Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio
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.
A 1935 edition of Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio
A depiction of the story "Luo Zu", from an illustrated edition located in the National Museum of China
The Scholar Meets the Fairy (秀才遇仙記), a Yue opera based on "Zhang Hongjian", Nanjing, 5 May 2019
Capturing Shi Huaiyu Alive (活捉石懷玉), a Sichuan opera based on "Wu Xiaolian" (武孝廉), Shanghai, 10 June 2016
Pu Songling was a Chinese writer during the Qing dynasty, best known as the author of Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio.
Pu Songling