Book cover of Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio

Book description

The Strange Tales of Pu Songling (1640-1715) are exquisite and amusing miniatures that are regarded as the pinnacle of classical Chinese fiction. With their elegant prose, witty wordplay and subtle charm, the 104 stories in this selection reveal a world in which nothing is as it seems. Here a Taoist…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

This is said to be published in 1740 and holds close to 500 supernatural stories in its collection dating back to the Qing Dynasty.

My son has a love for ancient Chinese history and its legends, both historic and mystical. This is one of the collections I discovered through him. 

These Chinese classics let me experience what daily life might have been in this time period while weaving a remarkable landscape of mythical creatures and spirits that communicate with the humans of the day. Like all lasting fairy tales, it offers, in gorgeous poetic style, the themes of justice, corruption,…

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