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The Double Flower Temple

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《荷香清暑》現代 華三川

During the reign of Emperor Yongzheng, there was a scholar named Cai in Guilin, young and handsome with an elegant demeanor.

One spring, Cai went to the theater to watch a play. While engrossed in the performance, he felt someone touching his buttocks from behind. Enraged, Cai prepared to scold the person and even raised his fist to strike. However, when he turned around, he discovered that the one who touched him was also a young man, even more handsome than himself. 

Infatuated Ghost’s Love for His Wife

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吳鎮 《墨竹譜》冊 十幅

In the capital, there was an elderly woman who could see ghosts. She once told people, “I once saw a ghost at a certain family, utterly infatuated to the extreme. However, the situation was pitiful, evoking a poignant and touching feeling. The ghost’s name was unknown, residing in a certain village. The family was moderately well-off, and the ghost died at the age of around twenty-seven or twenty-eight. About a hundred days after his death, the deceased’s wife invited me to accompany her. 

Fight of the Liu Lang Shen

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《架上鷹圖》 徐澤 元

The people of Nanning in Guangxi all worship the deity Liu Lang Shen. If someone inadvertently offends in speech, Liu Lang Shen would come to haunt them. This Liu Lang Shen is particularly adept at beguiling women; most young and beautiful women are often possessed by him. The affected families must prepare a bundle of paper money, a bowl of rice, and invite two or three musicians. In the dead of night, amidst music and beating, they would escort Liu Lang Shen to desolate fields, after which he would haunt another household. 

Jiang Yilin

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🎨《墨荷圖》徐渭

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 White Rainbow Spirit

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part of 《桃源仙境圖》仇英 明

In Ding Shuiqiao(丁水橋), a town in Tangxi(塘西鎮), Zhejiang(浙江), there was a boatman named Ma Nanzhen(馬南箴). One night, he was paddling a small boat on the river. On the shore, there was an old lady with her daughter, signaling the boat, requesting passage. Several passengers on the boat advised Ma Nanzhen to ignore her and refuse to ferry the old lady. However, Ma Nanzhen said, ‘It’s late at night, and they are women without a place to stay.