused 
 his offer ; to which she replied that it was merely to pay 
 him out for having previously refused her fathers pro- 
 posal. Before you had seen me, your head was full of 
 Kuei-hsiu ; but after you had seen me, your thoughts 
 were somewhat divided ; and I wanted to know how I 
 compared with her, and whether you would fall ill on 
 my account as you had on hers, that we mightn’t quarrel 
 about our looks.” u It was a cruel revenge, said Chi- 
 sheng ; u but how should I ever have got a sight of you 
 had it not been for the old woman ? J, ‘‘ What had she 
 to do with it ? ” replied Wu-k‘o ; u I knew you were 
 behind the door all the time. When I was ill I dreamt 
 that I went to your house and saw you, but I looked 
 upon it only as a dream until I heard that you had 
 dreamt that I had actually been there, and then I knew 
 
 3 The denouement of the Yu-chiac-li, a small novel which was 
 translated into French by Remusat, and again by Julien under the 
 title of Les Deux Cousines t is effected by the hero of the tale 
 marrying both the heroines. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 i6 5 
 
 that my spirit must have been with you.” Chi-sheng 
 now related to her the particulars of his vision, which 
 coincided exactly with her own ; and thus, strangely 
 enough, had the matrimonial alliances of both father and 
 son been brought about by dreams. 
 
i66 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 XCVI. 
 
 A SUPERNATURAL WIFE. 
 
 A certain Mr. Chao, of Ch‘ang-shan, lodged in a 
 family of the name of T £ ai. He was very badly off, 
 and, falling sick, was brought almost to death’s door. 
 One day they moved him into the verandah, that it 
 might be cooler for him ; and, when he awoke from a 
 nap, lo ! a beautiful girl was standing by his side. “I 
 am come to be your wife,” said the girl, in answer to his 
 question as to who she was ; to which he replied that a 
 poor fellow like himself did not look for such luck as 
 that ; adding that, being then on his death-bed, he would 
 not have much occasion for the services of a wife. The 
 girl said she could cure him ; but he told her he very 
 much doubted that; “And even,” continued he, “should 
 you have any good prescription, I have not the means of 
 getting it made up.” “ I don’t want medicine to cure 
 you with,” rejoined the girl, proceeding at once to rub 
 his back and sides with her hand, which seemed to him 
 like a ball of fire. He soon began to feel much better, 
 and asked the young lady what her name was, in order, 
 as he said, that he might remember her in his prayers. 
 “I am a spirit,” replied she ; “ and you, when alive 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 167 
 
 under the Han dynasty as Ch 4 u Sui-liang, were a bene- 
 factor of my family. Your kindness being engraven on my 
 heart, I have at length succeeded in my search for you, 
 and am able in some measure to requite you. Chao was 
 dreadfully ashamed of his poverty-stricken state, and 
 afraid that his dirty room would spoil the young lady’s 
 dress ; but she made him show her in, and accordingly 
 he took her into his apartment, where there were neither 
 chairs to sit upon, nor signs of anything to eat, saying, u You 
 might, indeed, be able to put up with all this ; but you 
 see my larder is empty, and I have absolutely no means 
 of supporting a wife.” “ Don’t be alarmed about that，’’ 
 cried she; and in another moment he saw a couch 
 covered with costly robes, the walls papered with a 
 silver-flecked paper, and chairs and tables appear, the 
 latter laden with all kinds of wine and exquisite viands. 
 They then began to enjoy themselves, and lived together 
 as husband and wife, many people coming to witness 
 these strange things, and being all cordially received by 
 the young lady, who in her turn always accompanied 
 Mr. Chao when he went out to dinner anywhere . 1 One 
 day there was an unprincipled young graduate among 
 the company, which she seemed immediately to become 
 
 1 The sexes do not dine together. On the occasion of a dinner- 
 party, private or official, the ladies give a separate entertainment to 
 the wives of the various guests in the << inner 5> or womens apart- 
 ments, as an adjunct to which a theatrical troupe is often engaged, 
 precisely as in the case of the opposite sex. Singing-girls are, 
 however, present at and share in the banquets of the roues of 
 China. 
 
i68 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 aware of ; and, after calling him several bad names, she 
 struck him on the side of the head, causing his head to 
 fly out of the window while his body remained inside ; 
 and there he was, stuck fast, unable to move either way, 
 until the others interceded for him and he was released. 
 After some time visitors became too numerous, and if 
 she refused to see them they turned their anger against 
 her husband. At length, as they were sitting tegether 
 drinking with some friends at the Tuan-yang festival , 2 a 
 white rabbit ran in, whereupon the girl jumped up and 
 said, “The doctor 3 has come for me;” then, turning to 
 the rabbit, she added, “You go on : I’ll follow you.” So 
 the rabbit went away, and then she ordered them to get 
 a ladder and place it against a high tree in the back 
 yard, the top of the ladder overtopping the tree. The 
 young lady went up first and Chao close behind her; 
 after which she called out to anybody who wished to join 
 them to make haste up. None ventured to do so with 
 the exception of a serving-boy belonging to the house, 
 
 2 This occurs on the 5th of the 5th moon, and is commonly 
 known as the Dragon-Boat Festival, from a practice of racing on 
 that day in long, narrow boats. It is said to have been instituted 
 in memory of a patriotic statesman, whose identity, however, is not 
 settled, some writers giving Wu Yun (see The Middle Kingd 〇 77 i^ 
 Vol. 11., p. 82), others Ch*ii Yiian (see The Chinese Readers 
 Manual y p. 107), as the hero of the day. 
 
 3 A hare or rabbit is believed to sit at the foot of the cassia- 
 tree in the moon, pounding the drugs out of which is concocted the 
 elixir of immortality. An allusion to this occurs in the poems of 
 Tu Fu, one of the celebrated bards of the T*ang dynasty: — 
 
 “ The frog is not drowned in the river ; 
 
 The medicine hare lives for ever.” 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 169 
 
 who followed after Chao ; and thus they went up, up, 
 up, up, until they disappeared in the clouds and were 
 seen no more. However, when the bystanders came to 
 look at the ladder, they found it was only an old door- 
 frame with the panels knocked out ; and when they went 
 into Mr. Chao^ room, it was the same old, dirty, un- 
 furnished room as before. So they determined to find 
 out all about it from the serving-boy when he came 
 back ; but this he never did. 
 
STRANGE STORIES 
 
 I7 〇 
 
 XCVII. 
 
 BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION. 
 
 At Pao-ting Fu there lived a young man, who having 
 purchased the lowest 1 degree was about to proceed to 
 Peking, in the hope of obtaining, by the aid of a little 
 bribery, an appointment as District Magistrate. His 
 boxes were all ready packed, when he was taken 
 suddenly ill and was confined to his bed for more 
 than a month. One day the servant entered and an- 
 nounced a visitor ; whereupon our sick man jumped up 
 and ran to the door as if there was nothing the matter 
 with him. The visitor was elegantly dressed like a man 
 of some position in society ; and, after bowing thrice, he 
 walked into the house, explaining that he was Kung-sun 
 Hsia , 2 tutor to the Eleventh Prince, and that he had 
 heard our Mr. So-and-so wished to arrange for the 
 purchase of a magistracy. “ If that is really so,” added 
 he, ‘‘ would you not do better to buy a prefecture ? ” 
 So-and-so thanked him warmly, but said his funds would 
 
 1 By which he would become eligible for Government employ. 
 The sale of degrees has been extensively carried on under the pre- 
 sent dynasty, as a means of replenishing an empty Treasury. 
 
 2 Kung-sun is an example of a Chinese double surname. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 I7I 
 
 not be sufficient ; upon which Mr. Kung-sun declared he 
 should be delighted to assist him with half the purchase- 
 money, which he could repay after taking up the post . 3 
 He went on to say that being on intimate terms with the 
 various provincial Governors the thing could be easily 
 managed for about five thousand taels ; and also that at 
 that very moment Chen-ting Fu being vacant, it would 
 be as well to make an early effort to get the appointment. 
 So-and-so pointed out that this place was in his native 
 province ; 4 but Kung-sun only laughed at his objection, 
 and reminded him that money 5 could obliterate all dis- 
 tinctions of that kind. This did not seem quite satis- 
 factory ; however, Kung-sun told him not to be alarmed, 
 as the post of which he was speaking was below in the 
 infernal regions. “The fact is,” said he, “that your 
 
 3 Such is the common system of repaying the loan, by means of 
 which an indigent nominee is enabled to defray the expenses of his 
 journey to the post to which he has been appointed, and other calls 
 upon his purse. These loans are generally provided by some 
 “ western ” merchant, which term is an ellipsis for a “ Shansi ” 
 banker, Shansi being literally “ west of the mountains.” Some one 
 accompanies the newly-made official to his post, and holds his 
 commission in pawn until the amount is repaid ; which settlement 
 is easily effected by the issue of some well-understood proclamation, 
 calling, for instance, upon the people to close all gambling-houses 
 within a given period. Immediately the owners of th^se hells for- 
 ward presents of money to the incoming official, the Shansi banker 
 gets his principal with interest, perhaps at the rate of 2 per cent. 
 per months the gambling-houses carry on as usual, and everybody is 
 perfectly satisfied. 
 
 4 Which fact would disqualify him from taking the post. 
 
 5 Literally, “ Square hole.” A common name for the Chinese 
 cash. See No. II, note 2. 
 
172 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 term of life has expired, and that your name is already 
 on the death list ; by these means you will take your 
 place in the world below as a man of official position. 
 Farewell ! in three days we shall meet again.” He then 
 went to the door and mounted his horse and rode away. 
 So-and-so now opened his eyes and spoke a few parting 
 words to his wife and children, bidding them take money 
 from his strong-room 6 and go buy large quantities of 
 paper ingots , 7 which they immediately did, quite ex- 
 hausting all the shops. This was piled in the court-yard 
 with paper images of men, devils, horses, & 匕 ， and 
 burning went on day and night until the ashes formed 
 quite a hill. In three days Kung-sun returned, bringing 
 with him the money ; upon which So-and-so hurried off 
 to the Board of Civil Office , 8 where he had an interview 
 with the high officials, who, after asking his name, warned 
 him to be a pure and upright officer, and then calling 
 him up to the table handed him his letter of appoint- 
 ment. So-and-so bowed and took his leave ; but recol- 
 lecting at once that his purchased degree would not 
 
 6 In the case of wealthy families these strong rooms often contain, 
 in addition to bullion, jewels to a very great amount belonging to 
 the ladies of the house ; and, as a rule, the door may not be opened 
 unless in the presence of a certain number of the male representa- 
 tives of the house. 
 
 7 Pieces of silver and gold paper made up to represent the ordi- 
 nary Chinese ** shoes n of bullion (See No. XVIII., note 4), and 
 burnt for the use of the dead. Generally known to foreigners in 
 China as “joss-paper.” 
 
 8 See No. VII., note 1. In this case the reference is to a similar 
 Board in the Infernal Regions. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 173 
 
 carry much weight with it in the eyes of his subor- 
 dinates , 9 he sent off to buy elaborate chairs and a 
 number of horses for his retinue, at the same time 
 despatching several devil lictors to fetch his favourite 
 wife in a beautifully adorned sedan-chair. All arrange- 
 ments were just completed when some of the Chen-ting 
 staff came to meet the new Prefect , 10 others awaiting 
 him all along the line of road, about half a mile in 
 length. He was immensely gratified at this reception, 
 when all of a sudden the gongs before him ceased to 
 sound and the banners were lowered to the ground. He 
 had hardly time to ask what was the matter before he 
 saw those of his servants who were on horseback jump 
 hastily to the ground and dwindle down to about a foot 
 in height, while their horses shrunk to the size of foxes 
 or racoons. One of the attendants near his chariot 
 cried out in alarm, “ Here’s Kuan Ti !” * 11 and then he, 
 too, jumped out in a fright, and saw in the distance Kuan 
 Ti himself slowly approaching them, followed by four or 
 five retainers on horsebacL His great beard covered 
 the lower half of his face, quite unlike ordinary mortals ; 
 his aspect was terrible to behold, and his eyes reached 
 nearly to his ears. “ Who is this ?’’ roared he to his 
 servants; and they immediately informed him that it 
 was the new Prefect of Chen-ting. “ What !” cried he ; 
 
 9 These would be sure to sneer at him behind his back. 
 
 10 A compliment usually paid to an in-coming 0 伍 cial. 
 
 11 See No. I., note 3. 
 
174 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 Ci a petty fellow like that to have a retinue like this ? 9, 12 
 Whereupon So-and-so^ flesh began to creep with fear, 
 and in a few moments he found that he too had shrunk 
 to the size of a little boy of six or seven. Kuan Ti 
 bade his attendants bring the new Prefect with them, 
 and went into a building at the roadside, where he took 
 up his seat facing the south 13 and calling for writing 
 materials told So-and-so to write down his name and 
 address. When this was handed to him he flew into a 
 towering passion, and said, “The scribbly scrawl of a 
 placeman, indeed ! 14 Can such a one be entrusted with 
 the welfare of the people ? Look me up the record of 
 his good works.” A man then advanced, and whispered 
 something in a low tone ; upon which Kuan Ti exclaimed 
 in a loud voice, u The crime of the briber is compara- 
 tively trifling ; the heavy guilt lies with those who sell 
 official posts for money.” So-and-so was now seized by 
 angels in golden armour, and two of them tore ofF his 
 cap and robes, and administered to him fifty blows with 
 the bamboo until hardly any flesh remained on his 
 bones. He was then thrust outside the door, and .lo ! 
 his carriages and horses had disappeared, and he himself 
 was lying, unable to walk for pain, at no great distance 
 from his own house. However, his body seemed as light 
 
 12 The retinue of a Mandarin should be in accordance with his 
 rank. I have given elsewhere (See No. LVI, note 5) what would 
 be that of an official of the highest rank. 
 
 13 See No. LXXVII., note 1. 
 
 14 Good writing holds a much higher place in the estimation of 
 the Chinese than among western nations. The very nature of their 
 characters raises calligraphy almost to the rank of an art. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 !7S 
 
 as a leaf, and in a day and a night he managed to crawl 
 home. When he arrived, he awoke as it were from a 
 dream, and found himself groaning upon the bed ; and 
 to the inquiries of his family he only replied that he felt 
 dreadfully sore. Now he really had been dead for seven 
 days ; and when he came round thus, he immediately 
 asked for A-lien, which was the name of his favourite 
 wife. But the very day before, while chatting with the 
 other members of the family, A-lien had suddenly cried 
 out that her husband was made Prefect of Chen-ting, 
 and that his lictors had come to escort her thither. 
 Accordingly she retired to dress herself in her best 
 clothes, and, when ready to start, she fell back and ex- 
 pired. Hearing this sad story, So-and-so began to mourn 
 and beat his breast, and he would not allow her to be 
 buried at once, in the hope that she might yet come 
 round; but this she never did. Meanwhile So-and-so 
 got slowly better, and by the end of six months was able 
 to walk again. He would often exclaim, ‘‘ The ruin of 
 my career and the punishment I received — all this I 
 could have endured ; but the loss of my dear A-lien is 
 more than I can bear .’’ 15 
 
 15 The commentator here adds a somewhat similar case, which 
 actually occurred in the reign of K f ang Hsi, of a Viceroy modestly 
 attended falling in with the gorgeous retinue of a Magistrate, and 
 being somewhat rudely treated by the servants of the latter. On 
 arriving at his destination, the Viceroy sent for that Magistrate, 
 and sternly bade him retire from office, remarking that no simple 
 magistrate could afford to keep such a retinue of attendants unless 
 by illegal exactions from the suffering people committed to his 
 charge. 
 
STRANGE STORIES 
 
 176 
 
 XCVIII. 
 
 A CHINESE JONAH. 
 
 A man named Sun Pi-chen was crossing the river 1 
 when a great thunder-squall broke upon the vessel and 
 caused her to toss about fearfully, to the great terror of 
 all the passengers. Just then, an angel in golden 
 armour appeared standing upon the clouds above them, 
 holding in his hand a scroll inscribed with certain 
 characters, also wTitten in gold, which the people on the 
 vessel easily made out to be three in number, namely 
 Sun Pi chen. So, turning at once to their fellow- 
 traveller, they said to him, “You have evidently in- 
 curred the displeasure of Heaven ; get into a boat by 
 yourself, and do not involve us in your punishment 
 And without giving him time to reply whether he would 
 do so or not, they hurried him over the side into a small 
 boat and set him adrift ; but when Sun Pi-chen looked 
 back, lo ! the vessel itself had capsized . 2 
 
 1 The Yang-tsze: sometimes spoken of as the Long River. 
 
 2 The full point of this story can hardly be conveyed in tran- 
 slation. The man's surname was Sun, and his praenomen, Pi-chen, 
 (which in Chinese follows the nomen) might be rendered 4< Must- 
 be-saved.” However, there is another word meaning “ struck,” 
 precisely similar in sound and tone, though written differently, to 
 the above chen ; and, as far as the ear alone is concerned, our 
 hero*s name might have been either Sun Must-be-saved or Sun 
 Must-be-struck. That the merchants mistook the character chen, 
 
 saved, s, for chen, struck, is evident from the catastrophe which 
 overtook their vessel, while Mr. Sun's little boat rode safely 
 through the storm. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 177 
 
 XCIX. 
 
 CHANG PU-LIANG. 
 
 A certain trader who was travelling in the province 
 of Chih-li, being overtaken by a storm of rain and hail, 
 took shelter among some standing crops by the way-side. 
 There he heard a voice from heaven, saying, u These are 
 •Chang Pu-liang^s fields ; do not injure his crops.” The 
 trader began to wonder who this Chang Pu-liang could 
 be, and how, if he was pu liang (not virtuous), he came 
 to be under divine protection ; so when the storm was 
 over and he had reached the neighbouring village, he 
 made enquiries on the subject, and told the people there 
 what he had heard. The villagers then informed him 
 that Chang Pu-liang was a very wealthy farmer, who was 
 accustomed every spring to make loans of grain to the 
 poor of the district, and who was not too particular 
 about getting back the exact amount he had lent, — taking, 
 in fact, whatever they brought him without discussion ; 
 hence the sobriquet of pu liang a no measure^ (/>., the 
 man who doesn’t measure the repayments of his loans ). 1 
 
 1 Here again we have a play upon words similar to that in the 
 last story. 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 N 
 
173 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 After that, they all proceeded in a body to the fields, 
 where it was discovered that vast damage had been done 
 to the crops generally, with the exception of Chang 
 Pu-liang's, which had escaped uninjured. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 179 
 
 c 
 
 THE DUTCH CARPET. 
 
 Formerly, when the Dutch 1 were permitted to trade 
 with China, the officer in command of the coast defences 
 would not allow them, on account of their great numbers, 
 to come ashore. The Dutch begged very hard for the 
 grant of a piece of land such as a carpet would cover ; 
 and the officer above-mentioned, thinking that this could 
 not be very large, acceded to their request. A carpet 
 was accordingly laid down, big enough for about two 
 people to stand on; but by dint of stretching, it was 
 soon enough for four or five; and so they went on, 
 stretching and stretching, until at last it covered about 
 
 1 We read in the History of Amoy : — “ In the year 1622 the 
 red-haired barbarians seized the Pescadores and attacked Amoy.” 
 From the Pescadores they finally retired, on a promise that trade 
 would be permitted, to Formosa, whence they were expelled by 
 the famous Koxinga in 1662. “ Red-haired barbarians,” a term 
 
 now commonly applied to all foreigners, was first used in the 
 records of the Ming dynasty to designate the Dutch. 
 
 N 2 
 
STRANGE STORIES 
 
 180 
 
 an acre, and by-and-by, with the help of their knives, 
 they had filched a piece of ground several miles in ex- 
 tent 2 
 
 2 Our author would here seem to have heard of the famous 
 bull’s hide which is mentioned in the first book of the y^nnd. 
 In any case, the substitution of “stretching” is no improvement 
 on the celebrated device by which the bull’s hide was made to 
 enclose so large a space. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 181 
 
 CL 
 
 CARRYING A CORPSE. 
 
 A woodsman who had been to market was returning 
 home with his pole across his shoulder , 1 when suddenly 
 he felt it become very heavy at the end behind him, and 
 looking round he saw attached to it the headless trunk of 
 a man. In great alarm, he got his pole quit of the 
 burden and struck about him right and left, whereupon 
 the body disappeared. He then hurried on to the next 
 village, and when he arrived there in the dusk of the 
 evening, he found several men holding lights to the 
 ground as if looking for something. On asking what 
 was the matter, they told him that while sitting together 
 a man’s head had fallen from the sky into their midst ; 
 that they had noticed the hair and beard were all 
 draggled, but in a moment the head had vanished. The 
 woodsman then related what had happened to himself ; 
 and thus one whole man was accounted for, though no 
 
 1 The common method of porterage in China is by a bamboo 
 pole over the shoulder with well-balanced burdens hanging from 
 each end. I have often seen children carried thus, sitting in 
 wicker baskets; sometimes for long journeys. 
 
182 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 one could tell whence he came. Subsequently, another 
 man was carrying a basket when some one saw a man’s 
 head in it, and called out to him ; whereupon he dropped 
 the basket in a fright, and the head rolled away and dis- 
 appeared. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 183 
 
 CII. 
 
 A TAOIST DEVOTEE. 
 
 Chu Yao-ju was a Ch 4 ing-chou man, who, when his 
 wife died left his home and became a priest . 1 Some 
 years afterwards he returned, dressed in the Taoist garb, 
 and carrying his praying-mat 2 over his shoulder > and 
 after staying one night he wanted to go away again. His 
 friends, however, would not give him back his cassock 
 and staff ; so at length he pretended to take a stroll out- 
 side the village, and when there, his clothes and other 
 belongings came flying out of the house after him, and 
 he got safely away. 
 
 1 It would be more usual to “renew the guitar string,” as the 
 Chinese idiom runs. In the paraphrase of the first maxim of the 
 Sacred Edict we are told that * * The closest of all ties is that of 
 husband and wife; but suppose your wife dies, why, you can 
 marry another. But if your brother were to die,” &c” &c. 
 
 2 This, as well as the staff mentioned below, belongs to Buddhism. 
 See No. IV., note 1. 
 
184 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 cm. 
 
 JUSTICE FOR REBELS. 
 
 During the reign of Shun Chih, 1 of the people of 
 T ( eng-i, seven in ten were opposed to the Manchu 
 dynasty. The officials dared not touch them ; and sub- 
 sequently, when the country became more settled, the 
 magistrates used to distinguish them from the others by 
 always deciding any cases in their favour : for they feared 
 lest these men should revert to their old opposition. 
 And thus it came about that one litigant would begin by 
 declaring himself to have been a u rebel, w while his ad- 
 versary would follow up by shewing such statement to* be 
 false ; so that before any case could be heard on its 
 actual merits, it was necessary to determine the status 
 both of plaintiff and defendant, whereby infinite labour 
 was entailed upon the Registrars. 
 
 Now it chanced that the yamen of one of the officials 
 was haunted by a fox, and the official’s daughter was 
 
 1 The first Manchu ruler of the empire of China. He came to 
 the throne in a.d. 1644. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 ^5 
 
 bewitched by it. Her father, therefore, engaged the 
 services of a magician, who succeeded in capturing the 
 animal and putting it into a bottle ; but just as he was 
 going to commit it to the flames, the fox cried out from 
 inside the bottle, “I’m a rebel ! at which the by- 
 standers were unable to suppress their laughter. 
 
i86 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 CIV. 
 
 THEFT OF THE PEACH. 
 
 When I was a little boy I went one day to the pre- 
 fectural city . 1 It was the time of the Spring festival , 2 
 and the custom was that on the day before, all the 
 merchants of the place should proceed with banners and 
 drums to the judge’s yamen: this was called ‘‘bringing 
 in the Spring.” I went with a friend to see the fun ; the 
 crowd was immense, and there sat the officials in 
 crimson robes arranged right and left in the hall ; but I 
 was small and didn't know who they were, my attention 
 being attracted chiefly by the hum of voices and the 
 noise of the drums. In the middle of it all, a man 
 leading a boy with his hair unplaited and hanging down 
 his back, walked up to the dais. He carried a pole on 
 his shoulder, and appeared to be saying something which 
 I couldn’t hear for the noise; I only saw the officials 
 smile, and immediately afterwards an attendant came 
 
 1 It is worth noting that the author professes actually to have 
 witnessed the following extraordinary scene. 
 
 2 The vernal equinox, which would fall on or about the 2 〇 th of 
 March. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 i8 7 
 
 down, and in a loud voice ordered the man to give a 
 performance. “What shall it be?” asked the man in 
 reply; whereupon, after some consultation between the 
 officials on the dais, the attendant inquired what he 
 could do best. The man said he could invert the order 
 of nature; and then, after another pause, he was in- 
 structed to produce some peaches ; to this he assented ; 
 and taking off his coat, laid it on his box, at the same 
 time observing that they had set him a hard task, the 
 winter frost not having broken up, and adding that he 
 was afraid the gentlemen would be angry with him, &c., 
 &c. His son here reminded him that he had agreed to 
 the task and couldn't well get out of it ; so, after fretting 
 and grumbling awhile, he cried out, “ I have it ! with 
 snow on the ground we shall never get peaches here ; 
 but I guess there are some up in heaven in the Royal 
 Mother's garden , 3 and there we must try / 7 “ How are 
 we to get up, father ? asked the boy ; whereupon the 
 man said, U I have the means, and immediately pro- 
 ceeded to take from his box a cord some tens of feet in 
 length. This he carefully arranged, and then threw one 
 end of it high up into the air where it remained as if 
 caught by something. He now paid out the rope which 
 kept going up higher and higher until the end he had 
 thrown up disappeared in the clouds and only a short 
 piece was left in his hands. Calling his son, he then ex- 
 
 3 A fabulous lady, said to reside at the summit of the K 4 * * un-lun 
 
 mountain, where, on the border of the Gem Lake, grows the peach- 
 
 tree of the angels, the fruit of which confers immortality on him 
 
 who eats it. 
 
i88 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 plained that he himself was too heavy, and, handing him 
 the end of the rope, bid him go up at once. The boy, 
 however, made some difficulty, objecting that the rope 
 was too thin to bear his weight up to such a height, and 
 that he would surely fall down and be killed ; upon 
 which his father said that his promise had been given 
 and that repentance was now too late, adding that if the 
 peaches were obtained they would surely be rewarded 
 with a hundred ounces of silver, which should be set 
 aside to get the boy a pretty wife. So his son seized the 
 rope and swarmed up, like a spider running up a thread 
 of its web ; and in a few moments he was out of sight in 
 the clouds. By-and-by down fell a peach as large as a 
 basin, which the delighted father handed up to his 
 patrons on the dais who were some time coming to a 
 conclusion whether it was real or imitation. But just 
 then down came the rope with a run, and the affrighted 
 father shrieked out, u Alas ! alas ! some one has cut the 
 rope : what will my boy do now ? ” and in another 
 minute down fell something else, which was found on 
 examination to be his son’s head. “ Ah me !” said he, 
 weeping bitterly and shewing the head ; u the gardener 
 has caught him, and my boy is no more.” After that, his 
 arms, and legs, and body, all came down in like manner ; 
 and the father, gathering them up, put them in the box 
 and said, u This was my only son, who accompanied me 
 everywhere ; and now what a cruel fate is his. I must 
 away and bury him.” He then approached the dais and 
 said, Your peach, gentlemen, was obtained at the cost 
 of my boy’s life ; help me now to pay his funeral ex- 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 1 89 
 
 penses， and I will be ever grateful to you.” The officials 
 who had been watching the scene in horror and amaze- 
 ment, forthwith collected a good purse for him ; and 
 when he had received the money, he rapped on his box 
 and said, ‘‘ Pa-pa‘rh ! why don’t you come out and thank 
 the gentlemen ? ’’ Thereupon, there was a thump on the 
 box from the inside and up came the boy himself, who 
 jumped out and bowed to the assembled company. I 
 have never forgotten this strange trick, which I sub- 
 sequently heard could be done by the White Lily sect , 4 
 who probably got it from this source . 5 
 
 4 One of the most celebrated of the numerous secret societies of 
 China, the origin of which dates back to about a.d. 1350. Its 
 members have always been credited with a knowledge of the black 
 art. 
 
 5 Of Chinese jugglers, Ibu Batuta writes as follows: 一 “They 
 produced a chain fifty cubits in length, and in my presence threw 
 one end of it towards the sky, where it remained, as if fastened to 
 something in the air. A dog was then brought forward, and, 
 being placed at the lower end of the chain, immediately ran up, 
 and reaching the other end immediately disappeared in the air. 
 In the same manner a hog, a panther, a lion, and a tiger were 
 alternately sent up the chain, and all equally disappeared at the 
 upper end of it. At last they took down the chain, and put it 
 into a bag, no one ever discerning in what way the different 
 animals were made to vanish into the air in the mysterious manner 
 above described. This, I may venture to affirm, was beyond measure 
 strange and surprising.” 
 
 Apropos of which passage, Mr. Maskelyne, the prince of -all 
 black-artists, ancient or modern, says : — “ These apparent effects 
 were, doubtless, due to the aid of concave mirrors, the use of 
 which was known to the ancients, especially in the East, but they 
 could not have been produced in the open air. J, 
 
190 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 cv. 
 
 KILLING A SERPENT. 
 
 At Ku-chi island in the eastern sea, there were 
 camellias of all colours which bloomed throughout the 
 year. No one, however, lived there, and very few 
 people ever visited the spot One day, a young man of 
 Teng-chou, named Chang, who was fond of hunting and 
 adventure, hearing of the beauties of the place, put 
 together some wine and food, and rowed himself across 
 in a small open boat The flowers were just then even 
 finer than usual, and their perfume was dififused for a 
 mile or so around ; while many of the trees he saw were 
 several armfuls in circumference. So he roamed about 
 and gave himself up to enjo^ent of the scene ; and by- 
 and-by he opened a flask of wine, regretting very much 
 that he had no companion to share it with him, when all 
 of a sudden a most beautiful young girl, with extremely 
 bright eyes and dressed in red, stepped down from one 
 of the camellias before him . 1 “ Dear me !” said she on 
 seeing Mr. Chang ; u I expected to be alone here, and 
 
 See No. LXXI., note 6. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 191 
 
 was not aware that the place was already occupied.” 
 Chang was somewhat alarmed at this apparition, and 
 asked the young lady whence she came ; to which she 
 replied that her name was Chiao-ch c ang, and that 
 she had accompanied thither a Mr. Hai, who had 
 gone off for a stroll and had left her to await his return. 
 Thereupon Chang begged her to join him in a cup of 
 wine, which she very willingly did, and they were just 
 beginning to enjoy themselves when a sound of rushing 
 wind was heard and the trees and plants bent beneath it. 
 “Here’s Mr. Hai !’’ cried the young lady; and jumping 
 quickly up, disappeared in a moment. The horrified 
 Chang now beheld a huge serpent coming out of the 
 bushes near by, and immediately ran behind a large tree 
 for shelter, hoping the reptile would not see him. But 
 the serpent advanced and enveloped both Chang and the 
 tree in its great folds, binding Changes arms down to his 
 sides so as to prevent him from moving them ; and then 
 raising its head, darted out its tongue and bit the poor 
 man's nose, causing the blood to flow freely out. This 
 blood it was quietly sucking up, when Chang, who 
 thought that his last hour had come, remembered that 
 he had in his pocket some fox poison ; and managing to 
 insert a couple of fingers, he drew out the packet, broke 
 the paper, and let the powder lie in the palm of his 
 hand. He next leaned his hand over the serpent’s coils 
 in such a way that the blood from his nose dripped into 
 his hand, and when it was nearly full the serpent actually 
 did begin to drink it. And in a few moments the grip 
 was relaxed ; the serpent struck the ground heavily with 
 
ig2 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 its tail, and dashed away up against another tree, which 
 was broken in half, and then stretched itself out and 
 died. Chang was a long time unable to rise, but at 
 length he got up and carried the serpent off with him. 
 He was very ill for more than a month afterwards, and 
 even suspected the young lady of being a serpent, too, in 
 disguise. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 193 
 
 CVI. 
 
 THE RESUSCITATED CORPSE. 
 
 A certain old man lived at Ts^i-tien, in the Yang- 
 hsin district. The village was some miles from the 
 district city, and he and his son kept a roadside inn 
 where travellers could pass the night. One day, as it 
 was getting dusk, four strangers presented themselves 
 and asked for a night’s lodging ; to which the landlord 
 replied that every bed was already occupied. The four 
 men declared it was impossible for them to go back, and 
 urged him to take them in somehow ; and at length the 
 landlord said he could give them a place to sleep in if 
 they were not too particular, — which the strangers imme- 
 diately assured him they were not. The fact was that 
 the old man’s daughter-in-law had just died, and that her 
 body was lying in the women’s quarters, waiting for the 
 coffin, which his son had gone away to buy. So the 
 landlord led them round thither, and walking in, placed 
 a lamp on the table. At the further end of the room lay 
 the corpse, decked out with paper robes, &c” in the 
 usual way ; and in the foremost section were sleeping- 
 couches for four people. The travellers were tired, and, 
 
 VOL. 11. 
 
 o 
 
194 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 throwing themselves on the beds, were soon snoring 
 loudly, with the exception of one of them, who was not 
 quite off when suddenly he heard a creaking of the 
 trestles on which the dead body was laid out, and, open- 
 ing his eyes, he saw by the light of the lamp in front of 
 the corpse that the girl was raising the coverings from 
 her and preparing to get down. In another moment she 
 was on the floor and advancing towards the sleepers. 
 Her face was of a light yellow hue, and she had a silk 
 kerchief round her head ; and when she reached the 
 beds she blew on the other three travellers, whereupon 
 the fourth, in a great fright, stealthily drew up the bed- 
 clothes over his face, and held his breath to listen. He 
 heard her breathe on him as she had done on the others, 
 and then heard her go back again and get under the 
 paper robes, which rustled distinctly as she did so. He 
 now put out his head to take a peep, and saw that she 
 was lying down as before ; whereupon, not daring to 
 make any noise, he stretched forth his foot and kicked 
 his companions, who, however, shewed no signs of 
 moving. He now determined to put on his clothes and 
 make a bolt for it ; but he had hardly begun to do so 
 before he heard the creaking sound again, which sent 
 him back under the bed-clothes as fast as he could go. 
 Again the girl came to him, and breathing several times 
 on him, went away to lie down as before, as he could tell 
 by the noise of the trestles. He then put his hand very 
 gently out of bed, and, seizing his trousers, got quickly 
 into them, jumped up with a bound, and rushed out of 
 the place as fast as his legs would carry him. The 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 1 95 
 
 corpse, too, jumped up ; but by this time the traveller 
 had already drawn the bolt, and was outside the door, 
 running along and shrieking at the top of his voice, with 
 the corpse following close behind. No one seemed to 
 hear him, and he was afraid to knock at the door of the 
 inn for fear they should not let him in in time ; so he 
 made for the highway to the city, and after awhile he 
 saw a monastery by the roadside, and, hearing the 
 “wooden fish，” 1 he ran up and thumped with all his 
 might at the gate. The priest, however, did not know 
 what to make of it, and would not open to him ; and as 
 the corpse was only a few yards off, he could do nothing 
 but run behind a tree which stood close by, and there 
 shelter himself, dodging to the right as the corpse 
 dodged to the left, and so on. This infuriated the dead 
 girl to madness ; and at length, as tired and panting they 
 stood watching each other on opposite sides of the tree, 
 the corpse made a rush forward with one arm on each 
 side in the hope of thus grabbing its victim. The tra- 
 veller, however, fell backwards and escaped, while the 
 corpse remained rigidly embracing the tree. By-and-by 
 the priest, who had been listening from the inside, hear- 
 ing no sounds for some time, came out and found the 
 traveller lying senseless on the ground ; whereupon he 
 had him carried into the monastery, and by morning 
 
 1 This instrument, used by Buddhist priests in the musical accom- 
 paniment to their liturgies, is said to be so called because a fish 
 never closes its eyes, and is therefore a fit model of vigilance to 
 him who would walk in the paths of holiness and virtue. 
 
ig6 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 they had got him round again. After giving him a little 
 broth to drink, he related the whole story ; and then in 
 the early dawn they went out to examine the tree, where 
 they found the girl fixed tightly to the tree. The news 
 being sent to the magistrate, that functionary attended at 
 once in person , 2 and gave orders to remove the body ; 
 but this they were at first unable to do, the girl's fingers 
 having penetrated into the bark so far that her nails were 
 not to be seen. At length they got her away, and then 
 a messenger was despatched to the inn, already in a state 
 of great commotion over the three travellers, who had 
 been found dead in their beds. The old man accord- 
 ingly sent to fetch his daughter-in-law ; and the surviving 
 traveller petitioned the magistrate, saying, “Four of us 
 left home, but only one will go back Give me some- 
 thing that I may show to my fellow-townsmen. So the 
 magistrate gave him a certificate and sent him home 
 again . 3 
 
 2 The duties of Coroner belong to the o 伍 ce of a District Magis- 
 trate in China. 
 
 3 Without such certificate he would be liable to be involved in 
 trouble and annoyance at the will of any unfriendly neighbour. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 197 
 
 CVII. 
 
 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIEND. 
 
 In the northern parts of Tzu-chou there lived a man 
 named Hsii, a fisherman by trade. Every night when 
 he went to fish he would carry some wine with him, and 
 drink and fish by turns, always taking care to pour out a 
 libation on the ground, accompanied by the following 
 invocation — “Drink too, ye drowned spirits of the 
 river ! ’’ Such was his regular custom ; and it was also 
 noticeable that, even on occasions when the other fisher- 
 men caught nothing, he always got a full basket. One 
 night, as he was sitting drinking by himself, a young man 
 suddenly appeared and began walking up and down near 
 him. Hsii offered him a cup of wine, which was readily 
 accepted, and they remained chatting together through- 
 out the night, Hsii meanwhile not catching a single fish. 
 However, just as he was giving up all hope of doing 
 anything, the young man rose and said he would go 
 a little way down the stream and beat them up to- 
 wards Hsii, which he accordingly did, returning in a 
 few minutes and warning him to be on the look-out. 
 Hsii now heard a noise like that of a shoal coming up 
 the stream, and, casting his net, made a splendid haul , 一 
 all that he caught being over a foot in length. Greatly 
 
198 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 delighted, he now prepared to go home, first offering his 
 companion a share of the fish, which the latter declined, 
 saying that he had often received kindnesses from Mr. 
 Hsii, and that he would he only too happy to help him 
 regularly in the same manner if Mr. Hsii would accept 
 his assistance. The latter replied that he did not recol- 
 lect ever meeting him before, and that he should be 
 much obliged for any aid the young man might choose 
 to afford him ; regretting, at the same time, his inability 
 to make him any adequate return. He then asked the 
 young man his name and surname ; and the young man 
 said his surname was Wang, adding that Hsii might 
 address him when they met as Wang Liu-lang, he having 
 no other name. Thereupon they parted, and the next 
 day Hsii sold his fish and bought some more wine, with 
 which he repaired as usual to the river bank. There he 
 found his companion already awaiting him, and they 
 spent the night together in precisely the same way as the 
 preceding one, the young man beating up the fish for 
 him as before. This went on for some months, until at 
 length one evening the young man, with many ex- 
 pressions of his thanks and his regrets, told Hsii that 
 they were about to part for ever. Much alarmed by the 
 melancholy tone in which his friend had communicated 
 this news, Hsii was on the point of asking for an expla- 
 nation, when the young man stopped him, and himself 
 proceeded as follows : — “ The friendship that has grown 
 up between us is truly surprising ; and, now that we shall 
 meet no more, there is no harm in telling you the whole 
 truth. I am a disembodied spirit 一 the soul of one who 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 I 99 
 
 was drowned in this river when tipsy. I have been here 
 many years, and your former success in fishing was due 
 to the fact that I used secretly to beat up the fish to- 
 wards you, in return for the libations you were accus- 
 tomed to pour out. To-morrow my time is up : my 
 substitute will arrive, and I shall be born again in the 
 world of mortals . 1 We have but this one evening left, 
 and I therefore take advantage of it to express my feel- 
 ings to you.^ On hearing these words, Hsii was at 
 first very much alarmed ; however, he had grown so 
 accustomed to his friend’s society, that his fears soon 
 passed away; and, filling up a goblet, he said, with a 
 sigh, u Liu-lang, old fellow, drink this up, and away with 
 melancholy. It’s hard to lose you ; but I’m glad enough 
 for your sake, and won’t think of my own sorrow.” He 
 then inquired of Liu-lang who was to be his substitute ; 
 to which the latter replied, “ Come to the river-bank 
 to-morrow afternoon and you’ll see a woman drowned : 
 she is the one.” Just then the village cocks began to 
 crow, and, with tears in their eyes, the two friends bade 
 each other farewell. 
 
 Next day Hsu waited on the river bank to see if any- 
 thing would happen, and lo ! a woman carrying a child 
 in her arms came along. When close to the edge of the 
 river, she stumbled and fell into the water, managing, 
 however, to throw the child safely on to the bank, where 
 it lay kicking and sprawling and crying at the top of its 
 
 1 See No. XLV., note 8. 
 
200 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 voice. The woman herself sank and rose several times, 
 until at last she succeeded in clutching hold of the bank 
 and pulled herself, dripping, out ; and then, after resting 
 awhile, she picked up the child and went on her way. 
 All this time Hsii had been in a great state of excite- 
 ment, and was on the point of running to help the 
 woman out of the water ; but he remembered that she 
 was to be the substitute of his friend, and accordingly 
 restrained himself from doing so . 2 Then when he saw 
 the woman get out by herself, he began to suspect that 
 Liu-lan^s words had not been fulfilled That night he 
 
 2 We have in this story the keynote to the notorious and 
 much-to-be-deprecated dislike of the Chinese people to assist in 
 saving the lives of drowning strangers. Some of our readers may, 
 perhaps, not be aware that the Government of Hong-Kong has 
 found it necessary to insert a clause on the junk-clearances issued in 
 that colony, by which the junkmen are bound to assist to the 
 utmost in saving life. The apparent apathy of the Chinese in this 
 respect comes before us, however, in quite a different light when 
 coupled with the superstition that disembodied spirits of persons 
 who have met a violent death may return to the world of mortal^ if 
 only fortunate enough to secure a substitute. For among the crowd of 
 shades, anxious all to revisit their “ sweet sons,” may perchance be 
 some dear relative or friend of the man who stands calmly by while 
 another is drowning; and it may be that to assist the drowning 
 stranger would be to take the longed-for chance away from one’s 
 own kith or kin. Therefore, the superstition-ridden Chinaman 
 turns away, often perhaps, as in the story before us, with feelings of 
 pity and remorse. And yet this belief has not prevented the 
 establishment, especially on the river Yang-tsze, of institutions pro- 
 vided with life-boats, for the express purpose of saving life in those 
 dangerous waters ; so true is it that when the Chinese people wish 
 to move en masse in any given direction, the fragile barrier of 
 superstition is trampled down and scattered to the winds. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 201 
 
 went to fish as usual, and before long the young man 
 arrived and said, “ We meet once again : there is 
 no need now to speak of separation.” Hsii asked him 
 how it was so ; to which he replied, u The woman you 
 saw had already taken my place, but I could not bear to 
 hear the child cry, and I saw that my one life would be 
 purchased at the expense of their two lives, wherefore I 
 let her go, and now I cannot say when I shall have 
 another chance . 3 The union of our destinies may 
 not yet be worked out.” “ Alas !” sighed Hsii, “ this 
 noble conduct of yours is enough to move God Al- 
 mighty. 
 
 After this the two friends went on much as they had 
 done before, until one day Liu-lang again said he had 
 come to bid Hsii farewell. Hsii thought he had found 
 another substitute, but Liu-lang told him that his 
 former behaviour had so pleased Almighty Heaven, 
 that he had been appointed guardian angel of Wu- 
 chen, in the Chao-yiian district, and that on the 
 following morning he would start for his new post. 
 “ And if you do not forget the days of our friendship,” 
 added he, u I pray you come and see me, in spite of the 
 long journey.” “Truly,” replied Hsii, “you well de- 
 served to be made a God ; but the paths of Gods and 
 
 3 As there are good and bad foxes, so may devils be beneficent or 
 malicious according to circumstances; and Chinese apologists for 
 the discourtesy of the term “foreign devils,” as applied to 
 Europeans and Americans alike, have gone so far as to declare that 
 in this particular instance the allusion is to the more virtuous among 
 the denizens of the Infernal Regions. 
 
202 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 men lie in different directions, and even if the distance 
 were nothing, how should I manage to meet you 
 again ? v “ Don’t be afraid on that score,” said Liu- 
 lang, “ but come ; ” and then he went away, and Hsii 
 returned home. The latter immediately began to pre- 
 pare for the journey, which caused his wife to laugh at 
 him and say, u Supposing you do find such a place at 
 the end of that long journey, you won’t be able to hold 
 a conversation with a clay image.” Hsii, however, paid 
 no attention to her remarks, and travelled straight to 
 Chao-yiian, where he learned from the inhabitants that 
 there really was a village called Wu-chen, whither he 
 forthwith proceeded and took up his abode at an inn. 
 He then inquired of the landlord where the village 
 temple was ; to which the latter replied by asking him 
 somewhat hurriedly if he was speaking to Mr. Hsii. 
 Hsii informed him that his name was Hsii, asking in 
 reply how he came to know it ; whereupon the landlord 
 further inquired if his native place was not Tzu-chou. 
 Hsii told him it was, and again asked him how he knew 
 all this ; to which the landlord made no answer, but 
 rushed out of the room ； and in a few moments the 
 place was crowded with old and young, men, women, 
 and children, all come to visit Hsii. They then told 
 him that a few nights before they had seen their guardian 
 deity in a vision, and he had informed them that Mr. Hsii 
 would shortly arrive, and had bidden them to provide 
 him with travelling expenses, &c. Hsii was very much 
 astonished at this, and went off at once to the shrine, 
 where he invoked his friend as follows : — “ Ever since we 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 203 
 
 parted I have had you daily and nightly in my thoughts ； 
 and now that I have fulfilled my promise of coming to 
 see you, I have to thank you for the orders you have 
 issued to the people of the place. As for me, I have 
 nothing to offer you but a cup of wine, which I pray 
 you accept as though we were drinking together on the 
 river-bank” He then burnt a quantity of paper money , 4 
 when lo ! a wind suddenly arose, which, after whirling 
 round and round behind the shrine, soon dropped, and 
 all was still. That night Hsii dreamed that his friend 
 came to him, dressed in his official cap and robes, and 
 very different in appearance from what he used to be, 
 and thanked him, saying, a It is truly kind of you to 
 visit me thus : I only regret that my position makes me 
 unable to meet you face to face, and that though near 
 we are still so far. The people here will give you a trifle, 
 which pray accept for my sake ; and when you go away, 
 I will see you a short way on your journey.” A few 
 days afterwards Hsii prepared to start, in spite of the 
 numerous invitations to stay which poured in upon him 
 from all sides ; and then the inhabitants loaded him with 
 presents of all kinds, and escorted him out of the 
 village. There a whirlwind arose and accompanied 
 him several miles, when he turned round and invoked 
 his friend thus : — u Liu-lang, take care of your valued 
 person. Do not trouble yourself to come any farther . 5 
 
 4 See No. XCVII., note 7. 
 
 5 A phrase constantly repeated, in other terms, by a guest to a 
 host who is politely escorting him to the door. 
 
2〇4 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 Your noble heart will ensure happiness to this district, 
 and there is no occasion for me to give a word of advice 
 to my old friend.” By-and-by the whirlwind ceased, and 
 the villagers, who were much astonished, returned to 
 their own homes. Hsii, too, travelled homewards, and 
 being now a man of some means, ceased to work any 
 more as a fisherman. And whenever he met a Chao- 
 yuan man he would ask him about that guardian angel, 
 being always informed in reply that he was a most 
 beneficent God. Some say the place was Shih-k‘eng- 
 chuang, in Chang-ch 4 in : I can’t say which it was 
 myself. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 205 
 
 CVIII. 
 
 THE PRIESTS WARNING. 
 
 A man named Chang died suddenly, and was escorted 
 at once by devil-lictors 1 into the presence of the King 
 of Purgatory. His Majesty turned to Change record of 
 good and evil, and then, in great anger, told the lictors 
 they had brought the wrong man, and bade them take 
 him back again. As they left the judgment-hall, Chang 
 persuaded his escort to let him have a look at Pur- 
 gatory ; and, accordingly, the devils conducted him 
 through the nine sections , 2 pointing out to him the 
 Knife Hill , 3 the Sword Tree, and other objects of in- 
 terest By-and-by, they reached a place where there 
 was a Buddhist priest, hanging suspended in the air 
 head downwards, by a rope through a hole in his leg. 
 
 1 The spiritual lictors who are supposed to arrest the souls of 
 dying persons, are also believed to be armed with warrants signed 
 and sealed in due form as in the world above. 
 
 2 Literally, the (t nine dark places, which will remind readers of 
 Dante of the nine “ bolgie ” of the 
 
 3 This is a cliff over which sinners are hurled, to alight upon the 
 upright points of knives below. The branches of the Sword Tree 
 are sharp blades which cut and hack all who pass within reach. 
 
2〇6 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 He was shrieking with pain, and longing for death ; and 
 when Chang approached, lo ! he saw that it was his 
 own brother. In great distress, he asked his guides the 
 reason of this punishment ; and they informed him that 
 the priest was suffering thus for collecting subscrip- 
 tions on behalf of his order, and then privately squan- 
 dering the proceeds in gambling and debauchery . 4 
 “Nor,” added they, “will he escape this torment unless 
 he repents him of his misdeeds.” When Chang came 
 round , 5 he thought his brother was already dead, and 
 hurried off to the Hsing-fu monastery, to which the 
 latter belonged. As he went in at the door, he heard 
 a loud shrieking ; and, on proceeding to his brother’s 
 room, he found him laid up with a very bad abscess in 
 his leg, the leg itself being tied up above him to the 
 wall, this being, as his brother informed him, the only 
 bearable position in which he could lie. Chang now 
 told him what he had seen in Purgatory, at which the 
 priest was so terrified, that he at once gave up taking 
 wine and meat , 6 and devoted himself entirely to * re- 
 ligious exercises. In a fortnight he was well, and was 
 known ever afterwards as a most exemplary priest. 
 
 4 A crime by no means unknown to the clergy of China. 
 
 6 That is, when the lictors had returned his soul to its tene- 
 ment. 
 
 6 See No. VI., note 2. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 2〇7 
 
 CIX. 
 
 METEMPSYCHOSIS. 
 
 Mr* Lin, who took his master’s degree in the same 
 year as the late Mr. Wen Pi , 1 could remember what had 
 happened to him in his previous state of existence, and 
 once told the whole story, as follows : 一 I was originally 
 of a good family, but, after leading a very dissolute life, 
 I died at the age of sixty-two. On being conducted 
 into the presence of the King of Purgatory, he received 
 me civilly, bade me be seated, and offered me a cup of 
 tea. I noticed, however, that the tea in His Majesty's 
 cup was clear and limpid, while that in my own was 
 muddy, like the lees of wine. It then flashed across 
 me that this was the potion which was given to all dis- 
 embodied spirits to render them oblivious of the past : 2 * 
 
 1 In a.d. 1621. 
 
 2 According to the Yii-li-ch l ao, this potion is administered by an 
 old beldame, named Mother Meng, who sits upon the Terrace of 
 
 Oblivion. * 4 Whether they swallow much or little it matters not; 
 but sometimes there are perverse devils who altogether refuse to 
 drink. Then beneath their feet sharp blades start up, and a copper 
 tube is forced down their throats, by which means they are com- 
 
 pelled to swallow some. ,> 
 
2〇3 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 and, according, when the King was looking the other 
 way, I seized the opportunity of pouring it under the 
 table, pretending afterwards that I had drunk it all up. 
 My record of good and evil was now presented for 
 inspection, and when the King saw what it was, he 
 flew into a great passion, and ordered the attendant 
 devils to drag me away, and send me back to earth as a 
 horse. I was immediately seized and bound, and the 
 devils carried me off to a house, the door-sill of which 
 was so high I could not step over it. AVhile I was 
 trying to do so, the devils behind lashed me with all 
 their might, causing me such pain that I made a great 
 spring, and — lo and behold ! I was a horse in a stable. 
 “ The mare has got a nice colt,” I then heard a man 
 call out; but, although I was perfectly aware of all that 
 was passing, I could say nothing myself. Hunger now 
 came upon me, and I was glad to be suckled by the 
 mare ; and by the end of four or five years I had grown 
 into a fine strong horse, dreadfully afraid of the whip, 
 and running away at the very sight of it When my 
 master rode me, it was always with a saddle-cloth, arid at 
 a leisurely pace, which was bearable enough ; but when 
 the servants mounted me barebacked, and dug their 
 heels into me, the pain struck into my vitals ; and at 
 length I refused all food, and in three days I died. 
 Reappearing before the King of Purgatory, His Majesty 
 was enraged to find that I had thus tried to shirk 
 working out my time ; and, flaying me forthwith, con- 
 demned me to go back again as a dog. And when I 
 did not move, the devils came behind me and lashed 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 2〇9 
 
 me until I ran away from them into the open country, 
 where, thinking I had better die right off, I jumped over 
 a cliff, and lay at the bottom unable to move. I then 
 saw that I was among a litter of puppies, and that an old 
 bitch was licking and suckling me by turns ; whereby I 
 knew that I was once more among mortals. In this 
 hateful form I continued for some time, longing to kill 
 myself, and yet fearing to incur the penalty of shirking. 
 At length, I purposely bit my master in the leg, and tore 
 him badly; whereupon he had me destroyed，' and I 
 was taken again into the presence of the King, who was 
 so displeased with my vicious behaviour that he con- 
 demned me to become a snake, and shut me up in a 
 dark room, where I could see nothing. After a while I 
 managed to climb up the wall, bore a hole in the roof, 
 and escape ; and immediately I found myself lying in 
 the grass, a veritable snake. Then I registered a vow 
 that I would harm no living thing, and I lived for 
 some years, feeding upon berries and such like, ever 
 remembering neither to take my own life, nor by in- 
 juring any one to incite them to take it, but longing all 
 the while for the happy release, which did not come to 
 me. One day, as I was sleeping in the grass, I heard 
 the noise of a passing cart, and, on trying to get across 
 the road out of its way, I was caught by the wheel, and 
 cut in two. The King was astonished to see me back 
 so soon, but I humbly told my story, and, in pity for the 
 innocent creature that loses its life, he pardoned me, 
 and permitted me to be born again at my appointed time 
 as a human being. 
 
 VOL. u. p 
 
210 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 Such was Mr. Lin’s story. He could speak as soon as 
 he came into the world ; and could repeat anything he 
 had once read. In the year 1621 he took his master’s 
 degree, and was never tired of telling people to put 
 saddle-cloths on their horses, and recollect that the pain 
 of being gripped by the knees is even worse than the 
 lash itself. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 cx. 
 
 THE FORTY STRINGS OF CASH. 
 
 Mr. Justice Wang had a steward, who was possessed 
 of considerable means. One night the latter dreamt 
 that a man rushed in and said to him, 66 To-day you 
 must repay me those forty strings of cash.” The 
 steward asked who he was ; to which the man made no 
 answer, but hurried past him into the womens apart- 
 ments. When the steward awoke, he found that his 
 wife had been delivered of a son; and, knowing at once 
 that retribution was at hand, he set aside forty strings 
 of cash to be spent solely in food, clothes, medi- 
 cines, and so on, for the baby. By the time the child 
 was between three and four years old, the steward 
 found that of the forty strings only about seven hundred 
 cash remained ; and when the wet-nurse, who happened 
 to be standing by, brought the child and dandled it in 
 her arms before him, he looked at it and said, u The 
 forty strings are all but repaid ; it is time you were off 
 again.” Thereupon the child changed colour ; its head 
 fell back, and its eyes stared fixedly, and, when they 
 tried to revive it, lo ! respiration had already ceased. 
 The father then took the balance of the forty strings, 
 
212 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 and with it defrayed the child’s funeral expenses — truly 
 a warning to people to be sure and pay their debts. 
 
 Formerly, an old childless man consulted a great 
 many Buddhist priests on the subject. One of them 
 said to him, “ If you owe no one anything, and no one 
 owes you anything, how can you expect to have 
 children ? A good son is the repayment of a former 
 debt ; a bad son is a dunning creditor, at whose birth 
 there is no rejoicing, at whose death no lamentations .” 1 
 
 And such is actually the prevalent belief in China to this day. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 213 
 
 CXI. 
 
 SAVING LIFE. 
 
 A certain gentleman of Shen-yu, who had taken 
 the highest degree, could remember himself in a pre- 
 vious state of existence. He said he had formerly 
 been a scholar, and had died in middle life ; and that 
 when he appeared before the Judge of Purgatory, there 
 stood the cauldrons, the boiling oil, and other apparatus 
 of torture, exactly as we read about them on earth. In 
 the eastern corner of the hall were a number of frames 
 from which hung the skins of sheep, dogs, oxen, 
 horses, etc.; and when anybody was condemned to re- 
 appear in life under any one of these forms, his skin 
 was stripped off and a skin was taken from the proper 
 frame and fixed on to his body. The gentleman of 
 whom I am writing heard himself sentenced to become 
 a sheep ; and the attendant devils had already clothed 
 him in a sheep’s-skin in the manner above described, 
 when the clerk of the record informed the Judge that 
 the criminal before him had once saved another man’s 
 life. The Judge consulted his books, and forthwith 
 cried out, “ I pardon him ; for although his sins have 
 
214 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 been many, this one act has redeemed them all .” 1 The 
 devils then tried to take off the sheep^-skin, but it was 
 so tightly stuck on him that they couldn’t move it. 
 However， after great efforts, and causing the gentleman 
 most excruciating agony, they managed to tear it off 
 bit by bit, though not quite so cleanly as one might 
 have wished. In fact, a piece as big as the palm of 
 a man’s hand was left near his shoulder; and when 
 he was born again into the world, there was a great 
 patch of hair on his back, which grew again as fast as 
 it was cut off. 
 
 1 Note 2 to No. CVII. should be read here. To save life is 
 indeed the bounden duty of every good Buddhist, for which he will 
 be proportionately rewarded in the world to come. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 CXII. 
 
 THE SALT SMUGGLER. 
 
 Wang Shih, of Kao-wan, a petty salt huckster, was 
 inordinately fond of gambling. One night he was 
 arrested by two men, whom he took for lictors of the 
 Salt Gabelle ; and, flinging down what salt he had with 
 him, he tried to make his escape . 1 He found, however, 
 that his legs would not move with him, and he was 
 
 1 Salt is a Government monopoly in China, and its sale is only 
 permitted to licensed dealers. It is a contraband article of com- 
 merce, whether for import or export, to foreign nations trading with 
 China. In an account of a journey from Swatow to Canton in 
 March -April, 1877, I wrote : — Apropos of salt, we came across a 
 good-sized bunker of it when stowing away our things in the space 
 below the deck. The boatmen could not resist the temptation of 
 
 doing a little smuggling on the way up At a 
 
 secluded point in a bamboo-shaded bend of the river, they ran the 
 boat alongside the bank, and were instantly met by a number of 
 suspicious-looking gentlemen with baskets, who soon relieved them 
 of the smuggled salt and separated in different directions.” Thus 
 do the people of China seek to lighten the grievous pressure of this 
 tax. A curious custom exists in Canton. Certain blind old men 
 and women are allowed to hawk salt about the streets, and earn a 
 scanty living from the profits they are able to make. 
 
 It may interest some to know that in the cities of the north of 
 China ice and coal may only be retailed by licensed dealers, who 
 retain such authority on the condition of supplying the yamens of 
 the local mandarins with these two necessaries, free of all charge. 
 
2l6 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 forthwith seized and bound. “We are not sent by the 
 Salt Commissioner，’’ cried his captors, in reply to an 
 entreaty to set him free ; u we are the devil-constables of 
 Purgatory.” Wang was horribly frightened at this, and 
 begged the devils to let him bid farewell to his wife 
 and children ; but this they refused to do, saying, u You 
 aren’t going to die ; you are only wanted for a little job 
 there is down below.” Wang asked what the job was ; 
 to which the devils replied, u A new Judge has come 
 into office, and, finding the river 2 and the eighteen hells 
 choked up with the bodies of sinners, he has determined 
 to employ three classes of mortals to clean them out. 
 These are thieves, unlicensed founders , 3 and unlicensed 
 
 2 The Styx. 
 
 3 These words require some explanation. Ordinarily they would 
 be taken in the sense of casting cash of a base description; but 
 they might equally well signify the casting of iron articles of any 
 kind, and thereby hang some curious details. Iron foundries in 
 China may only be opened under license from the local officials, 
 and the articles there made, consisting chiefly of cooking utensils, 
 may only be sold within a given area, each district ha\*ing its own 
 particular foundries from which alone the supplies of the neighbour- 
 hood may be derived. Free trade in iron is much feared by the 
 authorities, as thereby pirates and rebels would be enabled to 
 supply themselves with arms. At the framing of the Treaty of 
 Tientsin, with its accompanying tariff and rules, iron was not 
 specified among other prohibited articles of commerce. Conse- 
 quently, British merchants would appear to have a full right to 
 purchase iron in the interior and convey it to any of the open ports 
 under Transit-pass. But the Chinese o 伍 cials steadily refuse to 
 acknowledge, or permit the exercise of, this right, putting for- 
 ward their own time-honoured custom with regard to iron, and 
 enumerating the disadvantages to China were such an innovation to 
 be brought about. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 2T7 
 
 dealers in salt, and, for the dirtiest work of all, he is 
 going to take musicians .’’ 4 
 
 Wang accompanied the devils until at length they 
 reached a city, where he was brought before the Judge, 
 who was sitting in his Judgment-hall. On turning 
 up his record in the books, one of the devils ex- 
 plained that the prisoner had been arrested for 
 unlicensed trading; whereupon the Judge became very 
 angry, and said, u Those who drive an illicit trade in 
 salt, not only defraud the State of its proper revenue, 
 but also prey upon the livelihood of the people. Those, 
 however, whom the greedy officials and corrupt traders 
 of to-day denounce as unlicensed traders, are among the 
 most virtuous of mankind — needy unfortunates who 
 struggle to save a few cash in the purchase of their 
 pint of salt . 5 Are they your unlicensed traders ? The 
 Judge then bade the lictors buy four pecks of salt, and 
 send it to Wang’s house for him, together with that 
 which had been found upon him ; and, at the same 
 time, he gave Wang an iron scourge, and told him to 
 superintend the works at the river. So Wang followed 
 the devils, and found the river swarming with people 
 like ants in an ant-hill. The water was turbid and red, 
 the stench from it being almost unbearable, while those 
 who were employed in cleaning it out were working 
 
 4 The allusion is to women, of a not very respectable class. 
 
 5 No Chinese magistrate would be found to pass sentence upon a 
 man who stole food under stress of hunger. 
 
218 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 there naked Sometimes they would sink down in the 
 horrid mass of decaying bodies : sometimes they would 
 get lazy, and then the iron scourge was applied to their 
 backs. The assistant-superintendents had small scented 
 balls, which they held in their mouths. Wang himself 
 approached the bank, and saw the licensed salt-merchant 
 of Kao- wan 6 in the midst of it all, and thrashed him 
 well with his scourge, until he was afraid he would 
 never come up again. This went on for three days 
 and three nights, by which time half the workmen were 
 dead, and the work completed ; whereupon the same 
 two devils escorted him home again, and then he 
 waked up. 
 
 As a matter of fact, Wang had gone out to sell some 
 salt, and had not come back Next morning, when his 
 'vife opened the house door, she found two bags of salt 
 in the court-yard ; and, as her husband did not return, 
 she sent off some people to search for him, and they 
 discovered him lying senseless by the wayside. He was 
 immediately conveyed home, where, after a little time, 
 he recovered consciousness, and related what had taken 
 place. Strange to say, the licensed salt-merchant had 
 fallen down in a fit on the previous evening, and had only 
 just recovered; and Wang, hearing that his body was 
 covered with sores 一 the result of the beating with the 
 iron scourge — went off to his house to see him ; how- 
 ever, directly the wretched man set eyes on Wang, he 
 
 6 His own village. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 219 
 
 hastily covered himself up with the bed-clothes, for- 
 getting that they were no longer at the infernal river. 
 He did not recover from his injuries for a year, after 
 which he retired from trade . 7 
 
 7 The whole story is meant as a satire upon the iniquity of the 
 Salt Gabelle. 
 
220 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 CXIII. 
 
 COLLECTING SUBSCRIPTIONS. 
 
 The Frog-God frequently employs a magician to 
 deliver its oracles to those who have faith. Should the 
 magician declare that the God is pleased, happiness is 
 sure to follow ; but if he says the God is angry, women 
 and children 1 sit sorrowfully about, and neglect even 
 their meals. Such is the customary belief, and it is 
 probably not altogether devoid of foundation. 
 
 There was a certain wealthy merchant, named Chou, 
 who was a very stingy man. Once, when some repairs 
 were necessary to the temple of the God of War , 2 and 
 rich and poor were subscribing as much as each could 
 afford, he alone gave nothing . 3 By-and-by the works 
 
 1 The chief supporters of superstition in China. 
 
 2 See No. I., note 3. 
 
 3 Such is one of the most common causes of hostile demonstra- 
 tion against Chinese Christians. The latter, acting under the 
 orders of the missionaries, frequently refuse to subscribe to the 
 various local celebrations and processions, the great annual festivi- 
 ties, and ceremonies of all kinds, on the grounds that these are 
 idolatrous and forbidden by the Christian faith. Hence bad feeling, 
 high words, blows, and sometimes bloodshed. I say “frequently,” 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 221 
 
 were stopped for want of funds, and the committee 
 of management were at a loss what to do next. It 
 happened that just then there was a festival in honour 
 of the Frog-God, at which the magician suddenly cried 
 out, “General Chou 4 has given orders for a further 
 subscription. Bring forth the books.” The people all 
 shouting assent to this, the magician went on to say, 
 u Those who have already subscribed will not be com- 
 pelled to do so again ; those who have not subscribed 
 must give according to their means.” Thereupon 
 various persons began to put down their names, and 
 
 because I have discovered several cases in which converts have 
 quietly subscribed like other people rather than risk an evieute. 
 
 An amusing incident came under my own special notice not very 
 long ago. A missionary appeared before me one day to complain 
 that a certain convert of his had been posted in his own village, 
 and cut off from his civic rights for two years, merely because he 
 had agreed to let a room of his house to be used as a missionary 
 depot. I took a copy of the placard which was handed to me in 
 proof of this statement, and found it to run thus : — “In conse- 
 quence of having entered into an agreement with a barbarian 
 
 pastor, to lease to the said barbarian pastor a room in his house 
 to be used as a missionary chapel, we, the elders of this village, 
 
 do hereby debar from the privilege of worshipping in our 
 
 ancestral hall for the space of two years.” It is needless, of 
 course, to mention that Ancestral Worship is prohibited by all sects 
 of missionaries in China alike ; or that, when I pointed this out to 
 the individual in question, who could not have understood the 
 import of the Chinese placard, the charge was promptly with- 
 drawn. 
 
 4 An historical character who was formerly among the ranks of 
 the Yellow Turban rebels, but subsequently entered the service of 
 Kuan Yii (see No. I., note 3), and was canonized by an Emperor 
 of the last dynasty. 
 
222 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 when this was finished, the magician examined the 
 books. He then asked if Mr. Chou was present ; and 
 the latter, who was skulking behind, in dread lest he 
 should be detected by the God, had no alternative but 
 to come to the front “Put yourself down for one 
 hundred taels, said the magician to him; and when 
 Chou hesitated, he cried out to him in anger, “You 
 could give two hundred for your own bad purposes : how 
 much more should you do so in a good cause ?’’ alluding 
 to a scandalous intrigue of Chou’s， the consequences of 
 which he had averted by pajTnent of the sum men- 
 tioned. This put our friend to the blush, and he was 
 obliged to enter his name for one hundred taels, at which 
 his wife was very angry, and said the magician was a 
 rogue, and whenever he came to collect the money he 
 was put off with some excuse. 
 
 Shortly afterwards, Chou was one day going to sleep, 
 when he heard a noise outside his house, like the blow- 
 ing of an ox, and beheld a huge frog walking leisurely 
 through the front door, which was just big enough to 
 let it pass. Once inside, the creature laid itself down 
 to sleep, with its head on the threshold, to the great 
 horror of all the inmates ; upon which Chou observed 
 that it had probably come to collect his subscription, 
 and burning some incense, he vowed that he would 
 pay down thirty taels on the spot, and send the balance 
 later on. The frog, however, did not move, so Chou 
 promised fifty, and then there was a slight decrease in 
 the frog’s size. Another twenty brought it down to 
 the size of a peck measure; and when Chou said the 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 22 ^ 
 
 full amount should be paid on the spot, the frog became 
 suddenly no larger than one’s fist, and disappeared 
 through a hole in the walL Chou immediately sent off 
 fifty taels, at which all the other subscribers were much 
 astonished, not knowing what had taken place. A few 
 days afterwards the magician said Chou still owed fifty 
 taels, and that he had better send it in soon ; so Chou 
 forwarded ten more, hoping now to have done with 
 the matter. However, as he and his wife were one day- 
 sitting down to dinner, the frog reappeared, and glaring 
 with anger, took up a position on the bed, which creaked 
 under it, as though unable to bear the weight. Putting 
 its head on the pillow, the frog went off to sleep, its 
 body gradually swelling up until it was as big as a 
 buffalo, and nearly filled the room, causing Chou to send 
 off the balance of his subscription without a moment’s 
 delay. There was now no diminution in the size of the 
 frog’s body ; and by-and-by crowds of small frogs came 
 hopping in, boring through the walls, jumping on the 
 bed, catching flies on the cooking-stove, and dying in 
 the saucepans, until the place was quite unbearable. 
 Three days passed thus, and then Chou sought out the 
 magician, and asked him what was to be done. The 
 latter said he could manage it, and began by vowing on 
 behalf of Chou twenty more taels , subscription. At 
 this the frog raised its head, and a further increase 
 caused it to move one foot ; and by the time a hundred 
 taels was reached, the frog was walking out of the door. 
 At the door, however, it stopped, and lay down once 
 more, which the magician explained by saying, that 
 
224 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 immediate payment was required ; so Chou handed over 
 the amount at once, and the frog, shrinking down to 
 its usual size, mingled with its companions, and departed 
 with them. 
 
 The repairs to the temple were accordingly com- 
 pleted, but for u lighting the eyes,^ 5 and the attendant 
 festivities, some further subscriptions were wanted. 
 Suddenly, the magician, pointing at the managers, cried 
 out, u There is money short ; of fifteen men, two of you 
 are defaulters.” At this, all declared they had given 
 what they could afford ; but the magician went on to 
 say, u It is not a question of what you can afford ; you 
 have misappropriated the funds 6 that should not have 
 
 5 This curious ceremony is the final touch to a newly-built or 
 newly-restored temple, and consists in giving expression to the 
 eyes of the freshly-painted idols, which have been purposely left 
 blank by the painter. Up to that time these blocks of clay or 
 wood are not supposed to have been animated by the spiritual 
 presence of the deity in question ; but no sooner are the eyes 
 lighted than the gratified God smiles down upon the handsome 
 decorations thus provided by devout and trusting suppliants. ' 
 
 There is a cognate custom belonging to the ceremonies of an- 
 cestral worship, of great importance in the eyes of the Chinese. 
 On a certain day after the death of a parent, the surviving head 
 of the family proceeds with much solemnity to dab a spot of ink 
 upon the memorial tablet of the deceased. This is believed to 
 give to the departed spirit the power of remaining near to, and 
 watching over the fortunes of, those left behind. 
 
 6 Such indeed is the fate of a per-centage of all public subscrip- 
 tions raised and handled by Chinese of no matter what class. A 
 year or two ago an application was made to me for a donation 
 to a native foundling hospital at Swatow, on the ground that I 
 was known as a “ read (Chinese) book man,” and that consequently 
 other persons, both Chinese and foreigners, might be induced to 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 225 
 
 been touched, and misfortune would come upon you, 
 but that, in return for your exertions, I shall endeavour 
 to avert it from you. The magician himself is not 
 without taint . * * * * * * 7 Let him set you a good example.” 
 Thereupon, the magician rushed into his house, and 
 brought out all the money he had, saying, Ci I stole eight 
 taels myself, which I will now refund.” He then 
 weighed what silver he had, and finding that it only 
 amounted to a little over six taels, he made one of the 
 bystanders take a note of the difference. Then the 
 others came forward and paid up, each what he had 
 misappropriated from the public fund. All this time 
 the magician had been in a divine ecstasy, not knowing 
 what he was saying ； and when he came round, and 
 was told what had happened, his shame knew no 
 bounds, so he pawned some of his clothes, and paid in 
 the balance of his own debt As to the two defaulters 
 who did not pay, one of them was ill for a month and 
 more ; while the other had a bad attack of boils. 
 
 follow my example. On my declining to do so, the manager of 
 
 the concern informed me that if I would only put down my name 
 
 for fifty dollars, say ^10, no call should be made upon me for the 
 
 money ! Even in the matter of the funds collected for the famine- 
 
 stricken people of 1878, it is whispered that peculation has been 
 
 rife. 
 
 7 The reader must recollect that these are the words of the God, 
 speaking from the magician’s body. 
 
 Q 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
226 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 CXIV. 
 
 TAOIST MIRACLES. 
 
 At Chi-nan Fu there lived a certain priest: I cannot 
 say whence he came, or what was his name. Winter 
 and summer alike he wore but one unlined robe, and 
 a yellow girdle about his waist, with neither shirt nor 
 trousers. He combed his hair with a broken comb, 
 holding the ends in his mouth, like the strings of a 
 hat. By day he wandered about the market-place ; at 
 night he slept in the street, and to a distance of several 
 feet round where he lay, the ice and snow would melt. 
 When he first arrived at Chi-nan he used to perform 
 miracles, and the people vied with each other in making 
 him presents. One day a disreputable young fellow 
 gave him a quantity of wine, and begged him in return 
 to divulge the secret of his power ； and when the priest 
 refused, the young man watched him get into the river 
 to bathe, and then ran off with his clothes. The priest 
 called out to him to bring them back, promising that 
 he would do as the young man required ; but the latter, 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 22 ^] 
 
 distrusting the priest’s good faith, refused to do so ; 
 whereupon the priest’s girdle was forthwith changed into 
 a snake, several spans in circumference, which coiled itself 
 round its master’s head, and glared and hissed terribly. 
 The young man now fell on his knees, and humbly 
 prayed the priest to save his life ; at which the priest put 
 his girdle on again, and a snake that had appeared to be 
 his girdle, wriggled away and disappeared. The priest’s 
 fame was thus firmly established, and the gentry and 
 officials of the place were constantly inviting him to join 
 them in their festive parties. By-and-by the priest said 
 he was going to invite his entertainers to a return feast ; 1 
 and at the appointed time each one of them found 
 on his table a formal invitation to a banquet at the 
 Water Pavilion, but no one knew who had brought the 
 letters. However, they all went, and were met at the 
 door by the priest, in his usual garb ; and when they got 
 inside, the place was all desolate and bare, with no 
 banquet ready. “I’m afraid I shall be obliged to ask 
 you gentlemen to let me use your attendants，” said the 
 priest to his guests ; u I am a poor man, and keep no 
 servants myself.” To this all readily consented ; where- 
 upon the priest drew a double door upon the wall, and 
 rapped upon it with his knuckles. Somebody answered 
 from within, and immediately the door was thrown open, 
 and a splendid array of handsome chairs, and tables 
 
 1 It is considered a serious breach of Chinese etiquette to 
 accept invitations without returning the compliment at an early 
 date. 
 
228 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 loaded with exquisite viands and costly wines, burst 
 upon the gaze of the astonished guests. The priest 
 bade the attendants receive all these things from the 
 door, and bring them outside, cautioning them on no 
 account to speak with the people inside ; and thus 
 a most luxurious entertainment was provided to the 
 great amazement of all present. 
 
 Now this Pavilion stood upon the bank of a small 
 lake, and every year, at the proper season, it was literally 
 covered with lilies ； but, at the time of this feast, the 
 weather was cold, and the surface of the lake was of 
 a smoky green colour. “ It’s a pity,” said one of the 
 
 guests, “ that the lilies are not out ’’ a sentiment in 
 
 which the others very cordially agreed, when suddenly a 
 servant came running in to say that, at that moment, the 
 lake was a perfect mass of lilies. Every one jumped up 
 directly, and ran to look out of the window, and, lo ! it 
 was so ; and in another minute the fragrant perfume 
 of the flowers was borne towards them by the breeze. 
 Hardly knowing what to make of this strange sight, 
 they sent off some servants, in a boat, to gather a few 
 of the lilies, but they soon returned empty-handed, 
 saying, that the flowers seemed to shift their position 
 as fast as they rowed towards them ； at which the priest 
 laughed, and said, “These are but the lilies of your 
 imagination, and have no real existence.” And later 
 on, when the wine was finished, the flowers began to 
 droop and fade ; and by-and-by a breeze from the north 
 carried off every sign of them, leaving the lake as it had 
 been before. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 229 
 
 A certain Taot'ai , 2 at Chi'nan, was much taken with 
 this priest, and gave him rooms at his yamen. One day, 
 he had some friends to dinner, and set before them 
 some very choice old wine that he had, and of which 
 he only brought out a small quantity at a time, not 
 wishing to get through it too rapidly. The guests, 
 however, liked it so much that they asked for more ； 
 upon which the Taot f ai said, u he was very sorry, but it 
 was all finished.” The priest smiled at this, and said, 
 “ I can give the gentlemen some, if they will oblige me 
 by accepting it and immediately inserted the wine- 
 kettle 3 in his sleeve, bringing it out again directly, and 
 pouring out for the guests. This wine tasted exactly 
 like the choice wine they had just been drinking, and 
 the priest gave them all as much of it as they wanted, 
 which made the Taot‘ai suspect that something was 
 wrong ； so, after the dinner, he went into his cellar to 
 look at his own stock, when he found the jars closely 
 tied down, with unbroken seals, but one and all empty. 
 In a great rage, he caused the priest to be arrested for 
 sorcery, and proceeded to have him bambooed ； but no 
 sooner had the bamboo touched the priest than the 
 丁 aot £ ai himself felt a sting of pain, which increased 
 at every blow ； and, in a few moments, there was the 
 
 2 A high Chinese official, known to foreigners as Intendant of 
 Circuit ; the circuit being a circuit of Prefectures, over which he 
 has full control, subject only to the approval of the highest pro- 
 vincial authorities. It is with this functionary that foreign Consuls 
 rank. 
 
 3 See No. XCIII., note 3. 
 
2*3 〇 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 priest writhing and shrieking under every cut , 4 while 
 the Taot^ai was sitting in a pool of blood. Accordingly, 
 the punishment was soon stopped, and the priest was 
 commanded to leave Chi-nan, which he did, and I 
 know not whither he went. He was subsequently 
 seen at Nanking, dressed precisely as of old; but on 
 being spoken to, he only smiled and made no reply. 
 
 4 Of course only pretending to be hurt, the pain of the blows 
 being transferred by his magical art to the back of the Taot 4 ai. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 231 
 
 cxv. 
 
 ARRIVAL OF BUDDHIST PRIESTS. 
 
 Two Buddhist priests having arrived from the West , 1 
 one went to the Wu-t c ai hill, while the other hung up his 
 staff 2 at T‘ai-shan. Their clothes, complexions, lan- 
 guage, and features, were very different from those of 
 our country. They further said they had crossed the 
 Fiery Mountains, from the peaks of which smoke was 
 always issuing as from the chimney of a furnace ; that 
 they could only travel after rain, and that excessive 
 caution was necessary to avoid displacing any stone and 
 thus giving a vent to the flames. They also stated that 
 they had passed through the River of Sand, in the 
 middle of which was a crystal hill with perpendicular 
 sides and perfectly transparent ; and that there was a defile 
 just broad enough to admit a single cart, its entrance 
 guarded by two dragons with crossed horns. Those 
 who wished to pass prostrated themselves before these 
 dragons, and on receiving permission to enter, the horns 
 
 That is, missionaries from India. 
 See No. LVI., note 10. 
 
232 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 opened and let them through. The dragons were of a 
 white colour, and their scales and bristles seemed to be 
 of crystal Eighteen winters and summers these priests 
 had been on the road ; and of twelve who started from 
 the west together, only two reached China . 3 These two 
 said that in their country four of our mountains are held 
 in great esteem, namely, T^ai, Hua, Wu-ta { i, and Lochia. 
 The people there also think that China 4 is paved with 
 yellow gold, that Kuan-yin and Wen-shu 5 are still alive, 
 and that they have only come here to be sure of their 
 Buddhahood and of immortal life. Hearing these 
 words it struck me that this was precisely what our own 
 people say and think about the West; and that if 
 travellers from each country could only meet half way 
 and tell each other the true state of affairs, there would 
 be some hearty laughter on both sides, and a saving of 
 much unnecessary trouble. 
 
 3 Much of the above recalls Fa Hsien's narrative of his cele- 
 brated journey from China to India in the early years of the 
 fifth century of our era, with which our author was evidently well 
 acquainted. That courageous traveller complained that of those 
 who had set out with him some had stopped on the way and 
 others had died, lea^ng him only his own shadow as a com- 
 panion. 
 
 4 This may almost be said to have been the belief of the Arabs 
 at the date of the composition of ** The Arabian Nights.** 
 
 5 For Kuan-yin, see No. XXXIII., note 7. Wen-shu, or 
 Manjusiri, is the God of Wisdom, and is generally represented as 
 riding on a lion, in attendance, together with P*u-hsien, the God 
 of Action, who rides an elephant, upon Shakyamuni Buddha. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 233 
 
 CXVI. 
 
 THE STOLEN EYES. 
 
 When His Excellency Mr. T 4 ang, of our village, was 
 quite a child, a relative of his took him to a temple to 
 see the usual theatrical performances . 1 He was a clever 
 little fellow, afraid of nothing and nobody ; and when he 
 saw one of the clay images in the vestibule staring at 
 him with its great glass 2 eyes, the temptation was irre- 
 sistible ; and, secretly gouging them out with his finger, 
 he carried them off with him. When they reached 
 home, his relative was taken suddenly ill and remained 
 for a long time speechless ; at length, jumping up he 
 cried out several times in a voice of thunder, u Why did 
 you gouge out my eyes?” His family did not know 
 what to make of this, until little T 4 ang told them what 
 he had done ; they then immediately began to pray to 
 the possessed man, saying, a A mere child, unconscious 
 
 1 See No. XLVIII., note 4. 
 
 2 The term here used stands for a vitreous composition that has 
 long been prepared by the Chinese. Glass, properly so called, is 
 said to have been introduced into China from the west, by a 
 eunuch, during the Ming dynasty. 
 
234 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 of the wickedness of his act, took away in his fun thy 
 sacred eyes. They shall be reverently replaced” There- 
 upon the voice exclaimed, “ In that case, I shall go 
 away and he had hardly spoken before Twang’s relative 
 fell flat upon the ground and lay there in a state of in- 
 sensibility for some time. When he recovered, they 
 asked him concerning what he had said ; but he re- 
 membered nothing of it. The eyes were then forthwith 
 restored to their original sockets. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 2 3S 
 
 CXVII. 
 
 THE INVISIBLE PRIEST. 
 
 Mr. Han was a gentleman of good family, on very 
 intimate terms with a skilful Taoist priest and magician 
 named Tan, who, when sitting amongst other guests, 
 would suddenly become invisible. Mr. Han was ex- 
 tremely anxious to learn this art, but Tan refused all his 
 entreaties, “ Not,” as he said, “ because I want to keep 
 the secret for myself, but simply as a matter of principle. 
 To teach the superior man 1 would be well enough ; 
 others, however, would avail themselves of such know- 
 ledge to plunder their neighbours. There is no fear that 
 you would do this, though even you might be tempted 
 in certain ways.” Mr. Han, finding all his efforts un- 
 availing, flew into a great passion, and secretly arranged 
 with his servants that they should give the magician a 
 sound beating ; and, in order to prevent his escape 
 through the power of making himself invisible, he had 
 
 3 The perfect man, according to the Confucian standard. 
 
236 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 his threshing-floor 2 covered with a fine ash-dust, so that 
 at any rate his footsteps would be seen and the servants 
 could strike just above them . 3 He then inveigled Tan 
 to the appointed spot, which he had no sooner reached 
 than Han's servants began to belabour him on all sides 
 with leathern thongs. Tan immediately became in- 
 visible, but his footprints were clearly seen as he moved 
 about hither and thither to avoid the blows, and the 
 servants went on striking above them until finally he 
 succeeded in getting away. Mr. Han then went home, 
 and subsequently Tan reappeared and told the servants 
 that he could stay there no longer, adding that before he 
 went he intended to give them all a feast in return for 
 many things they had done for him. And diving into 
 his sleeve he brought forth a quantity of delicious meats 
 and wines which he spread out upon the table, begging 
 them to sit down and enjoy themselves. The servants 
 did so, and one and all of them got drunk and insensible ; 
 upon which Tan picked each of them up and stowed 
 them away in his sleeve. When Mr. Han heard of this, 
 he begged Tan to perform some other trick; so Tan 
 drew upon the wall a city, and knocking at the gate with 
 his hand it was instantly thrown open. He then put in- 
 
 2 A large, smooth, area of concrete, to be seen outside all country 
 houses of any size, and used for preparing the various kinds of 
 grain. 
 
 3 Compare 一 ft The not uncommon practice of strewing ashes to 
 show the footprints of ghosts or demons takes for granted that they 
 are substantial bodies.” 一 Tylor*s PHmitive Czilture y Vol. I., 
 P- 455- 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 237 
 
 side it his wallet and clothes, and stepping through the 
 gateway himself, waved his hand and bade Mr. Han 
 farewell. The city gates were now closed, and Tan 
 vanished from their sight. It was said that he appeared 
 again in Ch^ng-chou, where he taught little boys to paint 
 a circle on their hands, and, by dabbing this on to 
 another person's face or clothes, to imprint the circle on 
 the place thus struck without a trace of it being left 
 behind upon the hand. 
 
238 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 CXVIII. 
 
 THE CENSOR IN PURGATORY. 
 
 Just beyond Feng-tu 1 there is a fathomless cave 
 which is reputed to be the entrance to Purgatory. All 
 the implements of torture employed therein are of 
 human manufacture ; old, worn-out gyves and fetters 
 being occasionally found at the mouth of the cave, and 
 as regularly replaced by new ones, which disappear the 
 same night, and for which the magistrate of the district 
 makes a formal charge 2 in his accounts. 
 
 Under the Ming dynasty, there was a certain Censor , 3 
 
 1 Feng-tu is a district city in the province of Szechuen, and near 
 it are said to be fire-wells (see Williams’ Syllabic Dictionary^ 
 s.v.), otherwise known as the entrance to Purgatory, the capital 
 city of which is also called Feng-tu. 
 
 2 To the Imperial Treasury. From what I know of the bare- 
 facedness of similar official impostures, I should say that this state- 
 ment is quite within the bounds of truth. For instance, at Amoy 
 one per cent, is collected by the local mandarins on all imports, 
 ostensibly for the purpose of providing the Imperial table with a 
 delicious kind of bird’s-nest said to be found in the neighbourhood ! 
 Seven-tenths of the sum thus collected is pocketed by the various 
 officials of the place, and with the remaining three-tenths a certain 
 quantity of the ordinary article of commerce is imported from the 
 Straits and forwarded to Peking. 
 
 3 See No. XXXII., note 4. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 2 39 
 
 named Hua, whose duties brought him to this place ; 
 and hearing the story of the cave, he said he did not 
 believe it, but would penetrate into it and see for himself. 
 People tried to dissuade him from such an enterprise ; 
 however, he paid no heed to their remonstrances, and 
 entered the cave with a lighted candle in his hand, 
 followed by two attendants. They had proceeded about 
 half a mile, when suddenly the candle was violently ex- 
 tinguished, and Mr. Hua saw before him a broad flight 
 of steps leading up to the Ten Courts, or Judgment-halls, 
 in each of which a judge was sitting with his robes and 
 tablets all complete. On the eastern side there was one 
 vacant place ; and when the judges saw Mr. Hua, they 
 hastened down the steps to meet him, and each one 
 cried out, u So you have come at last have you ? I hope 
 you have been quite well since last we met.” Mr. Hua 
 asked what the place was ; to which they replied that it 
 was the Court of Purgatory, and then Mr. Hua in a 
 great fright was about to take his leave, when the judges 
 stopped him, saying, “No, no, Sir ! that is your seat 
 there ; how can you imagine you are to go back again ? 17 
 Thereupon Mr. Hua was overwhelmed with fear, and 
 begged and implored the judges to forgive him ; but the 
 latter declared they could not interfere with the decrees 
 of fate, and taking down the register of Life and Death 
 they showed him that it had been ordained that on such 
 a day of such a month his living body would pass into 
 the realms of darkness. When Mr. Hua read these 
 words he shivered and shook as if iced water was being 
 poured down his back, and thinking of his old mother 
 
24〇 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 and his young children, his tears began to flow. At that 
 juncture an angel in golden armour appeared, holding in 
 his hand a document written on yellow silk , 4 before 
 which the judges all performed a respectful obeisance. 
 They then unfolded and read the document, which was 
 nothing more or less than a general pardon from the 
 Almighty for the suffering sinners in Purgatory, by virtue 
 of which Mr. Hua’s fate would be set aside, and he 
 would be enabled to return once more to the light of 
 day. Thereupon the judges congratulated him upon his 
 release, and started him on his way home ; but he had 
 not got more than a few steps of the way before he 
 found himself plunged in total darkness. He was just 
 beginning to despair, when forth from the gloom came a 
 God with a red face and a long beard, rays of light shoot- 
 ing out from his body and illuminating the darkness 
 around. Mr. Hua made up to him at once, and begged 
 to know how he could get out of the cave ; to which the 
 God curtly replied, “Repeat the sutras of Buddha ! ’’ 
 and vanished instantly from his sight Now Mr. Hua 
 had forgotten almost all the sutras he had ever known ； 
 however, he remembered a little of the diamond sHtra^ 
 and, clasping his hands in an attitude of prayer, he began 
 to repeat it aloud. No sooner had he done this than a 
 faint streak of light glimmered through the darkness, 
 and revealed to him the direction of the path ； but the 
 
 4 An Imperial mandate is always written on yellow silk, and the 
 ceremony of opening and perusing it is accompanied by prostrations 
 and other acts of reverential submission. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 241 
 
 next moment he was at a loss how to go on and the light 
 forthwith disappeared. He then set himself to think 
 hard what the next verse was, and as fast as he recol- 
 lected and could go on repeating, so fast did the light 
 reappear to guide him on his way, until at length he 
 emerged once more from the mouth of the cave. As to 
 the fate of the two servants who accompanied him it is 
 needless to inquire. 
 
 VOL. 11. 
 
 R 
 
242 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 CXIX. 
 
 MR. WILLOW AND THE LOCUSTS. 
 
 During the Ming dynasty a plague of locusts 1 visited 
 Ch‘ing-yen, and was advancing rapidly towards the I 
 district, when the magistrate of that place, in great 
 tribulation at the pending disaster, retired one day to 
 sleep behind the screen in his office. There he dreamt 
 that a young graduate, named Willow, wearing a tall 
 hat and a green robe, and of very commanding stature, 
 came to see him, and declared that he could tell the 
 magistrate how to get rid of the locusts. To-morrow, 
 said he, u on the south-west road, you will see a woman 
 riding 2 on a large jennet : she is the Spirit of the 
 Locusts; ask her, and she will help you. ,J The magis- 
 trate thought this strange advice ; however, he got 
 everything ready, and waited, as he had been told, at 
 
 1 Innumerable pamphlets have been published in China on the 
 best methods of getting rid of these destructive insects, but none to 
 my knowledge contain much sound or practical advice. 
 
 2 See No. LII., note I. The mules of the north of China are 
 marvels of beauty and strength ; and the price of a fine animal 
 often goes as high as ^ioo. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 243 
 
 the roadside. By-and-by, along came a woman with 
 her hair tied up in a knot, and a serge cape over her 
 shoulders, riding slowly northwards on an old mule ; 
 whereupon the magistrate burned some sticks of in- 
 cense, and, seizing the mule’s bridle, humbly presented 
 a goblet of wine. The woman asked him what he 
 wanted ; to which he replied, u Lady, I implore you 
 to save my small magistracy from the dreadful ravages 
 of your locusts.” “Oho!” said the woman, “that 
 scoundrel, Willow, has been letting the cat out' of the 
 bag, has he ? He shall suffer for it : I 'von’t touch your 
 crops.” She then drank three cups of wine, and 
 vanished out of sight. Subsequently, when the locusts 
 did come, they flew high in the air, and did not settle 
 on the crops ; but they stripped the leaves off every 
 willow-tree far and wide ; and then the magistrate 
 awaked to the fact that the graduate of his dream was 
 the Spirit of the Willows. Some said that this happy 
 result was owing to the magistrate’s care for the welfare 
 of his people. 
 
 r 2 
 
244 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 cxx. 
 
 MR. TUNG, OR VIRTUE REWARDED. 
 
 At Ch4ng-chow there lived a Mr. Tung, President 
 of one of the Six Boards, whose domestic regulations 
 were so strict that the men and women servants were 
 not allowed to speak to each other. 1 One day he 
 caught a slave-girl laughing and talking with one of his 
 attendants, and gave them both a sound rating. That 
 night he retired to sleep, accompanied by his valei-de- 
 cha?7ibre^ in his library, the door of which, as it was very- 
 hot weather, was left wide open. When the night was 
 far advanced, the valet was awaked by a noise at his 
 master’s bed: and, opening his eyes, he saw, by、 the 
 light of the moon, the attendant above-mentioned pass 
 out of the door with something in his hand. Recog- 
 nizing the man as one of the family, he thought 
 nothing of the occurrence, but turned round and went 
 to sleep again. Soon after, however, he was again 
 aroused by the noise of footsteps tramping heavily 
 across the room, and, looking up, he beheld a huge 
 being with a red face and a long beard, very like the 
 
 1 See No. XL., note 3, and No. XCIV., note 3. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 245 
 
 God of War , 2 carrying a man’s head. Horribly- 
 frightened, he crawled under the bed, and then he 
 heard sounds above him as of clothes being shaken out, 
 and as if some one was being shampooed . 3 In a few 
 moments, the boots tramped once more across the room 
 and went away ； and then he gradually put out his 
 head, and, seeing the dawn beginning to peep through 
 the window, he stretched out his hand to reach his 
 clothes. These he found to be soaked through and 
 through, and, on applying his hand to his nose, he 
 smelt the smell of blood. He now called out loudly to 
 his master, who jumped up at once ; and, by the light 
 of a candle, they saw that the bed clothes and pillows 
 were alike steeped in blood. Just then some constables 
 knocked at the door, and when Mr. Tung went out to 
 see who it was, the constables were all astonishment; 
 “for,” said they, “a few minutes ago a man rushed 
 wildly up to our yamen, and said he had killed his 
 master; and, as he himself was covered with blood, he 
 was arrested, and turned out to be a servant of yours. 
 He also declared that he had buried your head along- 
 side the temple of the God of War ; and when we went 
 to look, there, indeed, was a freshly-dug hole, but the 
 head was gone.” Mr. Tung was amazed at all this 
 story, and, on proceeding to the magistrate’s yamen, he 
 discovered that the man in charge was the attendant 
 whom he had scolded the day before. Thereupon, the 
 
 2 See No. I., note 3. 
 
 3 See No. LXIX., note 8. 
 
246 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 criminal was severely bambooed and released ; and then 
 Mr. Tung, who was unwilling to make an enemy of a 
 man of this stamp, gave him the girl to wife. However, 
 a few nights afterwards the people who lived next door 
 to the newly-married couple heard a terrific crash in 
 their house, and, rushing in to see what was the matter, 
 found that husband and wife, and the bedstead as well, 
 had been cut clean in two as if by a sword. The ways 
 of the God are many, indeed, but few more extra- 
 ordinary than this . 4 
 
 4 It was the God of War who replaced Mr. Tung's head after it 
 had actually been cut off and buried. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 247 
 
 CXXI. 
 
 THE DEAD PRIEST. 
 
 A certain Taoist priest, overtaken in his wanderings 
 by the shades of evening, sought refuge in a small 
 Buddhist monastery. The monk J s apartment was, how- 
 ever, locked ; so he threw his mat down in the vestibule 
 of the shrine, and seated himself upon it. In the 
 middle of the night, when all was still, he heard a 
 sound of some one opening the door behind him ; and 
 looking round, he saw a Buddhist priest, covered with 
 blood from head to foot, who did not seem to notice 
 that anybody else was present. Accordingly, he himself 
 pretended not to be aware of what was going on ; and 
 then he saw the other priest enter the shrine, mount 
 the altar, and remain there some time embracing 
 Buddha’s head, and laughing by turns. When morning 
 came, he found the monk’s room still locked; and, 
 suspecting something was wrong, he walked to a neigh- 
 bouring village, where he told the people what he had 
 seen. Thereupon the villagers went back with him, and 
 broke open the door, and there before them lay the 
 priest weltering in his blood, having evidently been 
 
248 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 killed by robbers, who had stripped the place bare. 
 Anxious now to find out what had made the disem- 
 bodied spirit of the priest laugh in the way it had been 
 seen to do, they proceeded to inspect the head of the 
 Buddha on the altar ; and, at the back of it, they 
 noticed a small mark, scraping through which they dis- 
 covered a sum of over thirty ounces of silver. This 
 sum was forthwith used for defraying the funeral ex- 
 penses of the murdered man. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 249 
 
 CXXII. 
 
 THE FLYING COW. 
 
 A certain man, who had bought a fine cow, dreamt 
 the same night that wings grew out of the animal’s 
 back, and that it had flown away. Regarding this as 
 an omen of some pending misfortune, he led the cow 
 off to market again, and sold it at a ruinous loss. 
 Wrapping up in a cloth the silver he received, he 
 slung it over his back, and was half way home, when 
 he saw a falcon eating part of a hare . 1 Approaching 
 the bird, he found it was quite tame, and accordingly 
 tied it by the leg to one of the corners of the cloth, 
 in which his money was. The falcon fluttered about 
 a good deal, trying to escape ; and, by-and-by, the 
 man’s hold being for a moment relaxed, away went 
 the bird, cloth, money, and all. “It was destiny,” 
 said the man every time he told the story ; ignorant as 
 
 See No. VI., note 1. 
 
25 〇 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 he was, first, that no faith should be put in dreams ; 2 
 and, secondly, that people shouldn’t take things they 
 see by the wayside . 3 Quadrupeds don’t usually fly. 
 
 2 The highly educated Confucianist rises above the superstition 
 that darkens the lives of his less fortunate fellow countrymen. 
 Had such a dream as the above received an inauspicious interpre- 
 tation at the hands of some local soothsayer, the owner of the animal 
 would in nine cases out of ten have taken an early opportunity of 
 getting rid of it. 
 
 3 The Chinese love to refer to the “ good old time” of their 
 forefathers, when a man who dropped anything on the highway 
 would have no cause to hurry back for fear of its being carried off 
 by a stranger. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 251 
 
 CXXIII. 
 
 THE “MIRROR AND LISTEN” TRICK. 
 
 At I-tu there lived a family of the name of Cheng. 
 The two sons were both distinguished scholars, but the 
 elder was early known to fame, and, consequently, the 
 favourite with his parents, who also extended their 
 preference to his wife. The younger brother was a 
 trifle wild, which displeased his father and mother very 
 much, and made them regard his wife, too, with any- 
 thing but a friendly eye. The latter reproached her 
 husband for being the cause of this, and asked him 
 why he, being a man like his brother, could not vin- 
 dicate the slights that were put upon her. This piqued 
 him; and, setting to work in good earnest, he soon 
 gained a fair reputation, though still not equal to his 
 brother’s. That year the two went up for the highest 
 degree ; and, on New Year’s Eve, the wife of the 
 younger, very anxious for the success of her husband, 
 secretly tried the “mirror and listen” trick . 1 She saw 
 
 1 One method is to wrap an old mirror (formerly a polished metal 
 disc) in a handkerchief, and then, no one being present, to bow 
 seven times towards the Spirit of the Hearth : after which the first 
 words heard spoken by any one will give a clue to the issue under 
 
252 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 two men pushing each other in jest, and heard them say, 
 “You go and get cool,” which remark she was quite 
 unable to interpret for good or for bad, so she thought 
 no more about the matter. After the examination, the 
 two brothers returned home; and one day, when the 
 weather was extremely hot, and their two wives were 
 hard at work in the cook-house, preparing food for 
 their field-labourers, a messenger rode up in hot haste * 2 
 to announce that the elder brother had passed. There- 
 upon his mother went into the cook-house, and, calling 
 to her daughter-in-law, said, u Your husband has passed; 
 you go and get cool :、 Rage and grief now filled tlie 
 breast of the second son’s wife, who, with tears in her 
 eyes, continued her task of cooking, when suddenly 
 another messenger rushed in to say, that the second 
 son had passed, too. At this, his wife flung down her 
 frying-pan, and cried out, <{ Now 111 go and get cool;^ 
 and as in the heat of her excitement she uttered these 
 words, the recollection of her trial of the mirror and 
 listen trick flashed upon her, and she knew that the 
 words of that evening had been fulfilled. 
 
 investigation. Another method is to close the eyes and take seven 
 paces, opening them at the seventh and getting some hint from the 
 objects first seen in a mirror held in the hand, coupled with the 
 words first spoken within the experimenter^ hearing. 
 
 2 In former days, these messengers of good tidings to candidates 
 whose homes were in distant parts used to earn handsome sums if 
 first to announce the news ; but now, at any rate along the coast, 
 steamers and the telegraph have taken their occupation from them. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 2 53 
 
 CXXIV. 
 
 THE CATTLE PLAGUE. 
 
 Ch c en Hua-feng, of Meng-shan, overpowered by 
 the great heat, went and lay down under a tree, when 
 suddenly up came a man with a thick comforter round 
 his neck, who also sat down on a stone in the shade, 
 and began fanning himself as hard as he could, the 
 perspiration all the time running off him like a water- 
 fall. Ch^n rose and said to him with a smile, u If 
 Sir, you were to remove that comforter, you would be 
 cool enough without the help of a fan.” “It would be 
 easy enough,” replied the stranger, “ to take off my 
 comforter ; but the difficulty would be in getting it on 
 again.” He then went on to converse generally upon 
 other matters, in a manner which betokened consider- 
 able refinement; and by-and-by he exclaimed, u What I 
 should like now is just a draught of iced wine to cool 
 the twelve joints of my oesophagus .” 1 u Come along, 
 
 1 Accurate anatomical descriptions must not be looked for in 
 Chinese literature. ‘‘ Man has three hundred and sixty-five bones, 
 corresponding to the number of days it takes the heavens to re- 
 volve.” From the Hsi-yiian~lu y ox Instructions to Coroners , Book I., 
 ch. 12. [See No. XIV., note 8 .] 
 
STRANGE STORIES 
 
 then,” cried Ch c en, <c my house is close by, and I shall 
 be happy to give you what you want J, So off they 
 went together; and Ch 4 en set before them some capital 
 wine, which he produced from a cave, cold enough to 
 numb their teeth. The stranger was delighted, and 
 remained there drinking until late in the evening, 
 when, all at once, it began to rain. Ch^n lighted a 
 lamp ; and he and his guest, who now took off the 
 comforter, sat talking together in dishabille. Every 
 now and again the former thought he saw a light 
 coming from the back of the stranger’s head ; and 
 when at length he had gone off into a tipsy sleep, 
 Ch c en took the light to examine more closely. He 
 found behind the ears a large cavity, partitioned by a 
 number of membranes, and looking like a lattice, with 
 a thin skin hanging down in front of each, the spaces 
 being apparently empty. In great astonishment Ch^n 
 took a hair-pin, and inserted it into one of these 
 places, when pff! out flew something like a tiny cow, 
 which broke through the window , 2 and was gone. This 
 frightened Ch 4 eng, and he determined to play no more 
 tricks; just then, however, the stranger waked up. 
 “ Alas !’’ cried he, “ you have been at my head, and 
 have let out the Cattle Plague. What is to be done, 
 now?” Ch 4 en asked what he meant: upon which the 
 stranger said, There is no object in further conceal- 
 ment. I will tell you all. I am the Angel of Pesti- 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 2 S5 
 
 lence for the six kinds of domestic animals. That form 
 which you have let out attacks oxen, and I fear that, 
 for miles round, few will escape alive. 7, Now Ch 3 4 eng, 
 himself was a cattle-farmer, and when he heard this 
 was dreadfully alarmed, and implored the stranger to 
 tell him what to do. “ What to do !” replied he “why 
 I shall not escape punishment myself ; how can I tell 
 you what to do. However, you will find powdered 
 K^u-ts^an 3 an efficacious remedy, that is if you don’t 
 keep it a secret for your private use .” 4 The stranger 
 then departed, first of all piling up a quantity of earth 
 in a niche in the wall, a handful of which, he told 
 Ch^en, given to each animal, might prove of some 
 avail. Before long the plague did break out; and 
 Ch c en, who was desirous of making a little money by 
 it, told the remedy to no one, with the exception of 
 his younger brother. The latter tried it on his own 
 beasts with great success; while, on the other hand, 
 those belonging to Ch £ en himself died off, to the 
 number of fifty head , 5 leaving him only four or five old 
 cows, which shewed every sign of soon sharing the 
 same fate. In his distress, Ch f en suddenly bethought 
 himself of the earth in the niche; and, as a last 
 
 3 Radix robinuz amarce, 
 
 4 As the Chinese invariably do whenever they get hold of a useful 
 prescription or remedy. Master workmen also invariably try to 
 withhold something of their art from the apprentices they engage 
 to teach. 
 
 5 The text has “of two hundred hoofs.” 
 
256 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 resource, gave some to the sick animals. By the next 
 morning they were quite well, and then he knew that 
 his secrecy about the remedy had caused it to have no 
 effect. From that moment his stock went on increasing, 
 and in a few years he had as many as ever. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 257 
 
 cxxv. 
 
 THE MARRIAGE OF THE VIRGIN 
 GODDESS. 
 
 At Kuei-chi there is a shrine to the Plum Virgin, who 
 was formerly a young lady named Ma, and lived at 
 Tung-wan. Her betrothed husband dying before the 
 wedding, she swore she would never marry, and at thirty 
 years of age she died Her kinsfolk built a shrine to 
 her memory, and gave her the title of the Plum Virgin. 
 Some years afterwards, a Mr. Chin, on his way to the 
 examination, happened to pass by the shrine ; and 
 entering in, he walked up and down thinking very much 
 of the young lady in whose honour it had been erected. 
 That night he dreamt that a servant came to summon 
 him into the presence of the Goddess ; and that, in 
 obedience to her command, he went and found her 
 waiting for him just outside the shrine. “ I am deeply 
 grateful to you, Sir, w said the Goddess, on his approach, 
 u for giving me so large a share of your thoughts ; and 
 I intend to repay you by becoming your humble hand- 
 maid. Mr. Chin bowed an assent ; and then the 
 Goddess escorted him back, saying, “When your place 
 is ready, I will come and fetch you. J, On waking in the 
 VOL. II. s 
 
STRANGE STORIES 
 
 morning, Mr. Chin was not over pleased with his dream ; 
 however that very night every one of the villagers dreamt 
 that the Goddess appeared and said she was going to 
 marry Mr. Chin, bidding them at once prepare an image 
 of him. This the village elders, out of respect for their 
 Goddess, positively refused to do ； until at length they 
 all began to fall ill, and then they made a clay image of 
 Mr. Chin, and placed it on the left of the Goddess. 
 Mr. Chin now told his wife that the Plum Virgin had 
 come for him ； and, putting on his official cap and robes, 
 he straightway died. Thereupon his wife was very 
 angry ； and, going to the shrine, she first abused the 
 Goddess, and then, getting on the altar, slapped her 
 face well The Goddess is now called Chin’s virgin 
 wife. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 259 
 
 CXXVI. 
 
 THE WINE INSECT. 
 
 A Mr. Lin of Ch £ ang-shan was extremely fat, and 
 so fond of wine 1 2 that he would often finish a pitcher 
 by himself. However, he owned about fifty acres of 
 land, half of which was covered with millet, and being 
 well off, he did not consider that his drinking would 
 bring him into trouble. One day a foreign Buddhist 
 priest saw him, and remarked that he appeared to be 
 suffering from some extraordinary complaint. Mr. Lin 
 said nothing was the matter with him ； whereupon the 
 priest asked him if he often got drunk. Lin acknow- 
 ledged that he did ; and the priest told him that he was 
 afflicted by the wine insect. “ Dear me !” cried Lin, in 
 great alarm, “ do you think you could cure me ? ’’ The 
 priest declared there would be no difficulty in doing so ； 
 but when Lin asked him what drugs he intended to 
 use, the priest said he should not use any at all. He 
 then made Lin lie down in the sun ； and tying his hands 
 and feet together, he placed a stoup of good wine about 
 
 1 The ordinary “wine” of China is a spirit distilled from rice. 
 See No. XCIII., note 3. 
 
 2 S 
 
26 〇 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 half a foot from his head By-and-by, Lin felt a deadly 
 thirst coming on ； and the flavour of the wine passing 
 through his nostrils, seemed to set his vitals on fire. 
 Just then he experienced a tickling sensation in his 
 throat, and something ran out of his mouth and jumped 
 into the wine. On being released from his bonds, he 
 saw that it was an insect about three inches in length, 
 which wriggled about in the wine like a tadpole, and 
 had mouth and eyes all complete. Lin was overjoyed, 
 and offered money to the priest, who refused to take 
 it, saying, all he wanted was the insect, which he 
 explained to Lin was the essence of wine, and which, 
 on being stirred up in water, would turn it into wine. 
 Lin tried this, and found it was so ; and ever afterwards 
 he detested the sight of wine. He subsequently became 
 very thin, and so poor that he had hardly enough to eat 
 and drink . 2 
 
 2 The commentator would have us believe that Mr. Lin s fond- 
 ness for wine was to him an element of health and happiness rathei 
 than a disease to be cured, and that the priest was wrong in 
 meddling with the natural bent of his constitution. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO, 
 
 261 
 
 CXXVII. 
 
 THE FAITHFUL DOG. 
 
 A certain man of Lu-ngan, whose father had been 
 cast into prison, and was brought almost to death’s 
 door , 1 scraped together one hundred ounces of silver, 
 and set out for the city to try and arrange for his parent’s 
 release. Jumping on a mule, he saw that a black dog, 
 belonging to the family, was following him. He tried 
 in vain to make the dog remain at home ; and when, 
 after travelling for some miles, he got off hi^ mule to 
 rest awhile, he picked up a large stone and threw it at 
 the dog, which then ran off. However, he was no 
 sooner on the road again, than up came the dog, and 
 tried to stop the mule by holding on to its tail. His 
 master beat it off with the whip ； whereupon the dog 
 
 1 In an entry on torture (see No. LXXIII., note 2), which 
 occurs in my Glossary of Reference I made the following state- 
 ment : — “The real tortures of a Chinese prison are the filthy 
 dens in which the unfortunate victims are confined, the stench in 
 which they have to draw breath, the fetters and manacles by which 
 they are secured, the absolute insufficiency even of the disgusting 
 rations doled out to them, and above all the mental agony which 
 must ensue in a country with no Habeas coi'pus to protect the lives 
 and fortunes of its citizens.” 
 
262 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 ran barking loudly in front of the mule, and seemed 
 to be using every means in its power to cause his 
 master to stop. The latter thought this a very in- 
 auspicious omen, and turning upon the animal in a 
 rage, drove it away out of sight. He now went on 
 to the city ; but when, in the dusk of the evening, 
 he arrived there, he found that about half his money 
 was gone. In a terrible state of mind, he tossed about 
 all night ; then, all of a sudden, it flashed across him 
 that the strange behaviour of the dog might possibly 
 have some meaning ； so getting up very early, he left 
 the city as soon as the gates were open , 2 and though, 
 from the number of passers-by, he never expected to find 
 his money again, he went on until he reached the spot 
 where he had got off his mule the day before. There 
 he saw his dog lying dead upon the ground, its hair 
 having apparently been wetted through with perspira- 
 tion ； 3 and, lifting up the body by one of its ears, he 
 found his lost silver. Full of gratitude, he bought 
 a coffin and buried the dead animal ； and the people 
 now call the place the Grave of the Faithful Dog. 
 
 2 For a small bribe, the soldiers at the gates of a Chinese city will 
 usually pass people in and out by means of a ladder placed against 
 the wall at some convenient spot. 
 
 3 I believe it is with us only a recently determined fact that dogs 
 perspire through the skin. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 263 
 
 CXXVIII. 
 
 AN EARTHQUAKE. 
 
 In 1668 there was a very severe earthquake. 1 I 
 myself was staying at Chi-hsia, and happened to be 
 that night sitting over a kettle of wine with my cousin 
 Li Tu. All of a sudden we heard a noise like thunder, 
 travelling from the south-east in a north-westerly 
 direction. We were much astonished at this, and 
 quite unable to account for the noise ; in another 
 moment the table began to rock, and the wine-cups 
 were upset ; the beams and supports of the house 
 snapped here and there with a crash, and we looked 
 at each other in fear and trembling. By-and-by we 
 knew that it was an earthquake ; and, rushing out, we 
 saw houses and other buildings, as it were, fall down and 
 get up again ; and, amidst the sounds of crushing 
 walls, we heard the shrieks of women and children, 
 the whole mass being like a great seething cauldron. 
 Men were giddy and could not stand, but rolled 
 about on the ground ; the river overflowed its banks ; 
 
 1 The exact date is given, — the 17th of the 6th moon, which 
 would probably fall towards the end of June. 
 
264 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 cocks crowed, and dogs barked from one end of the 
 city to the other. In a little while the quaking began 
 to subside ; and then might be seen men and women 
 running half naked about the streets, all anxious to 
 tell their own experiences, and forgetting that they 
 had on little or no clothing. I subsequently heard 
 that a well was closed up and rendered useless by this 
 earthquake ; that a house was turned completely round, 
 so as to face the opposite direction ; that the Ch‘i-hsia 
 hill was riven open, and that the waters of the I river 
 flowed in and made a lake of an acre and more. Truly 
 such an earthquake as this is of rare occurrence. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 265 
 
 CXXIX. 
 
 MAKING ANIMALS. 
 
 The tricks for bewitching people are many. Some- 
 times drugs are put in their food, and when they eat 
 they become dazed, and follow the person who has 
 bewitched them. This is commonly called ta hsii pa ; 
 in Kiang-nan it is known as ch^e hsii. Little children 
 are most frequently bewitched in this way. There is 
 also what is called “making animals,” which is better 
 known on the south side of the River . 1 
 
 One day a man arrived at an inn in Yang-chow, 
 leading with him five donkeys. Tying them up near 
 the stable, he told the landlord he would be back in a 
 few minutes, and bade him give his donkeys no water. 
 He had not been gone long before the donkeys, which 
 were standing out in the glare of the sun, began to kick 
 about, and make a noise ; whereupon the landlord 
 untied them, and was going to put them in the shade, 
 when suddenly they espied water, and made a rush to 
 get at it So the landlord let them drink ; and no 
 sooner had the water touched their lips than they rolled 
 
 1 See No. XCVIII., note 1. 
 
266 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 on the ground, and changed into women. In great 
 astonishment, the landlord asked them whence they 
 came ; but their tongues were tied, and they could not 
 answer, so he hid them in his private apartments, and 
 at that moment their owner returned, bringing with him 
 five sheep. The latter immediately asked the landlord 
 where his donkeys were ; to which the landlord replied 
 by offering him some wine, saying, the donkeys would 
 be brought to him directly. He then went out and 
 gave the sheep some water, on drinking which they were 
 all changed into boys. Accordingly, he communicated 
 with the authorities, and the stranger was arrested and 
 forthwith beheaded. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 267 
 
 cxxx. 
 
 CRUELTY AVENGED. 
 
 A certain magistrate caused a petty oil-vendor, who 
 was brought before him for some trifling misdemeanour, 
 and whose statements were very confused, to be bain- 
 booed to death. The former subsequently rose to high 
 rank ; and having amassed considerable wealth, set 
 about building himself a fine house. On the day when 
 the great beam was to be fixed in its place , 1 among the 
 friends and relatives who arrived to offer their con- 
 gratulations, he was horrified to see the oilman walk in. 
 At the same instant one of the servants came rushing 
 up to announce to him the birth of a son ; whereupon, 
 he mournfully remarked, u The house not yet finished, 
 and its destroyer already here.” The bystanders thought 
 he was joking, for they had not seen what he had seen . 2 
 However, when that boy grew up, by his frivolity and 
 extravagance he quite ruined his father. He was finally 
 obliged himself to go into service ; and spent all his 
 earnings in oil, which he swallowed in large quantities. 
 
 1 This corresponds to our ceremony of laying the foundation 
 stone, except that one commemorates the beginning, the other the 
 completion, of a new building. 
 
 2 That is, the disembodied spirit of the oilman. 
 
268 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 CXXXI. 
 
 THE WEI-CH‘I DEVIL 
 
 A certain general, who had resigned his command, 
 and had retired to his own home, was very fond of 
 roaming about and amusing himself with 'vine and 
 wei-chH} One day — it was the 9th of the 9th moon, 
 when everybody goes up high 1 2 — as he was playing 
 with some friends, a stranger walked up, and watched 
 the game intently for some time without going away. 
 He was a miserable-looking creature, with a very ragged 
 
 1 A most abstruse and complicated game of skill, for which the 
 Chinese claim an antiquity of four thousand years, and which I was 
 the first to introduce to a European public through an article in 
 Temple Bar Magazine for Januar}-, 1877. Apropos of which, an 
 accomplished American lady, Miss A. M. Fielde, of Swatow, 
 wrote as follows : — “The game seems to me the peer of 
 
 chess It is a game for the slow, persistent, 
 
 astute, multitudinous Chinese; while chess, by the picturesque 
 appearance of the board, the variety and prominent individuality of 
 the men, and the erratic combination of the attack, — is for the 
 Anglo-Saxon.” 
 
 2 On this day, annually dedicated to kite-flpng, picnics, and good 
 cheer, everybody tries to get up to as great an elevation as possible, 
 in the hope, as some say, of thereby prolonging life. It was this 
 day — 4th October, 1878 一 which was fixed for the total extermi- 
 nation of foreigners in Foochow. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 269 
 
 coat, but nevertheless possessed of a refined and 
 courteous air. The general begged him to be seated, 
 an offer which he accepted, being all the time extremely 
 deferential in his manner. “ I suppose you are pretty 
 good at this,” said the general, pointing to the board ; 
 “ try a bout with one of my friends here.” The stranger 
 made a great many apologies in reply, but finally ac- 
 cepted, and played a game in which, apparently to his 
 great disappointment, he was beaten. He played 
 another with the same result ; and now, refusing all 
 offers of wine, he seemed to think of nothing but how 
 to get some one to play with him. Thus he went on 
 until the afternoon was well advanced ; when suddenly, 
 just as he was in the middle of a most exciting game, 
 which depended on a single place, he rushed forward, 
 and throwing himself at the feet of the general, loudly 
 implored his protection. The general did not know 
 what to make of this ; however, he raised him up, and 
 said, “ It’s only a game •• why get so excited ? ’’ To this 
 the stranger replied by begging the general not to let 
 his gardener seize him ； and when the general asked 
 what gardener he meant, he said the man’s name was 
 Ma-ch c eng. Now this Ma-ch ‘ 谷 ng was often employed 
 as a lictor by the Ruler of Purgatory, and would some- 
 times remain away as much as ten days, serving the 
 warrants of death ； accordingly, the general sent off to 
 inquire about him, and found that he had been in a 
 trance for two days . 3 His master cried out that he had 
 
 3 See No. XXVI., note 3. 
 
270 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 better not behave rudely to his guest, but at that very 
 moment the stranger sunk down to the ground, and was 
 gone. The general was lost in astonishment ; however, 
 he now knew that the man was a disembodied spirit, and 
 on the next day, when Ma-ch c eng came round, he asked 
 him for full particulars. u The gentleman was a native 
 of Hu-hsiang,” replied the gardener， “who was passion- 
 ately addicted to and had lost a great deal 
 
 of money by it. His father, being much grieved at 
 his behaviour, confined him to the house ; but he was 
 always getting out, and indulging the fatal passion, and 
 at last his father died of a broken heart In con- 
 sequence of this, the Ruler of Purgatory curtailed 
 his term of life, and condemned him to become a 
 hungry devil ， 4 in which state he has already passed 
 seven years. And now that the Phoenix Tower 5 is com- 
 pleted, an order has been issued for the literati to pre- 
 sent themselves, and compose an inscription to be cut 
 on stone, as a memorial thereof, by which means they 
 would secure their own salvation as a reward. Many 
 of the shades failing to arrive at the appointed time, 
 God was very angry with the Ruler of Purgatory, and 
 the latter sent off me, and others who are employed 
 in the same way, to hunt up the defaulters. But as you, 
 Sir, bade me treat the gentleman with respect, I did not 
 
 4 One of the pretas^ or the fourth of the six paths (gati) of 
 existence ; the other five being (i) angels), (2) men, (3) demons, (5) 
 brute beasts, and (6) sinners in hell. The term is often used 
 colloquially for a self-invited guest. 
 
 5 An imaginary building in the Infernal Regions. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 27 1 
 
 venture to bind him.” The general inquired what had 
 become of the stranger ； to which the gardener replied, 
 u He is now a mere menial in Purgatory, and can never 
 be born again.” “Alas !” cried his master, u thus it i 〇 
 that men are ruined by any inordinate passion , 6 
 
 6 Mencius reckoned (t to play wei-chH for money n among the five 
 unfilial acts. 
 
2*J2 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 CXXXII, 
 
 THE FORTUNE-HUNTER PUNISHED. 
 
 A certain man’s uncle had no children, and the 
 nephew, with an eye to his uncled property, volunteered 
 to become his adopted son . 1 When the uncle died all 
 the property passed accordingly to his nephew, who 
 thereupon broke faith as to his part of the contract 2 
 He did the same with another uncle, and thus united 
 three properties in his own person, whereby he became 
 the richest man of the neighbourhood. Suddenly he 
 fell ill, and seemed to go out of his mind ； for he cried 
 out, “So you wish to live in wealth, do you ?” and 
 immediately seizing a sharp knife, he began hacking 
 away at his own body until he had strewed the floor with 
 pieces of flesh. He then exclaimed, “ You cut off qther 
 people’s posterity and expect to have posterity yourself, 
 do you?” and forthwith he ripped himself open and 
 died Shortly afterwards his son, too, died, and the pro- 
 perty fell into the hands of strangers. Is not this a 
 retribution to be dreaded ? 
 
 1 See No. LV., note 9 ； and No. XCIV., note 6. 
 
 2 That is, in carrying out the obligations he had entered into, such 
 as conducting the ceremonies of ancestral worship, repairing the 
 family tombs, &c. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 273 
 
 CXXXIII. 
 
 LIFE PROLONGED. 
 
 A certain cloth merchant of Ch ( ang-ch c ing was 
 stopping at T‘ai-ngan, when he heard of a magician 
 who was said to be very skilled in casting nativities. So 
 he went off at once to consult him ； but the magician 
 would not undertake the task, saying, Your destiny is 
 bad : you had better hurry home.” At this the merchant 
 was dreadfully frightened, and, packing up his wares, 
 set off towards Ch‘ang-ch‘ing. On the way he fell in 
 with a man in short clothes , 1 * * like a constable ; and the 
 two soon struck up a friendly intimacy, taking their 
 meals together. By-and-by the merchant asked the 
 stranger what his business was ; and the latter told him 
 he was going to Ch 4 ang-ch f ing to serve summonses, pro- 
 ducing at the same time a document and showing it to 
 the merchant, who, on looking closely, saw a list of 
 
 1 The long flowing robe is a sign of respectability which all but 
 
 the very poorest classes love to affect in public. At the port of 
 
 Haiphong, shoes are the criterion of social standing ; but, as a Rile, 
 the well-to-do native merchants prefer to go barefoot rather than 
 give the authorities a chance of exacting heavier squeezes, on the 
 strength of such a palpable acknowledgment of wealth. 
 
 T 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
274 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 names, at the head of which was his own. In great 
 astonishment he inquired what he had done that he 
 should be arrested thus ; to which his companion re- 
 plied, u I am not a living being : I am a lictor in the 
 employ of the infernal authorities, and I presume your 
 term of life has expired” The merchant burst into 
 tears and implored the lictor to spare him, which the 
 latter declared was impossible But,” added he, “ there 
 are a great many names down, and it will take me some 
 time to get through them : you go off home and settle up 
 your affairs, and, as a slight return for your friendship, 
 I’ll call for you last A few minutes afterwards they 
 reached a stream where the bridge was in ruins, and 
 people could only cross with great difficulty ; at which 
 the lictor remarked, u You are now on the road to death, 
 and not a single cash can you carry away with you. 
 Repair this bridge and benefit the public ； and thus from 
 a great outlay you may possibly yourself derive some 
 small advantage.” The merchant said he would do so ； 
 and when he got home, he bade his wife and children 
 prepare for his coming dissolution, and at the same lime 
 set men to work and made the bridge sound and strong 
 again. Some time elapsed, but no lictor arrived ; and 
 his suspicions began to be aroused, when one day the 
 latter walked in and said, u I reported that affair of the 
 bridge to the Municipal God , 2 who communicated it to 
 the Ruler of Purgatory ； and for that good act your 
 span of life has been lengthened, and your name struck 
 
 See No. I., note i. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 275 
 
 out of the list. I have now come to announce this to 
 you.” The merchant was profuse in his thanks ; and 
 the next time he went to T‘ai-ngan， he burnt a quantity 
 of paper ingots , 3 and made offerings and libations to the 
 lictor, out of gratitude for what he had done. Suddenly 
 the lictor himself appeared, and cried out, u Do you wish 
 to ruin me ? Happily my new master has only just taken 
 up his post, and he has not noticed this, or where should 
 I be ?” 4 The lictor then escorted the merchant some 
 distance ; and, at parting, bade him never return by that 
 road, but, if he had any business at T‘ai-ngan， to go 
 thither by a roundabout way. 
 
 3 See No. LVI., note 7 ； and No. XCVII., note 7. 
 
 4 The lictor had no right to divulge his errand when he first met 
 the cloth merchant, or to remove the latter J s name from the top to 
 the bottom of the list. 
 
 T 2 
 
276 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 CXXXIV. 
 
 THE CLAY IMAGE. 
 
 On the river I there lived a man named Ma, who 
 married a wife from the Wang family, with whom he was 
 very happy in his domestic life. Ma, however, died 
 young ; and his wife’s parents were unwilling that their 
 daughter should remain a widow, but she resisted all 
 their importunities, and declared firmly she would never 
 marry again. “ It is a noble resolve of yours, I allow,” 
 argued her mother ； u but you are still a mere girl, and 
 you have no children. Besides, I notice that people 
 who start with such rigid determinations always end by 
 doing something discreditable, and therefore you had 
 better get married as soon as you can, which is no more 
 than is done every day.” The girl swore she would 
 rather die than consent, and accordingly her mother had 
 no alternative but to let her alone. She then ordered a 
 clay image to be made, exactly resembling her late hus- 
 band ; l and whenever she took her own meals, she 
 
 1 The clay image makers of Tientsin are wonderfully clever in 
 taking likenesses by these means. Some of the most skilful will 
 even manipulate the clay behind their backs, and then, adding the 
 proper colours, will succeed in producing an exceedingly good , 
 resemblance. They find, however, more di 伍 culty with foreign 
 faces, to which they are less accustomed in the trade. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 277 
 
 would set meat and wine before it, precisely as if her 
 husband had been there. One night she was on the 
 point of retiring to rest, when suddenly she saw the clay 
 image stretch itself and step down from the table, in- 
 creasing all the while in height, until it was as tall as a 
 man, and neither more nor less than her own husband. 
 In great alarm she called out to her mother, but the 
 image stopped her, saying, “ Don’t do that ! I am but 
 shewing my gratitude for your affectionate care of me, 
 and it is chill and uncomfortable in the realms below. 
 Such devotion as yours casts its light back on gene- 
 rations gone by ； and now I, who was cut off in my 
 prime because my father did evil, and was condemned 
 to be without an heir, have been permitted, in conse- 
 quence of your virtuous conduct, to visit you once again, 
 that our ancestral line may yet remain unbroken .” 2 
 Every morning at cock-crow her husband resumed his 
 usual form and size as the clay image ; and after a time 
 he told her that their hour of separation had come, upon 
 which husband and wife bade each other an eternal fare- 
 well. By-and-by the widow, to the great astonishment of 
 her mother, bore a son, which caused no small amusement 
 among the neighbours who heard the story ; and, as the 
 girl herself had no proof of what she stated to be the 
 case, a certain beadle 3 of the place, who had an old 
 grudge against her husband, went off and informed the 
 magistrate of what had occurred. After some investi- 
 
 2 See No. LXI., note 3. 
 
 3 See No. LXIV., note 2. 
 
278 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 gation, the magistrate exclaimed, u I have heard that the 
 children of disembodied spirits have no shadow ; and 
 that those who have shadows are not genuine •” There- 
 upon they took Ma^ child into the sunshine, and lo ! 
 there was but a very faint shadow, like a thin vapour. 
 The magistrate then drew blood from the child, and 
 smeared it on the clay image ； upon which the blood at 
 once soaked in and left no stain. Another clay image 
 being produced and the same experiment tried, the 
 blood remained on the surface so that it could be 
 wiped away . 4 The girl’s story was thus acknowledged to 
 be true ; and when the child grew up, and in every 
 feature was the counterpart of Ma, there was no longer 
 any room for suspicion. 
 
 4 Such is the officially authorised method of determining a 
 doubtful relationship between a dead parent and a living child, 
 substituting a bone for the clay image here mentioned. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 279 
 
 cxxxv. 
 
 DISHONESTY PUNISHED. 
 
 At Chiao-chou there lived a man named Liu Hsir 
 ch‘uan， who was steward to His excellency Mr. Fa. 
 When already over forty a son was born to him, whom 
 he loved very dearly, and quite spoilt by always letting 
 him have his own way. When the boy grew up he led 
 a dissolute, extravagant life, and ran through all his 
 father’s property. By-and-by he fell sick, and then he 
 declared that nothing would cure him but a slice off a 
 fat old favourite mule they had ; upon which his father 
 had another and more worthless animal killed ; but his 
 son found out he was being tricked, and, after abusing 
 his father soundly, his symptoms became more and more 
 alarming. The mule was accordingly killed, and some 
 of it was served up to the sick man ; however, he only 
 just tasted it and sent the rest away. From that time he 
 got gradually worse and worse, and finally died, to the 
 great grief of his father, who would gladly have died 
 too. Three or four years afterwards, as some of the 
 villagers were worshipping on Mount Tai, they saw a 
 man riding on a mule, the very image of Mr. Liu’s dead 
 son ； and, on approaching more closely, they saw that it 
 
28 〇 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 was actually he. 1 Jumping from his mule, 2 he made 
 them a salutation, and then they began to chat with him 
 on various subjects, always carefully avoiding that one of 
 his own death. They asked him what he was doing 
 there ; to which he replied that he was only roaming 
 about, and inquired of them in his turn at what inn they 
 were staying For,” added he, “ I have an engagement 
 just now, bat I will visit you to-morrow.” So they told 
 him the name of the inn, and took their leave, not ex- 
 pecting to see him again. However, the next day he 
 came, and, tying his mule to a post outside, went in to 
 see them. “ Your father,” observed one of the villagers, 
 u is always thinking about you. Why do you not go and 
 pay him a visit ? ’’ The young man asked to whom he 
 was alluding ; and, at the mention of his father’s name, 
 he changed colour and said, u If he is anxious to see 
 me, kindly tell him that on the 7 th of the 4th moon I 
 will await him here.” He then went away, and the 
 villagers returned and told Mr. Liu all that had taken 
 place. At the appointed time the latter was very de- 
 sirous of going to see his son ； but his master dissuaded 
 him, saying that he thought from what he knew of his 
 son that the interview might possibly not turn out as he 
 would desire Although,” added he, ‘‘ if you are bent 
 
 1 In various savage superstitions the minute resemblance of soul 
 to body is forcibly stated.” 一 Myths and Myth-makers, by John 
 Fiske, p. 228. 
 
 2 An important point in Chinese etiquette. It is not considered 
 polite for a person in a sitting position to address an equal who is 
 standing. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 281 
 
 upon going, I should be sorry to stand in your way. 
 Let me, however, counsel you to conceal yourself in a 
 cupboard, and thus, by observing what takes place, you 
 will know better how to act, and avoid running into any 
 danger.” This he accordingly did, and, when his son 
 came, Mr. Fa received him at the inn as before. 
 “ Where’s Mr. Liu ?’’ cried the son. “ Oh, he hasn’t 
 come,” replied Mr. F 丄 “The old beast ! What does 
 he mean by that ? )9 exclaimed his son ； whereupon Mr. 
 Fa asked him what he meant by cursing his own father. 
 “ My father !’’ shrieked the son ; “why he’s nothing 
 more to me than a former rascally partner in trade, who 
 cheated me out of all my money, and for which I have 
 since avenged myself on him . 3 What sort of a father is 
 that, I should like to kno'v ? ’’ He then went out of the 
 door; and his father crept out of the cupboard from 
 which, with the perspiration streaming down him and 
 hardly daring to breathe, he had heard all that bad 
 passed, and sorrowfully wended his way home again. 
 
 3 By becoming his son and behaving badly to him. See 
 No. CX., note 1, and the text to which it refers. 
 
282 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 CXXXVI. 
 
 THE MAD PRIEST. 
 
 A certain mad priest, whose name I do not know, 
 lived in a temple on the hills. He would sing and cry 
 by turns, without any apparent reason ； and once some- 
 body saw him boiling a stone for his dinner. At the 
 autumn festival of the 9th day of the 9th moon, 1 an 
 official of the district went up in that direction for the 
 usual picnic, taking with him his chair and his red um- 
 brellas. After luncheon he was passing by the temple, 
 and had hardly reached the door, when out rushed the 
 priest, barefooted and ragged, and himself opening a 
 yellow umbrella, cried out as the attendants of a man- 
 darin do when ordering the people to stand back He 
 then approached the official, and made as though he 
 were jesting at him ; at which the latter was extremely 
 indignant, and bade his servants drive the priest away. 
 The priest moved off with the servants after him, and in 
 another moment had thrown down his yellow umbrella, 
 which split into a number of pieces, each piece changing 
 immediately into a falcon, and flying about in all di- 
 rections. The umbrella handle became a huge serpent. 
 
 1 See No. CXXXI., note 2. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 283 
 
 with red scales and glaring eyes; and then the party 
 would have turned and fled, but that one of them de- 
 clared it was only an optical delusion, and that the 
 creature couldn’t do any hurt. The speaker accordingly 
 seized a knife and rushed at the serpent, which forthwith 
 opened its mouth and swallowed its assailant whole. In 
 a terrible fright the servants crowded round their master 
 and hurried him away, not stopping to draw breath until 
 they were fully a mile off. By-and-by several of them 
 stealthily returned to see what was going on ； and, on 
 entering the temple, they found that both priest and 
 serpent had disappeared. But from an old ash-tree hard 
 by they heard a sound proceeding, — a sound, as it were, 
 of a donkey panting ; and at first they were afraid to go 
 near, though after a while they ventured to peep through 
 a hole in the tree, which was an old hollow trunk ; and 
 there, jammed hard and fast with his head downwards, 
 was the rash assailant of the serpent. It being quite 
 impossible to drag him out, they began at once to cut 
 the tree away ; but by the time they had set him free he 
 'vas already perfectly unconscious. However, he ulti- 
 mately came round and was carried home ; but from 
 this day the priest was never seen again . 2 
 
 2 The story is intended as a satire on those puffed-up dignitaries 
 who cannot even go to a picnic without all the retinue belonging to 
 their particular rank. See No. LVI., note 5. 
 
284 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 CXXXVII. 
 
 FEASTING THE RULER OF 
 PURGATORY. 
 
 At Ching-hai there lived a young man, named Shao, 
 whose family was very poor. On the occasion of his 
 mother completing her cycle , 1 he arranged a quantity of 
 meat-offerings and wine on a table in the court-yard, and 
 proceeded to invoke the Gods in the usual manner ; but 
 when he rose from his knees, lo and behold ! all the 
 meat and wine had disappeared. His mother thought 
 this was a bad omen, and that she was not destined to 
 enjoy a long life; however, she said nothing on the 
 subject to her son, who was himself quite at a loss to 
 account for what had happened. A short time after- 
 wards the Literary Chancellor 2 arrived ; and young 
 Chao, scraping together what funds he could, went off 
 to present himself as a candidate. On the road he met 
 with a man who gave him such a cordial invitation to 
 his house that he willingly accepted ; and the stranger 
 led him to a stately mansion, with towers and terraces 
 
 See No. XXIII., note 8. 
 
 The examiner for the bachelor’s, or lowest, degree. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 285 
 
 rising one above the other as far as the eye could reach. 
 In one of the apartments was a king, sitting upon a 
 throne, who received Shao in a very friendly manner; 
 and, after regaling him with an excellent banquet, said, 
 i( I have to thank you for the food and drink you gave 
 my servants that day we passed your house. Shao was 
 greatly astonished at this remark, when the King pro- 
 ceeded, “ I am the Ruler of Purgatory. Don’t you 
 recollect sacrificing on your mother’s birthday ? ’’ The 
 King then bestowed on Shao a packet of silver, saying, 
 “ Pray accept this in return for your kindness.” Shao 
 thanked him and retired ; and in another moment the 
 palace and its occupants had one and all vanished from 
 his sight, leaving him alone in the midst of some tall 
 trees. On opening his packet he found it to contain five 
 ounces of pure gold ; and, after defraying the expenses 
 of his examination, half was still left, which he carried 
 home and gave to his mother. 
 
286 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 CXXXVIII. 
 
 THE PICTURE HORSE. 
 
 A certain Mr. Ts c ui, of Lin-ch { ing, was too poor to 
 keep his garden walls in repair, and used often to find 
 a strange horse lying down on the grass inside. It was 
 a black horse marked with white, and having a scrubby 
 tail, which looked as if the end had been burnt off ; 1 
 and, though always driven away, would still return to the 
 same spot Now Mr. Ts’ui had a friend, who was 
 holding an appointment in Shansi ; and though he had 
 frequently felt desirous of paying him a visit, he had no 
 means of travelling so far. Accordingly, he one day 
 caught the strange horse and, putting a saddle on its 
 back, rode away, telling his servants that if the owner 
 of the horse should appear, he was to inform him where 
 the animal was to be found The horse started off at a 
 very rapid pace, and, in a short time, they were thirty 
 or forty miles from home ; but at night it did not seem 
 to care for its food, so the next day Mr. Ts‘ui, who 
 thought perhaps illness might be the cause, held the 
 
 The Chinese never cut the tails of their horses or mules. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 287 
 
 horse in, and would not let it gallop so fast. How- 
 ever, the animal did not seem to approve of this, and 
 kicked and foamed until at length Mr. Ts 4 ui let it go at 
 the same old pace ; and by mid-day he had reached his 
 destination. As he rode into the town, the people 
 were astonished to hear of the marvellous journey just 
 accomplished, and the Prince 2 sent to say he should 
 like to buy the horse. Mr. Ts c ui, fearing that the real 
 owner might come forward, was compelled to refuse this 
 offer ; but when, after six months had elapsed, no in- 
 quiries had been made, he agreed to accept eight 
 hundred ounces of silver, and handed over the horse to 
 the Prince. He then bought himself a good mule, and 
 returned home. Subsequently, the Prince had occasion 
 to use the horse for some important business at Lin- 
 ch‘ing ; and when there it took the opportunity to run 
 away. The officer in charge pursued it right up to the 
 house of a Mr. Tseng, who lived next door to a Mr. 
 Ts‘ui, and saw it run in and disappear. Thereupon he 
 called upon Mr. Tseng to restore it to him ; and, on 
 the latter declaring he had never even seen the animal, 
 the officer walked into his private apartments, where he 
 found, hanging on the wall, a picture of a horse, by 
 Tzu-ang , 3 exactly like the one he was in search of, and 
 with part of the tail burnt away by a joss-stick. It 
 was now clear that the Prince’s horse was a super- 
 natural creature ; but the officer, being afraid to go back 
 
 2 One of the feudal Governors of by-gone days, 
 
 3 A Chinese Landseer. 
 
288 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 without it, would have prosecuted Mr. Tseng, had not 
 Ts‘ui, whose eight hundred ounces of silver had since 
 increased to something like ten thousand, stepped in 
 and paid back the original purchase-money. Mr. Tseng 
 was exceedingly grateful to him for this act of kindness, 
 ignorant, as he was, of the previous sale of the horse 
 by Ts c ui to the Prince. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 289 
 
 CXXXIX. 
 
 THE BUTTERFLY^ REVENGE. 
 
 Mr. Wang, of Ch 4 ang-shan, was in the habit, when a 
 District Magistrate, of commuting the fines and penalties 
 of the Penal Code, inflicted on the various prisoners, for 
 a corresponding number of butterflies. These he would 
 let go all at once in the court, rejoicing to see them 
 fluttering hither and thither, like so many tinsel snip- 
 pings borne about by the breeze. One night he dreamt 
 that a young lady, dressed in gay-coloured clothes, 
 appeared to him and said, “Your cruel practice has 
 brought many of my sisters to an untimely end, and 
 now you shall pay the penalty of thus gratifying your 
 tastes.” The young lady then changed into a butterfly 
 and flew away. Next day, the magistrate was sitting 
 alone, over a cup of wine, when it was announced to 
 him that the censor was at the door; and out he ran 
 at once to receive His Excellency, with a white flower, 
 that some of his women had put in his official hat, still 
 sticking there. His Excellency was very angry at what 
 he deemed a piece of disrespect to himself ; and, after 
 severely censuring Mr. Wang, turned round and went 
 away. Thenceforward no more penalties were com- 
 muted for butterflies. 
 
 VOL. 11. u 
 
STRANGE STORIES 
 
 290 
 
 CXL. 
 
 THE DOCTOR. 
 
 A certain poor man, named Chang, who lived at I, 
 fell in one day with a Taoist priest. The latter was 
 highly skilled in the science of physiognomy ; 1 and, 
 after looking at Chang’s features, said to him, “ You 
 would make your fortune as a doctor.” “Alas!” 
 replied Chang, “I can barely read and write ; how 
 then could I follow such a calling as that” “And 
 where， you simple fellow，” asked the priest, “is the 
 necessity for a doctor to be a scholar? You just try, 
 that’s all.” Thereupon Chang returned home ; and, 
 being very poor, he simply collected a few of the com- 
 monest prescriptions, and set up a small stall with a 
 handful of fishes 1 teeth and some dry honeycomb from 
 a wasp’s nest , 2 hoping thus to earn, by his tongue, 
 enough to keep body and soul together, to which, how- 
 
 1 Advertisements of these professors of physiognomy are to be 
 seen in every Chinese city. 
 
 2 In order to make some show for the public eye. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 291 
 
 ever, no one paid any particular attention. Now it 
 chanced that just then the Governor of Ch‘ing-chou 
 was suffering from a bad cough, and had given orders 
 to his subordinates to send to him the most skilful 
 doctors in their respective districts ; and the magistrate 
 of I, which was an out-of-the-way mountainous district, 
 being unable to lay his hands on any one whom he could 
 send in, gave orders to the beadle 3 to do the best he 
 could under the circumstances. Accordingly, Chang 
 was nominated by the people, and the magistrate put 
 his name down to go in to the Governor. When Chang 
 heard of his appointment, he happened to be suffering 
 himself from a bad attack of bronchitis, which he was 
 quite unable to cure, and he begged, therefore, to be 
 excused ; but the magistrate would not hear of this, and 
 forwarded him at once in charge of some constables. 
 While crossing the hills, he became very thirsty, and 
 went into a village to ask for a drink of water ; but 
 water there was worth its weight in jade, and no one 
 would give him any. By-and-by he saw an old woman 
 washing a quantity of vegetables in a scanty supply of 
 water which was, consequently, very thick and muddy ; 
 and, being unable to bear his thirst any longer, he 
 obtained this and drank it up. Shortly afterwards he 
 found that his cough was quite cured, and then it 
 occurred to him that he had hit upon a capital remedy. 
 WTien he reached the city, he learned that a great many 
 doctors had already tried their hand upon the patient, 
 
 3 See No. LXIV., note 2. 
 
 U 2 
 
292 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 but without success ; so asking for a private room in 
 which to prepare his medicines, he obtained from the 
 town some bunches of bishop-wort, and proceeded to 
 wash them as the old woman had done. He then took 
 the dirty water, and gave a dose of it to the Governor, 
 who was immediately and permanently relieved The 
 patient was overjoyed; and, besides making Chang a 
 handsome present, gave him a certificate written in 
 golden characters, in consequence of which his fame 
 spread far and wide ; 4 and of the numerous cases he 
 subsequently undertook, in not a single instance did he 
 fail to effect a cure. One day, however, a patient came 
 to him, complaining of a violent chill ; and Chang, who 
 happened to be tipsy at the time, treated him by mis- 
 take for remittent fever. When he got sober, he became 
 aware of what he had done ; but he said nothing to 
 anybody about it, and three days afterwards the same 
 patient waited upon him with all kinds of presents to 
 thank him for a rapid recovery. Such cases as this were 
 by no means rare with him ; and soon he got so rich 
 
 4 A doctor of any repute generally has large numbers of such 
 certificates, generally engraved on wood, hanging before and about 
 his front door. When I was stationed at Swatow, the writer at 
 Her Majesty } s Consulate presented one to Dr. E. J. Scott, the 
 resident medical practitioner, who had cured him of opium 
 smoking. It bore two principal characters, “ Miraculous Indeed ! ’’ 
 accompanied by a few remarks, in a smaller sized character, 
 laudatory of Dr. Scott’s professional skill. Banners, with graceful 
 inscriptions written upon them, are frequently presented by Chinese 
 passengers to the captains of coasting steamers who may have 
 brought them safely through bad weather. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 293 
 
 that he would not attend when summoned to visit a sick 
 person, unless the summons was accompanied by a 
 heavy fee and a comfortable chair to ride in . 5 
 
 5 The story is intended as a satire upon Chinese doctors 
 generally, whose ranks are recruited from the swaxms of half- 
 educated candidates who have been rejected at the great com- 
 petitive examinations, medical diplomas being quite unknown in 
 China. Doctors* fees are, by a pleasant fiction, called ^horse- 
 money ; n and all prescriptions are made up by the local apothecary, 
 never by the physician himself. 
 
294 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 CXLI. 
 
 SNOW IN SUMMER. 
 
 On the 6th day of the 7 th moon 1 of the year Ting- 
 Hai (1647) there was a heavy fall of snow at Soochow. 
 The people were in a great state of consternation at 
 this, and went off to the temple of the Great Prince 2 to 
 pray. Then the spirit moved one of them to say, u You 
 now address me as Your Honour. Make it Your 
 Excellency^ and, though I am but a lesser deity, it may 
 be well worth your while to do so.” Thereupon the 
 people began to use the latter term, and the snow 
 stopped at once; from which I infer that flattery is just 
 as pleasant to divine as to mortal ears. 3 
 
 1 This would be exactly at the hottest season. 
 
 2 The Jupiter Pluvius of the neighbourhood. 
 
 3 A sneer at the superstitious custom of praying for good or bad 
 weather, which obtains in China from the Son of Heaven himself 
 down to the lowest agriculturist whose interests are involved. 
 Droughts, floods, famines, and pestilences, are alike set down to the 
 anger of Heaven, to be appeased only by prayer and repentance. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 2 95 
 
 CXLII. 
 
 PLANCHETTE.i 
 
 At Ch‘ang-shan there lived a man, named Wang 
 Jui-t 4 ing, who understood the art of planchette. He 
 
 1 Planchette was in full swing in China at the date of the compo- 
 sition of these stories, more than 200 years ago, and remains so at 
 the present day. The character chi^ used here and elsewhere for Plan- 
 chette, is defined in the Shuo Wen f a Chinese dictionary, published 
 a . d . 100, “to inquire by divination on doubtful topics,” no 
 mention being made of the particular manner in which responses 
 are obtained. For the purpose of writing from personal experience, 
 I recently attended a seance at a temple in Amoy, and witnessed 
 the whole performance. After much delay, I was requested to 
 write on a slip of paper “ any question I might have to put to the 
 God and, accordingly, I took a pencil and wrote down, “ A 
 humble suppliant ventures to inquire if he will win the Manila 
 lottery.” This question was then placed upon the altar, at the 
 feet of the God ; and shortly afterwards two respectable-looking 
 Chinamen, not priests, approached a small table covered with sand, 
 and each seized one arm of a forked piece of wood, at the fork of 
 which was a stumpy end, at right angles to the plane of the arms. 
 Immediately the attendants began burning quantities of joss-paper, 
 while the two performers whirled the instrument round and round at 
 a rapid rate, its vertical point being all the time pressed down upon 
 the table of sand. All of a sudden the whirling movement stopped, 
 and the point of the instrument rapidly traced a character in the 
 sand, which was at once identified by several of the bystanders, and 
 
296 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 called himself a disciple of Lii Tung-pin, 2 and some one 
 said he was probably that worth/s crane. At his seances 
 the subjects were always literary — essays, poetry, and so 
 on. The well-known scholar, Li Chih, thought very 
 highly of him, and availed himself of his aid on more 
 than one occasion ； so that by degrees the literati gene- 
 rally also patronized him. His responses to questions of 
 doubt or difficulty were remarkable for their reasonable- 
 ness ; matters of mere good or bad fortune he did not 
 care to enter into. In 1631, just after the examination 
 at Chi-nan, a number of the candidates requested Mr. 
 Wang to tell them how they would stand on the list ; 
 and, after having examined their essays, he proceeded to 
 
 forthwith copied down by a clerk in attendance. The whirling 
 movement was then continued until a similar pause was made and 
 another character appeared ; and so on, until I had four lines of 
 correctly-rhymed Chinese verse, each line consisting of seven 
 characters. The following is an almost word-for-word trans- 
 lation : — 
 
 “The pulse of human nature throbs from England to Cathay, 
 And gambling mortals ever love to swell their gains by play ; 
 For gold in this vile world of ours is everywhere a prize — 
 
 A thousand taels shall meet the prayer that on this altar lies.* 1 
 
 As the question is not concealed from view, all that is necessary 
 for such a hollow deception is a quick-witted versifier who can put 
 together a p>oetical response stans pede in uno. But in such matters 
 the unlettered masses of China are easily outwitted, and are a 
 profitable source of income to the more astute of their fellow- 
 countrymen. 
 
 2 An o 伍 cial who flourished in the eighth century of our era, and 
 who, for his devotion to the Taoist religion, was subsequently 
 canonized as one of the Eight Immortals. He is generally repre- 
 sented as riding on a crane. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 297 
 
 pass his opinion on their merits . 3 Among the rest there 
 happened to be one who was very intimate with another 
 candidate, not present, whose name was Li Pien ； and 
 who, being an enthusiastic student and a deep thinker, 
 was confidently expected to appear among the successful 
 few. Accordingly, the friend submitted Mr. Li’s essay 
 for inspection ； and in a few minutes two characters 
 appeared on the sand — namely, “ Number one.” After 
 a short interval this sentence followed : 一 “The decision 
 given just now had reference to Mr. Li's essay simply as 
 an essay. Mr. Li’s destiny is darkly obscured, and he 
 will suffer accordingly. It is strange, indeed， that a man’s 
 literary powers and his destiny should thus be out of 
 harmony . 4 Surely the Examiner will judge of him by his 
 essay ; 一 but stay : I will go and see how matters stand.” 
 Another pause ensued, and then these words were written 
 down : 一 “ I have been over to the Examiner’s yamen, 
 and have found a pretty state of things going on ； in- 
 stead of reading the candidates , papers himself, he has 
 handed them over to his clerks, some half-dozen illite -、 
 rate fellows who purchased their own degrees, and who, 
 in their previous existence, had no status whatever, — 
 ‘hungry devils ’ 5 begging their bread in all directions; 
 and who, after eight hundred years passed in the murky 
 gloom of the infernal regions, have lost all discrimi- 
 
 3 That is, by means of the planchette-table. 
 
 4 Our author was here evidently thinking of his own unlucky 
 fate. 
 
 See No. CXXXI., note 4. 
 
298 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 nation, like men long buried in a cave and suddenly 
 transferred to the light of day. Among them may be 
 one or two who have risen above their former selves, but 
 the odds are against an essay falling into the hands of 
 one of these.” The young men then begged to know if 
 there was any method by which such an evil might be 
 counteracted ; to which the planchette replied that there 
 was, but, as it was universally understood, there was no 
 occasion for asking the question. Thereupon they went 
 off and told Mr. Li, who was so much distressed at the 
 prediction that he submitted his essay to His Excellency 
 Sun Tzu-mei, one of the finest scholars of the day. This 
 gentleman examined it, and was so pleased with its lite- 
 rary merit that he told Li he was quite sure to pass, and 
 the latter thought no more about the planchette pro- 
 phecy. However, when the list came out, there he was 
 down in the fourth class ; and this so much disconcerted 
 His Excellency Mr. Sun, that he went carefully through 
 the essay again for fear lest any blemishes might have 
 escaped his attention. Then he cried out, “Well, I 
 have always thought this Examiner to be a scholar ; he 
 can never have made such a mistake as this ; it must be 
 the fault of some of his drunken assistants, who don’t 
 know the mere rudiments of composition. This fulfil- 
 ment of the prophecy raised Mr. Wang very high in the 
 estimation of the candidates, who forthwith went and 
 burned incense and invoked the spirit of the planchette, 
 which at once replied in the following terms : — “Let 
 not Mr. Li be disheartened by temporary failure. Let 
 him rather strive to improve himself still further, and 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 299 
 
 next year he may be among the first on the list.” Li 
 carried out these injunctions ; and after a time the story 
 reached the ears of the Examiner, who gratified Li by 
 making a public acknowledgment that there had been 
 some miscarriage of justice at the examination ; and the 
 following year he was passed high up on the list . 6 
 
 0 See No. LXXV., note 2, 
 
3〇〇 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 CXLIII. 
 
 FRIENDSHIP WITH FOXES. 
 
 A certain man had an enormous stack of straw, as 
 big as a hill, in which his servants, taking what was daily 
 required for use, had made quite a hole. In this hole a 
 fox fixed his abode, and would often shew himself to the 
 master of the house under the form of an old man. 
 One day the latter invited the master to walk into the 
 cave, which he at first declined, but accepted on being 
 pressed by the fox ; and when he got inside, lo ! he saw 
 a long suite of handsome apartments. They then sat 
 down, and exquisitely perfumed tea and wine were 
 brought ; but the place was so gloomy that there was 
 no difference between night and day. By-and-by, the 
 entertainment being over, the guest took his leave ; and 
 on looking back the beautiful rooms and their contents 
 had all disappeared. The old man himself was in the 
 habit of going away in the evening and returning with 
 the first streaks of morning ； and as no one was able to 
 follow him, the master of the house asked him one day 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 301 
 
 whither he went To this he replied that a friend in- 
 vited him to take wine ; and then the master begged to 
 be allowed to accompany him, a proposal to which the 
 old man very reluctantly consented. However, he 
 seized the master by the arm, and away they went as 
 though riding on the wings of the wind ; and, in about 
 the time it takes to cook a pot of millet, they reached a 
 city, and walked into a restaurant, where there were a 
 number of people drinking together and making a great 
 noise. The old man led his companion to a gallery 
 above, from which they could look down on the feasters 
 below; and he himself went down and brought away 
 from the tables all kinds of nice food and wine, without 
 appearing to be seen or noticed by any of the company. 
 After awhile a man dressed in red garments came forward 
 and laid upon the table some dishes of cumquats ; l and 
 the master at once requested the old man to go down 
 and get him some of these. “ Ah,” replied the latter, 
 u that is an upright man : I cannot approach him.” 
 Thereupon the master said to himself, u By thus seek- 
 ing the companionship of a fox, I then am deflected 
 from the true course. Henceforth I, too, will be an 
 upright man.” No sooner had he formed this resolution, 
 than he suddenly lost all control over his body, and fell 
 from the gallery down among the revellers below. These 
 gentlemen were much astonished by his unexpected 
 descent ; and he himself, looking up, saw there was no 
 
 1 Literally, ^golden oranges. 5, These are skilfully preserved by 
 the Cantonese, and form a delicious sweetmeat for dessert. 
 
3〇2 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 gallery to the house, but only a large beam upon which 
 he had been sitting. He now detailed the whole of the 
 circumstances, and those present made up a purse for 
 him to pay his travelling expenses; for he was at Yii-t^ 
 — one thousand li from home. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 3〇3 
 
 CXLIV. 
 
 THE GREAT RAT. 
 
 During the reign of the Emperor Wan Li , 1 the palace 
 was troubled by the presence of a huge rat, quite as big 
 as a cat, which ate up all the cats that were set to catch 
 it. Just then it chanced that among the tribute offer- 
 ings sent by some foreign State was a lion-cat, as white 
 as snow. This cat was accordingly put into the room 
 where the rat usually appeared ; and, the door being 
 closely shut, a secret watch was kept. By-and-by the rat 
 came out of its hole and rushed at the cat, which turned 
 and fled, finally jumping up on the table. The rat fol- 
 lowed, upon which the cat jumped down ; and thus they 
 went on up and down for some time. Those who were 
 watching said the cat was afraid and of no use ; how- 
 ever, in a little while the rat began to jump less briskly, 
 and soon after squatted down out of breath. Then the 
 cat rushed at it, and, seizing the rat by the back of the 
 neck, shook and shook while its victim squeaked and 
 
 1 a.d. 1573-1620, the epoch of the most celebrated 4< blue 
 china.” 
 
3 〇 4 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 squeaked, until life was extinct. Thus they knew that 
 the cat was not afraid, but merely waited for its adver- 
 sary to be fatigued, fleeing when pursued and itself 
 pursuing the fleeing rat. Truly, many a bad swordsman 
 may be compared with that rat ! 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 3〇5 
 
 CXLV. 
 
 WOLVES. 
 
 I. 一 A certain village butcher, who had bought some 
 meat at market and was returning home in the evening, 
 suddenly came across a wolf, which followed him closely, 
 its mouth watering at the sight of what he was carrying. 
 The butcher drew his knife and drove the animal off ; 
 and then reflecting that his meat was the attraction, he 
 determined to hang it up in a tree and fetch it the next 
 morning. This he accordingly did, and the wolf 
 followed him no further ; but when he went at daylight 
 to recover his property, he saw something hanging up in 
 the tree resembling a human corpse. It turned out to 
 be the wolf, which, in its efforts to get at the meat, had 
 been caught on the meat-hook like a fish ； and as the 
 skin of a wolf was just then worth ten ounces of silver, 
 the butcher found himself possessed of quite a little 
 capital* Here we have a laughable instance of the 
 result of “climbing trees to catch fish /’ 1 
 
 II. 一 A butcher, while travelling along at night, was 
 sore pressed by a wolf, and took refuge in an old mat 
 
 1 A satirical remark of Mencius (Book I.), used by the sage 
 when combating the visionary projects of a monarch of antiquity. 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 X 
 
STRANGE STORIES 
 
 3。6 
 
 shed which had been put up for the watchman of the 
 crops. There he lay, while the wolf sniffed at him from 
 outside, and at length thrust in one of its paws from 
 underneath. This the butcher seized hold of at once, 
 and held it firmly, so that the wolf couldn't stir ; and 
 then, having no other weapon at hand, he took a small 
 knife he had with him and slit the skin underneath the 
 wolfs paw. He now proceeded to blow into it, as 
 butchers blow into pork ; 2 and after vigorously blowing 
 for some time, he found that the wolf had ceased to 
 struggle ; upon which he went outside and saw the 
 animal lying on the ground, swelled up to the size of a 
 cow, and unable to bend its legs or close its open 
 mouth. Thereupon he threw it across his shoulders and 
 carried it off home. However, such a feat as this could 
 only be accomplished by a butcher. 
 
 2 This disgusting process is too frequently performed by native 
 butchers at the present day, in order to give their meat a more 
 tempting appearance. Water is also blown in through a tube, 
 to make it heavier ; and inexperienced housekeepers are often 
 astonished to find how light ducks and geese become after being 
 cooked, not knowing that the fraudulent poulterer had previously 
 stuffed their throats as full as possible of sand. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 3°7 
 
 CXLVI. 
 
 SINGULAR VERDICT. 
 
 A servant in the employ of a Mr. Sun was sleeping 
 alone one night, when all on a sudden he was arrested 
 and carried before the tribunal of the Ruler of Pur- 
 gatory. “ This is not the right man，’’ cried his Majesty, 
 and immediately sent him back. However, after this 
 the servant was afraid to sleep on that bed again, and 
 took up his quarters elsewhere. But another servant, 
 named Kuo Ngan, seeing the vacant place, went and 
 occupied it. A third servant, named Li Lu, who had an 
 old standing grudge against the first, stole up to the bed 
 that same night with a knife in his hand, and killed Kuo 
 Ngan 1 in mistake for his enemy. Kuo’s father at once 
 brought the case before the magistrate of the place, 
 pleading that the murdered man was his only son on 
 whom he depended for his living; and the magistrate 
 decided that Kuo was to take Li Lu in the place of his 
 dead son, much to the discomfiture of 1:he old man. 
 Truly the descent of the first servant into Purgatory was 
 not so marvellous as the magistrate’s decision ! 
 
 1 This was the man whose destiny it was really to die just then, 
 and appear before the Ruler of Purgatory. 
 
 X 2 
 
STRANGE STORIES 
 
 3〇8 
 
 CXLVII. 
 
 THE GRATEFUL DOG. 
 
 A certain trader who had been doing business at 
 Wu-hu and was returning home with the large profits he 
 had made, saw on the river bank a butcher tying up a 
 dog . 1 He bought the animal for much more than its 
 value, and carried it along with him in his boat Now 
 the boatman had formerly been a bandit ; and, tempted 
 by his passenger’s wealth, ran the boat among the rushes, 
 and, drawing a knife, prepared to slay him. The trader 
 begged the man to leave him a whole skin ； 2 so the 
 boatman wrapped him up in a carpet and threw him into 
 the river. The dog, on seeing what was done, whined 
 piteously, and jumping into the river, seized the bundle 
 with his teeth and did its best to keep the trader above 
 water until at length a shallow spot was reached. The 
 animal then succeeded by continuous barking in at- 
 tracting the attention of some people on the bank, and 
 
 1 The city of Canton boasts several “ cat and dog ’’ restaurants ; 
 but the consumption of this kind of food is much less universal 
 than is generally supposed. 
 
 2 Not in our sense of the term. It was not death, but decapi- 
 tation, or even mutilation, from which the trader begged to be 
 spared. See No. LXXII., note 5. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 3〇9 
 
 they hauled the bundle out of the river, and released the 
 trader who was still aliva The latter asked to be taken 
 back to Wu-hu where he might look out for the robber 
 boatman ; but just as he was about to start, lo ! the dog 
 was missing. The trader was much distressed at this ; 
 and after spending some days at Wu-hu without being 
 able to find, among the forest of masts collected there, 
 the particular boat he wanted, he was on the point of 
 returning home with a friend, when suddenly the dog re- 
 appeared and seemed by its barking to invite its master 
 to follow in a certain direction. This the trader did, 
 until at length the dog jumped on a boat and seized one 
 of the boatmen by the leg. No beating could make the 
 animal let go; and on looking closely at the man, the 
 trader saw he was the identical boatman who had robbed 
 and tried to murder him. He had changed his clothes 
 and also his boat, so that at first he was not recog- 
 nisable; he was now, however, arrested, and the whole 
 of the money was found in his boat. To think that a 
 dog could show gratitude like that ! Truly there are not 
 a few persons who would be put to shame by that 
 faithful animaL 3 
 
 3 The Chinese dog is usually an ill-fed, barking cur, without one 
 redeeming trait in its character. Valued as a guardian of house 
 and property, this animal does not hold the same social position as 
 with us ; its very name is a by-word of reproach ; and the people 
 of Tonquin explain their filthy custom of blackening the teeth on 
 the ground that a dog’s teeth are white. 
 
3i 〇 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 CXLVIII. 
 
 THE GREAT TEST. 
 
 Before Mr. Yang Ta-hung 1 was known to fame, he 
 had already acquired some reputation as a scholar in his 
 own part of the country, and felt convinced himself that 
 his was to be no mean destiny. When the list of 
 successful candidates at the examination was brought to 
 where he lived, he was in the middle of dinner, and 
 rushed out with his mouth full to ask if his name was 
 there or not ; and on hearing that it was not, he ex- 
 perienced such a revulsion of feeling that what he then 
 swallowed stuck fast like a lump in his chest and made 
 him very ill. His friends tried to appease him by ad- 
 vising him to try at the further examination of the 
 rejected, and when he urged that he had no money, 
 
 1 A celebrated scholar and statesman, who flourished towards the 
 close of the Ming dynasty, and distinguished himself by his im- 
 peachment of the powerful eunuch, Wei Chung-hsien, — a dangerous 
 step to take in those eunuch-ridden times. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 they subscribed ten ounces of silver and started him on 
 his way. 
 
 That night he dreamt that a man appeared to him 
 and said, “ Ahead of you there is one who can cure your 
 complaint : beseech him to aid you.” The man then 
 added — 
 
 “ A tune on the flute ’neath the riverside willow : 
 
 Oh, show no regret when J tis cast to the billow ! 
 
 Next day, Mr. Yang actually met a Taoist priest sitting 
 beneath a willow tree ; and, making him a bow, asked 
 him to prescribe for his malady. “You have come to the 
 wrong person,” replied the priest, smiling I cannot cure 
 diseases ; but had you asked me for a tune on the flute, 
 I could have possibly helped you.” Then Mr. Yang 
 knew that his dream was being fulfilled ; and going down 
 on his knees offered the priest all the money he had. 
 The priest took it, but immediately threw it into the 
 river, at which Mr. Yang, thinking how hardly he had 
 come by this money, was moved to express his regret. 
 “ Aha ! ” cried the priest at this ; “so you are not 
 indifferent, eh? You’ll find your money all safe on 
 the bank.” There indeed Mr. Yang found it, at which 
 he was so much astonished that he addressed the priest 
 as though he had been an angel. ‘‘ I am no angel,” 
 said the priest, “ but here comes one whereupon Mr. 
 Yang looked behind him, and the priest seized the op- 
 portunity to give him a slap on the back, crying out at 
 the same time, “You worldly-minded fellow ! ” This 
 
312 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 blow brought up the lump of food that had stuck in his 
 chest, and he felt better at once ； but when he looked 
 round the priest had disappeared 2 
 
 2 Mr. Yang was a man of tried virtue, and had he been able to 
 tolerate oculo iT^retoiio^ the loss of his money, the priest would have 
 given him, not merely a cure for the bodily ailment under which he 
 was suffering, but a knowledge of those means by which he might 
 have obtained the salvation of his soul, and have enrolled himself 
 among the ranks of the Taoist Immortals. ‘‘ To those, however,” 
 remarks the commentator, “who lament that Mr. Yang was too 
 worldly-minded to secure this great prize, I reply, * Better one 
 more good man on earth, than an extra angel in heaven.* ** 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 3 l 3 
 
 CXLIX. 
 
 THE ALCHEMIST . 1 
 
 At Ch c ang-ngan there lived a scholar named Chla 
 Tzu-lung, who one day noticed a very refined-looking 
 stranger ; and, on making inquiries about him, learnt that 
 he was a Mr. Chen, who had taken lodgings hard by. 
 Accordingly, next day Chia called and sent in his card, 
 but did not see Chen, who happened to be out at the 
 time. The same thing occurred thrice ; and at length 
 Chia engaged some one to watch and let him know when 
 Mr. Chen was at home. However, even then the latter 
 would not come forth to receive his guest, and Chia had 
 to go in and rout him out. The two now entered into 
 conversation, and soon became mutually charmed with 
 each other; and by-and-by Chia sent off a servant to 
 bring wine from a neighbouring wine-shop. Mr. Chen 
 proved himself a pleasant boon companion, and when 
 the wine was nearly finished, he went to a box, and took 
 from it some wine-cups and a large and beautiful jade 
 
 1 Alchemy was widely cultivated in China during the Han 
 dynasty by priests of the Taoist religion, but all traces of it have 
 now long since disappeared. 
 
3 X 4 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 tankard, into the latter of which he poured a single cup 
 of wine, and lo ! it was filled to the brim. They then 
 proceeded to help themselves from the tankard ; but 
 however much they took out, the contents never seemed 
 to diminish. Chia was astonished at this, and begged 
 Mr. Chen to tell him how it was done. “ Ah,” replied 
 Mr. Chen, iC I tried to avoid making your acquaintance 
 solely because of your one bad quality 一 avarice. The 
 art I practise is a secret known to the Immortals only : 
 how can I divulge it to you?” “You do me wrong,” 
 rejoined Chia, u in thus attributing avarice to me. The 
 avaricious, indeed, are always poor.” Mr. Chen laughed, 
 and they separated for that day ; but from that time they 
 were constantly together, and all ceremony was laid 
 aside between them. WTienever Chia wanted money, 
 Mr. Chen would bring out a black stone, and, muttering 
 a charm, would rub it on a tile or a brick, which was 
 forthwith changed into a lump of silver. This silver he 
 would give to Chia, and it was always just as much as he 
 actually required, neither more nor less ; and if ever the 
 latter asked for more, Mr. Chen would rally him on the 
 subject of avarice. Finally, Chia determined to try and 
 get possession of this stone; and one day, when Mr. 
 Chen was sleeping off the fumes of a drinking-bout, he 
 tried to extract it from his clothes. However, Chen 
 detected him at once, and declared that they could be 
 friends no more, and next day he left the place alto- 
 gether. About a year afterwards Chia was one day 
 wandering by the river-bank, when he saw a handsome- 
 looking stone, marvellously like that in the possession of 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 3 【5 
 
 Mr. Chen ; and he picked it up at once and carried it 
 home with him. A few days passed away, and suddenly 
 Mr. Chen presented himself at Chia’s house ， and ex- 
 plained that the stone in question possessed the property 
 of changing anything into gold, and had been bestowed 
 upon him long before by a certain Taoist priest, whom 
 he had followed as a disciple. “ Alas ! ’’ added he, “ I 
 got tipsy and lost it ; but divination told me where it was, 
 and if you will now restore it to me, I shall take care to 
 repay your kindness.” “You have divined rightly,” replied 
 Chia ; u the stone is with me ; but recollect, if you please, 
 that the indigent Kuan Chung 2 shared the wealth of his 
 friend Pao Shu.” At this hint Mr. Chen said he would 
 give Chia one hundred ounces of silver ; to which the 
 latter replied that one hundred ounces was a fair offer, 
 but that he would far sooner have Mr. Chen teach him 
 the formula to utter when rubbing the stone on anything, 
 so as just to try the thing once himself. Mr. Chen was 
 afraid to do this; whereupon Chia cried out, u You are 
 an Immortal yourself ; you must know well enough that 
 I would never deceive a friend.” So Mr. Chen was 
 prevailed upon to teach him the formula, and then Chia 
 would have tried the art upon the immense stone 
 washing-block 3 which was lying near at hand, had not 
 Mr. Chen seized his arm and begged him not to do any 
 thing so outrageous. Chia then picked up half a 
 
 2 See No. XXII., note 1. 
 
 3 These are used, together with a heavy wooden baton, by the 
 Chinese washerman, the effect being most disastrous to a European 
 wardrobe. 
 
3!6 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 brick and laid it on the washing-block, saying to Mr. 
 Chen, “This little piece is not too much, surely ? ’’ 
 Accordingly, Mr. Chen relaxed his hold and let Chia 
 proceed ; which he did by promptly ignoring the half 
 brick and quickly rubbing the stone on the washing- 
 block. Mr. Chen turned pale when he saw him do this, 
 and made a dash forward to get hold of the stone ; but 
 it was too late, the washing-block was already a solid 
 mass of silver, and Chia quietly handed him back the stone. 
 “ Alas ! alas !” cried Mr. Chen, in despair, “ what is to 
 be done now? For having thus irregularly conferred 
 wealth upon a mortal , 4 Heaven will surely punish me. 
 Oh, if you would save me, give away one hundred 
 coffins 5 and one hundred suits of wadded clothes. 
 
 ‘‘ My friend,” replied Chiaj “ my object in getting money 
 was not to hoard it up like a miser.” Mr. Chen was 
 delighted at this ; and during the next three years Chia 
 engaged in trade, taking care to be all the time fulfilling 
 his promise to Mr. Chen. At the expiration of that 
 time Mr. Chen himself reappeared, and, grasping Chia’s 
 hand, said to him, 6t Trustworthy and noble friend, when 
 we last parted the Spirit of Happiness impeached me 
 before God , 6 and my name was erased from the list of 
 
 4 For thus interfering with the appointments of Destiny. 
 
 a To provide coffins for poor people has ever been regarded as an 
 act of transcendent merit. The tornado at Canton, in April, 1878, 
 in which several thousand lives were lost, afforded an admirable 
 opportunity for the exercise of this form of charity — an opportunity 
 which was very largely availed of by the benevolent. 
 
 6 For usurping its prerogative by allowing Chia to obtain un- 
 authorized wealth. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 angels. But now that you have carried out my request, 
 that sentence has accordingly been rescinded Go on as 
 you have begun, without ceasing.” Chia asked Mr. 
 Chen what office he filled in heaven ; to which the 
 latter replied that he was only a fox, who, by a sinless 
 life, had finally attained to that clear perception of the 
 Truth which leads to immortality. Wine was then 
 brought, and the two friends enjoyed themselves to- 
 gether as of old ; and even when Chia had passed the 
 age of ninety years, that fox still used to visit him from 
 time to time. 
 
3 j 8 strange stories 
 
 CL. 
 
 RAISING THE DEAD. 
 
 ^Ir. T^ang P c ing, who took the highest degree in the 
 year 1661, was suffering from a protracted illness, when 
 suddenly he felt, as it were, a warm glow rising from his 
 extremities upwards. By the time it had reached his 
 knees, his feet were perfectly numb and without sen- 
 sation ; and before long his knees and the lower part of 
 his body were similarly affected. Gradually this glow 
 worked its way up until it attacked the heart, 1 and 
 then some painful moments ensued. Every single inci- 
 dent of Mr. T^n^s life from his boyhood upwards, no 
 matter how trivial, seemed to surge through his mind, 
 borne along on the tide of his heart’s blood. At the 
 revival of any virtuous act of his, he experienced a 
 delicious feeling of peace and calm ; but when any 
 wicked deed passed before his mind, a painful disturb- 
 ance took place within him, like oil boiling and fretting 
 in a cauldron. He was quite unable to describe the 
 pangs he suffered ; however, he mentioned that he could 
 recollect having stolen, when only seven or eight years 
 
 1 See No. XIV., note 5. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 319 
 
 old, some young birds from their nest, and having killed 
 them ; and for this alone, he said, boiling blood rushed 
 through his heart during the space of an ordinary meal- 
 time. Then when all the acts of his life had passed one 
 after another in panorama before him, the warm glow 
 proceeded up his throat, and, entering the brain, issued 
 out at the top of his head like smoke from a chimney. 
 By-and-by Mr. Tinges soul escaped from his body by 
 the same aperture, and wandered far away, forgetting all 
 about the tenement it had left behind. Just at that 
 moment a huge giant came along, and, seizing the soul, 
 thrust it into his sleeve, where it remained cramped and 
 confined, huddled up with a crowd of others, until 
 existence was almost unbearable. Suddenly Mr. T c ang 
 reflected that Buddha alone could save him from this 
 horrible state, and forthwith he began to call upon his 
 holy name . 2 At the third or fourth invocation he fell 
 out of the giant’s sleeve, whereupon the latter picked 
 him up and put him back ; but this happened several 
 times, and at length the giant, wearied of picking him 
 up, let him lie where he was. The soul lay there for 
 some time, not knowing in which direction to proceed ; 
 however, it soon recollected that the land of Buddha 
 was in the west, and westwards accordingly it began to 
 shape its course. In a little while the soul came upon a 
 Buddhist priest sitting by the roadside, and, hastening 
 forwards, respectfully inquired of him which was the 
 right way. “ The record of life and death for scholars,” 
 
 See No. LIV., note 2. 
 
3 2 ° 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 replied the priest, u is in the hands of Wen-ch^ang 3 and 
 Confucius ; any application must receive the consent of 
 both.” The priest then directed Mr. T‘ang on his way, 
 and the latter journeyed along until he reached a 
 Confucian temple, in which the Sage was sitting with 
 his face to the south . 4 On hearing his business, Con- 
 fucius referred him on to Wen-ch^ng ; and, proceeding 
 onwards in the direction indicated, Mr. T 4 ang by-and-by 
 arrived at what seemed to be the palace of a king, 
 within which sat Wen-ch^ang, precisely as we depict him 
 on earth. “ You are an upright man，” replied the God ， 
 in reply to Mr. T‘ang’s prayer, “and are certainly 
 entitled to a longer span of life; but by this time 
 your mortal body has become decomposed, and unless 
 you can secure the assistance of P c u-sa , 5 6 I can give you 
 no aid.” So Mr. T^ang set off once more, and hurried 
 along until he came to a magnificent shrine standing in a 
 thick grove of tall bamboos ; and, entering in, he stood 
 in the presence of the God, on whose head was the 
 ushnisha^ whose golden face was round like the full 
 moon, and at whose side was a green willow-branch 
 bending gracefully over the lip of a vase. Humbly Mr. 
 T 4 ang prostrated himself on the ground, and repeated 
 what Wen-ch c ang had said to him ; but P f u-sa seemed to 
 think it would be impossible to grant his request, until 
 
 3 The God of Literature. 
 
 4 See No. LXXVII., note i. 
 
 5 See No. XXVI., note 5. 
 
 6 A fleshy protuberance on the head, which is the distinguishing 
 mark of a Buddha. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 321 
 
 one of the Lohans 7 who stood by cried out, “O God, 
 Thou canst perform this miracle : take earth and make 
 his flesh ; take a sprig of willow and make his bones.” 
 Thereupon P^u-sa broke off a piece from the willow- 
 branch in the vase beside him ; and, pouring a little of 
 the water upon the ground, he made clay, and, casting 
 the whole over Mr. "Pang’s soul, bade an attendant lead 
 the body back to the place where his coffin was. At that 
 instant Mr. T‘ang’s family heard a groan proceeding from 
 ■within his coffin, and, on rushing to it and helping out 
 the lately-deceased man, they found he had quite re- 
 covered. He had then been dead seven days. 
 
 7 The eighteen personal disciples of Shakyamuni Buddha. Six- 
 teen of these are Hindoos, which number was subsequently increased 
 by the addition of two Chinese Buddhists. 
 
 VOL. II. Y 
 
322 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 CLI. 
 
 FENG-SHUI. 1 
 
 At I-chow there lived a high official named Sung, 
 whose family were all ardent supporters of Feng-Shui ; 
 so much so, that even the women-folk read books 2 on the 
 subject, and understood the principles of the science. 
 When Mr. Sung died, his two sons set up separate 
 establishments , 3 and each invited to his own house 
 geomancers from far and near, who had any reputation 
 
 1 Literally, “wind and water,” or that which cannot be seen 
 and that which cannot be grasped. I have explained the term in 
 my Chinese Sketches ， p. 143, as “a system of geomancy, by 
 the scutue of which it is possible to determine the desirability of 
 sites, — whether of tombs, houses, or cities, from the configuration 
 of such natural objects as rivets, trees, and hills, and to foretell 
 with certainty the fortunes of any family, community, or indi- 
 vidual, according to the spot selected ; by the art of which it is in 
 the power of the geomancer to counteract evil influences by gcx)d 
 ones, to transform straight and noxious outlines into undulating 
 and propitious curves, and rescue whole districts from the devas- 
 tations of flood or pestilence.” 
 
 2 As a rule, only the daughters of wealthy families receive any 
 education to speak of. 
 
 3 A reprehensible proceeding in the eyes of all respectable 
 Chinese, both from a moral and a practical point of view; “for 
 when brothers fall out,** says the proverb, ^strangers get an ad- 
 vantage over them. ,> 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 323 
 
 in their art, to select a spot for the dead man’s grave. 
 By degrees, they had collected together as many as a 
 hundred a-piece, and every day they would scour the 
 country round, each at the head of his own particular 
 regiment. After about a month of this work, both sides 
 had fixed upon a suitable position for the grave; and 
 the geomancers engaged by one brother, declared that 
 if their spot was selected he would certainly some day 
 be made a marquis, while the other brother was similarly 
 informed, by his geomancers, that by adopting their 
 choice he would infallibly rise to the rank of Secretary 
 of State. Thus, neither brother would give way to the 
 other, but each set about making the grave in his own 
 particular place, — pitching marquees, and arranging 
 banners, and making all necessary preparations for the 
 funeraL Then when the coffin arrived at the point where 
 roads branched off to the two graves, the two brothers, 
 each leading on his own little army of geomancers, bore 
 down upon it with a view to gaining possession of the 
 corpse. From morn till dewy eve the battle raged ; and 
 as neither gained any advantage over the other, the 
 mourners and friends, who had come to witness the 
 ceremony of burial, stole away one by one; and the 
 coolies, who were carrying the coffin, after changing the 
 poles from one shoulder to another until they were 
 quite worn out, put the body down by the roadside, and 
 went off home. It then became necessary to make 
 some protection for the coffin against the wind and rain ； 
 whereupon the elder brother immediately set about 
 building a hut close by, in which he purposed leaving 
 
 y 2 
 
324 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 some of his attendants to keep guard ； but he had no 
 sooner begun than the younger brother followed his 
 example ; and when the elder built a second and third, 
 the younger also built a second and third ; and as this 
 went on for the space of three whole years, by the end of 
 that time the place had become quite a little village. 
 By-and-by, both brothers died, one directly after the 
 other ; and then their two wives determined to cast 
 to the winds the decision of each party of geomancers. 
 Accordingly, they went together to the two spots in 
 question ; and after inspecting them carefully, declared 
 that neither was suitable. The next step was to jointly 
 engage another set of geomancers, who submitted for 
 their approval several different spots, and ten days had 
 hardly passed away before the two women had agreed 
 upon the position for their father-in-law’s grave, which, 
 as the wife of the younger brother prophesied, would 
 surely give to the family a high military degree. So the 
 body was buried, and within three years Air. Sung’s 
 eldest grandson, who had entered as a military cadet, 
 actually took the corresponding degree to a literary 
 master of arts. k 
 
 [‘‘F 豸 ng-Shui,” adds the great commentator I Shili-shili, “may 
 or may not be based upon sound principles ; at any rate, to indulge 
 a morbid belief in it is utter folly; and thus to join issue and fight 
 while a co 伍 n is relegated to the roadside, is hardly in accordance 
 with the doctrines of filial piety or fraternal love. Can people 
 believe that mere position will improve the fortunes of their family ? 
 At any rate, that two women should have thus quietly settled the 
 matter is certainly worthy of record.’’] 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 325 
 
 CLII. 
 
 THE LINGERING DEATH. 
 
 There was a man in our village who led an exceed- 
 ingly disreputable life. One morning when he got up 
 rather early, two men appeared, and led him away to 
 the market-place, where he saw a butcher hanging up 
 half a pig. As they approached, the two men shoved 
 him with all their might against the dead animal, and 
 lo ! his own flesh began to blend with the pork before 
 him, while his conductors hurried off in an opposite 
 direction. By-and-by the butcher wanted to sell a piece 
 of his meat ; and seizing a knife, began to cut off the 
 quantity required. At every touch of the blade our 
 disreputable friend experienced a severe pang, which 
 penetrated into his very marrow; and when, at length, 
 an old man came and haggled over the weight given 
 him, crying out for a little bit more fat, or an extra 
 portion of lean , 1 then, as the butcher sliced away the 
 
 1 Chinese tradesmen invariably begin by giving short weight in 
 such transactions as these, partly in order to be in a position to 
 gratify the customer by throwing in a trifle more and thus acquire 
 a reputation for fair dealing. 
 
3 26 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 pork ounce by ounce, the pain was unendurable in the 
 extreme. By about nine o’clock the pork was all sold, 
 and our hero went home, whereupon his family asked 
 him what he meant by staying in bed so late . 2 He then 
 narrated all that had taken place, and on making in- 
 quiries, they found that the pork-butcher had only just 
 come home ; besides which our friend was able to tell 
 him every pound of meat he had sold, and every slice 
 he had cut off. Fancy a man being put to the lingering 
 death 3 like this before breakfast ! 
 
 2 It was only his soul that had left the house. 
 
 3 See No. L VI., note 12. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 327 
 
 CLIIL 
 
 DREAMING HONOURS. 
 
 Wang Tzu-ngan was a Tung_ch‘ang man, and a 
 scholar of some repute, but unfortunate at the public 
 examinations. On one occasion, after having been up 
 for his master’s degree, his anxiety was very great ; and 
 when the time for the publication of the list drew near, 
 he drank himself gloriously tipsy, and went and lay 
 down on the bed. In a few moments a man rushed in, 
 and cried out, “ Sir ! you have passed ! ” whereupon 
 Wang jumped up, and said, u Give him ten strings of 
 cash.” 1 Wang’s wife, seeing he was drunk, and wishing 
 to keep him quiet, replied, “You go on sleeping: I’ve 
 given him the money.” So Wang lay down again, but 
 before long in came another man who informed Wang 
 that his name was among the successful candidates for 
 the highest degree. “Why, I haven’t been up for it 
 yet;^ said Wang, a how can I have passed?^ 4< What! 
 you don’t mean to say you have forgotten the exami- 
 nation ? answered the man ； and then Wang got up once 
 more, and gave orders to present the informant with ten 
 
 See No. CXXIII. note 2 
 
328 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 strings of cash. “ All right,” replied his wife you go 
 on sleeping : I’ve given him the money.” Another short 
 interval, and in burst a third messenger to say that Wang 
 had been elected a member of the National Academy, 
 and that two official servants had come to escort him 
 thither. Sure enough there were the two servants bow- 
 ing at the bedside, and accordingly Wang directed that 
 they should be served with wine and meat, which his 
 wife, smiling at his drunken nonsense, declared had been 
 already done. Wang now bethought him that he should 
 go out and receive the congratulations of the neighbours, 
 and roared out several times to his official servants ; but 
 without receiving any answer. “ Go to sleep,” said his 
 wife, “and wait till I have fetched them and after 
 awhile the servants actually came in ; whereupon Wang 
 stamped and swore at them for being such idiots as to 
 go away. “ What ! you wretched scoundrel,” cried the 
 servants, ‘• are you cursing us in earnest, when we are 
 only joking with you ! ’’ At this Wang’s rage kne'v no 
 bounds, and he set upon the men, and gave them a 
 sound beating, knocking the hat of one off on to the 
 ground In the vielee, he himself tumbled over, and, his 
 wife ran in to pick him up, saying, u Shame upon you, 
 for getting so drunk as this ! “ I was only punishing 
 the servants as they deserved,” replied Wang ; “why 
 do you call me drunk?” “Do you mean the old 
 woman who cooks our rice and boils the water for 
 your foot-bath,” asked his wife, smiling, “that you talk 
 of servants to wait upon your poverty-stricken carcase ? 99 
 At this sally all the women burst out in a roar of 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 329 
 
 laughter ; and Wang, who was just beginning to get 
 sober, waked up as if from a dream, and knew that 
 there was no reality in all that had taken place. How- 
 ever, he recollected the spot where the servants hat had 
 fallen off, and on going thither to look for it, lo ! he 
 beheld a tiny official hat, no larger than a wine-cup, 
 lying there behind the door. They were all much 
 astonished at this, and Wang himself cried out, u For- 
 merly people were thus tricked by devils ; and now 
 foxes are playing the fool with me !” 2 
 
 2 A common saying is “Foxes in the north; devils in the south,” 
 as illustrative of the folk-lore of these two great divisions of China. 
 
33 ° 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 CLIV. 
 
 THE SHE-WOLF AND THE HERD-BOYS. 
 
 Two herd-boys went up among the hills and found a 
 wolfs lair with two little wolves in it Seizing each of 
 them one, they forthwith climbed two trees which stood 
 there, at a distance of forty or fifty paces apart. Before 
 long the old wolf came back, and, finding her cubs gone, 
 was in a great state of distress. Just then, one of the 
 herd-boys pinched his cub and made it squeak ； where- 
 upon the mother ran angrily towards the tree whence the 
 sound proceeded, and tried to climb up it At this 
 juncture, the boy in the other tree pinched the other 
 cub, and thereby diverted the wolfs attention in that 
 direction. But no sooner had she reached the foot of 
 the second tree, than the boy who had first pinched 
 his cub did so again, and away ran the old wolf back 
 to the tree in which her other young one was. Thus 
 they went on time after time, until the mother was dead 
 tired, and lay down exhausted on the ground. Then, 
 when after some time she shewed no signs of moving, 
 the herd-boys crept stealthily down, and found that the 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 331 
 
 wolf was already stiff and cold. And truly, it is better 
 to meet a blustering foe with his hand upon his sword- 
 hilt, by retiring within doors, and leaving him to 
 fret his violence away unopposed ; for such is but the 
 behaviour of brute beasts, of which men thus take 
 advantage. 
 
332 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 CLV. 
 
 ADULTERATION 1 PUNISHED. 
 
 At Chin-ling there lived a seller of spirits, who was 
 in the habit of adulterating his liquor with water and 
 a certain drug, the effect of which was that even a few 
 cups would make the strongest-headed man as drunk 
 as a jelly-fish . 2 Thus his shop acquired a reputation for 
 having a good article on sale, and by degrees he became 
 a rich man. One morning, on getting up, he found a 
 fox lying drunk alongside of the spirit vat ; and tying 
 its legs together, he was about to fetch a knife, when 
 suddenly the fox waked up, and began pleading for 
 its life, promising in return to do anything the spirit- 
 merchant might require. The latter then released the 
 animal, which instantly changed into the form of a 
 human being. Now, at that very time, the wife of a 
 
 1 In no country in the world is adulteration more extensively 
 practised than in China, the only formal check upon it being a 
 religious one — the dread of punishment in the world below. 
 
 2 The text has here a word (literally, “ mud ”） explained to be 
 the name of a boneless aquatic creature, which on being removed 
 from the water lies motionless like a lump of mud. The common 
 term for a jelly-fish is s/iui-mu f water-mother. n 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 333 
 
 neighbour was suffering under fox influence, and this 
 recently-transformed animal confessed to the spirit- 
 merchant that it was he who had been troubling her. 
 Thereupon the spirit-merchant, who knew the lady 
 in question to be a celebrated beauty, begged his fox 
 friend to secretly introduce him to her. After raising 
 some objections, the fox at length consented, and con- 
 ducted the spirit-merchant to a cave, where he gave him 
 a suit of serge clothes, which he said had belonged to 
 his late brother, and in which he told him he could 
 easily go. The merchant put them on, and returned 
 home, when to his great delight he observed that no 
 one could see him, but that if he changed into his 
 ordinary clothes everybody could see him as before. 
 Accordingly he set off with the fox for his neighbour’s 
 house ; and, when they arrived, the first thing they beheld 
 was a charm on the wall, like a great wriggling dragon. 
 At this the fox was greatly alarmed, and said, u That 
 scoundrel of a priest ! I can’t go any farther.” He then 
 ran off home, leaving the spirit-merchant to proceed by 
 himself. The latter walked quietly in to find that the 
 dragon on the wall was a real one, and preparing to fly 
 at him, so he too turned, and ran away as fast as his 
 legs could carry him. The fact was that the family had 
 engaged a priest to drive away the fox influence; and 
 he, not being able to go at the moment himself, gave 
 them this charm to stick up on the wall The following 
 day the priest himself came, and, arranging an altar, 
 proceeded to exorcise the fox. All the villagers crowded 
 round to see, and among others was the spirit-merchant, 
 
334 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 who, in the middle of the ceremony, suddenly changed 
 colour, and hurried out of the front door, where he fell 
 on the ground in the shape of a fox, having his clothes 
 still hanging about his arms and legs. The bystanders 
 would have killed him on the spot, but his wife begged 
 them to spare him ; and the priest let her take the fox 
 home, where in a few days it died. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 335 
 
 CLVI. 
 
 A CHINESE SOLOMON. 
 
 In our district there lived two men, named Hu 
 Ch c eng and Feng Ngan, between whom there existed an 
 old feud. The former, however, was the stronger of the 
 two ; and accordingly Feng disguised his feelings under 
 a specious appearance of friendship, though Hu never 
 placed much faith in his professions. One day they 
 were drinking together, and being both of them rather 
 the worse for liquor, they began to brag of the various 
 exploits they had achieved “ What care I for poverty,” 
 cried Hu, u when I can lay a hundred ounces of silver 
 on the table at a moment’s notice ? ” Now Feng was 
 well aware of the state of Hu’s affairs, and did not 
 hesitate to scout such pretensions, until Hu further in- 
 formed him in perfect seriousness that the day before he 
 had met a merchant travelling with a large sum of 
 money and had tumbled him down a dry well by the 
 wayside ; in confirmation of which he produced several 
 hundred ounces of silver, which really belonged to a 
 brother-in-law on whose behalf he was managing some 
 negotiation for the purchase of land. When they 
 separated, Feng went off and gave information to the 
 
336 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 magistrate of the place, who summoned Hu to answer to 
 the charge. Hu then told the actual facts of the case, 
 and his brother-in-law and the owner of the land in 
 question corroborated his statement However, on 
 examining the dry well by letting a man down with a 
 rope round him, lo ! there was a headless corpse lying at 
 the bottom. Hu was horrified at this, and called 
 Heaven to witness that he was innocent ; whereupon 
 the magistrate ordered him twenty or thirty blows on the 
 mouth for lying in the presence of such irrefragable 
 proof, and cast him into the condemned cell, where he 
 lay loaded with chains. Orders were issued that the 
 corpse was not to be removed, and a notification was 
 made to the people, calling upon the relatives of the 
 deceased to come forward and claim the body. Next day 
 a woman appeared, and said deceased was her husband ; 
 that his name was Ho, and that he was proceeding on 
 business with a large sum of money about him when he 
 was killed by Hu. The magistrate observed that pos- 
 sibly the body in the well might not be that of her 
 husband, to which the woman replied that she felt sure 
 it was ; and accordingly the corpse was brought up and 
 examined, when the woman’s story was found to be 
 correct. She herself did not go near the body, but 
 stood at a little distance making the most doleful 
 lamentations; until at length the magistrate said, u We 
 have got the murderer, but the body is not complete ; 
 you go home and wait until the head has been dis- 
 covered, when life shall be given for life. He then sum- 
 moned Hu before him, and told him to produce the head 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 337 
 
 by the next day under penalty of severe torture ； but 
 Hu only wandered about with the guard sent in charge 
 of him, crying and lamenting his fate, but finding 
 nothing. The instruments of torture were then pro- 
 duced, and preparations were made as if for torturing 
 Hu; however, they were not applied , 1 and finally the 
 magistrate sent him back to prison, saying, 1 suppose 
 that in your hurry you didn’t notice where you dropped 
 the head.” The woman was then brought before him 
 again ； and on learning that her relatives consisted only 
 of one uncle, the magistrate remarked, “A young 
 woman like you, left alone in the world, will hardly be 
 able to earn a livelihood. [Here she burst into tears 
 and implored the magistrate’s pity.] The punishment of 
 the guilty man has been already decided upon, but until 
 we get the head, the case cannot be closed. As soon as 
 it is closed, the best thing you can do is to marry again. 
 A young woman like yourself should not be in and out 
 of a police-court.” The woman thanked the magistrate 
 and retired ； and the latter issued a notice to the people, 
 calling upon them to make a search for the head. On 
 the following day, a man named Wang, a fellow villager 
 of the deceased, reported that he had found the missing 
 head ; and his report proving to be true, he was re- 
 warded with 1,000 cash. The magistrate now sum- 
 moned the woman J s uncle above-mentioned, and told 
 him that the case was complete, but that as it involved 
 such an important matter as the life of a human being, 
 
 1 See No. LXXIII., note 2. 
 VOL. II. Z 
 
333 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 there would necessarily be some delay in closing it for 
 good and alL 2 “ Meanwhile,” added the magistrate, 
 u your niece is a young woman and has no children ； 
 persuade her to marry again and so keep herself out of 
 these troubles, and never mind what people may say.’’ 3 
 The uncle at first refused to do this ; upon which the 
 magistrate was obliged to threaten him until he was 
 ultimately forced to consent. At this, the woman ap- 
 peared before the magistrate to thank him for what he 
 had done ; whereupon the latter gave out that any 
 person who was willing to take the woman to wife was to 
 present himself at his yamen. Immediately afterwards 
 
 an application was made by the very man who had 
 
 found the head The magistrate then sent for the 
 woman and asked her if she could say who was the real 
 murderer ; to which she replied that Hu Cheng had 
 done the deed. “ No !” cried the magistrate it was 
 not he. It was you and this man here. [Here both 
 began loudly to protest their innocence.] I have long 
 known this ； but, fearing to leave the smallest loophole 
 
 2 There is a widespread belief that human life in China is held 
 at a cheap rate. This may be accounted for by the fact that 
 death is the legal punishment for many crimes not considered 
 capital in the West ; and by the severe measures that are always 
 taken in cases of rebellion, when the innocent and guilty are often 
 indiscriminately massacred. In times of tranquillity, however, this 
 is not the case ; and the execution of a criminal is surrounded by a 
 number of formalities which go far to prevent the shedding of in- 
 nocent blood. The Hsi-yiian-lu (see No. XIV., note 8) opens with 
 the words, ‘‘ There is nothing more important than human life.” 
 
 3 See No. LXVII., note i. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 339 
 
 for escape, I have tarried thus long in elucidating the 
 circumstances. How [to the woman]； before the corpse 
 was removed from the well, were you so certain that it 
 'vas your husband’s body ? Because you already knew he 
 was dead. And does a trader who has several hundred 
 ounces of silver about him dress as shabbily as your 
 husband was dressed ? And you, [to the man], how did 
 you manage to find the head so readily ? Because you 
 were in a hurry to marry the womans The two culprits 
 stood there as pale as death, unable to utter a word in 
 their defence； and on the application of torture both 
 confessed the crime. For this man, the woman’s 
 paramour, had killed her husband, curiously enough, 
 about the time of Hu Chengs braggart joke. Hu was 
 accordingly released, but Feng suffered the penalty of a 
 false accuser ； he was severely bambooed, and banished 
 for three years. The case was thus brought to a close 
 without the wrongful punishment of a single person. 
 
 Z 2 
 
34〇 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 CLVII. 
 
 THE ROC. 
 
 Two herons built their nests under one of the orna- 
 ments on the roof of a temple at Tientsin. The 
 accumulated dust of years in the shrine below concealed 
 a huge serpent, having the diameter of a washing-basin ； 
 and whenever the heron’s young were ready to fly, the 
 reptile proceeded to the nest and swallowed every one of 
 them, to the great distress of the bereaved parents. This 
 took place three years consecutively, and people thought 
 the birds would build there no more. However, the 
 following year they came again ; and when the time was 
 drawing nigh for their young ones to take wing, away 
 they flew, and remained absent for nearly three days. 
 On their return, they went straight to the nest, and began 
 amidst much noisy chattering to feed their young ones 
 as usual. Just then the serpent crawled up to reach his 
 prey ; and as he was nearing the nest the parent-birds 
 flew out and screamed loudly in mid-air. Immediately, 
 there was heard a mighty flapping of wings, and darkness 
 came over the face of the earth, which the astonished 
 spectators now perceived to be caused by a huge bird 
 obscuring the light of the sun. Down it swooped with 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 341 
 
 the speed of wind or falling rain, and, striking the 
 serpent with its talons, tore its head off at a blow, 
 bringing down at the same time several feet of the 
 masonry of the temple. Then it flew away, the herons 
 accompanying it as though escorting a guest. The nest 
 too had come down, and of the two young birds one 
 was killed by the fall ; the other was taken by the priests 
 and put in the bell tower, whither the old birds returned 
 to feed it until thoroughly fledged, when it spread its 
 wings and was gone . 1 
 
 1 This story is inserted chiefly in illustration of the fact that all 
 countries have a record of some enormous bird such as the roc of 
 the “ Arabian Nights.” 
 
342 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 CLVIII 
 
 THE FAITHFUL GANDER . 1 
 
 A sportsman of Tientsin, having snared a wild goose, 
 was followed to his home by the gander, which flew 
 round and round him in great distress, and only went 
 away at nightfalL Next day, when the sportsman went 
 out, there was the bird again ； and at length it alighted 
 quite close to his feet. He was on the point of seizing 
 it when suddenly it stretched out its neck and disgorged 
 a piece of pure gold ； whereupon, the sportsman, under- 
 standing what the bird meant, cried out, “I see ! this 
 is to ransom your mate, eh ? )9 Accordingly, he at once 
 released the goose, and the tv\ r o birds flew away with 
 many expressions of their mutual joy, leaving to the 
 sportsman nearly three ounces of pure gold. Can, then, 
 mere birds have such feelings as these ? Of all sorrows 
 there is no sorrow like separation from those we love ; 
 and it seems that the same holds good even of dumb 
 animals. 
 
 1 See No. XXXV., note 3. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 343 
 
 CLIX. 
 
 THE ELEPHANTS AND THE LION. 
 
 A huntsman of Kuang-si， who was out on the hills 
 with his bow and arrows, lay down to rest awhile, and 
 unwittingly fell fast asleep. As he was slumbering, an 
 elephant came up, and, coiling his trunk around the 
 man, carried him off. The latter gave himself up for 
 dead ; but before long the elephant had deposited him 
 at the foot of a tall tree, and had summoned a whole 
 herd of comrades, who crowded about the huntsman as 
 though asking his assistance. The elephant who had 
 brought him went and lay down under the tree, and first 
 looked up into its branches and then looked down at the 
 man, apparently requesting him to get up into the tree. 
 So the latter jumped on the elephant’s back and then 
 clambered up to the topmost branch, not knowing what 
 he was expected to do next By-and-by a lion 1 arrived, 
 
 1 The term here used refers to a creature which partakes rather 
 of the fabulous than of the real. The Kuang-yiin says it is <4 a 
 kind of lion;” but other authorities describe it as a horse. Its 
 favourite food is tiger-flesh. Incense-burners are often made after 
 the “ lion ，’ pattern and called by this name, the smoke of the 
 incense issuing from the mouth of the animal, like our own gar- 
 goyles. 
 
344 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 and from among the frightened herd chose out a fat 
 elephant, which he seemed as though about to devour. 
 The others remained there trembling, not daring to 
 run away, but looking wistfully up into the tree. There- 
 upon the huntsman drew an arrow from his quiver and 
 shot the lion dead, at which all the elephants below 
 made him a grateful obeisance. He then descended, 
 when the elephant lay down again and invited him to 
 mount by pulling at his clothes with its trunk. This he 
 did, and was carried to a place where the animal 
 scratched the ground with its foot, and revealed to him 
 a vast number of old tusks. He jumped down and 
 collected them in a bundle, after which the elephant 
 conveyed him to a spot whence he easily found his way 
 home. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 345 
 
 CLX. 
 
 THE HIDDEN TREASURE. 
 
 Li Yueh-sheng was the second son of a rich old 
 man who used to bury his money, and who was known 
 to his fellow-townsmen as “ Old Crocks.” One day the 
 father fell sick, and summoned his sons to divide the 
 property between them . 1 He gave four-fifths to the 
 elder and only one-fifth to the younger, saying to the 
 latter, u It is not that I love your brother more than I 
 love you : I have other money stored away, and when 
 you are alone I will hand that over to you.” A few days 
 afterwards the old man grew worse, and Yiieh-sheng, 
 afraid that his father might die at any moment, seized an 
 opportunity of seeing him alone to ask about the money 
 that he himself was to receive. “ Ah,” replied the dying 
 
 1 The Law of Inheritance, as it obtains in China, has been ably 
 illustrated by Mr. Chal. Alabaster in Vols. v. and vi. of the 
 China Review, This writer states that Ci there seems to be no 
 absolutely fixed law in regard either of inheritance or testamentary 
 dispositions of property, but certain general principles are recog- 
 nised which the court will not allow to be disregarded without 
 sufficient cause.” As a rule the sons, whether by wife or concu- 
 bine, share equally, and in preference to daughters, even though 
 there should be a written will in favour of the latter. 
 
346 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 man, u the sum of our joys and of our sorrows is deter- 
 mined by fate. You are now happy in the possession of 
 a virtuous wife, and have no right to an increase of 
 wealth- ’’ For, as a matter of fact, this second son was 
 married to a lady from the Ch'e family whose virtue 
 equalled that of any of the heroines of history : hence 
 his father’s remark. Yiieh-sheng, however, was not satis- 
 fied, and implored to be allowed to have the money ; 
 and at length the old man got angry and said, u You are 
 only just turned twenty; you have known none of the 
 trials of life, and were I to give a thousand ounces of 
 gold, it would soon be all spent Go ! and, until you 
 have drunk the cup of bitterness to its dregs, expect no 
 money from me.” Now Yiieh-sheng was a filial son, and 
 when his father spoke thus he did not venture to say any 
 more, and hoped for his speedy recovery that he might 
 have a chance of coaxing him to comply with his re- 
 quest. But the old man got worse and worse, and at 
 length died ; whereupon the elder brother took no 
 trouble about the funeral ceremonies, leaving it all to 
 the younger, who, being an open-handed fellow, made no 
 difficulties about the expense. The latter was also fond 
 of seeing a great deal of company at his house, and his 
 wife often had to get three or four meals a-day ready for 
 guests ; and, as her husband did very little towards 
 looking after his affairs, and was further sponged upon 
 by all the needy ones of the neighbourhood, they were 
 soon reduced to a state of poverty. The elder brother 
 helped them to keep body and soul together, but he died 
 shortly aftenvards, and this resource was cut off from 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 347 
 
 them. Then, by dint of borrowing in the spring and 
 repaying in the autumn , 2 they still managed to exist, 
 until at last it came to parting with their land, and they 
 were left actually destitute. At that juncture their eldest 
 son died, followed soon after by his mother ; and Yiieh- 
 sheng was left almost by himself in the world. He now 
 married the widow of a sheep-dealer, who had a little 
 capital ; and she was very strict with him, and wouldn’t 
 let him waste time and money with his friends. One 
 night his father appeared to him and said, u My son, you 
 have drained your cup of bitterness to the dregs. You 
 shall now have the money. I will bring it to you.” 
 When Yiieh-sheng woke up, he thought it was merely a 
 poor man’s dream ; but the next day, while laying the 
 foundations of a wall, he did come upon a quantity of 
 gold. And then he knew what his father had meant by 
 “ when you are alone for of those about him at that 
 time, more than half were gone. 
 
 2 This has reference to the “seed-time and harvest.” 
 
348 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 CLXI. 
 
 THE BOATMEN OF LAO-LUNG. 
 
 When His Excellency Chu was Viceroy of Kuang- 
 tung, there were constant complaints from the traders of 
 mysterious disappearances ； sometimes as many as three 
 or four of them disappearing at once and never being 
 seen or heard of again. At length the number of such 
 cases, filed of course against some person or persons 
 unknown, multiplied to such an extent that they were 
 simply put on record, and but little notice was further 
 taken of them by the local officials. Thus, when His 
 Excellency entered upon his duties, he found more than 
 a hundred plaints of the kind, besides innumerable 
 cases in which the missing man’s relatives lived at 
 a distance and had not instituted proceedings. The 
 mystery so preyed upon the new Viceroy’s mind that he 
 lost all appetite for food; and when, finally, all the 
 inquiries he had set on foot resulted in no clue to an 
 elucidation of these strange disappearances, then His 
 Excellency proceeded to wash and purify himself, and, 
 having notified the Municipal God , 1 he took to fasting 
 
 See No. I., note i. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 349 
 
 and sleeping in his study alone. While he was in 
 ecstasy, lo ! an official entered, holding a tablet in his 
 hand, and said that he had come from the Municipal 
 temple with the following instructions to the Viceroy : 一 
 
 “ Snow on the whiskers descending : 
 
 Live clouds falling from heaven : 
 
 Wood in water buoyed up : 
 
 In the wall an opening effected.” 
 
 The official then retired, and the Viceroy waked up ; 
 but it was only after a night of tossing and turning that 
 he hit upon what seemed to him the solution of the 
 enigma, u The first line, >, argued he, U must signify old 
 (lao in Chinese) ; the second refers to the dragon 2 {lung 
 in Chinese) ; the third is clearly a boat; and the fourth 
 a door here taken in its secondary sense — man) •” Now, 
 to the east of the province, not far from the pass by 
 which traders from the north connect their line of trade 
 with the southern seas, there was actually a ferry known 
 as the Old Dragon (Lao-lung) ; and thither the Viceroy 
 immediately despatched a force to arrest those employed 
 in carrying people backwards and forwards. More than 
 fifty men were caught, and they all confessed at once 
 without the application of torture. In fact, they were 
 bandits under the guise of boatmen ; 3 and after beguil- 
 ing passengers on board, they would either drug them or 
 
 2 Clouds being naturally connected in every Chinaman’s mind 
 with these fabulous creatures, the origin of which has been traced 
 by some to waterspouts. See No. LXXXI., note 2. 
 
 3 ** Boat-men 5, is the solution of the last two lines of the enigma. 
 
35〇 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 burn stupefying incense until they were senseless, finally 
 cutting them open and putting a large stone inside to 
 make the body sink. Such was the horrible story, the 
 discovery of which brought throngs to the Viceroy^ door 
 to serenade him in terms of gratitude and praise . 4 
 
 4 The commentator actually supplies a list of the persons who 
 signed a congratulatory petition to the Viceroy on the arrest and 
 punishment of the criminals. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 351 
 
 CLXII. 
 
 THE PIOUS SURGEON. 
 
 A certain veterinary surgeon, named Hou, was 
 carrying food to his field labourers, when suddenly a 
 whirlwind arose in his path. Hou seized a spoon and 
 poured out a libation of gruel, whereupon the wind im- 
 mediately dropped. On another occasion, he was 
 wandering about the municipal temple when he noticed 
 an image of Liu-ch^iian presenting the melon , 1 in whose 
 eye was a great splotch of dirt. “ Dear me, Sir Liu ! ’’ 
 cried Hou, “who has been ill-using you like this?” 
 He then scraped away the dirt with his finger-nail, and 
 passed on. Some years afterwards, as he was lying down 
 very ill, two lictors walked in and carried him off to a 
 
 1 When the soul of the Emperor T*ai Tsung of the T f ang dynasty 
 was in the infernal regions, it promised to send Yen-lo (the Chinese 
 Ya?na or Pluto) a melon ; and when His Majesty recovered from 
 the trance into which he had been plunged, he gave orders that 
 his promise was to be fulfilled. Just then a man, named Liu 
 Ch f iian, observed a priest with a hairpin belonging to his wife, and 
 misconstruing the manner in which pcssession of it had been 
 obtained, abused his wife so severely that she committed suicide. 
 Liu Ch*uan himself then determined to follow her example, and 
 convey the melon to Yen-lo ; for which act he was subsequently 
 deified. See the Hsi-yu-chi^ Section xi. 
 
3S 2 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 yamen, where they insisted on his bribing them heavily. 
 Hou was at his wits , end what to do ； but just at that 
 moment a personage dressed in green robes came forth, 
 who was greatly astonished at seeing him there, and 
 asked what it all meant. Our hero at once explained ; 
 whereupon the man in green turned upon the lictors and 
 abused them for not shewing proper respect to Mr. Hou. 
 Meanwhile a drum sounded like the roll of thunder, and 
 the man in green told Hou that it was for the morning 
 session, and that he would have to attend. Leading 
 Hou within he put him in his proper place, and, pro- 
 mising to inquire into the charge against him, went for- 
 ward and whispered a few words to one of the clerks. 
 ‘‘ Oh,” said the latter, advancing and making a bow to 
 the veterinary surgeon, u yours is a trifling matter. We 
 shall merely have to confront you with a horse, and then 
 you can go home again/’ Shortly afterwards, Hou’s 
 case was called ; upon which he went forward and knelt 
 down, as did also a horse which was prosecuting him. 
 The judge now informed Hou that he was accused by 
 the horse of having caused its death by medicines, and 
 asked him if he pleaded guilty or not guilty. “My 
 lord,” replied Hou, u the prosecutor was attacked by the 
 cattle-plague, for which I treated him accordingly ; and 
 he actually recovered from the disease, though he died 
 on the following day. Am I to be held responsible for 
 that ? ’’ The horse now proceeded to tell his story ; and 
 after the usual cross-examination and cries for justice, 
 the judge gave orders to look up the horse’s term of life 
 in the Book of Fate. Therein it appeared that the 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 353 
 
 animal’s destiny had doomed it to death on the very day 
 on which it had died; whereupon the judge cried out, 
 u Your term of years had already expired ; why bring 
 this false charge? Away with you ! ” and turning to 
 Hou, the judge added, u You are a worthy man, and 
 may be permitted to live.” The lictors were accordingly 
 instructed to escort him back, and with them went out 
 both the clerk and the man in green clothes, who bade 
 the lictors take every possible care of Hou by the way. 
 “You gentlemen are very kind,” said Hou, “but I 
 haven’t the honour of your acquaintance, and should be 
 glad to know to whom I am so much indebted •” 
 “ Three years ago,” replied the man in green, u I was 
 travelling in your neighbourhood, and was suffering very 
 much from thirst, which you relieved for me by a few 
 spoonfuls of gruel. I have not forgotten that act.” 
 “And my name,” observed the other, “is Liu-ch‘iian. 
 You once took a splotch of dirt out of my eye that was 
 troubling me very much. I am only sorry that the wine 
 and food we have down here is unsuitable to offer you. 
 Farewell.” Hou now understood all that had happened, 
 and went off home with the two lictors where he would 
 have regaled them with some refreshment, but they 
 refused to take even a cup of tea- He then waked up 
 and found that he had been dead for two days. From 
 this time forth he led a more virtuous life than ever, 
 always pouring out libations to Liu-ch ( uan at all the 
 festivals of the year. Thus he reached the age of eighty, 
 a hale and hearty man, still able to sit in the saddle ； 
 until one day he met Liu-chuan riding on horseback, as 
 
 VOL. II. A A 
 
354 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 if about to make a long journey. After a little friendly 
 conversation, the latter said to him, ‘‘Your time is up, 
 and the warrant for your arrest is already issued ; but I 
 have ordered the constables to delay awhile, and you can 
 now spend three days in preparing for death, at the ex- 
 piration of which I will come and fetch you. I have 
 purchased a small appointment for you in the realms 
 below , 2 by which you will be more comfortable.” So 
 Hou went home and told his wife and children; and 
 after collecting his friends and relatives, and making all 
 necessary preparations, on the evening of the fourth day 
 he cried out， “ Liu-Ch‘iian has come !” and， getting into 
 his coffin , 3 lay down and died. 
 
 2 As the Chinese believe that their disembodied spirits proceed 
 to a world organised on much the same model as the one they 
 know, so do they think that there will be social distinctions of 
 rank and emolument proportioned to the merits of each. 
 
 3 A dying man is almost always moved into his co 伍 n to die ; 
 and aged persons frequently take to sleeping regularly in the coffins 
 provided against the inevitable hour by the pious thoughtfulness of 
 a loving son. Even in middle life Chinese like to see their coffins 
 ready for them, and store them sometimes on their own premises, 
 sometimes in the outhouses of a neighbouring temple. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 355 
 
 CLXIII. 
 
 ANOTHER SOLOMON. 
 
 At T^ai-yiian there lived a middle-aged woman with 
 her widowed daughter-in-law. The former was on terms 
 of too great intimacy with a notably bad character of the 
 neighbourhood ; and the latter, who objected very 
 strongly to this, did her best to keep the man from 
 the house. The elder woman accordingly tried to send 
 the other back to her family, but she would not go ; and 
 at length things came to such a pass that the mother-in- 
 law actually went to the mandarin of the place and 
 charged her daughter-in-law with the offence she herself 
 was committing. When the mandarin inquired the 
 name of the man concerned, she said she had only seen 
 him in the dark and didn’t know who he was, referring 
 him for information to the accused. The latter, on 
 being summoned, gave the man’s name, but retorted the 
 charge on her mother-in-law ; and when the man was 
 confronted with them, he promptly declared both their 
 stories to be false. The mandarin, however, said there 
 was a prwia facie case against him, and ordered him to 
 
 A A 2 
 
35^ STRANGE STORIES 
 
 be severely beaten, whereupon he confessed that it was 
 the daughter-in-law whom he went to visit. This the 
 woman herself flatly denied, even under torture ; and on 
 being released, appealed to a higher court, with a very 
 similar result. Thus the case dragged on, until a Mr. 
 Sun, who was well-known for his judicial acumen, was 
 appointed district magistrate at that place. Calling the 
 parties before him, he bade his lictors prepare stones 
 and knives, at which they were much exercised in 
 their minds, the severest tortures allowed by law being 
 merely gyves and fetters . 1 However, everything was 
 got ready, and the next day Mr. Sun proceeded with his 
 investigation. After hearing all that each one of the 
 three had to say, he delivered the following judgment : — 
 “The case is a simple one; for although I cannot say 
 which of you two women is the guilty one, there is no 
 doubt about the man, who has evidently been the means 
 of bringing discredit on a virtuous family. Take those 
 stones and knives there and put him to death. I will 
 be responsible ’’ Thereupon the two women began to 
 stone the man, especially the younger one, who seized 
 the biggest stones she could see and threw them at him 
 with all the might of her pent-up anger ; while the 
 mother-in-law chose small stones and struck him on non- 
 vital parts . 2 So with the knives : the daughter-in-law 
 
 1 See No. LXXIII., note 2. 
 
 2 The Chinese distinguish sixteen vital spots on the front of the 
 body and six on the back, with thirty-six and twenty non-vital 
 spots in similar positions, respectively. They allow, however, that 
 a severe blow on a non- vital spot might cause death, and vice versd. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 357 
 
 would have killed him at the first blow, had not the 
 mandarin stopped her, and said, u Hold ! I now know 
 who is the guilty woman.” The mother-in-law was then 
 tortured until she confessed, and the case was thus ter- 
 minated. 
 
358 
 
 STRANGE STORIES 
 
 CLXIV. 
 
 THE INCORRUPT OFFICIAL. 
 
 Mr. Wu, Sub-prefect of Chi-nan, was an upright man, 
 and would have no share in the bribery and corruption 
 which was extensively carried on, and at which the 
 higher authorities connived, and in the proceeds of which 
 they actually shared. The Prefect tried to bully him into 
 adopting a similar plan, and went so far as to abuse him 
 in violent language ; upon which Mr. Wu fired up and 
 exclaimed, “Though I am but a subordinate official, 
 you should impeach me for anything you have against 
 me in the regular way ; you have not the right to abuse 
 me thus. Die I may, but I will never consent to degrade 
 my office and turn aside the course of justice for 
 the sake of filthy lucre.” At this outbreak the Prefect 
 
 changed his tone, and tried to soothe him 
 
 [How dare people accuse the age of being corrupt, 
 when it is themselves who will not walk in the straight 
 path.] One day after this a certain fox-medium 1 came 
 
 1 Certain classes of soothsayers are believed by the Chinese to be 
 possessed by foxes, which animals have the power of looking into 
 the future, &c., &c. 
 
FROM A CHINESE STUDIO. 
 
 359 
 
 to the Prefect’s yamen just as a feast was in full swing ， 
 and was thus addressed by a guest : — u You who pretend 
 to know everything, say how many officials there are in 
 this Prefecture.” u One^ replied the medium ; at which 
 the company laughed heartily, until the medium con- 
 tinued, u There are really seventy-two holders of office, 
 but Mr. Sub-prefect Wu is the only one who can justly 
 be called an official.” 
 
APPENDIX A. 
 
 Visitors to Chinese temples of the Taoist persuasion usually 
 make at once for what is popularly known amongst foreigners as 
 the “ Chamber of Horrors.” These belong specially to Taoism, or 
 the ethics of Right in the abstract, as opposed to abstract Wrong, 
 and are not found in temples consecrated to the religion of Buddha. 
 Modern Taoism, however, once a purely metaphysical system, is 
 now so leavened with the superstitions of Buddhism, and has bor- 
 rowed so much material from its younger rival, that an ordinary 
 Chinaman can hardly tell one from the other, and generally regards 
 them as to all intents and purposes the same. These rightly-named 
 Chambers of Horrors 一 for Madame Tussaud has nothing more 
 ghastly to show in the whole of her wonderful collection 一 repre- 
 sent the Ten Courts of Purgatory, through some or all of which 
 erring souls must pass before they are suffered to be born again into 
 the world under another form, or transferred to the eternal bliss 
 reserved for the righteous alone. As a description of these Ten 
 Courts may not be uninteresting to some of my readers, and as the 
 subject has a direct bearing upon many of the stories in the previous 
 collection, I hereto append my translation of a well-known Taoist 
 work 1 which is circulated gratuitously all over the Chinese Empire 
 by people who are anxious to lay up a store of good works against 
 the day of reckoning to come. Those who are acquainted with 
 Dante*s Divine Comedy will recollect that the poet's idea of a 
 Christian Purgatory was a series of nine lessening circles arranged 
 one above the other, so as to form a cone. The Taoist believes 
 that his Purgatory consists of Ten Courts of Justice situated in 
 different positions at the bottom of a great ocean which lies down in 
 
 1 The Yii Li or Divine Panorama. 
 
362 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 the depths of the earth. These are sub-divided into special wards, 
 different forms of torture being inflicted in each. A perusal of this 
 work will shew what punishments the wicked Chinaman has to 
 expect in the unseen world, and by what means he may hope to 
 obtain a partial or complete remission of his sins. 
 
 The 4 4 Divine Panorama^ published by the Mercy of Yu Ti , 2 that 
 Men and Wotnen may repent them of their Faults and viake Atone- 
 ment for their Crimes. 
 
 On the birthday of the Saviour P f u-sa , 3 as the spirits of Purgatory 
 were thronging round to offer their congratulations, the ruler of the 
 Infernal Regions spake as follows : — “ My wish is to release all 
 souls, and every moon as this day comes round I would wholly or 
 partially remit the punishment of erring shades, and give them life 
 once more in one of the Six Paths . 4 5 But alas ! the wicked are 
 many and the virtuous few. Nevertheless, the punishments in the 
 dark region are too severe, and require some modification. Any 
 wicked soul that repents and induces one or two others to do like- 
 wise shall be allowed to set this off against the punishments which 
 should be inflicted •” The Judges of the Ten Courts of Purgatory 
 then agreed that all who led virtuous lives from their youth upwards 
 shall be escorted at their death to the land of the Immortals ; that 
 all whose balance of good and evil is exact shall escape the bitter- 
 ness of the Three States , 0 and be born again among men ; that those 
 who have repaid their debts of gratitude and friendship, and fulfilled 
 their destiny, yet have a balance of evil against them, shall pass 
 through the various Courts of Purgatory and then be born again 
 amongst men, rich, poor, old, young, diseased or crippled, to be 
 put a second time upon trial. Then, if they behave well they may 
 enter into some happy state ; but if badly, they will be dragged by 
 horrid devils through all the Courts, suffering bitterly as they go, 
 and will again be born, to endure in life the uttermost of poverty 
 and wretchedness, in death the everlasting tortures of hell. Those 
 who are disloyal, unfilial, who commit suicide, take life, or disbelieve 
 the doctrine of Cause and Effect , 6 saying to themselves that when a 
 
 2 The Divine Ruler, immediately below God himself. 
 
 3 See No. XXVI., note 5. 
 
 4 See Authors Own Record (in Introduction^ note 26. 
 
 5 The three worst of the Six Paths. 
 
 6 That the state of one life is the result of behaviour in a previous existence. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 363 
 
 man dies there is an end of him, that when he has lost his skin 7 he 
 has already suffered the worst that can befall him, that living men 
 can be tortured, but no one ever saw a man’s ghost in the pillory, 
 that after death all is unknown, etc., etc., — truly these men do not 
 know that the body alone perishes but the soul lives for ever and 
 ever ; and that whatsoever evil they do in this life, the same will be 
 done unto them in the life to come. All who commit such crimes 
 are handed over to the everlasting tortures of hell ; for alas ! in 
 spite of the teachings of the Three Systems 8 some will persist in 
 regarding these warnings as vain and empty talk. Lightly they 
 speak of Divine mercy, and knowingly commit many crimes, not 
 more than one in a hundred ever coming to repentance. Therefore 
 the punishments of Purgatory were strictly carried out and the 
 tortures dreadfully severe. But now it has been mercifully ordained 
 that any man or woman, young, old, weak or strong, who may have 
 sinned in any way, shall be permitted to obtain remission of the 
 same by keeping his or her thoughts constantly fixed on P*u-sa and 
 on the birthdays of the Judges of the Ten Courts, by fasting and 
 prayer, and by vows never to sin again. Or for every good work 
 done in life they shall be allowed to escape one ward in the Courts 
 below. From this rule to be excepted disloyal ministers, unfilial 
 sons, suicides, those who plot in secret against good people, those 
 who are struck by lightning (///. thunder), those who perish by flood 
 or fire, by wild animals or poisonous reptiles 9 — these to pass 
 through all the Courts and be punished according to their deserts. 
 All other sinners to be allowed to claim their good works as a set-off 
 against evil, thus partly escaping the agonies of hell and receiving 
 some reward for their virtuous deeds. 
 
 This account of man J s wickedness on the earth and the punish- 
 ments in store for him was written in language intelligible to every 
 man and woman, and was submitted for the approval of P*u-sa, the 
 intention being to wait the return 10 of some virtuous soul among the 
 sons of men, and by these means publish it all over the earth. When 
 P‘u-sa saw what had been done, he said it was good ; and on the 
 
 7 Lit . — the skin purse (of his bones). 
 
 8 Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism. 
 
 9 Violent deaths are regarded with horror by the Chinese. They hold that a 
 truly virtuous man always dies either of illness or old age. 
 
 10 Good people go to Purgatory in the flesh, and are at once passed up to 
 Heaven without suffering any torture, or are sent back to earth again. 
 
364 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 3rd of 8th moon proceeded >vith the ten Judges of Purgatory to lay 
 this book before God. 11 
 
 Then God said 4 * Good indeed ! Good indeed ! henceforth let all 
 spirits take note of any mortal who vows to lead a virtuous life and, 
 repenting, promises to sin no more. Two punishments shall be 
 remitted him. And if, in addition to this, he succeeds in doing five 
 virtuous acts, then he shall escape all punishment and be born 
 again in some happy state — if a woman she shall be born as a man. 
 But more than five virtuous acts shall enable such a soul to obtain 
 the salvation of others, and redeem wife and family from the 
 tortures of hell. Let these regulations be published in the Divine 
 PaTioravia and circulated on earth by the spirits of the City 
 Guardian. 12 In fear and trembling obey this decree and carry it 
 reverently into effect.” 
 
 THE FIRST COURT. 
 
 His Infernal Majesty Ch*in Kuang is specially in charge of the 
 register of life and death both for old and young, and presides at 
 the judgment-seat in the lower regions. His court is situated in the 
 great Ocean, away beyond the Wu-chiao rock, 13 far to the west 
 near the murky road which leads to the Yellow Springs. 14 Every 
 man and woman dying in old age whose fate it is to be bora again 
 into the world, if their tale of good and evil works is equally 
 balanced, are sent to the First Court, and thence transferred back 
 to Life, male becoming female, female male, rich poor, and poor 
 rich, according to their several deserts. But those whose ^ood deeds 
 are outnumbered by their bad are sent to a terrace on the right of 
 the Court, called the Terrace of the Mirror of Sin, ten feet in 
 height. The mirror is about fifty feet 15 in circumference and 
 hangs towards the east. Above are seven characters written hori- 
 zontally : 一 “ Sin Mirror Terrace upon no good men •” There the 
 wicked souls are able to see the naughtiness of their own hearts 
 
 11 The Supreme Ruler. 
 
 12 See No. I., note 1. 
 
 13 Supposed to be the gate of the Infernal Regions. 
 
 14 Hades. 
 
 Literally, “ ten armfuls." 
 
APPENDIX. 365 
 
 while they were among the living, and the danger of death and hell. 
 Then do they realize the proverb, — 
 
 ** Ten thousand taels of yellow gold cannot be brought away : 
 
 But every crime will tell its tale upon the judgment day. M 
 
 When the souls have been to the Terrace and seen their wicked- 
 nesses, they are forwarded into the Second Court, where they are 
 tortured and dismissed to the proper hell. 
 
 Should there be any one enjoying life without reflecting that 
 Heaven and Earth produce mortals, that father and mother bring 
 the child to maturity — truly no easy matter ; and, ignoring the four 
 obligations, 16 before receiving the summons, lightly sever the thread 
 of their own existence by cutting their throats, hanging, poisoning, 
 or drowning themselves : — then such suicides, if the deed was not 
 done out of loyalty, filial piety, chastity, or friendship, for which 
 they would go to Heaven, but in a trivial burst of rage, or fearing 
 the consequences of a crime which would not amount to death, or 
 in the hope of falsely injuring a fellow-creature — then such suicides, 
 when the last breath has left their bodies, shall be escorted to this 
 Court by the Spirits of the Threshold and of the Hearth. They 
 shall be placed in the Hunger and Thirst Section, and every day 
 from 7 till 1 1 o'clock they will resume their mortal coil, and suffer 
 again the pain and bitterness of death. After seventy days, or one 
 or two years as the case may be, they will be conducted back to 
 the scene of their suicide, but will not be permitted to taste the 
 funeral meats, or avail themselves of the usual offerings to the dead. 
 Bitterly will they repent, unable as they will be to render them- 
 selves visible and frighten people, 17 vainly striving to procure a 
 substitute. 18 For when the substitute shall have been harmlessly 
 entrapped, the Spirits of the Threshold and Hearth will reconduct 
 the erring soul back to this Court, whence it will be sent on to the 
 Second Court, where its balance of good and evil will be struck, 
 
 16 To Heaven, Earth, sovereign, and relatives. 
 
 17 Held to be a great relief to the spirits of the dead. 
 
 18 It is commonly believed that if the spirit of a murdered man can secure the 
 violent death of some other person he returns to earth again as if nothing had 
 happened, the spirit of his victim passing into the world below and suffering all 
 the misery of a disembodied soul in his stead. See No. XL V.， note 8. 
 
366 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 and dreadful tortures applied, being finally passed on through the 
 various Courts to the utter misery of hell. Should any one have such 
 intention of suicide and thus threaten a fellow creature, even though 
 he does not commit the act but continues to live not without virtue, 
 yet shall it not be permitted in any way to remit his punishment. 
 Any soul which after suicide shall not remain invisible, but shall 
 frighten people to death, will be seized by black-faced long-tusked 
 devils and tortured in the various hells, to be finally thrust into the 
 great Gehenna, for ever to remain hung up in chains, and not per- 
 mitted to be born again. 
 
 Every Buddhist or Taoist priest who receives money for prayers 
 and liturgies, but skips over words and misses out sentences, on 
 arriving at this, the First Court, will be sent to the section for the 
 Completion of Prayer, and there in a small dark room he shall pick 
 out such passages as he has omitted, and make good the deficiency 
 as best he can, by the uncertain light of an infinitesimal wick burn- 
 ing in a gallon of oil. Even good and virtuous priests must also 
 repair any omissions they may have (accidentally) made, and so 
 must every man or woman who in private devotion may have 
 omitted or wrongly repeated any part of the sacred writings from 
 over-earnestness, their attention not being properly fixed on the 
 actual words they repeat. The same applies to female priests. A 
 dispensation from Buddha to remit such punishment is put in force 
 on the first day of each month when the names are entered in the 
 register of the virtuous. 
 
 O ye dwellers upon earth, on the 1 st day of the 2nd moon, fasting 
 turn to the north and make oath to abstain from evil and fix your 
 thoughts on good, that ye may escape hell ! The precepts of 
 Buddha are circulated over the whole world to warn mankind to 
 believe and repent, that when the last hour comes their spirits 
 may be escorted by dark-robed boys to realms of bliss and happi- 
 ness in the west. 
 
 THE SECOND COURT. 
 
 His Infernal Majesty, Ch f u Ching, reigns at the bottom of the 
 great Ocean. Away to the south, below the Wu-chiao rocks, he 
 has a vast hell, many leagues in extent, and subdivided into 
 sixteen wards, as follows : 一 
 
 In the first, nothing but black clouds and constant sand-storms. 
 In the second, mud and filth. In the third, chevaux de In 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 3 6 7 
 
 the fourth, gnawing hunger. In the fifth, burning thirst. In the 
 sixth, blood and pus. In the seventh, the shades are plunged into 
 a brazen cauldron (of boiling water). In the eighth, the same 
 punishment is repeated many times. In the ninth, they are put 
 into iron clothes. In the tenth, they are stretched on a rack to 
 regulation length. In the eleventh, they are pecked by fowls. In 
 the twelfth, they have only rivers of lime to drink. In the 
 thirteenth, they are hacked to pieces. In the fourteenth, the 
 leaves of the trees are as sharp as sword-points. In the fifteenth 
 they are pursued by foxes and wolves. In the sixteenth, all is ice 
 and snow. 
 
 Those who lead astray young boys and girls, and then escape 
 punishment by cutting off their hair and entering the priesthood ; 19 
 those who filch letters, pictures, books, etc. entrusted to their care, 
 and then pretend to have lost them ; those who injure a fellow- 
 creature^ ear, eye, hand, foot, fingers, or toes ; those who practise as 
 doctors without any knowledge of the medical art ; those who will 
 not ransom grown-up slave-girls ; 20 those who, contracting marriage 
 for the sake of gain, falsely state their ages ; or those who in cases 
 of betrothal, before actual marriage, find out that one of the con- 
 tracting parties is a bad character, and yet do not come forward to 
 say so, but inflict an irreparable wrong on the innocent one ; 一 
 such offenders, when their quota of crime has been cast up, their 
 youth or age and the consequences of their acts taken into con- 
 sideration, will be seized by horrid red-faced devils and thrust into 
 the great Hell, and thence despatched to the particular ward in 
 which they are to be tormented. When their time of suffering 
 there has expired, they will be moved into the Third Hall, there to 
 be tortured and passed on to Gehenna. 
 
 19 A very common trick in China. The drunken bully Lu Ta in the celebrated 
 novel Shui-Hu saved himself by these means, and I have heard that the 
 Mandarin who in the war of 1842 spent a large sum in constructing a paddle- 
 wheel steamer to be worked by men, hoping thereby to match the wheel-ships of 
 the Outer Barbarians, is now expiating his failure at a monastery in Fukien. 
 Apropos of which, it may not be generally known that at this moment there are 
 small paddle-wheel boats for Chinese passengers, plying up and down the 
 Canton river, the wheels of which are turned by gangs of coolies who perform a 
 movement precisely similar to that required on the treadmill. 
 
 20 In order that their marriage destiny may not be interfered with. It is con- 
 sidered disgraceful not to accept the ransom of a slave girl of 15 or 16 years of 
 age. See No. XXVI., note 8. 
 
368 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 0 ye men and women of the world, take this book and warn all 
 sinners, or copy it out and circulate it for general information ! If 
 you see people sick and ill, give medicine to heal them. If you 
 see people poor and hungry, feed them. If you see people in 
 difficulties, give money to save them. Repent your past errors, 
 and you will be allowed to cancel that evil by future good, so that 
 when the hour arrives you will pass at once into the Tenth Hall, 
 and thence return again to existence on earth. 
 
 Let such as love all creatures endowed with life, and do not 
 recklessly cut and slay, but teach their children not to harm 
 small animals and insects — let these, on the 1st of the 3rd moon, 
 register an oath not to take life, but to aid in preserving it. Thus 
 they will avoid passing through Purgatory, and will also enter at 
 once the Tenth Hall, to be born again in some happy state. 
 
 THE THIRD COURT. 
 
 His Infernal Majesty Sung Ti reigns at the bottom of the great 
 Ocean, away to the south-east, below the Wu-chiao rock, in the 
 Gehenna of Black Ropes. This Hall is many leagues wide, and is 
 subdivided into sixteen wards, as follows : — 
 
 In the first everything is Salt ; above, below, and all round, the 
 eye rests upon Salt alone. The shades feed upon it, and suffer 
 horrid torments in consequence. When the fit has passed away 
 they return to it once again, and suffer agonies more unutterable 
 than before. In the second, the erring shades are bound with 
 cords and carry heavily- weighted cangues. In the third, they are 
 perpetually pierced through the ribs. In the fourth, their faces 
 are scraped with iron and copper knives. In the fifth, their fat 
 is scraped away from their bodies. In the sixth, their hearts and 
 livers are squeezed with pincers. In the seventh, their eyes are 
 gouged. In the eighth, they are flayed. In the ninth, their feet 
 are cut off. In the tenth, their finger-nails and toe-nails are 
 pulled out. In the eleventh their blood is sucked. In the twelfth, 
 they are hung up head downwards. In the thirteenth, their 
 shoulder-bones are split. In the fourteenth, they are tormented 
 by insects and reptiles. In the fifteenth, they are beaten on the 
 thighs. In the sixteenth, their hearts are scratched. 
 
 Those who enjoy the light of day without reflecting on the 
 
APPENDIX A. 
 
 369 
 
 Imperial bounty; 21 officers of State who revel in large emoluments 
 without reciprocating their sovereign’s goodness ; private individuals 
 who do not repay the debt of water and earth; 22 wives and concu- 
 bines who slight their marital lords ; those who fail in their duties 
 as acting sons, 23 or such as reap what advantages there are and 
 then go off to their own homes ; slaves who disregard their 
 masters ; o 伍 cial underlings who are ungrateful to their superiors ; 
 working partners who behave badly to the moneyed partner ; 
 culprits who escape from prison or abscond from their place of 
 banishment ; those who break their bail and get others into trouble ; 
 and those infatuated ones who have long omitted to pray and repent 
 一 all these, even though they have a set-off of good deeds, 
 must pass through the misery of every ward. Those who interfere 
 with another man’s Feng-Shui; those who obstruct funeral obsequies 
 or the completion of graves ; those who in digging come on a coffin 
 and do not immediately cover it up, but injure the bones ; those 
 who steal or avoid paying up their quota of grain ; 24 those who lose 
 all record of the site of their family burying-place ; those who 
 incite others to commit crimes ; those who promote litigation ; those 
 who write anonymous placards ; those who repudiate a betrothal ; 
 those who forge deeds and other documents; those who receive 
 payment of a debt without signing a receipt or giving up the I 0 U ; 
 those who counterfeit signatures and seals ; those who alter bills ; 
 those who injure posterity in any way — all these, and similar 
 offenders, shall be punished according to the gravity of each offence. 
 Devils with big knives will seize the erring ones and thrust them 
 into the great Gehenna ; besides which they shall expiate their sins 
 in the proper number of wards, and shall then be forwarded to the 
 Fourth Court where they shall be tortured and dismissed to the 
 general Gehenna. 
 
 O ye sons of men, on the 8th day of the 2 nd moon, register an 
 
 21 The soil of China belongs, every inch of it, to the Emperor. Consequently ， 
 the people owe him a debt of gratitude for permitting them to live upon it. 
 
 22 Do their duty as men and women. 
 
 23 A Chinaman may have three kinds of fathers ; (1) his real father, (2) an 
 adopted father, such as an uncle without children to whom he has been given as 
 heir, and (3) the man his widowed mother may marry. The first two are to all 
 intents and purposes equal ; the third is entitled only to one year's mourning 
 instead of the usual three. 
 
 24 As taxes. 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 B B 
 
37〇 
 
 APPENDIX A. 
 
 oath that ye will do no evil. Thus you may escape the bitterness of 
 these hells. 
 
 THE FOURTH COURT. 
 
 The Lord of the Five Senses reigns at the bottom of the great 
 Ocean, away to the east below the Wu-chiao rock. His Court is 
 many leagues wide, and is subdivided into sixteen wards, as 
 follows : — 
 
 In the first, the wicked shades are hung up and water is con- 
 tinually poured over them. In the second, they are made to kneel 
 on chains and pieces of split bamboo. In the third, their hands are 
 scalded with boiling water. In the fourth, their hands swell and 
 stream with perspiration. In the fifth, their muscles are cut and 
 their bones pulled out. In the sixth, their shoulders are pricked 
 with a trident and the skin rubbed with a hard brush. In the 
 seventh, holes are bored into their flesh. In the eighth, they are 
 made to sit on spikes. In the ninth, they wear iron clothes. In 
 the tenth, they are placed under heavy pieces of wood, stone, earth, 
 or tiles. In the eleventh, their eyes are put out. In the twelfth, 
 their mouths are choked with dust. In the thirteenth, they are 
 perpetually dosed with nasty medicines. In the fourteenth, it is so 
 slippery they are always falling down. In the fifteenth, their 
 mouths are painfully pricked. In the sixteenth, their bodies are 
 buried under broken stones, &c., the head alone being left out. 
 
 Those who cheat the customs and evade taxes ; those who re- 
 pudiate their rent, use weighted scales, sell sham medicines, water 
 their rice , 25 utter base coin, get deeply in debt, sell doctored 20 
 silks and satins, scrape 27 or add size to linen cloth ; those who do 
 not make way for the cripples, old and young ; those who encroach 
 upon petty trade rights 28 of old or young ; those who delay in 
 
 as Visitors to Peking may often see the junkmen at T 4 ung-chow pouring water 
 by the bucketful on to newly-arrived cargoes of Imperial rice in order to make 
 up the right weight and conceal the amount they have filched on the way. 
 
 26 That is, with a false gloss on them. 
 
 27 In order to raise to nap and give an appearance of strength and goodness. 
 
 28 Costermongers and others acquire certain rights to doorsteps or snug 
 corners in Chinese cities which are not usually infringed by competitors in the 
 same line of business. Chair-coolies, carrying-coolies, ferrymen, &c., also clsiiin 
 
APPENDIX A. 
 
 371 
 
 delivering letters entrusted to them ; steal bricks from walls as they 
 pass by, or oil and candles from lamps; 29 poor people who do not 
 behave properly and rich people who are not compassionate to the 
 poor ; those who promise a loan and go back on their word : those 
 who see people suffering from illness, yet cannot bring themselves to 
 part with certain useful drugs they may have in their possession ; 
 those who know good prescriptions but keep them secret; those 
 who throw vessels which have contained medicine or broken cups 
 and bottles into the street ; those who allow their mules and ponies 
 to be a nuisance to other people ; those who destroy their neigh- 
 bours crops or his walls and fences; those who try to bewitch 
 their enemies, 30 and those who try to frighten people in any way, — 
 all these shall be punished according to the gravity of their offences, 
 and shall be thrust by the devils into the great Gehenna until their 
 time arrives for passing into the Fifth Court. 
 
 O ye children of this world, if on the 18th day of the 2nd moon 
 you register an oath to sin no more, then you may escape the 
 various wards of this Hall ; and if to this book you add examples 
 of rewards and punishments following upon virtues and crimes, and 
 hand them down to posterity for the good of the human race, so 
 that all who read may repent them of their wickednesses — then 
 they will be without sin, and you not without merit ! 
 
 THE FIFTH COURT. 
 
 His Infernal Majesty, Yen Lo, 31 said, — “ Our proper place is in 
 the First Court ; but, pitying those who die by foul means, and 
 should be sent back to earth to have their wrongs redressed, we 
 
 whole districts as their particular field of operations and are very jealous of any 
 interference. I know of a case in which the right of “ sea vengering ’’ a to'vn 
 had been in the same family for generations, and no one dreamt of trying to 
 take it out of their hands. 
 
 29 Chiefly alluding to small temples where some pious spirit may have lighted 
 a lamp or candle to the glory of his favourite P 4 u-sa. 
 
 30 This is done either by making a figure of the person to be injured and burn- 
 ing it in a slow fire, like the old practice of the wax figure in English history ; or 
 by obtaining his nativity characters, writing them out on a piece of paper and 
 burning them in a candle, muttering all the time whatsoever mischief it is hoped 
 will befall him. 
 
 31 Popularly known as the Chinese Pluto. The Indian Yama. 
 
 B B 2 
 
372 
 
 APPENDIX A. 
 
 have moved our judgment-seat to the great hell at the bottom of 
 the Ocean, away to the north-east below the Wu-chiao rock, and 
 have subdivided this hell into sixteen wards for the torment of 
 souls. All those shades who come before us have already suffered 
 long tortures in the previous four Courts, whence, if they are 
 hardened sinners, they are passed on after seven days to this Court, 
 where if again found to be utterly hardened, corruption will over- 
 take them by the fifth or seventh day. All shades cry out either 
 that they have left some vow unfulfilled, or that they wish to build 
 a temple or a bridge, make a road, clean out a river or well, 
 publish some book teaching people to be Wrtuous, that they have 
 not released their due number of lives, that they have filial duties 
 or funeral obsequies to perform, some act of kindness to repay, &c., 
 &c. For these reasons they pray to be allowed to return once more 
 to the light 〇 £ day, and are always ready to make oath that hence- 
 forth they will lead most exemplary lives. We, hearing this, reply, 
 — In days gone by ye openly worked evil, but now that your boat 
 has reached the midstream, ye bethink yourselves of caulking the 
 leak. For although P f u-sa in his great mercy decreed that there 
 should be a modification of torture, and that good works might be 
 set off against evil, the same being submitted to God and ratified by 
 Di\dne Decree, to be further published in the realms below and in 
 the Infernal City — yet we Judges of the Ten Courts have not yet 
 received one single virtuous man amongst us, who, coming in the 
 flesh, might carry this Divine Panorama back with him to the light 
 of day. Truly those who suffer in hell and on earth cannot com- 
 plain, and virtuous men are rare ! But now ye have come to my 
 Court, having beheld your own wickedness in the mirror of sin. 
 No more — bull-headed, horse-faced de\ils, away with them to the 
 Terrace 32 that they may once more gaze upon their lost homes ! J 
 
 This Terrace is curved in front like a bow; it looks east, west, 
 and south. It is eighty-one li from one extreme to the other. The 
 back part is like the string of the bow ; it is enclosed by a wall of 
 sharp swords. It is 490 feet high ; its sides are knife-blades ; and 
 the whole is in sixty-three storeys. No good shade comes to this 
 Terrace ; neither do those whose balance of good and e\il is exact. 
 Wicked souls alone behold their homes close by and can see and 
 hear what is going on. They hear old and young talking together ; 
 
 32 The celebrated ** See-one's-home Terrace." 
 
APPENDIX A. 
 
 373 
 
 they see their last wishes disregarded and their instructions dis- 
 obeyed. Everything seems to have undergone a change. The 
 property they scraped together with so much trouble is dissipated 
 and gone. The husband thinks of taking another wife ; the 
 widow meditates second nuptials . 33 Strangers are in possession of 
 the old estate; there is nothing to divide amongst the children. 
 Debts long since paid are brought again for settlement, and the 
 survivors are called upon to acknowledge claims upon the departed. 
 Debts owed are lost for want of evidence, with endless recrimi- 
 nations, abuse, and general confusion, all of which falls upon the 
 three families 34 〇 £ the deceased. They in their anger speak ill of 
 him that is gone. He sees his children become corrupt, and his 
 friends fall away. Some, perhaps, for the sake of bygone times, 
 may stroke the coffin and let fall a tear, departing quickly with a 
 cold smile. Worse than that, the wife sees her husband tortured 
 in the yamen ; the husband sees his wife victim to some horrible 
 disease, lands gone, houses destroyed by flood or fire, and every- 
 thing in unutterable confusion — the reward of former sins . 35 All 
 souls, after the misery of the Terrace, will be thrust into the great 
 Gehenna, and, when the amount of wickedness of each has been 
 ascertained, they will be passed through the sixteen wards for the 
 punishment of evil hearts. In the Gehenna they will be buried 
 under wooden pillars, bound with copper snakes, crushed by iron 
 dogs, tied tightly hand and foot, be ripped open and have their 
 hearts torn out, minced up and given to snakes, their entrails being 
 thrown to dogs. Then, when their time is up, the pain will cease 
 and their bodies become whole once more, preparatory to being 
 passed through the sixteen wards. 
 
 In the first are non- worshippers and sceptics. In the second, 
 those who have destroyed or hurt living creatures. In the third, 
 those who do not fulfil their vows. In the fourth, believers in false 
 doctrines, magicians, and sorcerers. In the fifth, those who 
 
 33 Regarded by the Chinese with intense disgust. 
 
 34 Father’s, mother’s, and wife’s families. 
 
 35 I know of few more pathetic passages throughout all the exquisite imagery 
 of the Divine Comedy than this in which the guilty soul is supposed to look back 
 to the home he has but lately left and gaze in bitter anguish on his desolate hearth 
 and broken household gods. For once the gross tortures of Chinese Purgatory 
 give place to as refined and as dreadful a punishment as human ingenuity could 
 well devise. 
 
374 
 
 APPENDIX A. 
 
 tyrannize over the weak but cringe to the strong ; also those who 
 openly wish for another’s death. In the sixth, those who try to put 
 their misfortunes on to other people’s shoulders. In the seventh, 
 those who lead immoral lives. In the eighth, those who injure 
 others to benefit themselves. In the ninth, those who are parsi- 
 monious and will not help people in trouble. In the tenth, those 
 who steal and involve the innocent. In the eleventh, those who 
 forget kindness or seek revenge. In the twelfth, those who by per- 
 nicious drugs stir up others to quarrel, keeping themselves out of 
 harm’s way. In the thirteenth, those who deceive or spread false 
 reports. In the fourteenth, those who love brawling and implicate 
 others. In the fifteenth, those who envy the virtuous and wise. 
 In the sixteenth, those who are lost in vice, evil-speakers, 
 slanderers, and such like. 
 
 All who disbelieve the doctrine of Cause and Effect, who obstruct 
 good works, make a pretence of piety, talk of other people’s sins, 
 burn or injure religious books, omit to fast when praying for the 
 sick, interfere with the adoration of Buddha, slander the priest- 
 hood, or, if scholars, abstain from instructing women and children ; 
 those who dig up graves and obliterate all traces thereof, set light to 
 woods and forests, allow their servants to be careless in handling 
 fire and thus endanger their neighbours* property ; those who 
 wantonly discharge arrows and bolts, who try their strength against 
 the sick or weak, throw potsherds over a wall, poison fish, let off 
 guns, catch birds either with net, sticky pole , 30 or trap ; those who 
 throw down salt to kill plants, who do not bury dead cats and 
 venomous snakes deep in the ground, who dig out corpses, who 
 break the soil or alter their walls and stoves at wrong seasons , 37 
 who encroach on the public road or take possession of other 
 people’s land, who fill up wells and drains, &c” &c” 一 all these, 
 when they return from the Terrace, shall first be tortured in the 
 great Gehenna, and then such as are to have their hearts minced 
 shall be passed into the sixteen wards, thence to be sent on to the 
 Sixth Court for the punishment of other crimes. Those who in life 
 have not been guilty of the above sins, or, having sinned, did on 
 
 36 A long pole tipped with a kind of birdlime is cautiously inserted between 
 the branches of a tree, and then suddenly dabbed on to some unsuspecting 
 sparrow. 
 
 37 If this is done in Winter or Spring the Spirits of the Hearth and Threshold 
 axe liabie to catch cold. 
 
APPENDIX A. 
 
 375 
 
 the 8th day of the 1 st moon, fasting, register a vow to sin no more, 
 shall not only escape the punishments of this Court, but shall also 
 gain some farther remission of torture in the Sixth Court. Those, 
 however, who are guilty of taking life, of gross immorality, of 
 stealing and implicating the innocent, of ingratitude and revenge, 
 of infatuated vice which no warnings can turn from its course, 一 
 these shall not escape one jot of their punishments. 
 
 THE SIXTH COURT. 
 
 This Court is situated at the bottom of the great Ocean, due 
 north of the Wu-chiao rock. It is a vast, noisy Gehenna, many 
 leagues in extent, and around it are sixteen wards. 
 
 In the first, the souls are made to kneel for long periods on iron 
 shot. In the second, they are placed up to their necks in filth. In 
 the third, they are pounded till the blood runs out. In the fourth, 
 their mouths are opened with iron pincers and filled full of needles. 
 In the fifth, they are bitten by rats. In the sixth, they are 
 enclosed in a net of thorns and nipped by locusts. In the seventh, 
 they are crushed to a jelly. In the eighth, their skin is lacerated 
 and they are beaten on the raw. In the ninth, their mouths are 
 filled with fire. In the tenth, they are licked by flames. In the 
 eleventh, they are subjected to noisome smells. In the twelfth, 
 they are butted by oxen and trampled on by horses. In the 
 thirteenth, their hearts are scratched. In the fourteenth, their 
 heads are rubbed till their skulls come off. In the fifteenth, they 
 are chopped in two at the waist. In the sixteenth, their skin is 
 taken off and rolled up into spills. 
 
 Those discontented ones who rail against Heaven and revile 
 Earth, who are always finding fault either with the wind, thunder, 
 heat, cold, fine weather or rain ; those who let their tears fall 
 towards the north ; 38 who steal the gold from the inside 39 or scrape 
 the gilding from the outside of images ; those who take holy names 
 in vain, who shew no respect for written paper, who throw down 
 dirt and rubbish near pagodas or temples, who use dirty cook- 
 
 38 I presume because God sits with his face to the south. 
 
 39 Pious and wealthy people often give orders for an image of a certain P ( u-sa 
 to be made with an ounce or so of gold inside. 
 
376 
 
 APPENDIX A. 
 
 houses and stoves for preparing the sacrificial meats, who do not 
 abstain from eating beef and dog-flesh ; 40 those who have in their 
 possession blasphemous or obscene books and do not destroy them, 
 who obliterate or tear books which teach man to be good, who 
 carve on common articles of household use the symbol of the origin 
 of all things, 41 the Sun and Moon and Seven Stars, the Royal 
 Mother and the God of Longevity on the same article, 42 or repre- 
 sentations of any of the Immortals ; those who embroider the 
 Svastika -13 on fancy work, or mark characters on silk, satin, or 
 cloth, on banners, beds, chairs, tables, or any kind of utensil ; those 
 who secretly wear clothes adorned with the dragon and the 
 phoenix 44 only to be trampled under foot, who buy up grain and 
 hold until the price is exorbitantly high 一 all these shall be thrust 
 into the great and noisy Gehenna, there to be examined as to their 
 misdeeds and passed accordingly into one of the sixteen wards, 
 whence, at the expiration of their time, they will be sent for further 
 questioning on to the Seventh Court. 
 
 All dwellers upon earth who on the 8th day of the 3rd moon, 
 fasting, register a vow from that date to sin no more, and, on the 
 14th and 15th of the 5th moon, the 3rd of the 8th moon, and the 
 10th of the 10th moon, to practise abstinence, vowing moreover to 
 exert themselves to convert others, — these shall escape the bitter- 
 ness of all the above-mentioned wards. 
 
 THE SEVENTH COURT. 
 
 His Infernal Majesty, T‘ai Shan, reigns at the bottom of the 
 great Ocean, away to the north-west, below the Wu-Chiao rock. 
 
 40 Primarily, because no living thing should be killed for food The ox and 
 the dog are specified because of their kindly services to man in tilling the earth 
 and guarding his home. 
 
 The symbol of the Yin and the Yang, so ably and so poetically explained by 
 Mr. Alabaster in his pamphlet on the Doctrine of the Ch‘i. 
 
 42 One being male and the other being female. This calls to mind the extreme 
 modesty of a celebrated French lady, who would not put books by male and 
 female authors on the same shelf. 
 
 43 The symbol on Buddha's heart ； more commoniy known to the western 
 world as Thor s Hammer. 
 
 44 Emblems of Imperial dignity. 
 
APPENDIX A. 
 
 377 
 
 His is a vast, noisy Court, measuring many leagues in circum- 
 ference and subdivided into sixteen wards, as follows : — 
 
 In the first, the wicked souls are made to swallow their own 
 blood. In the second, their legs are pierced and thrust into a fiery 
 pit. In the third, their chests are cut open. In the fourth, their 
 hair is torn out with iron combs. In the fifth, they are gnawed by 
 dogs. In the sixth, great stones are placed on their heads. In the 
 seventh, their skulls are pierced. In the eighth, they wear fiery 
 clothes. In the ninth, their skin is torn and pulled by pigs. In 
 the tenth, they are pecked by huge birds. In the eleventh, they 
 are hung up and beaten on the feet. In the twelfth, their tongues 
 are pulled out and their jaws bored. In the thirteenth, they are 
 disembowelled. In the fourteenth, they are trampled on by mules 
 and bitten by badgers. In the fifteenth, their fingers are ironed 
 with hot irons. In the sixteenth, they are boiled in oil. 
 
 All mortals who practise eating red lead 45 and certain other 
 nauseous articles , 46 who spend more than they should upon wine, 
 who kidnap human beings for sale, who steal clothes and ornaments 
 from coffins, who break up dead men’s bones for medicine, who 
 separate people from their relatives, who sell the girl brought up in 
 the house to be their son’s wife, who allow their wives 47 to drown 
 female children, stifle their illegitimate offspring, who unite to 
 cheat another in gambling, who act as tutors without being properly 
 strict, and thus wrong their pupils, who beat and injure their slaves 
 without estimating the punishment by the fault, who regard 
 districts entrusted to their charge in the light of so much spoil, who 
 disobey their elders, who talk at random and go back on their 
 word, who stir up others to quarrel and fight — all these shall, upon 
 verification of their sins, be taken from the great Gehenna and 
 passed through the proper wards, to be forwarded when their time 
 has expired to the Eighth Court, again to be tortured according to 
 their deserts. 
 
 All things may not be used as drugs. It is bad enough to slay 
 birds, beasts, reptiles, and fishes, in order t 〇 prepare medicine 
 for the sick ; but to use red lead and many of the filthy messes in 
 
 45 Supposed to confer immortality. 
 
 46 Unfit for translation. 
 
 47 This is ingeniously expressed, as if mothers were the prime movers in such 
 unnatural acts. 
 
378 
 
 APPENDIX A. 
 
 vogue is beyond all bounds of decency, and those who foul their 
 mouths with these nasty mixtures, no matter how virtuous they may 
 otherwise be, will not only derive no benefit from saying their 
 prayers, but will be punished for so doing without mercy. 
 
 Ye who hear these words make haste to repent ! From to-day 
 forbear to take life, buy many birds and animals in order to set 
 them free , 48 and every morning when you wash your teeth mutter a 
 prayer to Buddha. Thus, when your last hour comes, a good angel 
 will stand by your side and purify you of your former sins. 
 
 Some steal the bones of people who have been burnt to death or 
 the bodies of illegitimate children, for the purpose of compounding 
 medicines ; others steal skulls and bones (from graves) with the 
 same object. Worst of all are those who carry off bones by the 
 basketful, using the hard ones for making various articles and 
 grinding down the soft ones for the manufacture of pottery . 49 
 These, no matter what may have been their good works on earth, 
 will not obtain thereby any remission of punishment ; but when 
 they are brought down below, the Ruler of the Infernal Regions 
 will first pass them from the great Gehenna into the proper wards, 
 and will send instructions to the Tenth Court that when they are 
 born again on earth it shall be either without ears, or eyes, hand, 
 foot, mouth, lips, or nose, or maimed in some way or other. Yet 
 such as have thus sinned may still avoid this punishment, if only 
 they are willing to pray and repent, vowing never to sin again. Or 
 if they buy coffins for the poor and persuade others to do likewise, 
 by these means giving a decent burial to many corpses —then, when 
 the death-summons comes, the Spirits of the Home and Hearth 
 will make a black mark upon the warrant, and punishment will be 
 remitted. 
 
 Sometimes, when there is a famine, people have nothing to eat 
 and die of hunger, and wicked men, almost before the breath is 
 out of their bodies, cut them up and sell their flesh to others for 
 food 一 a horrid crime indeed. Those who are guilty of such prac- 
 tices will, on arrival in the lower regions, be tortured in the 
 
 48 On fSte days at temples it is not uncommon to see cages full of birds hawked 
 about among the holiday-makers, that those who feel twinges of conscience may 
 purchase a sparrow or two and relieve themselves from anxiety by the simple 
 means of setting them at liberty. 
 
 49 Bones are used in glazing porcelain, to give a higher finish. 
 
APPENDIX A. 
 
 379 
 
 various Courts for the space of forty-nine 50 days, and then the 
 judge of the Tenth Court will be instructed to notify the judge 
 of the First Court to put them down in his register for a 
 new birth, _ if among men, as hungry famished outcasts, and if 
 among animals as loathing the food that falls to their let, and 
 by-and-by perishing of hunger. Such is their reward. Besides the 
 above, those who have eaten what is unfit for food and willingly 
 continue to do so, will be punished either among men or animals 
 according to their deserts. Their throats will swell, and though 
 devoured by hunger they will be unable to swallow, and thus die. 
 Those who do not err a second time may be forgiven as they de- 
 serve ; but those who in times of distress subscribe money for the 
 sufferers, prepare gruel, give away rice to the needy, or distribute 
 ginger tea 51 and soup in the open street, and thus sustain life a 
 little longer and do real good to their fellow creatures — all these 
 shall not only obtain remission of their sins, but carry on a balance 
 of good to their account which shall ensure them a happy old age in 
 the life to come. 52 
 
 Of the above three clauses, two were proposed by the officials 
 attached to this Seventh Court, the third by the Chief Justice of the 
 great Gehenna, and the whole submitted together for the approval 
 of God, the following Rescript being obtained : — “Let it be as 
 proposed ; let the three clauses be copied into the Divine 
 Panorama^ and let the officials concerned be promoted or re- 
 warded. Also, in case of crimes other than those already pro- 
 vided for, let such be punished according to the statutes of the 
 Rulers of the Four Continents on earth, and let any evasion of 
 punishment and implication of innocent people be at once reported 
 by the proper officials for our consideration. This from the Throne ! 
 Obey ! ” 
 
 O ye sons and daughters of men, if on the 27th of the 3rd moon, 
 fasting and turned towards the north, ye register a vow to pray and 
 repent, and to publish the whole of the Divine Panorama for the 
 enlightenment of mankind, then ye may escape the bitterness of 
 this Seventh Court. 
 
 so The seven periods of seven days each which occur immediately after a 
 death and at which the departed shade is appeased with food and offerings of 
 various kinds. 
 
 51 To warm them. 
 
 52 When they are born again on earth. 
 
380 
 
 APPENDIX A. 
 
 THE EIGHTH COURT. 
 
 His Infernal - Majesty, Tu Shih, reigns at the bottom of the 
 great Ocean, due east below the Wu-chiao rock, in a vast noisy 
 Court many leagues in extent, subdivided into sixteen wards as 
 follows : — 
 
 In the first, the wicked souls are rolled down mountains in carts. 
 In the second, they are shut up in huge saucepans. In the third, 
 they are minced. In the fourth, their noses, eyes, mouths, &c. are 
 stopped up. In the fifth, their uvulas are cut off. In the sixth, 
 they are exposed to all kinds of filth. In the seventh, their ex- 
 tremities are cut off. In the eighth, their* viscera 53 are fried. In 
 the ninth, their marrow is cauterized. In the tenth, their bowels 
 are scratched. In the eleventh, they are inwardly burned with fire. 
 In the twelfth, they are disembowelled. In the thirteenth, their 
 chests are torn open. In the fourteenth, their skulls are split and 
 their teeth dragged out. In the fifteenth, they are hacked and 
 gashed. In the sixteenth, they are pricked with steel prongs. 
 
 Those who are unfilial, who do not nourish their relatives while 
 alive or bury them when dead, who subject their parents to fright, 
 sorrow, or anxiety 一 if they do not quickly repent them of their 
 former sins, the spirit of the Hearth will report their misdoings and 
 gradually deprive them of what prosperity they may be enjoying. 
 Those who indulge in magic and sorcery will, after death, when 
 they have been tortured in the other Courts, be brought here to 
 this Court, and dragged backwards by bull-headed horse-faced 
 devils to be thrust into the great Gehenna. Then when they have 
 been tortured in the various wards they will be passed on to the 
 Tenth Court, whence at the expiration of a kalpa 54 they will be sent 
 back to earth with changed heads and faces for ever to find their 
 place amongst the brute creation. But those who believe in the 
 Divine Panorama, and on the 1st of the 4th moon make a vow of 
 repentance, repeating the same every night and morning to the 
 Spirit of the Hearth, shall, by virtue of one of three characters, 
 obedient, acquiescent^ or repenta 7 it y to be traced on their foreheads at 
 
 53 Heart, lungs, spleen, liver, and kidneys. 
 
 54 Many millions of years. 
 
APPENDIX A. 
 
 38i 
 
 death by the Spirit of the Hearth, escape half the punishments 
 from the first to the Seventh Court inclusive, and escape this Eighth 
 Court altogether, being passed on to the Ninth Court, where cases 
 of arson and poisoning are investigated, and finally born again from 
 the Tenth Court among mankind as before. 
 
 To this God added, Whosoever may circulate the Divine 
 Panorama for the information of the world at large shall escape 
 all punishment from the First to the Eighth Court inclusive. Pass- 
 ing through the Ninth and Tenth Courts, they shall be born again 
 amongst men in some happy state. 
 
 . THE NINTH COURT. 
 
 His Infernal Majesty, P*ing Teng, reigns at the bottom of the 
 great Ocean, away to the south-west, below the Wu-chiao rock. 
 His is the vast, circular hell of A-pi, many leagues in breadth, 
 jealously enclosed by an iron net, and subdivided into sixteen wards, 
 as follows : 一 
 
 In the first, the wicked souls have their bones beaten and their 
 bodies scorched. In the second, their muscles are drawn out and 
 their bones rapped. In the third, ducks eat their heart and liver. 
 In the fourth, dogs eat their intestines and lungs. In the fifth, they 
 are splashed with hot oil. In the sixth, their heads are crushed in 
 a frame, and their tongues and teeth are drawn out. In the 
 seventh, their brains are taken out and their skulls filled with 
 hedge-hogs. In the eighth, their heads are steamed and their brains 
 scraped. In the ninth, they are dragged about by sheep till they 
 drop to pieces. In the tenth, they are squeezed in a wooden press 
 and pricked on the head. In the eleventh, their hearts are ground 
 in a mill. In the twelfth, boiling water drips on to their bodies. 
 In the thirteenth, they are stung by wasps. In the fourteenth, they 
 are tortured by ants and maggots ; they are then stewed, and finally 
 wrung out (like clothes). In the fifteenth, they are stung by 
 scorpions. In the sixteenth, they are tortured by venomous snakes, 
 crimson and scarlet. 
 
 All who on earth have committed one of the ten gTeat crimes, 
 and have deserved either the lingering death, decapitation, strangu- 
 lation, or other punishment, shall, after passing through the 
 tortures of the previous Courts, be brought to this Court, together 
 
3 8z 
 
 APPENDIX A. 
 
 with those guilty of arson, of making ku poison, 55 bad books, 
 stupefying drugs, and many other disgraceful acts. Then, if it be 
 found that, hearkening to the words of the Divine Panorajna^ they 
 subsequently destroyed the blocks of these books, burnt their 
 prescriptions, and ceased practising the magical art, they shall 
 escape the punishments of this Court and be passed on to the Tenth 
 Court, thence to be born again amongst the sons of men. But if, 
 having heard the warnings of the Divme Panorama, they still 
 continue to sin, from the Second to the Eighth Court their tortures 
 shall be increased. They shall be bound on to a hollow copper 
 pillar, clasping it round with their hands and feet. Then the pillar 
 shall be filled with fierce fire, so as to burn into their heart and 
 liver; and afterwards their feet shall be plunged into the great 
 Gehenna of A-pi, knives shall be thrust into their lungs, they shall 
 bite their own hearts, and gradually sink to the uttermost depths of 
 hell, there to endure excruciating torments until the victims of their 
 wickedness have either recovered the property out of which they 
 were cheated, or the life that was taken away from them, and until 
 every trace of book, prescription, picture, &c. formerly used by 
 these wicked souls has disappeared from th« face of the earth. 
 Then, and only then, may they pass into the Tenth Court to be born 
 again in one of the Six States of existence. 
 
 O ye who have committed such crimes as these, on the 8th of the 
 4th moon, or the 1st or 15th (of any moon), fasting swear that you 
 will buy up all bad books and magical pamphlets and utterly destroy 
 them with fire; or that you will circulate copies of the Divine 
 Panorama to be a warning to others ! Then, when your last 
 moment is at hand, the Spirit of the Hearth will write on your 
 forehead the two words He obeyed^ and from the Second up to the 
 Ninth Court your good deeds will be rewarded by a diminution of 
 such punishments as you have incurred. People in the higher ranks 
 of life who secure incendiaries or murderers, who destroy the 
 blocks of bad books, or publish notices warning others, and offer 
 rewards for the production of such books, will be rewarded by the 
 success of their sons and grandsons at the public examinations. 
 
 55 The following recipe for this deadly poison is given in the well-known 
 Chinese work Instructi 〇 7is to Coroners : — - c< Take a quantity of insects of all 
 kinds and throw them into a vessel of any kind ； cover them up, and let a year 
 pass away before you look at them again. The insects will have killed and eaten 
 each other, until there is only one survivor, and this one is Ku»' 
 
APPENDIX A. 
 
 3幻 
 
 Poor people who, by a great effort, manage to have the Divine 
 Panorarna circulated for the benefit of mankind, will be forwarded 
 at once to the Tenth Court, and thence be born again in some happy 
 state on earth. 
 
 THE TENTH COURT. 
 
 His Infernal Majesty, Chuan Lun , 56 reigns in the Dark Land, 
 due east, away below the Wu-chiao rock, just opposite the Wu-cho 
 of this world. There he has six bridges, of gold, silver, jade, 
 stone, wood, and planks, over which all souls must pass. He 
 examines the shades that are sent from the other courts, and, 
 according to their deserts, sends them back to earth as men, 
 women, old, young, high, low, rich, or poor, forwarding monthly a 
 list of their names to the judge of the First Court for transmission 
 to Feng-tu . 57 
 
 The regulations provide that all beasts, birds, fishes, and insects, 
 whether biped, quadruped, or otherwise, shall after death become 
 chien^ to be bom again for long and short lives alternately. But 
 such as may possibly have taken life, and such as must necessarily 
 have taken life, will pass through a revolution of the WTieel, and 
 then, when their sins have been examined, they will be sent up on 
 earth to receive the proper retribution. At the end of every year a 
 report will be forwarded to Feng-tu. 
 
 Those scholars who study the Book of Changes, or priests who 
 chant their liturgies, cannot be tortured in the Ten Courts for the 
 sins they have committed. When they come to this Court their 
 names and features are taken down in a book kept for the purpose, 
 and they are forwarded to Mother Meng, who drives them on to the 
 Terrace of Oblivion and doses them with the draught of forgetful- 
 ness. Then they are born again in the world for a day, a week, or 
 it may be a year, when they die once more ; and now, having for- 
 gotten the holy words of the Three Religions , 59 they are carried off 
 
 56 He who cc turns the wheel a chakravartti raja. 
 
 57 The capital city of the Infernal Regions. 
 
 58 The ghosts of dead people are believed to be liable to death. The ghost of 
 a ghost is called chien. 
 
 53 On the Three Systems. M See Note 8. Aj>pejidix. 
 
3S4 
 
 APPENDIX A. 
 
 by devils to the various Courts, and are properly punished for their 
 former crimes. 
 
 All souls whose balance of good and evil is exact, whose period, 
 or whose crimes are many and good deeds few, as soon as their 
 future state has been decided, 一 man, woman, beau tifiil, ugly, com- 
 fort, toil, wealth, or poverty, as the case may be, 一 must pass 
 through the Terrace of Oblivion. 
 
 Amongst those shades, on their way to be born again in the world 
 of human beings, there are often to be found women who cry out 
 that they have some old and bitter wrong to avenge, 60 and that 
 rather than be bom again amongst men they would prefer to enter 
 the ranks of hungry devils. 61 On examining them more closely it 
 generally comes out that they are the virtuous victims of some 
 wicked student, who may perhaps have an eye to their money, and 
 accordingly dresses himself out to entrap them, or promises marriage 
 when sometimes he has a ^*ife already, or offers to take care of an 
 aged mother or a late husband’s children. Thus the foolish women 
 are beguiled, and put their property in the wicked man’s hands. 
 By-and-by he turns round upon and regies them, and, losing face 
 in the eyes of their relatives and friends, with no one to redress 
 their wrong, they are driven to commit suicide. Then, hearing 62 
 that their seducer is likely to succeed at the examination, they beg 
 and implore to be allowed to go back and compass his death. 
 Now, although what they urge is true enough, yet that man’s 
 destiny may not be worked out, or the transmitted effects of his 
 ancestors’ virtue may not have passed away; 63 therefore, as a 
 compromise, these injured shades are allowed to send a spirit to the 
 Examination Hall to hinder and confuse him in the preparation of 
 his paper, or to change the names on the published list of successful 
 candidates ; and finally, when his hour arrives, to proceed with the 
 spirit who carries the death-summons, seize him, and bring him to 
 the First Court of judgment. 
 
 Ye who on the 17th of the 4th moon swear to carry out the precepts 
 of the Divine Panorama, and frequently make these words the 
 
 60 Women are considered in China to be far more revengeful than men. 
 
 61 See Author s Ovm Record (in Introduction), note 26. 
 
 6 a While in Purgatory. 
 
 63 It vrs & mentioned above that the rewards for %*irtue would be continued to a 
 man’s sons and grandsons. 
 
APPENDIX A. 
 
 385 
 
 subject of your conversation, may in the life to come be born again 
 amongst men and escape official punishments, fire, flood, and all 
 accidents to the body. 
 
 The place where the Wheel of Fate goes round is many leagues 
 in extent, enclosed on all sides by an iron palisade. Within are 
 eighty-one subdivisions, each of which has its proper officers and 
 magisterial appointments. Beyond the palisade there is a labyrinth 
 of io8,cxx) paths leading by direct and circuitous routes back lo 
 earth. Inside it is as dark as pitch, and through it pass the spirits 
 of priest and layman alike. But to one who looks from the outside 
 everything is seen as clear as crystal, and the attendants who guard 
 the place all have the faces and features they had at their birth. 
 These attendants are chosen from virtuous people who in life were 
 noted for filial piety, friendship, or respect for life, and are sent here 
 to look after the working of the Wheel and such duties. If for a 
 space of five years they make no mistakes they are promoted to a 
 higher office ; but if found to be lazy or careless they are reported 
 to the Throne for punishment. 
 
 Those who in life have been unfilial or have destroyed much life, 
 when they have been tortured in the various Courts are brought 
 here and beaten to death with peach twigs. They then become 
 chien, and with changed heads and altered faces are turned out 
 into the labyrinth to proceed by the path which ends in the brute 
 creation. 
 
 Birds, beasts, fishes and insects, may after many myriads of 
 kalpas again resume their original shapes ; and if there are any 
 that during three existences do not destroy life, they may be born 
 amongst human beings as a reward, a record being made and their 
 names forwarded to the First Court for approval. But all shades 
 of men and women must proceed to the Terrace of Oblivion. 
 
 Mother Meng was bom in the Earlier Han Dynasty. In her 
 childhood she studied books of the Confudan school ; when she 
 grew up she chanted the liturgies of Buddha. Of the past and 
 the future she had no care, but occupied herself in exhorting 
 mankind to desist from taking life and become vegetarians. At 
 eighty-one years of age her hair was white and her complexion like 
 a child’s. She lived and died a virgin, calling herself simply 
 Meng ; but men called her Mother Meng. She retired to the 
 hills and lived as a religieuse until the Later Han. Then, because 
 certain evil-doers, relying on their knowledge of the past, used to 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 C C 
 
386 
 
 APPENDIX A. 
 
 beguile women by pretending to have been their husbands in a 
 former life, God commissioned Mother Meng to build the Terrace of 
 Oblivion, and appointed her as guardian, with devils to wait upon 
 her and execute her commands. It was arranged that all shades 
 who had been sentenced in the Ten Courts to return in various 
 conditions to earth should first be dosed by her with a decoction of 
 herbs, sweet, bitter, acrid, sour or salt. Thus they forgot every- 
 thing that has previously happened to them, and carry away with 
 them to earth some slight weaknesses such as the mouth watering at 
 the thought (of something nice), laughter inducing perspiration, fear 
 inducing tears, anger inducing sobs, or spitting from nervousness. 
 Good spirits who go back into the world will have their senses of 
 sight, hearing, smell, and taste very much increased in power, and 
 their physical strength and constitution generally will be much 
 bettered. But evil spirits will experience the exact contrary of this, 
 as a reward for previous sins and as a warning to others to pray and 
 repent. 
 
 The Terrace is situated in front of the Ten Courts, outside the 
 six bridges. It is square, measuring ten (Chinese) feet every way, 
 and surrounded by 108 small rooms. To the east there is a raised 
 path, one foot four inches in breadth, and in the rooms above- 
 mentioned are prepared cups of forgetfulness ready for the arrival of 
 the shades. Whether they swallow much or little it matters not ; but 
 sometimes there are perverse devils who altogether refuse to drink. 
 Then beneath their feet sharp blades start up, and a copper tube 
 is forced down their throats, by which means they are compelled 
 to swallow some. When they have drunk, they are raised by the 
 attendants and escorted back by the same path. They are next 
 pushed on to the Bitter Bamboo floating bridge, with torrents of 
 rushing red water on either side. Half way across they perceive 
 written in large characters on a red cliff on the opposite side the 
 following lines : 一 
 
 t( To be a man is easy, but to act up to one's responsibilities as such is hard. 
 
 Yet to be a man once again is harder still. 
 
 For those who would be bom again in some happy state there is no great 
 difficulty ; 
 
 It is only necessary to keep mouth and heart in harmony.” 
 
 When the shades have read these words they try to jump on shore, 
 but are beaten back into the water by two huge devils. One has 
 on a black official hat and embroidered clothes ; in his hand he 
 
APPENDIX A. 
 
 387 
 
 holds a paper pencil, and over his shoulder he carries a sharp 
 sword. Instruments of torture hang at his waist, fiercely he glares 
 out of his large round eyes and laughs a horrid laugh. His name is 
 Short Life. The other has a dirty face smeared with blood ; he has 
 on a white coat, an abacus in his hand and a rice sack over his 
 shoulder. Round his neck hangs a string of paper money ; his 
 brow contracts hideously, and he utters long sighs. His name is 
 They have their reward ， and his duty is to push the shades into 
 the red water. The >vicked and foolish rejoice at the prospect of 
 being born once more as human beings ; but the better shades weep 
 and mourn that in life they did not lay up a store of virtuous acts, 
 and thus pass away from the state of mortals for ever . 64 Yet they 
 all rush on to birth like an infatuated or drunken crowd ; and 
 again, in their early childhood, hanker after the forbidden flavours. Cd 
 T hen, regardless of consequences, they begin to destroy life, and 
 thus forfeit all claims to the mercy and compassion of God. 
 They take no thought as to the end that must overtake them ; 
 and finally, they bring themselves once more to the same horrid 
 plight. 
 
 64 That is, go to heaven. 
 
 65 Of meat, wine, &c. 
 
 C C 2 
 
APPENDIX B. 
 
 ANCESTRAL WORSHIP. 
 
 14 The rudimentary form of all religion is the propitiation of dead 
 ancestors, who are supposed to be still existing, and to be capable 
 of working good or evil to their descendants.” 一 Spencer’s Essays. 
 Vol. iii., p. 102. 一 The Origin of Animal Worship. 
 
 BILOCATION. 
 
 “ As a general rule, people are apt to consider it impossible for a 
 man to be in two places at once, and indeed a saying to that effect 
 has become a popular saw. But the rule is so far from being 
 universally accepted, that the word * bilocation * has been invented 
 to express the miraculous faculty possessed by certain saints of the 
 Roman Church, of being in two places at once ; like St. Alfonso di 
 Liguori, who had the useful power of preaching his sermon in 
 church while he was confessing penitents at home •” 一 Tylor’s 
 Primitive Culture. Vol. i., p. 447. 
 
 BURIAL RITES. 
 
 ct Hence the various burial rites — the placing of weapons and 
 valuables along with the body, the daily bringing of food to it, &c. 
 I hope hereafter, to show that with such knowledge of facts as he 
 has, this interpretation is the most reasonable the savage can 
 arrive at.” 一 Spencer’s Essays. Vol. iii., p. 104. — The Origin of 
 Animal Worship. 
 
 DREAMS. 
 
 “ The distinction so easily made by us between our life in dreams 
 and our real life, is one which the savage recognises in but a vague 
 
39〇 
 
 APPENDIX B. 
 
 way ; and he cannot express even that distinction which he per- 
 ceives. When he awakes, and to those who have seen him lying 
 quietly asleep, describes where he has been, and what he has done, 
 his rude language fails to state the difference between seeing and 
 dreaming that he saw, doing and dreaming that he did. From this 
 inadequacy of his language it not only results that he cannot truly 
 represent this difference to others, but also that he cannot truly re- 
 present it to himself.” 一 Spencer’s Essays. Vol. iii., pp. 103,104. 
 
 SHADE OR SHADOW. 
 
 “ The ghost or phantasm seen by the dreamer or the visionary is 
 an unsubstantial form, like a shadow, and thus the familiar term of 
 the shade comes in to express the soul. Thus the Tasmanian word 
 for the shadow is also that for the spirit ; the Algonquin Indians 
 describe a man's soul as otahchuk, * his shadow ; 5 the Quiche 
 language uses natub for * shadow, soul ; * the Arawac ueja means 
 * shadow, soul, image the Abipones made the one word loakal 
 serve for ( shadow, soul, echo, image . 一 Tylor^ Ptimitive Culture. 
 Vol. i., p. 430. 
 
 SHADOW. 
 
 * 4 Thus the dead in Purgatory knew that Dante was alive when 
 they saw that, unlike theirs, his figure cast a shadow on the 
 ground. 55 — Tyl 〇 r ? s Primitive Culture. Vol. i., p. 431. 
 
 THE SOUL. * 
 
 “ The savage, conceiving a corpse to be deserted by the active 
 personality who dwelt in it, conceives this active personality to be 
 still existing, and his feelings and ideas concerning it form the basis 
 of his superstitions. — Spencer’s Essays. Vol, iii., p. 103 . — The 
 Origin of Animal Worship. 
 
 TRANSMIGRATION. 
 
 ^Whether the Buddhists receive the full Hindu doctrine of the 
 migration of the individual soul from birth to birth, or whether they 
 refine away into metaphysical subtleties the notion of continued 
 personality, they do consistently and systematically hold that a 
 
APPENDIX B. 391 
 
 man's life in former existences is the cause of his now being what he 
 is, while at this moment he is accumulating merit or demerit whose 
 result will determine his fate in future lives. 5, — Tylor^ Priinitize 
 Culture. Vol. ii., p. 12. 
 
 TRANSMIGRATION. 
 
 “Memory, it is true, fails generally to recall these past births, 
 but memory, as we know, stops short of the beginning even of this 
 present life.” 一 Tylor 5 s Primitive Culture. Vol. ii., p. 12. 
 
 TRANSMIGRATION. 
 
 “As for believers, savage or civilised, in the great doctrine of 
 metempsychosis, these not only consider that an animal may have a 
 soul, but that this soul may have inhabited a human being, and thus 
 the creature may be in fact their own ancestor or once familiar 
 friend.” 一 Tylor^ Pritnitive Culture. Vol. i., p. 469. 
 
 TREE-SOULS. 
 
 ^Orthodox Buddhism decided against the tree-souls, and con- 
 sequently against the scruple to harm them, declaring trees to have 
 no mind nor sentient principle, though admitting that certain dewas 
 or spirits do reside in the body of trees, and speak from within 
 them.” 一 Tyl 〇 r j s Primitive Culture. Vol. i., p. 475- 
 
 THOS. UE LA RUE AND CO., PRINTERS, BUNHILL ROW, LONDON. 
 
INDEX TO THE NOTES. 
 
 VOL. PAGE 
 
 Abstinence from Wine and Meat 
 
 
 i. 
 
 23 
 
 Actors ... ... ... ... ... 
 
 
 i. 
 
 218 
 
 Adoption "• •" ... ... 
 
 
 i. 
 
 386 
 
 ” 
 
 
 H. 
 
 156 
 
 ” 
 
 
 ii. 
 
 272 
 
 Adulteration ... ... ... ... 
 
 
 ii. 
 
 332 
 
 Age of graduates ... ... ... ... 
 
 
 i. 
 
 345 
 
 Age to marry ... ... ... ... 
 
 
 i. 
 
 H3 
 
 Alchemy ... ... ... ... ... 
 
 
 i. 
 
 65 
 
 ” 
 
 
 ii. 
 
 313 
 
 Alms’-bowl … ... ... ... ... 
 
 
 i. 
 
 246 
 
 ” ... … ... ... ... 
 
 
 i. 
 
 395 
 
 Amusements, Literary ... 
 
 
 i. 
 
 215 
 
 Anatomy, Chinese ... ... ... ... 
 
 
 ii. 
 
 253 
 
 “Angels” of Taoism ... ... ... 
 
 
 i. 
 
 17 
 
 Arbiter of Life and Death ... ... 
 
 
 i. 
 
 226 
 
 Archery ... ... ... ... ... 
 
 
 i. 
 
 91 
 
 Aristocracy, The ... ... ... ... 
 
 
 i. 
 
 186 
 
 Auspicious Sites ... ... ... ... 
 
 
 i. 
 
 336 
 
 Bad Sons ... ... ... ... ... 
 
 
 i. 
 
 147 
 
 ” … ... ... ... … 
 
 
 ii. 
 
 212 
 
 ,, ... ... ... ... ... 
 
 
 ii. 
 
 281 
 
 Bambooing ... ... ... ... ... 
 
 
 i. 
 
 55 
 
 Banquets, Theatrical Entertainments during 
 
 
 ii. 
 
 54 
 
 Beadles ... ... ... ... ... 
 
 
 i. 
 
 17 
 
 Beauty, Chinese ... ... ... ... 
 
 
 ii. 
 
 123 
 
 Beggars ... ... ... ... ... 
 
 
 i. 
 
 246 
 
 Betrothals 
 
 
 i. 
 
 108 
 
 I j • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 
 
 
 i. 
 
 193 
 
 ” 
 
 
 i. 
 
 227 
 
 ••丨 ••• ••• ••• •" 
 
 
 i. 
 
 395 
 
394 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Blowing into meat ... 
 
 Blue China Epoch ... 
 
 Bodhisatva ... ... 
 
 Bridal procession ... 
 
 Bridegroom living in bride's family 
 Brotherly deference . 
 
 ” dependence . 
 
 Brothers having separate establish 
 Brown deer of Formosa 
 Buddha, Repeating the name of 
 “ Bull’s hide” trick, The .. 
 
 Burials 
 
 Burying stray bones, &c. .. 
 Caligraphy ... ... •• 
 
 Capping verses ... .. 
 
 99 • • • • • 
 
 Cat and dog Restaurant .. 
 
 Catalepsy 
 
 Celibacy ... ... .. 
 
 Censorate, The ... .. 
 
 Chai-mui ... ... .. 
 
 Chamber of Horrors .. 
 
 Change of residence .. 
 
 Charitable gifts ... " 
 
 Chess, Chinese ... .. 
 
 Chou, General ... .. 
 
 Chowry ... ... •• 
 
 Clay-image makers ... . 
 
 Clepsydra ... ... .. 
 
 il Climbing trees to catch fish 
 Coffins "• 
 
 ” deposited in Temples 
 ” for poor people 
 ,, Sleeping in 
 Concubines ... ... 
 
 Confucius, Descendants of 
 
 ents 
 
 21528 1 4362221 
 
 I 4 3 I 2 
 
 II 
 
 2 2 46 2 546 451 41 2 32 531 I 
 
 6 388 348 2 970 7742 76 18 4339331 76 I 16 952 776 453 
 0003911296894735 70 72 2 392 342 7740 o 931 593 
 332 31 333331 I I I 3 I 3 23 31 2 2 3 1 I 2 3 3 3 
 
 •• 11 •• !! «1 »1 *1 *1 «1 
 
 
 
 • 1 *1 »1 »1 »1 *1 
 • 1 • 1 • 1 • 1 
 
 
INDEX. 
 
 VOL. 
 
 TAGE 
 
 395 
 
 Conservatism ... 
 
 Contemplation, Priestly 
 Coroners ... ... 
 
 Counting cattle, Method o 
 Cow-herd and the Lady 
 Cricket-fighting ... 
 
 Crows, Feeding the 
 Cumquats ... ... 
 
 Cycle, The Chinese 
 Cynthia, The Chinese 
 Damon and Pythias 
 Death ... ... 
 
 ” Fear of ... 
 
 Death-summons, The 
 Decapitation ... 
 
 Degrees, The three 
 Devils, Good and bad 
 Dice ... ... ... 
 
 Divorce 
 
 Doctors ... ... 
 
 Dogs, Chinese ... 
 
 Dolphin, Fresh- water 
 Double-entendres ... 
 
 Dragon-boat festival 
 Dragons ... ... 
 
 >> •• • ••• 
 
 Dreams ... ... 
 
 Dwarfs ... ... 
 
 Drunkenness... ... 
 
 J9 ••• ••• 
 
 ” • • • ••• 
 
 Eating ... ... 
 
 Education ... ... . 
 
 Elixir of Immortality 
 
 9 f 99 • 
 
 Examinations, Competitive 
 
 >> 99 
 
 9 9 9f 
 
 Eye, Pupils of the 
 
 ^ 54252 2 2 I83I5I55236 1531 2 22 2 2 161 2 12 2 233123 
 
 N I I 
 
 T'^g^ ISO s ISO IOI ISO l aoI Hsg Ies SH^SH xal ss 
 
39 6 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Fa Hsien’s journey ... 
 
 Fabulous Lion ... ... 
 
 Facing the South 
 
 Falconry ... ... ... 
 
 Fan, An Autumn ... ... 
 
 Fantan ••• ••• ••• 
 
 Fatalism ... ... ... 
 
 Feet of betrothed tied together 
 
 Feng-Shui 
 
 Feudal Governor 
 li Fiance,^ Death of a ... 
 
 Figure-head 
 
 Fire-wells 
 
 Flageolets 
 
 Folk-lore in the North and South 
 Fondness for children ... 
 
 Foot-binding ... ... 
 
 Fortune-tellers ... ... 
 
 Foundries, Iron ... ... 
 
 Four Books, The ... ... 
 
 Four Seas, The ... ... 
 
 Fox influence ... ... 
 
 Foxes, Soothsayers possessed by 
 Gambling ... ... ... 
 
 Ganges, The ... ... 
 
 Gates of a city shut at night 
 Oeesc ... ... ... 
 
 “Gentleman，” The Chinese 
 Geomancy ... ... ... 
 
 Oioros .. . ... ... 
 
 Girdles, The pearl ... ... 
 
 Go-betweens ... ... 
 
 God of War, The 
 
 ‘‘Goklen lilies” 
 
 “Golden Orchid” Societies 
 Gongs ... ... ... 
 
 Good fortune, Absorbing only a certain quantity of 
 
 VOL. 
 
 ii. 
 
 ii. 
 
 ii. 
 
 n. 
 
 ii. 
 
 1. 
 
 ii. 
 
 ii. 
 
 i. 
 
 >6 1 2 90 1 
 
 42 2 4441 34 
 
 沾 329 40i i92 2 s 297 ii6 j 4 s i 2ss i68 2 s 283 249 233 i 87 ? i 88 s 342 
 
Graduates by purchase … 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 
 
 VOL. 
 
 i. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 202 
 
 397 
 
 NOTE 
 
 8 
 
 Graduates, Senior ... ... 
 
 
 
 
 i. 
 
 199 
 
 6 
 
 Grave, The ... ... ... 
 
 
 
 
 i. 
 
 24 〇 
 
 6 
 
 Great beam, Fixing the ... 
 
 
 
 
 ii. 
 
 267 
 
 i 
 
 Greed ... ... ... 
 
 
 
 
 ii. 
 
 74 
 
 3 
 
 Han dynasty ... ... 
 
 
 
 
 i. 
 
 258 
 
 i 
 
 Han-lin, The Chinese National Academy 
 
 
 i. 
 
 195 
 
 14 
 
 Heart, The... ... ... 
 
 
 
 
 i. 
 
 96 
 
 5,6 
 
 Homicide ... ... ... 
 
 
 
 
 i. 
 
 353 
 
 2 
 
 Honesty in olden times ... 
 
 
 
 
 ii. 
 
 250 
 
 3 
 
 “ Hsi-y iian-lu, ” The ... 
 
 
 
 
 i. 
 
 98 
 
 8 
 
 “ Hu,” The name ... ... 
 
 
 
 
 i. 
 
 89 
 
 i 
 
 Hue ... ... ... ... 
 
 
 
 
 i. 
 
 397 
 
 2 
 
 Human life, Value of ... 
 
 
 
 
 ii. 
 
 338 
 
 2 
 
 Hungry devils ... ... 
 
 
 
 
 ii. 
 
 270 
 
 4 
 
 Immortality 
 
 
 
 
 i. 
 
 157 
 
 5 
 
 Immortals, Record of the... 
 
 
 
 
 ii. 
 
 88 
 
 4 
 
 Imperial mandates ... ... 
 
 
 
 
 ii. 
 
 240 
 
 4 
 
 Impressment ... .. 
 
 
 
 
 i. 
 
 220 
 
 2 
 
 Infernal Regions ... .. 
 
 
 
 
 ii. 
 
 95 
 
 i 
 
 >> ••• ••• 
 
 
 
 
 ii. 
 
 354 
 
 2 
 
 Inheritance, Law of ... 
 
 
 
 
 ii. 
 
 345 
 
 i 
 
 Initiation of a Priest ... 
 
 
 
 
 ii. 
 
 69 
 
 3 
 
 Inner apartments ... ... 
 
 
 
 
 i. 
 
 53 
 
 2 
 
 >9 ••• ••• 
 
 
 
 
 i. 
 
 252 
 
 i 
 
 »» ••• ••• 
 
 
 
 
 ii. 
 
 46 
 
 3 
 
 Jelly-fish 
 
 
 
 
 ii. 
 
 332 
 
 2 
 
 Judas tree ... ... ... 
 
 
 
 
 ii. 
 
 151 
 
 2 
 
 Judges ... ... ... 
 
 
 
 
 ii. 
 
 96 
 
 3 
 
 Jugglers ... ... ... 
 
 
 
 
 ii. 
 
 189 
 
 5 
 
 Khakkharam, The ... ... 
 
 
 
 
 i. 
 
 395 
 
 10 
 
 Kangs ... ... ... 
 
 
 
 
 ii. 
 
 133 
 
 6 
 
 Keeping secret professional knowledge 
 
 
 
 ii. 
 
 255 
 
 4 
 
 Kidnapping ... ... ... 
 
 
 
 
 i. 
 
 183 
 
 10 
 
 Kite-flying Festival... ... 
 
 
 
 
 ii. 
 
 268 
 
 2 
 
 Knife Hill, The 
 
 
 
 
 ii. 
 
 205 
 
 3 
 
 Kot*ow, The ... ... 
 
 
 
 
 i. 
 
 388 
 
 4 
 
 K‘u-ts‘an ... 
 
 
 
 
 ii. 
 
 255 
 
 3 
 
 Kuan-yin ... ... ... 
 
 
 
 
 i. 
 
 241 
 
 7 
 
 Lanterns, Feast of 
 
 
 
 
 i. 
 
 99 
 
 10 
 
39 s 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Li T f ai-poh ... ... .. 
 
 Lictors ... ... .. 
 
 Lighting the Eyes ... • • 
 
 Lingering death, The 
 Literary chancellor •• 
 
 Literati, The ... .. 
 
 Literature, God of ... .. 
 
 Liu-ch*iian and the melon... 
 
 Living Lictors of Purgator 
 Loans ... 
 
 y, The 
 
 Locusts 
 
 Lohans ... 
 Long Robes . . . 
 Lots, Drawing 
 Love-matches 
 
 Lucifer Matches 
 
 VOL. PAGE NOTE 
 
 ii. 144 2 
 
 ii. 205 i 
 
 ii. 224 5 
 
 i. 396 12 
 
 ii. 284 2 
 
 ii. 36 I 
 
 ii. 320 3 
 
 ii. 351 I 
 
 i. 207 3 
 
 ii. 171 3 
 
 ii. 242 i 
 
 ii. 321 7 
 
 ii. 273 i 
 
 ii. 73 i 
 
 i. 115 7 
 
 ii. 120 2 
 
 Lunatics ... .. 
 
 Lii Tung-pin •• 
 Magic Sword .. 
 Mandarin Dialect .. 
 Manslaughter . . 
 Marriage Ceremonies 
 
 Marriages ... ... .. 
 
 Marrying a second time .. 
 
 Mars, The Chinese ... .. 
 
 Medical testimonials .. 
 Memorial tablet, Inking .. 
 Mercy, The Goddess of •• 
 Messengers of good tidings 
 Milky way, The ... •• 
 
 Miracles ... ... .. 
 
 “ Mirror and Listen ” trick 
 Misappropriation of funds.. 
 Moon, The Goddess of the 
 ” The Lady of the •• 
 Mothers-in-law 
 
 30 2 
 
 296 2 
 
 62 8 
 
 398 4 
 
 222 4 
 
 10 2 
 
 181 9 
 
 227 2 
 
 228 3 
 
 108 3 
 
 193 10 
 
 4 
 4 
 
 292 4 
 
 224 5 
 
 241 7 
 
 252 2 
 
 152 i 
 
 396 13 
 
 251 i 
 
 224 6 
 
 19 2 
 
 19 2 
 
 3!5 2 
 
 112 
 
Mourning for a father 
 Mules ... ... 
 
 Murders 
 
 Names, Family ... 
 
 ” Personal ... 
 
 Night, Divisions of the 
 Nine grades of official life 
 Nunneries ... ... 
 
 Oath of confederation 
 Oblivion, Potion of... 
 Official corruption ... 
 
 ” responsibility 
 
 Officials 
 
 Old age 
 
 Olive, the sign of peace 
 
 Paper men 
 
 ” money ... 
 
 yy yy ••• 
 
 Pao Shu ... ... 
 
 Patra, The 
 
 Pawn-shops ... ... . 
 
 Persia ... ... . 
 
 Phoenix Tower ... . 
 
 Physiognomy, Professors of 
 Planchette ... ... . 
 
 Playing wei-ch H for money 
 Poetical proficiency... . 
 
 Police system ... . 
 
 Politeness ... ... . 
 
 Poor scholars ... . 
 
 Pope of the Taoists 
 
 Porterage 
 
 Posthumous Honours 
 Praying 4or good or bad weather 
 Praying-mat... ... 
 
 Precedence at table 
 Predestination 
 
 Primogeniture 
 
4 〇〇 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Prisoners in China 
 
 
 
 VOL. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 372 
 
 NOTE 
 
 8 
 
 9 9 >> • • • • • •• • 
 
 
 
 ii. 
 
 96 
 
 2 
 
 ，， y f • • • • • • • • • 
 
 
 
 ii. 
 
 261 
 
 I 
 
 P*u-hsien, God of Action 
 
 
 
 ii. 
 
 232 
 
 5 
 
 Pulse, The ... ... ... ... 
 
 
 
 
 39 
 
 4 
 
 Punishments ... ... … 
 
 
 
 i. 
 
 38 i 
 
 5 
 
 Pupils taken by priests ... ... 
 
 
 
 ii. 
 
 119 
 
 i 
 
 Purgatory, Capital of " ... 
 
 
 
 
 238 
 
 i 
 
 Quail-fighting 
 
 
 
 
 75 
 
 2 
 
 Quail’s Tail, A 
 
 
 
 i. 
 
 209 
 
 6 
 
 Rebel, The first ... ... ... 
 
 
 
 ii. 
 
 52 
 
 7 
 
 Red-garment figure, The ... ... 
 
 ... 
 
 
 】•• 
 
 19 
 
 3 
 
 Red-haired barbarians ... ... 
 
 
 
 
 179 
 
 i 
 
 Relationship, Test of ... ... 
 
 
 
 ii. 
 
 278 
 
 4 
 
 Religion and the drama ... ... 
 
 
 
 i. 
 
 345 
 
 4 
 
 Resemblance between soul and body 
 
 
 
 ii. 
 
 280 
 
 i 
 
 Retinues of mandarins ... ... 
 
 
 
 i. 
 
 389 
 
 5 
 
 It 99 ••• ••• 
 
 
 
 ii. 
 
 174 
 
 12 
 
 >> 99 •• ••• 
 
 
 
 ii. 
 
 175 
 
 15 
 
 Returning invitations 
 
 
 
 ii. 
 
 227 
 
 i 
 
 vcn^G ••• "• ••• ••• 
 
 
 
 
 310, 3 H 
 
 2,3 
 
 ” for adultery ... ... 
 
 
 
 
 62 
 
 9 
 
 Reward of filial piety ... ... 
 
 
 
 i. 
 
 351 
 
 2 
 
 Rising when spoken to ... ... 
 
 
 
 ii. 
 
 280 
 
 2 
 
 Roc, The ... ... ... ... 
 
 
 
 
 341 
 
 i 
 
 Rosary, The Buddhist 
 
 
 
 i. 
 
 369 
 
 4 
 
 Royal Mother, The ... ... 
 
 
 
 ii. 
 
 187 
 
 3 
 
 Rulers of animal and vegetable kingdoms 
 
 
 i. 
 
 292 
 
 4 
 
 Running water ... ... ... 
 
 
 
 ii. 
 
 no 
 
 2 
 
 Sacred edict, The ... ... ... 
 
 
 
 
 203 
 
 2 
 
 Sale of children ... ... ... 
 
 
 
 i. 
 
 183 
 
 10 
 
 ” degrees ... ... •• 
 
 
 
 ii. 
 
 170 
 
 i 
 
 Salt monopoly ... ... ... 
 
 
 
 ii. 
 
 215 
 
 I 
 
 ‘‘ Same-year men … ... ... 
 
 
 
 i. 
 
 136 
 
 3 
 
 Saving life ... ... ... ... 
 
 
 
 ii. 
 
 200 
 
 2 
 
 ” ” 
 
 
 
 ii. 
 
 214 
 
 i 
 
 Scribbling and carving names ... 
 
 
 
 ii. 
 
 123 
 
 6 
 
 Sea-serpent, The 
 
 
 
 ii. 
 
 H 3 
 
 i 
 
 Secret societies ... ... ... 
 
 
 
 i. 
 
 196 
 
 i 
 
 Sections of Turgatory, The nine ... 
 
 
 ••• 
 
 ii. 
 
 2 〇 5 
 
 2 
 
INDEX. 
 
 401 
 
 Senses, The five ... ... 
 
 Separation of sexes ... 
 
 Shaking hands ... ... 
 
 ,, ,y ... ••• 
 
 Sham entertainment ... 
 
 Shampooing... ... ... 
 
 ‘‘ Shang-yang ’’ brings rain 
 ‘‘ Shoes” of silver … ... 
 
 Short weights ... ... 
 
 Shun, The Emperor ... 
 
 Shun Chih, The Emperor ... 
 Sickness ... ... ... 
 
 Six Boards, The ... ... 
 
 Slave-girls’ feet ... ... 
 
 Slavery ... ... ... 
 
 Small feet ... ... ... 
 
 ft 99 ••• ••• **• 
 
 ” waists... ... ... 
 
 Sons ••• ••• ••• 
 
 Spirit calling ... ... 
 
 ” entering another’s body 
 Spirits, Disembodied ... 
 
 Spiritualistic seances ... 
 
 Sponge, A ... ... ... 
 
 Spring festival ... ... 
 
 Squeezes ... ... ... 
 
 Staff of Buddhist priests, The 
 
 Stealing, Pardonable ... 
 
 Strong rooms ... ... 
 
 Styx, The ... ... ... 
 
 Subscriptions ... ... 
 
 Substantiality of ghosts ... 
 
 jy 99 ••• 
 
 Substitution theory . . . ... 
 
 Suicide 
 
 ” Meritorious ... 
 
 Superior man, The • 
 
 VOL. 
 
 TAGE 
 
 NOTE 
 
 i. 
 
 259 
 
 2 
 
 ii. 
 
 I67 
 
 I 
 
 i. 
 
 287 
 
 3 
 
 ii. 
 
 
 3 
 
 i. 
 
 323 
 
 8 
 
 ii. 
 
 S3 
 
 8 
 
 ii. 
 
 131 
 
 i 
 
 i. 
 
 148 
 
 4 
 
 ii. 
 
 325 
 
 i 
 
 i. 
 
 37 
 
 3 
 
 ii. 
 
 184 
 
 i 
 
 i. 
 
 107 
 
 i 
 
 i . 、 
 
 26 
 
 i 
 
 i. 
 
 43 〇 
 
 5 
 
 i. 
 
 i. 
 
 211 
 
 76 
 
 8 
 
 i 
 
 i. 
 
 192 
 
 6 
 
 ii. 
 
 47 
 
 5 
 
 i. 
 
 64 
 
 10 
 
 i. 
 
 189 
 
 5 
 
 ii. 
 
 24 
 
 4 
 
 i. 
 
 79 
 
 2 
 
 i. 
 
 119 
 
 9 
 
 i. 
 
 123 
 
 13 
 
 i. 
 
 157 
 
 5 
 
 ii. 
 
 133 
 
 4 
 
 i. 
 
 248 
 
 3 
 
 ii. 
 
 186 
 
 2 
 
 i. 
 
 219 
 
 i 
 
 i. 
 
 395 
 
 10 
 
 ii. 
 
 217 
 
 5 
 
 ii. 
 
 172 
 
 6 
 
 ii. 
 
 216 
 
 2 
 
 ii. 
 
 220 
 
 3 
 
 i. 
 
 239 
 
 4 
 
 
 236 
 
 3 
 
 i. 
 
 334 
 
 8 
 
 i. 
 
 311 
 
 3 
 
 ii. 
 
 142 
 
 i 
 
 i. 
 
 168 
 
 i 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 D D 
 
4〇2 
 
 INDEX- 
 
 VOL. 
 
 PAGE NOTE 
 
 Supernatural government ... . 
 
 Supreme Ruler, The ... . 
 
 Surnames, Common ... . 
 
 Sutra, The Diamond ... . 
 
 Tails of horses not cut ... 
 
 Taking life ... ... ... . 
 
 Talking when born ... ... . 
 
 丁 1 aot ai ••• "• "• • I 
 
 Tartar general ... ... . 
 
 Temples, Repairs to ... .. 
 
 Theatricals ... ... ... . 
 
 Threshing-floors ... ... .. 
 
 Thunder, God of 
 
 t » >9 ••• ••• •• 
 
 Ting P‘u-lang 
 
 Titles of Nobility 
 
 Torture ... ... . . . .. 
 
 ” Supply of instruments of 
 
 Tree worship 
 
 Trousseau, Bride's ... ... .. 
 
 Tung- t‘ing Lake ... ... . 
 
 Types of friendship ... .. 
 
 Tzu-ang, a Chinese Landseer 
 Ulysses, A Chinese... ... .. 
 
 Ushnisha, The ... ... .. 
 
 Valuables in coffins … ... .. 
 
 Verdict ... ... ... . 
 
 Visiting the tutor ... ... .. 
 
 Vital spots on the body ... 
 
 Wang Wei, The poet ... .. 
 
 Washing-blocks ... ... 
 
 Watchmen ... ... ... .. 
 
 Wedding-presents ... ... .. 
 
 "Wei-ch^i ... “• ... . . 
 
 Wen-shu, the God of Wisdom 
 
 White Lily sect 
 
 Widowers ... ... ... .. 
 
 Widows ... ... ... . . 
 
 Windows ... ... ... .. 
 
 6 4-11 
 
 16 4 1 5 4 1 1 
 
 22 086 9 3 498 786 32 95 loo 2 6 16 71 o 1666 95 1800 2 9 3 91 
 941 r J 8 74I 2 2 2 I3 4I CH 08 37576s 92 I 52 *0 41 526 3 6 
 2 2 2 2 2 2 211 2 2 II 3 2 2 2 1 2 33 1 3 1 3 2211 
 
INDEX. 
 
 4 〇 3 
 
 
 VOL. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 NOTE 
 
 W 1H6 ••• ••• ••• ••• ••• ••• 
 
 ... ii. 
 
 259,260 
 
 I, 2 
 
 Wine-cup upside down, Turning the ... 
 
 ... i. 
 
 264 
 
 4 
 
 Wine taken hot ... ... ... ... 
 
 ... ii. 
 
 144 
 
 156 
 
 3 
 
 Witnesses in a court of justice ... ... 
 
 ... ii. 
 
 5 
 
 Women ride astride ... ... ... 
 
 ... i. 
 
 354 
 
 i 
 
 Wooden fish, The ... ... ... ... 
 
 ... ii. 
 
 195 
 
 i 
 
 Works of supererogation ... ... ... 
 
 ... i. 
 
 426 
 
 3 
 
 Worldly-mindedness ... ... ... 
 
 ... ii. 
 
 312 
 
 2 
 
 Wu Wang ... ... ... ... ... 
 
 ... i. 
 
 278 
 
 i 
 
 Y amen ... ... ... ... ... 
 
 ... i. 
 
 3.0 
 
 3 
 
 Yang Ta-hung ... ... ... ... 
 
 ... ii. 
 
 i 
 
 Yang-tsze, The ... ... ... ... 
 
 ... ii. 
 
 176 
 
 i 
 
 Years, Names of ... ... ... .. 
 
 ... i. 
 
 H 3 
 
 5 
 
 Yellow girdles .. ... ... ... 
 
 ... i. 
 
 66 
 
 i 
 
 Yin and the^anjj The ... ... ... 
 
 ... i. 
 
 176 
 
 6 
 
 Yojana, A ... ... ... ... ... 
 
 ... i. 
 
 394 
 
 9 
 
 Yu-chiao-li, The ... ... ... ... 
 
 ... ii. 
 
 164 
 
 3 
 
 D D 2 
 
4〇4 
 
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