Ghosts and Monsters in the Capital (Five Items)

Chen HengqingNanhai Publication Company · ChinaJun 2024

Rating 3.4
Word count
1.4K words
Chapters
2

Tags

Classic Works Suspense ThrillerHuman NaturePopular NarrativeFolk CustomsFolk Legend

Summary

Inside Zhengyang Gate, on the south side of Songshu Hutong, there was a house that had long stood locked, with no one willing to rent it; rumor had it that ghosts haunted the place. A certain official of the capital, tempted by the cheap rent, took the house. A few days after moving in, a maidservant went to the privy after the third watch and saw a middle-aged woman there as well, who urged her to hang herself, saying: "Put the cord around your neck, and you will at once ascend to the ranks of the immortals, enjoy the pure bliss of Heaven, and be as far removed from the lot of mortals who toil and run errands and eat coarse fare as heaven is from earth." In her bewilderment the maidservant took this to be deeply true. Just as she was fastening the cord to the door, another middle-aged woman appeared and disputed with the first, saying: "This one is to take my place; I was the first to hang." As they wrangled, three more women appeared—one young, two middle-aged—and all fell to arguing, nor could their quarrel be resolved. Presently a single crow of a cock sounded, and the five ghosts vanished without trace. The maidservant's senses somewhat returned, and in the end she did not die. The saying goes: "One state, three lords—whom am I to follow?" This illustrates the ruin that comes of divided authority, and the harm of contention without yielding. A certain clerk of the Board of War did not go to his office for several days, and his colleagues, suspecting illness, went to look in on him. They knocked, and the clerk came out to greet them, followed by a small dog. His colleagues asked: "Why have you not been to the office these several days?" The clerk replied: "These days there is sorcery about my house; chickens and ducks all speak with human voices—only this dog has not yet spoken." The dog suddenly rose up on its hind legs like a man and said: "This humble one dares not." His colleagues said: "This is a truly strange business; move your household at once, and do not lodge here." Thereupon the whole family moved out. Before many days had passed, the house was destroyed by fire, and they escaped only because they had moved. For this man did good and planted blessings, and the fire god had first made use of creatures to warn him.

Editor's review

"Ghosts and Strange Tales of the Capital (Five Pieces)" records odd happenings in the mansions of the capital in the manner of notebook fiction; the pieces are brief but complete in plot. The first tells of five ghosts in an empty house contending over a substitute and of a maidservant saved from hanging, using the ghostly affair to lead into a discussion of "divided authority and contention without yielding"; the second tells of a clerk of the Board of War whose chickens and ducks speak with human voices and whose small dog stands upright and declares, "This humble one dares not," after which the house is destroyed by fire and the whole family escapes because they had moved out, carrying a note of moral warning. The language is concise, the supernatural interwoven with the ways of the world, and the pieces combine an atmosphere of horror with no little humor and admonition. Their value lies in presenting the narrative interest of the traditional notebook's "teaching through ghosts and spirits"; they may be read for casual diversion or used to observe popular belief, notions of calamity and anomaly, and life in official residences. The reader should appreciate their notebook character and the interplay between story and commentary, and need not judge them by modern scientific standards.

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Reading tips

  1. Read each piece on its own; after finishing one, savor the plot first, then see how the closing remarks make the point.
  2. Note motifs such as "contending over a substitute" and "warning," and read them alongside Liaozhai Zhiyi and other supernatural notebooks.
  3. Distinguish the story narration from the author's commentary, and appreciate the notebook's method of "using an incident to discuss principle."

About the publisher

Nanhai Publication Company China · Founded in 1988

Nanhai Publication Company is a comprehensive publisher known for its literature and arts titles, covering fields such as classical poetry, martial arts fiction, and folk literature. Judging from the more than 1,600 books in the database, the company has released classical poetic works including the Nineteen Old Poems and the Nine Songs, as well as multiple volumes of Huanzhulouzhu's series The Swordsmen of Mount Shu, along with related writings by authors such as Guan Hanqing, Qu Yuan, Zuo Si, and Wang Zhihuan. Its publishing character lies in balancing the organization of classic texts with the dissemination of popular literature, placing poetry anthologies alongside long martial arts novels and presenting a relatively diverse literary profile. Public information is limited, and further details about its editorial practices and series planning remain to be supplemented.

Contents

  1. 版权信息
  2. 都中鬼怪（五则）

FAQ

Are these stories true events or literary creations? They record capital rumors in notebook form, with clear supernatural and admonitory coloring, and cannot be verified one by one. They should be read as traditional notebook literature, with attention to their narrative interest and expression of ideas, not as factual reportage.
What is the story of the five ghosts contending over a substitute meant to show? On the surface it tells of ghosts fighting over a substitute; at the end the commentary uses "divided authority" to criticize the harm of contention without yielding. The ghostly affair may be read as a metaphor, understanding the author's intent to move from the strange to principle and satirize the world through incident.
What is the significance of the dog saying "This humble one dares not" in the second piece? The chickens and ducks speak with human voices while the dog alone does not; the clerk has just said, "Only this dog has not yet spoken," whereupon the dog stands upright and answers, creating a humorous reversal. The house is then destroyed by fire and the family escapes because they had moved out, and the story thus brings out a note of moral warning.

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About the author

Chen Hengqing Author · Chinese · 1844–1920

Chen Hengqing (1844–1920), courtesy name Zijiu, was a native of Weixian in Shandong (present-day Weicheng District, Weifang). A late Qing official and scholar, he passed the provincial examination in 1873 and the metropolitan examination in 1886. He served successively as a secretary in the Ministry of Works, rising through the Waterways, Construction, and Colonization Departments, and later held posts as Supervising Censor of the Ministry of War, Investigating Censor of the Henan Circuit, and Chief Supervising Censor. In 1908 he was appointed prefect of Jinzhou. He retired at sixty and wrote works including Jianshu Xian Notes (also known as Jili Qingtan) and Unofficial Gleanings of the Late Qing. His extant writings are considerable, with 154 titles held in our collection, many drawing on folk literature and Eastern philosophy. They touch on modern upheavals such as the militia conflicts, the Boxer movement, and the Nian rebels, as well as rural tales and social types like foxes and swindlers, and social issues such as Manchu-Han differences, bearing the documentary flavor of note-style historiography. Public information is limited, and his literary standing and influence await further study.