coffin Archives - Chinese Weird Tales

Borrowing a Coffin for a Carriage

2024-01-052024-01-04 by Wu Xing

Zhang Yuangong(張元公) from Shaoxing(紹興) opened a cloth shop at the Chang Gate(閶門) in Suzhou and employed a helper named Sun, a Shaanxi native known for his honest and diligent nature. Sun managed business affairs that always garnered triple profits, fostering a close relationship with his employer. After three to five years, Sun accumulated a fortune of one hundred thousand guan for Zhang, repeatedly asking to return home. However, Zhang adamantly refused.

Ghost Expelling Ghost

2023-12-302023-12-30 by Wu Xing

In Tongcheng(桐城), there was a scholar named Zuo(左秀才) whose relationship with his wife, Zhang,(張氏) was exceptionally close. When Zhang fell ill and passed away, Zuo couldn’t bear to be separated from her. He spent every night sleeping beside her coffin. On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, his family held a ceremony for the deceased, everyone praying and making offerings outside, leaving Zuo alone to read beside Zhang’s coffin.

Suddenly, a chilling wind arose, and a ghost, disheveled with blood dripping and dragging a rope, approached Zuo menacingly.

Thunder Strikes the Land

2023-12-312023-12-29 by Wu Xing

During the Kangxi era(康熙), Wang Yixin(汪以炘), the magistrate of Shidai(石埭), had a close relationship with his friend Lin(林某). Later, Lin passed away, becoming the local land deity of Shidai. Every night, Wang and Lin, one in the mortal realm and the other in the afterlife, maintained an intimate connection, just like in the past.

Once, the land deity privately told Wang, “Disaster will befall your family, and I dare not withhold this information.

The Head-Bearing Official

2023-12-302023-12-28 by Wu Xing

Gao Yan(高公岩), a man from Rugao(如臯), served as the magistrate of Gaoling in Shaanxi(陝西高陵令). One of his friends came to visit him but found it getting dusk while still about ten miles away from the city. Worried they wouldn’t make it to the city in time, they spotted an abandoned temple by the roadside. The main hall was closed and locked, but there were two rooms on the west side. There was a small door connecting these rooms to the main hall, also locked.

Jiang Yilin

2023-12-25 by Wu Xing

Jiang Yilin(江軼林), a literati from Tongzhou(通州), had been living for generations in Lü Sichang(呂泗場) in Tongzhou. He married a woman named Peng, and their relationship was extremely deep. Peng had been married to Jiang Yilin for three years when he was just twenty years old and hadn’t yet passed the scholar examination.

One night, both husband and wife dreamt that Jiang Yilin would pass the scholar examination on a certain month and day of that year, while Peng would die on the same day.

The Painter of Zombies

2023-12-162023-12-02 by Wu Xing

Liu Yixian(劉以賢) from Hangzhou(杭州) was skilled at painting portraits. He lived next door to a father and son. When the father passed away, the son went to buy a coffin. Before leaving, he asked the neighbor to request Liu Yixian to paint a portrait of his deceased father. When Liu Yixian arrived at their home, he found it empty. Assuming the deceased must be upstairs, he quietly ascended the stairs, approached the bed of the deceased, sat down, took out his brush, and prepared to paint the portrait.