Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio

[MementoMori]

I've read that this collection of stories was a favourite of both Kafka's and Borges's and was wondering if anyone could tell me more about it.

[JBI]

I've read that this collection of stories was a favourite of both Kafka's and Borges's and was wondering if anyone could tell me more about it.

Pu Songling was a failed imperial exam candidate, and his stories reflect a kind of fantasy in the scholar class of the Qing time frame. So you have the aspiring scholar encountering sexual spirits and things. If you want to see a decent adaptation, get yourself on the old hong kong version of A Chinese Ghost Story (a film). There is a new one out, but it is not as much fun as the old one.

[Calidore]

Now I need to pull out that DVD and watch it again. Terrific movie. JBI, do the stories this was based on exist in English, and would you recommend them?

[mortalterror]

I read a bit of it two or three years ago. If I'm remembering it right there was some cool horror stuff like a corpse chasing a dude and then him getting away because her huge sharp nails got caught in a door or a fence post or something. That one seemed like the sort of stuff nineteenth century Europeans were writing even though it predates that. I think there was also like a story where a guy goes into a painting where there's a beautiful woman, and that is more like the fairy stories of the Renaissance. Although I may be mixing the last one up with other Chinese short stories I was reading around that time (Feng Menglong, etc.). My recollection is that the short stories were really really short, like maybe not even five pages long. Not a lot of development, but no messing around and fat on them either. They'd get to the point tell their story and move onto another; so there was a quick pace and lots of variety.

[JBI]

The most famous ones are ones that deal with Fox women who steal the souls of men and things that. The Movie Painted Skin was also based on one of these tales. They are meant to be read as tales, mind you, not short stories, so they are more like Boccaccio than Chekhov.

[mortalterror]

The most famous ones are ones that deal with Fox women who steal the souls of men and things that. The Movie Painted Skin was also based on one of these tales. They are meant to be read as tales, mind you, not short stories, so they are more like Boccaccio than Chekhov.

Yeah, I seem to remember a bunch of fox stories in the Chinese short stories I've read. Another thing that stood out was how their stories are always about young scholars, whereas in the west the same kind of story would be about a prince. If it's a happy story, the scholar always scores the highest in his placement test and receives a prestigious post in the government.

[Drkshadow03]

They are meant to be read as tales, mind you, not short stories, so they are more like Boccaccio than Chekhov.

I'm curious. What characteristics would you use to distinguish a tale versus a short story? I would think the terms could be used interchangeably, unless the tale is qualified with fairy, folk, tall, etc.

[cafolini]

The most famous ones are ones that deal with Fox women who steal the souls of men and things that. The Movie Painted Skin was also based on one of these tales. They are meant to be read as tales, mind you, not short stories, so they are more like Boccaccio than Chekhov.

Definitely.