Original Text
During the rebellion of Xie Qian, all official residences were occupied by rebel troops as their strongholds. The mansion of Academic Commissioner Wang Qixiang housed an especially large number of bandits. When the imperial army breached the city and swept through to slaughter and purge the rebels, corpses soon filled the courtyard steps, and blood flowed all the way to the main gate. After entering the city, Wang Qixiang carried out the bodies, cleaned away the bloodstains, and took up residence. Yet ghosts were often encountered in broad daylight within the mansion; at night, phosphorescent flames flickered beneath the beds, and the sound of weeping ghosts echoed incessantly from the corners of the walls.
One day, the scholar Wang Haodi was lodging at the Wang family estate when he heard a faint voice from under the bed continuously calling out, "Haodi! Haodi!" After a while, the voice grew louder, saying, "I died such a miserable death!" Then it began to weep, triggering a chorus of weeping throughout the courtyard. Wang Qixiang heard this, rushed in with a sword in hand, and blustered, "Do you not recognize me, Lord Wang of the Imperial Academy?" In response, a series of sneering "hee-hee" sounds arose all around, mocking him. Wang Qixiang then arranged a grand Buddhist and Taoist ritual, inviting monks and priests to chant sutras, perform penance, and liberate the souls of the dead. That night, when the ghostly food was scattered, phosphorescent flames flickered all over the ground. Earlier, there was a gatekeeper surnamed Wang in the household, who had been gravely ill and unconscious for several days. That evening, he suddenly stretched his limbs as if waking from a deep sleep. His wife fed him some food, but the gatekeeper said, "Just now, the master, for some reason, was distributing food in the courtyard, and I joined the crowd in gobbling it down. I only returned after finishing, so I am not hungry now." From then on, the hauntings ceased. Could it be that the monks' and priests' music, rituals, and chanting had truly taken effect?
The Chronicler of Strange Tales remarks: Beings of evil and demonic nature can only be subdued by virtue. When the imperial forces breached the city, Wang Qixiang's power was at its zenith, so formidable that ordinary folk trembled at the mere sound of his voice, yet a ghost dared to mock him. I suspect that the spectral entity had already foreseen his ill-fated end. Here I take the liberty of advising all esteemed gentlemen of the realm: If even assuming a human guise cannot intimidate a ghost, I pray you cease to don a demon's visage to terrify mankind!
Commentary
The hypocritical pedant was the type Pu Songling most detested.
Excluding incidental mentions, there are four tales in Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio that specifically expose the vile countenances of academic officials and instructors, namely Ghostly Wails, The Bureau of Examination Abuses, The Instructor, and The Hungry Ghost. The Bureau of Examination Abuses is somewhat longer, while the other three are quite brief, employing a sketch-like, freehand style as if the author feared soiling his brush; yet the language is sharp and caustic, veiled in innuendo and sweeping in its condemnation. In Ghostly Wails, Academic Commissioner Wang, relying on his power to intimidate ghosts, is instead mocked and ridiculed by them, and Pu Songling, using this as a pretext, declares: "Let it be proclaimed to all great men and esteemed lords throughout the world: even a human face cannot frighten ghosts, so I hope you will not don a ghostly visage to frighten men!"
According to Pu Songling's view that "only virtue can subdue evil and strange beings," the story concludes with the Academic Examiner Wang "holding a Water and Land Dharma Assembly, commanding Buddhist and Taoist priests to perform rites of repentance and deliverance, and scattering ghostly offerings at night," thus quelling the disturbance. But did Pu Songling truly believe in the tricks of "holding a Water and Land Dharma Assembly" and "Buddhist and Taoist rites of repentance and deliverance"? He did not. In his work "Daily Common Characters," he wrote: "Monkey tricks and shadow plays perform lewd shows, puppet stages bustle with noisy crowds." "Incense-burning and summoning the dead still have their claims, but dividing lamps and breaking through hells are all but empty talk." Since Pu Songling did not believe, why did he use this as the story's ending? The explanation is that it likely followed naturally from the logic of the plot. Sometimes the logic of a tale does not entirely align with the author's own views.