Selections from Strange Tales from the Liaozhai Studio in the four volume hardback book from Library of Chinese Classics. This books are in English and simplified Chinese and is a wonderful addition to any library. Selections from Strange Tales from the Liaozhai Studio was published by the Foreign Languages Press in 2007 and there are over 2000 pages.
Strange Tales from the Liaozhai Studio
Strange Tales from the Liaozhai Studio was written by Pu Songling (1640-1715) in the Qing Dynasty. Based on folk tales, the work is unique in Chinese literature. Its nearly 500 tales conjure up a fanciful world of men, ghosts, spirits and monsters. Pu Songling vividly depicts a group of “Liaozhai Studio” characters with his superb grasp of descriptive and concise writing. The strange tales are satirical and mix the supernatural with the ordinary. Enriched by the author’s powerful imagination, Strange Tales from the Liaozhai Studio is a true treasure in Chinese literature. This Chinese-English version is based on Zhang Youhe’s edited Chinese text.
Selections from Strange Tales from the Liaozhai Studio is part of Library of Chinese Classics and there are over 85 books in the series so far. Library of Chinese Classics is a ‘mirror’ format which means that there is a page of Chinese followed by a page of English. As they are bilingual, the books are extremely suitable for Western readers interested in Chinese culture, people learning Chinese and native Chinese readers who want to read an accessible version of the classics. Since their publication, they have been immensely popular and Library of Chinese Classics has also been translated into Spanish, French, German, Russian and Arabic.