Original Text
In the county town's western side, at Ciyao Wu, there lived a farmer's wife who was exceptionally robust and courageous, much like a man, often mediating disputes for the villagers, and she lived apart from her husband in two separate counties. Her husband's home was in Gaoyuan, over a hundred li from Zichuan County; he would occasionally visit, stay for two nights, and then return. The farmer's wife herself went to Yanshan to make a living by selling pottery. When she earned money from her trade, she would give it to beggars. One evening, as she was chatting with a neighbor woman, she suddenly stood up and said, "My belly aches a little; I think this wretched creature is about to leave my body." With that, she departed. At dawn, the neighbor woman went to see her and found her carrying two large brewing jars on her shoulders, just about to enter the door. Following her inside, she saw a newborn baby wrapped up lying there. The neighbor woman asked in astonishment what had happened, and it turned out that after giving birth, she had already carried the heavy load for over a hundred li. She had previously been on good terms with a nun from the North Nunnery, and they had sworn sisterhood. Later, hearing that the nun had behaved improperly, she grew angry, took up a wooden club, and was about to beat her, but was dissuaded by everyone's earnest pleas. One day, the farmer's wife encountered the nun on the road and immediately struck her across the face. The nun said, "What fault have I committed?" She did not reply but beat her with fists and stones, continuing until the nun could no longer cry out, then released her and went on her way.
The Chronicler of the Strange remarks: When the world speaks of a woman who is a true heroine, it acknowledges that she is not a man, yet this peasant woman also forgot that she was a woman of the boudoir. Her boldness and straightforwardness were no different from the sword-wielding immortals of antiquity—could it be that her husband was also a figure akin to the mirror-polishing youth from the tale of Nie Yinniang?
Commentary
This is an entirely new type of female image, making its first appearance not only in Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio but also in all classical Chinese tales in the literary language. The title is The Peasant Woman, but in truth she is a female petty peddler. Since in Pu Songling's era the boundary between farming and commerce in the countryside was not strictly defined, she is called a peasant woman. The tale does not depict her according to the norms or expectations of women, but rather focuses on her uniqueness. It describes her as "brave and robust as a man," not only in physical terms but especially in spirit, for instance, noting that she "often resolved disputes and troubles for the villagers," "made a living by selling pottery, and whenever there was surplus, she gave it to beggars," and "lived in a different county from her husband." Two later details—one about childbirth and another about admonishing a nun—are written with great literary flair, vivid and exhilarating, leaving a most profound impression.