Original Text
In Weihui Prefecture, there lived a young man named Qi, who was refined and scholarly yet willful and daring, unafraid to act on his impulses. At that time, a prominent noble family owned a large mansion that was haunted by ghosts during the day, causing successive deaths, and they were willing to sell it at a low price. Qi, deeming it a bargain, bought it and moved in. However, the mansion was vast and sparsely populated; around the eastern pavilion and its surrounding terraces, wild mugwort and brambles grew thick as a forest, and he left that part uninhabited for the time being. At night, the household was often disturbed, with everyone crying out that ghosts were about. After two months, a maidservant died. Soon after, Qi's wife went to the pavilion one evening, returned home ill, and passed away within a few days. The family grew even more terrified and urged Qi to move, but he refused. Yet, living alone without companionship, he felt desolate and grieved for himself. The servants and maids constantly pestered him with tales of various strange occurrences, which so enraged him that, in a fit of fury, he grabbed his bedding, lay down alone in the rarely visited pavilion, keeping a candle lit to see what strange events might unfold. After waiting a long time with nothing unusual happening, Qi simply fell asleep.
Suddenly, a hand reached into the bedding, groping back and forth repeatedly. Qi Sheng woke with a start and saw that it was an elderly maidservant, with curled ears, disheveled hair, and exceedingly stout. Knowing she was a ghost, he seized her arm and pushed her away, saying with a laugh, "With such a countenance, I find it hard to appreciate your company!" Ashamed of her ugliness, the maidservant withdrew her hand and shuffled away with mincing steps. Before long, a young woman emerged from the northwest corner, her demeanor exquisitely charming, and she strode directly to the lamp, angrily scolding, "What reckless scholar dares to sleep here so boldly?" Qi Sheng rose with a smile and said, "I am the master of this residence, waiting here to collect rent from you." He then stood up and, naked, tried to catch the young woman, who fled in haste. Qi Sheng dashed ahead to the northwest corner, blocking her retreat, and with no escape, she sat down on the bed. Drawing near, Qi Sheng saw her by the candlelight—she was as beautiful as a celestial maiden—and gently took her into his arms. The young woman said with a smile, "You mad fellow, are you not afraid of ghosts? You will bring disaster upon yourself!" Qi Sheng forcibly undid her garments, and she offered little resistance. Afterward, she introduced herself, saying, "My surname is Zhang, and my childhood name is Aduan. I was unfortunately married to a dissolute man, who was arrogant and cruel, tormenting and humiliating me until I died young from grief and resentment. I have been buried here for over twenty years. Beneath this very residence lie all the graves." Qi Sheng asked, "Who is that old maidservant?" Aduan replied, "She is also a dead ghost, serving me. When the living dwell above, the ghosts below find no peace. Just now I sent her to drive you away." Qi Sheng inquired, "Why was she groping about?" Aduan laughed and said, "That maidservant is over thirty and has never slept with a man; her plight is pitiable, but she lacks self-awareness. In short, whoever is timid, ghosts will bully all the more; whoever is resolute, ghosts dare not offend." Hearing the nearby morning bell toll, she dressed and rose from the bed, saying, "If you harbor no suspicion, I will return tonight."
When evening came, Zhang A-duan indeed arrived, and the two of them were deeply entangled, their joy even greater than before. Qi Sheng said, "My wife has unfortunately passed away, and my grief and mourning are hard to banish from my heart. Can you summon her for me?" Upon hearing this, Zhang A-duan grew even more sorrowful and said, "I have been dead for twenty years, yet who has ever thought of me even once? You are truly a man of deep feeling, and I will do my utmost to help. However, I have heard that she is already destined for rebirth in a noble family, and I do not know if she still lingers in the underworld." After another night passed, Zhang A-duan told Qi Sheng, "Your wife is about to be reborn into a wealthy household. But because in her former life she lost an earring and beat a maidservant, who then hanged herself, this case has not yet been settled, so she remains detained in the underworld. For now, she is lodged beneath the Medicine King's corridor, with guards watching over her. I have sent a maidservant to bribe them, and perhaps she will come soon." Qi Sheng asked, "Why are you able to roam freely and idly?" Zhang A-duan replied, "As long as a wronged ghost does not present herself for judgment, the King of Hell has no time to bother with her." When the second watch was nearly over, the old maidservant indeed led Qi Sheng's wife to him. Qi Sheng grasped his wife's hands, overwhelmed with sorrow, while her eyes brimmed with tears, unable to speak. Zhang A-duan took her leave, saying, "You two may share the joys of your long separation; let us meet again another night." Qi Sheng anxiously inquired about the case of the maidservant who had hanged herself in his wife's former life, and his wife said, "It is no trouble; the case will soon be concluded." The two of them then lay down together, embracing and clinging to each other, as joyful as when she was alive. From then on, this became their regular practice.
Five days later, his wife suddenly began to weep and sob, saying, "Tomorrow I must go to Shandong to be reborn; the separation will be too long—what is to be done?" Upon hearing this, Qi Sheng wept bitterly, his tears streaming down, unable to contain his grief. Zhang Aduan tried to console them, saying, "I have a plan that may allow you to be together for a while longer." The husband and wife stopped crying and asked what wise counsel she had. Zhang Aduan asked Qi Sheng to take ten strings of paper money and burn them beneath the apricot tree in the southern hall, using them to bribe the underworld escort who would accompany his wife to rebirth, so that he might delay the appointed day. Qi Sheng did as she instructed. That evening, his wife came and said, "Thanks to Lady Aduan's idea, we can now be together for another ten days." Qi Sheng was overjoyed, and he insisted that Zhang Aduan stay, sharing the same bed with them, from dusk till dawn, fearing only that their joy would come to an end. After seven or eight days, as the deadline drew near, the husband and wife wept all night long, and again sought Zhang Aduan's advice. Zhang Aduan said, "It seems difficult to find another way. Yet we might try, but it will require no less than a million coins from the underworld." Qi Sheng burned the paper money accordingly. Zhang Aduan returned, delighted, and said, "I sent someone to plead with the escorting official; at first he was hard to persuade, but when he saw the abundance of money, his heart was moved. Now another ghost has been sent to be reborn in her place." From then on, they did not part even during the day, and Qi Sheng kept the doors and windows closed, with candles burning all day long.
Thus passed over a year, when Zhang Aduan suddenly fell ill, with dizziness and blurred vision, a troubled heart and confused mind, her spirit wavering as if she were seeing ghosts. Qi's wife, stroking her, said, "This is a ghost's illness." Qi Sheng asked, "Since Aduan is already a ghost, what ghost could make her ill?" His wife replied, "Not so. When a person dies, they become a ghost; when a ghost dies, they become a Jian. Ghosts fear Jian as humans fear ghosts." Qi Sheng wished to summon a shaman for her, but his wife said, "How can a ghost's illness be cured by a human? The old woman Wang, our neighbor, now serves as a shaman in the underworld; we can call her. But she is over ten li away, and my feet are too weak to walk; trouble yourself to burn a paper horse." Qi Sheng did as she asked. No sooner had the paper horse been consumed by fire than a maid appeared, leading a swift horse with red mane and black tail, and handed the reins to Qi's wife in the courtyard. In an instant, she vanished. Before long, his wife returned, riding the same horse with an old woman, and tied the steed to a pillar in the hall. The old woman entered, pressed Zhang Aduan's ten fingers for diagnosis, then sat upright, her head trembling, and fell to the ground for a time, before leaping up and crying, "I am the Great King of Black Mountain! This girl's illness is very grave, but fortunately she has met this minor deity—her fortune is not slight! It is the calamity wrought by a vengeful ghost; no matter, no matter! Yet after she recovers, she must offer me generous tribute: one hundred ingots of silver, one hundred strings of cash, and a lavish feast—not one item may be lacking." Qi's wife loudly agreed to each demand. The old woman then fell to the ground again, revived, and shouted at the patient, thus finishing the rite. Afterward, the old woman prepared to leave; Qi's wife saw her to the door and gave her the paper horse, which she accepted with joy and departed. When they entered and looked at Zhang Aduan, she seemed gradually to regain clarity, and the couple, greatly delighted, comforted her with kind words. Suddenly, Aduan said, "I fear I can no longer remain in the human world. As soon as I close my eyes, I see vengeful ghosts—this is fate!" And she wept. By the next night, her illness had worsened, and she lay near death, her body curled and trembling as if she saw something. She pulled Qi Sheng to lie with her, burying her head in his bosom, as if afraid of being seized. Whenever he rose, she cried out in distress. Thus passed six or seven days, and the couple were at their wit's end. On that very day, Qi Sheng went out, and when he returned half a day later, he heard his wife's weeping. Startled, he asked what had happened, and learned that Aduan had died on the bed, her clothes still there. When he lifted them, he saw nothing but a stark white skeleton. Qi Sheng was overcome with grief, and buried her beside the ancestral graves according to human rites.
One night, his wife began to sob bitterly in her sleep. Qi Sheng shook her awake and asked what was the matter. She replied, "I just dreamed that Duan came to me, saying her husband had become a Jian ghost and, resenting her lack of chastity in the underworld, bore a grudge and took her life. She begged me to hold a requiem for her." Qi Sheng rose early to prepare for it, but his wife stopped him, saying, "Saving a ghost is not something you can help with." She then got up and left. After a while, she returned and said, "I have already sent for the monks; we should first burn paper money to cover the expenses." Qi Sheng did as she instructed. As the sun just set, the monks all arrived, using copper cymbals and dharma drums exactly like those in the mortal world. His wife occasionally remarked that the sound was deafening, but Qi Sheng heard nothing at all. After the requiem was completed, his wife dreamed again of A Duan coming to express gratitude, saying, "The grievance has been resolved; I am to be reborn as the daughter of the City God. Please convey this to Qi Sheng."
His wife had been living at home for three years. At first, the family members were somewhat frightened when they learned of it, but as time passed, they grew accustomed to her presence. When Qi Sheng was away, they would report household matters to her through the window. One night, his wife said to him tearfully, "The underworld messenger who previously escorted souls for reincarnation has now been exposed for accepting bribes and abusing his office. The investigation is very strict, and I fear we cannot remain together for much longer." A few days later, she indeed fell ill and said, "Because of my deep affection for you, I originally wished only for eternal death and did not desire rebirth. Now we are about to part forever—could this be the work of fate?" Qi Sheng, panic-stricken, asked for a plan, but his wife replied, "This cannot be remedied." He asked, "Will you be punished?" She said, "There will be a light punishment. Yet the crime of clinging to life is great, while the crime of clinging to death is small." With these words, she ceased to move. Upon closer inspection, her face and form gradually faded away. Qi Sheng often stayed alone in the desolate pavilion, hoping for some other encounter, but nothing ever happened, and so people's minds gradually settled.
Commentary
"Zhang Aduan" is the most richly detailed chapter among the ghost stories in "Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio" regarding folk customs of the spectral realm. Through the joys and sorrows of reunions and separations between Wei Hui's Qi Sheng, the female ghost Zhang Aduan, and his wife, it recounts various bizarre experiences and customs of life and death between humans and spirits.
Within this tale are certain customs and folklore, such as burning paper money and reincarnation after death, which had long been passed down through oral tradition among the common people. Pu Songling narrates them with ease, as if recounting familiar treasures or chatting about household matters. On one hand, this reflects his deep familiarity with these customs; on the other, it shows how deeply these ghostly traditions had taken root in the hearts of the folk. This is the cultural foundation upon which the ghost stories of Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio were created and transmitted. Some descriptions of customs, such as "When a person dies, they become a ghost; when a ghost dies, they become a jian. A ghost’s fear of a jian is like a person’s fear of a ghost," and that ghosts, when ill, also require a shaman to perform exorcisms, though scattered records exist in ancient texts, their development into plot elements in a story is clearly Pu Songling’s original invention, becoming the most imaginative part of this tale. He Yin commented on this story, saying: "Ghosts and jian having their own life and death—this is utterly absurd!" Feng Zhenluan remarked: "Ghosts within ghosts, spinning a whole web of ghostly talk." However, although this tale is "utterly absurd," it still, through distortion, truthfully reflects the profound and sincere emotions between husband and wife in real life, and exposes the rampant bribery among yamen runners—corruption that persists even in the ghostly realm of the underworld without any ambiguity!