Цин әулетінің әңгімелер жинағы: 聊齋志異

Qing dynasty book of short stories

Liaozhai zhiyi, sometimes shortened to Liaozhai, known in English as Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio, Strange Tales from Make Do Studio, or literally Strange Tales from a Studio of Leisure, is a collection of Classical Chinese stories by Qing dynasty writer Pu Songling, comprising close to 500 stories or "marvel tales" in the zhiguai and chuanqi styles, which according to some critics, served to implicitly criticise societal problems. Written over a period of forty years from the late 1600s and ending in the early 1700s, it circulated in manuscripts that were copied and recopied among the author's friends but did not appear in print until 1766. Since then, many of the critically lauded stories have been adapted for other media such as film and television.

Pu assembled the nearly five hundred short and lengthy tales over a period of forty years between the early 1670s and the early 1700s. As was the convention of his time, Pu titled his work using the sobriquet Liaozhai (聊齋), translated into English as the "Studio of Conversation" or "Studio of Leisure". The scholar Zhang Peiheng (章培恒) writes that the original Liaozhai comprised eight volumes, the earliest completed around 1681 and the latest completed between 1707 and 1714. The compilation was first circulated in scribal copies but it was not published until after the author's death in 1715. Around 1693, Shandong financial commissioner Yu Chenglong reportedly offered Pu a thousand taels in exchange for his Liaozhai manuscript, but Pu declined his offer. The final manuscript was "carefully preserved" by the Pu family after his death, with many different individuals, including the local magistrate, requesting to make copies of it. The earliest surviving print version of Liaozhai was printed in 1766 in Hangzhou by publisher Zhao Qigao (趙起杲), who claimed that Pu originally intended for his anthology to be titled Tales of Ghosts and Foxes (鬼狐傳). Although Zhao also alleged that his publication was based on the "original manuscript" as was copied by a friend, it did not contain all the stories found in the original manuscript; in the preface to his publication, he writes, "I have expunged simple and brief notes which are dull and commonplace, forty eight in all." Moreover, Zhao censored stories that had "brief references to sensitive topics". Nonetheless, the Zhao edition was well received and was first republished by scholar Li Shixian (李時憲) in 1767. At some point after 1871, Pu Jieren (普价人), a seventh generation descendant of Pu Songling, had the original manuscript, which was reportedly made up of twenty volumes, rebound in eight volumes. They were then kept in two boxes, one of which disappeared "under circumstances which are still obscure". In 1950, the Pu family donated the surviving four volumes, which contained some 237 short stories, to the Liaoning Provincial Library.

Unlike much Chinese and Western horror fiction, the "scary stories" in Liaozhai are not intended to be frightening, but to blur the borders between the supernatural and everyday reality, using physical and psychological detail to make the move between these realms seem natural. These tales, which are "works rich in romanticism", explore the philosophical concept of qing (情), the passionate and emotional entanglement of the world, be it human or supernatural.

Liaozhai zhiyi is the most acclaimed Chinese "supernatural tales" collection since the three major Ming dynasty hua (話) collections, which are the Jiandeng Xinhua (剪燈新話) by Qu You, the Jiandeng Yuhua (剪燈餘話) by Li Changqi, and the Mideng Yinhua (覓燈因話) by Shao Jingzhan; these three had a far reaching impact across East Asia. Early commentary on Liaozhai regarded it as a "superior but typical example" of the zhiguai genre. Subsequent critics and writers disagreed with such a view, instead focusing on the allegorical nature of the stories instead; for instance, Yu Ji, who was Zhao Qigao's secretary, wrote in his preface to Zhao's edition of Liaozhai: " saying that it differs little from collections of rare phenomena or strange tales is a very shallow view and one that greatly contradicts the author's intent." Pu's grandson, Pu Lide (蒲立德), viewed the work as "an act of serious self expression". Still later critics in the nineteenth century focused on the "literary style and narrative technique" of Liaozhai. Qing dynasty critic Dan Minglun (但明倫) writes in the preface to his 1842 interlinear commentary of Liaozhai: "From Liaozhai, I also gained insight into literary methods." Around the same period, Liaozhai also attracted critical attention from Western writers, for example, Samuel Wells Williams mentioned Liaozhai in his writings as "a perfect work with pure language and elegant style" and its "beautiful writing style" has also received praises from the likes of William Frederick Mayers and Karl Gützlaff. Since the 20th century, its literary status was further elevated. Guo Moruo said of Liaozhai that "The writing of ghosts and demons is superior to all others; the satire on corruption and tyranny is penetrating to the marrow." Yuken Fujita of Keio University wrote in 1954 that "Among the many literary works that are descended from ancient Chinese fiction [i. e. Bowuzhi, Soushen Ji, Shishuo Xinyu, Lieyi Zhuan, Shi Yi Ji, etc. ], it [Liaozhai] has already established a reputation as the most outstanding short story collection." Hiromasa Imai describes Liaozhai as "the pinnacle of ghost literature." Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio was also listed by Jorge Luis Borges as one of his favorite books.