In the Ming Dynasty, there was a pair of brothers in Shanxi, Wang Chongwen and Wang Chongwu. Chongwen became a scholar when he was young and he thought he could make rapid advancement in his career, but he failed time by time. In order to begin his official career, he turned to ghosts in hopes of good destiny. At night, Chongwen met a beautiful woman named Meiniang, who claimed to be the daughter of the education official and flee here to find her father after being forced to get married by her stepmother. Hearing this, Chongwen was very happy and hid Meiniang in the study, considering that he could take her to find her father as he took the imperial examination. But it turned out that Meiniang was actually an evil ghost with a painted skin. Chongwen slept with Meiniang, who drank his blood and fished out his heart. Thanks to Chongwu’s master, who arrived after being invited by Chongwu and killed the evil ghost through hardships and difficulties. Finally, Chongwen was back from the death and started a new life.
Strange Tales of Liaozhai contains a total of 491 short stories, all of which are fascinating and colorful, with vivid character portrayal. A lot of the stories are about the worlds of human beings, ghosts and spirits. The most well-known stories include Xiao Qian, Xi Fangping, The Cricket and The Painted Skin etc. These stories are extremely popular and widely spread.
Through the stories of vixen spirits and ghosts, Strange Tales of Liaozhai indirectly reflects the social contradictions and people's thoughts and wishes of the 17th century China. Since the 19th century, the work has been translated into a dozen or so languages, becoming spiritual wealth shared by all people in the world. It’s also been adapted into numerous movies and TV series.
