Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio, Volume 2
Songling Pu
Play
Length 9 h 50 min
Chapters 104
First published 1880
"Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio" or "Strange Tales of Liaozhai" is a collection of nearly five hundred mostly supernatural tales written by Pu Songling during the early Qing Dynasty. It was written in Classical Chinese rather than Vernacular Chinese. Pu is believed to have completed the majority of the tales sometime in 1679, though he could have added entries as late as 1707. He borrows from a folk tradition of oral storytelling to put to paper a series of captivating, colorful stories, where the boundary between reality and the odd or fantastic is blurred. The cast of characters includes vixen spirits, ghosts, scholars, court officials, Taoist exorcists and beasts. Moral purposes are often inverted between humans and the supposedly degenerate ghosts or spirits, resulting in a satirical edge to some of the stories. Ghosts and spirits are often bold and trustworthy, while humans are on the other hand weak, indecisive and easily manipulated, reflecting the author's own disillusionment with his society. ( Wikipedia)
Chapters
1
63 - The Lo-Ch‘a Country and the Sea-market Read by Nick J. Gold 28:11
2
64 - The Fighting Cricket Read by Holly Jenson 11:59
3
65 - Taking Revenge Read by ToddHW 4:12
4
66 - The Tipsy Turtle Read by ToddHW 9:28
5
67 - The Magic Path Read by realisticspeakers 4:21
6
68 - The Faithless Widow Read by Gerwin Kramer 5:17
7
69 - Princess of the Tung-t‘ing Lake Read by Mary Escano 23:29
8
70 - The Princess Lily Read by Christi Lupher 14:11
9
71 - The Donkey’s Revenge Read by James K. White 13:40
10
72 - The Wolf Dream Read by realisticspeakers 10:27
11
73 - The Unjust Sentence Read by realisticspeakers 5:45
12
74 - A Chinese Rip van Winkle Read by James K. White 7:14
13
75 - The Three States of Existence Read by Eva Davis (d. 2025) 7:24
14
76 - In the Infernal Regions Read by Mayah 15:10
15
77 - Singular case of Ophthalmia Read by Holly Jenson 5:31
16
78 - Chou K‘o-ch‘ang and his Ghost Read by Mayah 5:08
17
79 - The Spirits of the Po-yang Lake Read by Mayah 2:11
18
80 - The Stream of Cash Read by Idan M 1:28
19
81 - The Injustice of Heaven Read by realisticspeakers 2:16
20
82 - The Sea-serpent Read by jftocanada 1:36
21
83 - The Magic Mirror Read by James K. White 3:00
22
84 - Courage Tested Read by realisticspeakers 5:24
23
85 - The Disembodied Friend Read by Gerwin Kramer 11:08
24
86 - The Cloth Merchant Read by Kalynda 4:22
25
87 - A Strange Companion Read by Kalynda 1:22
26
88 - Spiritualistic Séances Read by Kalynda 6:16
27
89 - The Mysterious Head Read by Kalynda 1:45
28
90 - The Spirit of the Hills Read by Kalynda 1:37
29
91 - Ingratitude Punished Read by Kalynda 1:40
30
92 - Smelling Essays Read by Kalynda 3:36
31
93 - His Father’s Ghost Read by timli 11:53
32
94 - The Boat-girl Bride Read by Gerwin Kramer 12:02
33
95 - The Two Brides Read by Holly Jenson 11:57
34
96 - A Supernatural Wife Read by Gerwin Kramer 4:45
35
97 - Bribery and Corruption Read by Kalynda 10:41
36
98 - A Chinese Jonah Read by Holly Jenson 2:24
37
99 - Chang Pu-liang Read by Gerwin Kramer 1:48
38
100 - The Dutch Carpet Read by jftocanada 1:28
39
101 - Carrying a Corpse Read by Gerwin Kramer 1:46
40
102 - A Taoist Devotee Read by Gerwin Kramer 1:07
41
103 - Justice for Rebels Read by Gerwin Kramer 1:50
42
104 - Theft of the Peach Read by Gerwin Kramer 5:12
43
105 - Killing a Serpent Read by Gerwin Kramer 3:54
44
106 - The Resuscitated Corpse Read by Kalynda 5:50
45
107 - The Fisherman and his Friend Read by Chee Sing Lee 10:15
46
108 - The Priest’s Warning Read by Gerwin Kramer 2:52
47
109 - Metempsychosis Read by Eva Davis (d. 2025) 5:01
48
110 - The Forty Strings of Cash Read by Gerwin Kramer 2:24
49
111 - Saving Life Read by Gerwin Kramer 2:24
50
112 - The Salt Smuggler Read by Gerwin Kramer 5:05
51
113 - Collecting Subscriptions Read by jftocanada 7:20
52
114 - Taoist Miracles Read by Eva Davis (d. 2025) 6:21
53
115 - Arrival of Buddhist Priests Read by Kalynda 3:26
54
116 - The Stolen Eyes Read by Gerwin Kramer 2:01
55
117 - The Invisible Priest Read by Gerwin Kramer 3:15
56
118 - The Censor in Purgatory Read by Gerwin Kramer 4:58
57
119 - Mr. Willow and the Locusts Read by jftocanada 3:01
58
120 - Mr. Tung; or, Virtue Rewarded Read by Gerwin Kramer 3:32
59
121 - The Dead Priest Read by Gerwin Kramer 2:19
60
122 - The Flying Cow Read by jftocanada 1:57
61
123 - The ''Mirror and Listen'' Trick Read by Gerwin Kramer 2:44
62
124 - The Cattle Plague Read by Gerwin Kramer 4:58
63
125 - The Marriage of the Virgin Goddess Read by Gerwin Kramer 2:52
64
126 - The Wine Insect Read by Harry Benjamin 3:19
65
127 - The Faithful Dog Read by realisticspeakers 2:43
66
128 - An Earthquake Read by Kalynda 2:11
67
129 - Making Animals Read by Mayah 3:11
68
130 - Cruelty Avenged Read by Gerwin Kramer 1:45
69
131 - The Wei-ch‘i Devil Read by Kalynda 5:48
70
132 - The Fortune-hunter Punished Read by Chuck Williamson 2:18
71
133 - Life Prolonged Read by Gerwin Kramer 4:04
72
134 - The Clay Image Read by Gerwin Kramer 4:22
73
135 - Dishonesty Punished Read by ToddHW 4:08
74
136 - The Mad Priest Read by Chuck Williamson 4:37
75
137 - Feasting the Ruler of Purgatory Read by Christi Lupher 3:18
76
138 - The Picture Horse Read by Christi Lupher 3:44
77
139 - The Butterfly’s Revenge Read by Nemo 1:58
78
140 - The Doctor Read by Gerwin Kramer 4:12
79
141 - Snow in Summer Read by jftocanada 1:18
80
142 - Planchette Read by timli 7:10
81
143 - Friendship with Foxes Read by timli 5:15
82
144 - The Great Rat Read by Chuck Williamson 2:36
83
145 - Wolves Read by Nemo 2:51
84
146 - Singular Verdict Read by Gerwin Kramer 1:46
85
147 - The Grateful Dog Read by Nemo 2:52
86
148 - The Great Test Read by timli 4:03
87
149 - The Alchemist Read by timli 8:58
88
150 - Raising the Dead Read by timli 7:24
89
151 - Fêng-shui Read by timli 5:06
90
152 - The Lingering Death Read by Nemo 2:06
91
153 - Dreaming Honours Read by ToddHW 3:37
92
154 - The She-wolf and the Herd-boys Read by Gerwin Kramer 2:03
93
155 - Adulteration Punished Read by ToddHW 3:10
94
156 - A Chinese Solomon Read by ToddHW 6:18
95
157 - The Roc Read by Nemo 2:28
96
158 - The Faithful Gander Read by jftocanada 1:51
97
159 - The Elephants and the Lion Read by Gerwin Kramer 2:20
98
160 - The Hidden Treasure Read by ysevechan 4:27
99
161 - The Boatmen of Lao-lung Read by Gerwin Kramer 3:53
100
162 - The Pious Surgeon Read by Eva Davis (d. 2025) 5:19
101
163 - Another Solomon Read by Eva Davis (d. 2025) 3:26
102
164 - The Incorrupt Official Read by Gerwin Kramer 2:09
103
Appendix A Part I - Taoist Temples Read by realisticspeakers 9:29
104
Appendix A Part II - The Ten Courts of Justice Read by realisticspeakers 1:04:12
From LibriVox, read by volunteers and in the public domain. LibriVox page (opens librivox.org) , the text (opens gutenberg.org) , all files on the Internet Archive (opens archive.org) .
