Chinese Weird Tales

A collection of Chinese weird tales and mythology stories, recorded in ancient classics. Collected and translated by myself.

The City God was a handsome young man

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《竹禽圖》宋 趙佶

During the Kangxi era, the City God of Longxi County(隴西城隍) had a black face and a large beard, with a very dignified appearance. However, during the Qianlong era, it suddenly changed to a handsome young man’s image. Someone asked the monk in the temple, ‘Why did the appearance of the City God change so much?’

The monk told him, ‘We heard from the elders that in the seventh year of Yongzheng’s reign(雍正七年), there was a scholar named Xie, just twenty years old, who lived in the temple with his teacher to study. 

Ghosts Stealing Steamed Buns

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《龜》清 華喦

Ge Wenlin(葛文林) said: In the area around Dongting Mountain(洞庭山), there are many starving ghosts who sneak into people’s homes to steal food. One day, in his house, they steamed a basket of buns. Just as they were done, upon lifting the lid, they saw the buns making a ‘chirping’ sound while gradually shrinking. What was originally the size of a bowl mouth quickly shrank to the size of a small walnut. 

Yu Yunshi

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《梧竹溪堂圖》 宋 夏圭

When Jintan(金壇) Yu Yunshi(于雲石) was working in the Hanlin Academy(翰林), he had to bring his father to the capital for support.

Mr. Yu traveled alone to the capital. One day, halfway there, it was getting late, and there was no one around. After searching for a while, he finally found an inn and went in to stay for the night. However, the innkeeper said the rooms were all full and couldn’t accommodate him, asking him to find another place. 

Black Frost

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《雪景寒林圖》 北宋 範寬

The so-called Four Seas is actually one sea, but people often call what they see in the south the South Sea and what they see in the north the North Sea. This can be fully confirmed in historical records.

Yan Daofu(嚴道甫), while traveling in the areas of Shaanxi and Gansu, once met with Duke Wu(伍公), the sincere and resolute. Duke Wu told Yan Daofu: During the reign of Emperor Yongzheng, he was ordered to visit the area of Eluosi and heard that there was a sea at its northern border. 

Nine Husbands’ Grave

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《海棠蛺蝶圖頁》 宋

Outside the southern gate of Jurong County(句容), there lies a grave known as the Nine Husbands’ Grave. Legend has it that there was a woman, exceedingly beautiful. After her husband passed away, leaving behind a son, their household became very wealthy. So, she remarried and bore another son. The second husband also passed away and was buried beside the first husband. Later, she married a third time, yet this husband, like the others before him, met the same fate. 

Gripping the Tiger’s Ears

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《牧牛圖》宋 李唐

In the south of Dali County(大理縣)), Yunnan Province(雲南), there was a villager named Li Shigui(李士桂), whose family had been engaged in farming for generations and also raised two water buffaloes.

One day, it was already dark and the two water buffaloes hadn’t returned yet. Li Shigui went out to search for them. In the night, aided by the moonlight, he saw an animal lying in the field sleeping, making snoring sounds like thunder. 

Yang Lihu’s Rescue Mission

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《桃花山鳥圖》 宋 佚名

During his tenure as magistrate in Henan(河南), Yang Lihu(楊笠湖) was tasked with providing relief to the famine-stricken in Shangshui County(商水縣). It was early autumn, and the scorching heat persisted relentlessly. After completing their midday duties, Mr. Yang instructed his subordinates to seek shade and coolness in the City God Temple.

As they entered the temple and settled, a man hurried towards them, imploring, “I am Zhang Xiang(張相), begging for your help, sir!” 

Wood Painting

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《古木寒泉》文徵明 明

Lu Jingxuan(陸敬軒), the magistrate of Yongcheng County(永城), is from Xiaoshan(蕭山), Zhejiang(浙江). He was tasked with renovating the Yongcheng yamen(administrative office or residence for government officials in imperial China) and decided to use local materials. There was an original willow tree within the yamen, which Lu Jingxuan chose to use for the renovation.

When the carpenters felled the willow and sawed it into boards, they discovered that the grain on the boards formed an exquisite landscape, resembling a painting created with light ink. 

The Monkey and Ape Wine

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《戲猿圖》明宣宗

Scholar Cao Loyin(曹學士洛禋) once told me this story.

In the spring of the forty-third year of Kangxi(康熙)’s reign, he and his friend Pan Xichou(潘錫疇) traveled to Huangshan(黃山) and arrived at the Wenshu Monastery(文殊院), where they dined with monks including Xuezhuang(雪莊). Suddenly, the monks disappeared from the table, leaving only their heads visible. Xuezhuang said, ‘This is the ‘floating cloud atop(雲過),’ no need for the two guests to be surprised.’

The next day, they reached the Yunfeng Cave(雲峰洞) and found an old man living there. 

The Northern Gate Cargo

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《漢宮乞巧圖》李嵩 宋

Two men from Shaoxing(紹興), Wang and Xu, fled to Henan in the late Ming Dynasty to escape the chaos caused by Li Zicheng(李自成) and Zhang Xianzhong(張獻忠). Everywhere they passed, they saw corpses strewn across the fields. One night, Wang and Xu encountered two soldiers under Li Zicheng’s command. Realizing they had no way out, they crawled into a heap of corpses within the city. At midnight, they suddenly saw bright lights, and a procession descended from the city tower.