Stories from a Chinese Studio
A podcast on Chinese literature, history, society and culture
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Monday Aug 31, 2020
Monday Aug 31, 2020
So last time we discussed how in Pu Songling’s Liaozhai Zhiyi there are foxes that change into human form and how there are foxes that just stay in their animal form. In fact, the startling “humanness” of a fox appearance is consistent also across many Tang Chuanqi stories too. As we explore these fox stories, they can tell you much about Tang society.
Sunday Aug 16, 2020
Sunday Aug 16, 2020
Where should we start then? It would be interesting to start with stories from Pu Songling and his very famous collection of short stories called Liaozhai Zhiyi, which has enjoyed quite a literary afterlife following its completion around 1705. To explore his stories of the strange, these tales of were-beasts, is to understand what it means to be human.