"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 28 min 2 64 - The Fighting Cricket 12 min 3 65 - Taking Revenge 4 min 4 66 - The Tipsy Turtle 9 min 5 67 - The Magic Path 4 min 6 68 - The Faithless Widow 5 min 7 69 - Princess of the Tung-t‘ing Lake 23 min 8 70 - The Princess Lily 14 min 9 71 - The Donkey's Revenge 14 min 10 72 - The Wolf Dream 10 min 11 73 - The Unjust Sentence 6 min 12 74 - A Chinese Rip van Winkle 7 min 13 75 - The Three States of Existence 7 min 14 76 - In the Infernal Regions 15 min 15 77 - Singular case of Ophthalmia 6 min 16 78 - Chou K‘o-ch‘ang and his Ghost 5 min 17 79 - The Spirits of the Po-yang Lake 2 min 18 80 - The Stream of Cash 1 min 19 81 - The Injustice of Heaven 2 min 20 82 - The Sea-serpent 2 min 21 83 - The Magic Mirror 3 min 22 84 - Courage Tested 5 min 23 85 - The Disembodied Friend 11 min 24 86 - The Cloth Merchant 4 min 25 87 - A Strange Companion 1 min 26 88 - Spiritualistic Séances 6 min 27 89 - The Mysterious Head 2 min 28 90 - The Spirit of the Hills 2 min 29 91 - Ingratitude Punished 2 min 30 92 - Smelling Essays 4 min 31 93 - His Father's Ghost 12 min 32 94 - The Boat-girl Bride 12 min 33 95 - The Two Brides 12 min 34 96 - A Supernatural Wife 5 min 35 97 - Bribery and Corruption 11 min 36 98 - A Chinese Jonah 2 min 37 99 - Chang Pu-liang 2 min 38 100 - The Dutch Carpet 1 min 39 101 - Carrying a Corpse 2 min 40 102 - A Taoist Devotee 1 min 41 103 - Justice for Rebels 2 min 42 104 - Theft of the Peach 5 min 43 105 - Killing a Serpent 4 min 44 106 - The Resuscitated Corpse 6 min 45 107 - The Fisherman and his Friend 10 min 46 108 - The Priest's Warning 3 min 47 109 - Metempsychosis 5 min 48 110 - The Forty Strings of Cash 2 min 49 111 - Saving Life 2 min 50 112 - The Salt Smuggler 5 min 51 113 - Collecting Subscriptions 7 min 52 114 - Taoist Miracles 6 min 53 115 - Arrival of Buddhist Priests 3 min 54 116 - The Stolen Eyes 2 min 55 117 - The Invisible Priest 3 min 56 118 - The Censor in Purgatory 5 min 57 119 - Mr. Willow and the Locusts 3 min 58 120 - Mr. Tung; or, Virtue Rewarded 4 min 59 121 - The Dead Priest 2 min 60 122 - The Flying Cow 2 min 61 123 - The ''Mirror and Listen'' Trick 3 min 62 124 - The Cattle Plague 5 min 63 125 - The Marriage of the Virgin Goddess 3 min 64 126 - The Wine Insect 3 min 65 127 - The Faithful Dog 3 min 66 128 - An Earthquake 2 min 67 129 - Making Animals 3 min 68 130 - Cruelty Avenged 2 min 69 131 - The Wei-ch‘i Devil 6 min 70 132 - The Fortune-hunter Punished 2 min 71 133 - Life Prolonged 4 min 72 134 - The Clay Image 4 min 73 135 - Dishonesty Punished 4 min 74 136 - The Mad Priest 5 min 75 137 - Feasting the Ruler of Purgatory 3 min 76 138 - The Picture Horse 4 min 77 139 - The Butterfly's Revenge 2 min 78 140 - The Doctor 4 min 79 141 - Snow in Summer 1 min 80 142 - Planchette 7 min 81 143 - Friendship with Foxes 5 min 82 144 - The Great Rat 3 min 83 145 - Wolves 3 min 84 146 - Singular Verdict 2 min 85 147 - The Grateful Dog 3 min 86 148 - The Great Test 4 min 87 149 - The Alchemist 9 min 88 150 - Raising the Dead 7 min 89 151 - Fêng-shui 5 min 90 152 - The Lingering Death 2 min 91 153 - Dreaming Honours 4 min 92 154 - The She-wolf and the Herd-boys 2 min 93 155 - Adulteration Punished 3 min 94 156 - A Chinese Solomon 6 min 95 157 - The Roc 2 min 96 158 - The Faithful Gander 2 min 97 159 - The Elephants and the Lion 2 min 98 160 - The Hidden Treasure 4 min 99 161 - The Boatmen of Lao-lung 4 min 100 162 - The Pious Surgeon 5 min 101 163 - Another Solomon 3 min 102 164 - The Incorrupt Official 2 min 103 Appendix A Part I - Taoist Temples 9 min 104 Appendix A Part II - The Ten Courts of Justice 1 h 4 min
