Original Text
Mr. Yang Lian, styled Dahong, was already a renowned scholar in the Chu region before he achieved success, and thus thought highly of himself. After taking the provincial examination, he heard someone announcing the list of successful candidates. At that moment, he was eating and rushed out with food still in his mouth, asking, "Is my name, Yang, on the list?" The reply came, "No." Greatly disheartened, he swallowed the food in his mouth, but it stuck in his throat, causing him great pain and distress. His friends urged him to take the supplementary examination, but Yang Dahong worried about lacking funds for the journey. They pooled together ten taels of silver and gave it to him, so he reluctantly set off. One night, he dreamed someone told him, "Ahead on the road, there is one who can cure your ailment; you must earnestly beseech him." As they parted, the figure also presented him with a poem, which contained the line, "By the riverbank beneath the willow, three flute tunes played; cast into the river's heart, no sigh need be made." The next day, on the road, he indeed saw a Daoist sitting under a willow tree. Yang Dahong approached and bowed, begging him for a cure. The Daoist smiled and said, "Sir, you are mistaken. How could I heal anyone? I might, however, play a few tunes for you." He then produced a flute and began to play. Recalling his dream, Yang Dahong pleaded even more earnestly for treatment, offering all the silver he carried. The Daoist took the silver and tossed it into the river. Yang Dahong, knowing how hard it was to come by, sighed in regret. The Daoist said, "Are you unable to let this go? The silver lies by the riverbank; go and fetch it yourself." Yang Dahong went to the river and saw the silver indeed there. This struck him as even more miraculous, and he addressed the Daoist as an immortal. The Daoist casually pointed and said, "I am no immortal; there comes one now." Tricked into turning his head, Yang Dahong felt the Daoist slap his neck sharply, saying, "How vulgar!" At that slap, Yang opened his mouth and coughed up something that fell to the ground with a crack. Bending down, he broke it open and saw red blood threads encasing undigested rice; his ailment seemed to vanish. When he looked back, the Daoist had disappeared without a trace.
The Chronicler of Strange Tales remarks: Lord Yang was born to be the mountains and rivers of the realm, yet he lacked the sun and stars—why then must he seek eternal life without death? Some regret that he could not escape worldly customs and thus failed to become an immortal in heaven. But I say, it is better to have one more worthy man on earth than one more celestial being in the heavens; those who understand me will surely not deem this view as biased or reckless.
Commentary
This piece can be read in conjunction with the story "Wang Zi'an." It serves as a concrete exemplar of the passage describing a scholar's experience in the examination hall: "When awaiting the results, every blade of grass and every tree startles the heart, and dreams become illusions. At times, one imagines success, and in an instant, towers and pavilions arise; at other times, one envisions failure, and in a flash, bones and flesh decay. At such moments, one can neither sit nor stand still, like a monkey caught in a trap. Suddenly, a messenger arrives on horseback, but the notice does not bear one's name; then, one's expression changes abruptly, and one becomes utterly dejected, as if dead, like a fly that has swallowed poison, numb to all sensation." Yang Dahong was a member of the Donglin faction in the late Ming dynasty, a loyal and righteous man who struggled against the eunuch Wei Zhongxian. Yet even such a sage-like figure could not transcend worldly concerns over success and failure in the imperial examinations, illustrating the profound psychological impact that the outcomes of these tests had on the literati.
The words in "The Historian of the Strange says" reflect Pu Songling's strong worldly engagement, that is, "Better to have one more sage on earth than one more immortal in heaven." This expression of worldly engagement is highly beneficial for understanding Pu Songling's thoughts and the creation of "Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio." Although Pu Songling was influenced by Buddhist and Taoist ideas and experienced many hardships in life, Confucian humanism always remained his mainstream—compared to immortals and ghosts, humans are the most precious; compared to fairylands and the underworld, the human world is the most joyful. This is a key to reading "Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio."