Original Text
A fellow townsman, Hanlin scholar Tang Jiwu, when he was only a few years old, was taken by a cousin to play in a temple. From childhood, Tang was open-minded and fearless; seeing a clay ghost in the temple corridor with large, bright glass eyes, he was so delighted that he secretly pried one out with his fingers, tucked it into his bosom, and brought it home. No sooner had they arrived than his cousin fell suddenly ill, first falling silent, then sitting up abruptly and shouting in a harsh voice, "Why did you gouge out my eye!" He raved and clamored without cease. None knew what was amiss until Tang Jiwu confessed his misdeed at the temple. The whole family then prayed, saying, "A child is ignorant; in playfulness he harmed your eye by mistake, and we shall return it to you at once." The clay ghost then cried out loudly, "If that is so, I will cause no further trouble and will depart." With these words, the cousin fell prostrate, unconscious for a long while before reviving; when asked about what he had said, he knew nothing of it. The family hurried back to the temple and replaced the eye in the clay ghost's socket.
The Chronicler of Strange Tales remarks: The mud demon actually dared to enter the hall and demand an eyeball, which shows how numinous he was! Yet, when Tang Jiwu gouged out his eye, why did he vent his wrath upon Tang's cousin? This was because Tang, as a Hanlin academician, held a lofty status and possessed an unyielding character. Observing his later fearless remonstrations and his final resolve to retire to the southern mountains, even the gods stood in awe of him, let alone mere ghosts!
Commentary
Historiographer Tang was one of the authors who wrote a preface for Pu Songling's "Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio". When Pu Songling was ten years old, Tang passed the imperial examination and became a jinshi. When Pu Songling was thirteen, Tang was dismissed from his post in the capital and returned to Zichuan, which Pu Songling referred to in his "Historian of the Strange's Commentary" as "presenting a memorial at the northern palace, then brushing off his sleeves and retiring to the southern mountain". Pu Songling admired Tang's moral character and spirit, and Tang consistently supported Pu Songling, maintaining a friendship with him. They once traveled together to Mount Lao, ascended Mount Tai, and lodged at the Chuoran Hall. At the same time, Tang was quite familiar with the creation of "Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio". In the preface he wrote for the work, he said of Pu Songling: "In the intervals between his studies of the eight-legged essay and the imperial examinations, whatever he saw or heard, he would immediately record in his notes, and most of these were tales of ghosts, fox-spirits, and strange occurrences. Once I obtained a volume of his writings, but it was soon taken away by my companions; now I have obtained another volume to read. Among these, about three or four out of ten are stories I had already heard of, and they are most capable of breaking the narrow views of petty scholars, like speaking of ice to a summer insect." If one compares this preface with the slightly earlier preface by Gao Heng, Tang's preface is written with warmth and practicality, truly the heartfelt reflections of a reader.
In "Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio," aside from this piece, there is also "The Hail God" in the twelfth volume that records the deeds of Grand Historian Tang, and in both, the "Historian of the Strange" offers high praise for him. As for the story itself, it likely originates from Grand Historian Tang's own narration, though one cannot rule out Pu Songling's "scholar's sentiment of half a sheet of paper."