Original Text
A scholar named Man from Changhua in Zhejiang was teaching at a private school in Yuhang. One day, while strolling through the market, a lychee shell suddenly fell upon his shoulder as he passed beneath a certain tower. Looking up, he saw a young girl leaning against the railing, her face radiant and beautiful. Man was utterly captivated, staring at her with wild delight. The girl smiled faintly down at him and then withdrew into her room. Upon inquiry, Man learned that she was the daughter of a brothel keeper named Jia, and her name was Xihou. Her price was exorbitantly high, and Man, realizing he could not afford her, returned to his study, where he pondered all night without sleep. The next day, he presented his card at the brothel and was granted an audience with Xihou. They chatted and laughed together, and Man grew even more infatuated. He borrowed money from his colleagues, scraped together a sum, and returned to her, where they became as close as glue and lacquer. As they lay in bed, Man composed a seven-character quatrain for her:
The greasy lamp-oil in the bronze dish still glowed deep in the night, while whispers by the bedside carried the scent of musk and orchid.
Tomorrow her new coiffure will be adorned again with phoenix ornaments, but nevermore will she drift as clouds in the dream of the King of Chu.
Upon hearing this, Xi Hou said sorrowfully, "Though I am base and lowly, I have always wished to find a kindred spirit to serve. Since you have no wife, could you consider me as one to manage your household?" Man Sheng was overjoyed and repeatedly pledged to marry her. Xi Hou also said happily, "Matters of composing poetry and chanting verses, I believe are not difficult for me. Often when alone, I have tried to imitate such works, but feared they might not be good at first and would invite ridicule from those who saw or heard them. If I can follow you, you must teach me!" She then asked Man Sheng how much land he had at home. He replied, "I only have half a qing of thin fields and a few dilapidated houses." Xi Hou said, "After I marry you, I will stay with you forever, and you must no longer teach. The harvest from forty mu of land will be enough for our sustenance; plant ten mu with mulberry trees, weave five bolts of silk, and in peaceful years, paying taxes will leave a surplus. We will close our doors and keep each other company—you study while I weave, and in leisure we can compose poetry and drink wine to pass the time. Such a life would make even a marquis of a thousand households unworthy of envy!" Man Sheng asked, "How much is your price?" Xi Hou said, "Given my mother's greed, how could it ever be satisfied? At most, two hundred taels of silver would suffice. It is only a pity that I was young and did not value wealth; whatever I received, I gave to my mother, leaving me with very little savings. If you can prepare one hundred taels, you need not worry about the rest." Man Sheng said, "My family is poor, as you know. How can I obtain one hundred taels? I have a sworn brother who serves as a magistrate in Hunan. He has repeatedly invited me to visit, but I dared not go because of the distance. Now, for your sake, I will go and consult with him. I estimate it will take three or four months to return, and I hope you will wait patiently." Xi Hou agreed.
Man Sheng immediately resigned from his teaching post and journeyed southward. Upon reaching Hunan, he found that the county magistrate had already been dismissed from office and was residing in a private dwelling due to his misconduct, his official coffers utterly empty, unable to provide Man Sheng with any funds. Man Sheng found himself in dire straits, unable to return, and thus took up teaching locally. Three years passed, yet he could not go back. On one occasion, while chastising a student, the student threw himself into the water and drowned. The boy's father, grieving for his son, brought a lawsuit against Man Sheng, who was consequently arrested and imprisoned. Fortunately, other students, sympathizing with their teacher's innocence, frequently sent him provisions, thereby sparing him from much suffering.
Since Xi Hou had parted with Man Sheng, she closed her door and received no guests. The madam, having learned the reason and knowing that her resolve was unshakable, let her be for the time. A wealthy merchant, smitten with Xi Hou, sent a matchmaker to negotiate with the madam, determined to win her at any cost, and spared no expense. Xi Hou refused. The merchant, traveling to Hunan on business, secretly inquired after Man Sheng. At that time, Man Sheng’s case was nearly concluded, but the merchant bribed the officials handling it to keep him imprisoned indefinitely. Returning, he told the madam, "Man Sheng has died of illness in prison." Xi Hou doubted the news. The madam said, "Even if Man Sheng were not dead, marrying a poor scholar to endure a lifetime of hardship is hardly comparable to wearing silk and satin and feasting on delicacies." Xi Hou replied, "Though Man Sheng is poor, his character is noble. To wed a vulgar merchant is truly not my wish. Besides, hearsay is hardly trustworthy." The merchant then enlisted other traders to forge a farewell letter from Man Sheng and sent it to Xi Hou to dash her hopes. Upon receiving the letter, Xi Hou could only weep all day. The madam said, "I raised you from childhood with great toil. In these two or three years since you came of age, the returns have been meager. Since you refuse to be a courtesan and now refuse to marry, how shall we live?" Forced by circumstances, Xi Hou married the merchant. He made her clothes, crafted hairpins, earrings, and other ornaments, providing her with every luxury. After a little over a year, Xi Hou gave birth to a son.
Not long after, Man Sheng, with the help of his student, was exonerated and released from prison, only then learning that it was the wealthy merchant who had caused his prolonged imprisonment. Yet, reflecting on the matter, he could recall no prior grievance or enmity, and pondered deeply without finding the reason. The student, acting out of righteousness, provided Man Sheng with travel expenses, allowing him to return to Yuhang. Upon hearing that Xi Hou had already married another, Man Sheng's heart was filled with extreme bitterness and anguish, and he entrusted the old woman who sold wine in the market to convey the sufferings he had endured to Xi Hou. Xi Hou was deeply grieved, and only then understood that all the previous troubles were the cunning schemes of the wealthy merchant. Taking advantage of the merchant's absence, she killed the child in her arms, gathered her own belongings, and fled to Man Sheng, leaving behind not a single thread of the merchant's clothing or jewelry. When the merchant returned, he was enraged and filed a complaint with the authorities. The officials, deeming Xi Hou's actions excusable, set the case aside without further inquiry. Alas! How does this differ from the Han Shouting Marquis Guan Yu's escape from Cao's camp to return to Han? Yet, her act of killing her own child before fleeing is also that of the most hard-hearted person under heaven.
Commentary
This is a traditional tale of a prostitute reforming and returning to virtue, where a poor scholar triumphs over a wealthy merchant in the contest for marriage.
What is innovative and characteristic of Pu Songling's work can be summarized in three points: first, when the tutor and the courtesan Xi Hou envision their future life together, she says, "After I return to you, we shall stay together forever, and you must no longer set up a teaching post. Forty mu of land will suffice for our sustenance, ten mu can be planted with mulberry trees, and by weaving five bolts of silk, we can pay the peace tax with surplus. With the door closed, we face each other; you read and I weave, and in our leisure, we can indulge in poetry and wine—what need is there to envy a marquis of a thousand households!" This depicts a rural rather than urban scholar's life, differing from the lives designed by courtesans and scholars in earlier popular literature. Second, it fully reveals the interference of merchants in judicial and social life. A certain merchant confines the scholar Man to prison and forcibly marries Xi Hou, all through the power of money. Dan Minglun remarks, "How mighty is the foul merchant's money! What deed cannot be done, what evil cannot be wrought?" This adds broader social implications to the conflict between scholars and merchants. Third, and most importantly, the courtesan Xi Hou, faced with the merchant who destroys her marital life, adopts an extremely resolute and radical means of revenge: "She kills the child in her arms, takes all her belongings, and flees back to Man, taking nothing from the merchant's household." Pu Songling praises this, saying, "How is this different from the Marquis of Shouting returning to Han?" Although Xi Hou's act of killing her child is reprehensible and quite cruel, it embodies the common trait of all the harmed and humiliated weaklings in "Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio": they never compromise, never yield, and "fight to the end, struggle to the utmost."