Original Text
Shi Taipu was a man of Mount Tai, who delighted in the art of writing talismans to drive away spirits and demons. A Taoist priest once encountered him and, recognizing his keen intelligence, took him as a disciple. Opening a book case, the priest produced two volumes: the first dealt exclusively with exorcising foxes, while the second was devoted solely to expelling ghosts. He handed the lower volume to Shi, saying, "If you can earnestly master the arts taught in this book, you will have food, clothing, and beautiful women for the rest of your life." When Shi asked his name, the priest replied, "I am Wang Chicheng of the Xuan Di Temple in the northern village of Biancheng." Shi kept the priest as his guest for several days, and the priest imparted to him all the secrets of driving away spirits and demons. From then on, Shi became proficient in the art of ghost exorcism, and people came bearing gifts to his door in an unending stream.
One day, an old man arrived, claiming his surname was Weng, and ostentatiously laid out a great sum of money, saying that his daughter was afflicted by a ghost and was already deathly ill from its torment, insisting that Shi Taipu must personally come to her rescue. Hearing that the girl was critically ill, Shi Taipu firmly refused to accept the money and set off with the old man. After walking over ten li, they entered a mountain village and arrived at Old Man Weng's home, where the house was quite splendid and elegant in appearance. Shi Taipu went inside and saw a young girl lying within a gauze curtain; a maidservant used a curtain hook to draw the drapery aside. Shi Taipu looked within and beheld the girl, about fourteen or fifteen years of age, lying listlessly on the bed, her countenance withered and her body emaciated. As Shi Taipu drew near, the girl suddenly opened her eyes and said, "The good physician has come." The entire household was overjoyed, saying she had not spoken for several days. Shi Taipu then left the room and inquired about the girl's condition. Old Man Weng said, "During the day, we can see a young man come, who sleeps with her; when we try to catch him, he vanishes, but soon he returns, and we suspect he might be a ghost." Shi Taipu said, "If it is truly a ghost, driving him away is not difficult; but if it is a fox spirit, that is beyond my power to resolve." Old Man Weng replied, "It is certainly not a fox, certainly not." Shi Taipu handed a talisman to Old Man Weng and stayed at his house that night. At midnight, a young man entered, dressed very neatly. Shi Taipu thought he was a member of the household and rose to inquire; the young man said, "I am a ghost, and Old Man Weng's entire family are foxes. I happened to take a fancy to his daughter Hongting, so I have lingered in their home. A ghost bewitching a fox does no harm to one's hidden virtue; why should you meddle in our union and take her family's side? Hongting's elder sister, Changting, is even more radiantly beautiful; I have reverently preserved her purity, awaiting a worthy and virtuous man. If her family agrees to betroth Changting to you, then you may treat Hongting's illness, and at that time I will naturally depart." Shi Taipu agreed to this.
That night, the young man did not return, and Hongting suddenly regained consciousness. By daybreak, Old Man Weng was overjoyed and came to inform Shi Taipu, inviting him in to examine her. Shi Taipu burned the original talisman before sitting down to diagnose Hongting. Behind the embroidered curtain, he glimpsed a maiden as beautiful as a celestial being, and he knew in his heart that she was Changting. After the diagnosis, Shi Taipu asked for clear water to sprinkle the curtain, and the maiden swiftly brought him a bowl, her light lotus steps graceful and captivating, her eyes conveying tender feelings. At this moment, Shi Taipu's thoughts were no longer on the ghost at all. He left the inner chamber, bid farewell to Old Man Weng, and feigned a need to prepare medicine, saying he would not return for several days. Taking advantage of Shi Taipu's absence, the ghost grew even bolder, seducing and violating every woman in the Weng household except Changting, including the daughters-in-law and maidservants. Old Man Weng sent a servant on horseback to fetch Shi Taipu, but he pleaded illness and refused to go. The next day, Weng came in person. Shi Taipu deliberately pretended to suffer from a leg ailment, hobbling out on a cane. After exchanging greetings, Weng asked how he had fallen ill. Shi Taipu replied, "This is the hardship of living alone! Last night, as a maidservant was getting into bed, she carelessly stumbled and overturned the hot-water bottle, scalding both my feet." Weng inquired, "Then why have you not taken a wife for so long?" Shi Taipu answered, "I only regret not finding a family as noble and pure as yours." Hearing this, Weng fell silent and left. Shi Taipu saw him out, saying, "Once I recover, I will naturally come; there is no need for you to trouble yourself again." A few days later, Weng returned, and Shi Taipu received him with a limp. After expressing concern, Weng continued, "Before coming, I discussed with my wife: if you can drive away the ghost and restore peace to our household, our daughter Changting, now seventeen, is willing to become your wife." Overjoyed, Shi Taipu knelt and kowtowed, saying, "With such kindness from you, how dare I begrudge my ailing body?" He then immediately went out, mounted his horse, and rode off with Weng. Upon arriving at the Weng residence and examining the patient, Shi Taipu, fearing they might break their promise, requested to formalize the betrothal with the old lady. The old lady hurried out and said, "Why does the gentleman doubt us?" She then took a gold hairpin from Changting's hair and gave it to Shi Taipu as a token. Delighted, Shi Taipu accepted it, bowed to the old lady, and then summoned all the Weng family members to exorcise their evil influences. Only Changting remained hidden from sight, so Shi Taipu wrote a talisman and sent someone to deliver it to her. That night, all was silent, with no trace of the ghost; only Hongting's groans were heard. Shi Taipu sprinkled her with consecrated water, and her illness was instantly cured. The next morning, as Shi Taipu prepared to leave, Old Man Weng earnestly urged him to stay.
When night fell, a lavish feast was laid out, and the host pressed wine upon him with great warmth and courtesy. It was not until the second watch that the host took his leave and withdrew. No sooner had Shi Taipu climbed into bed than he heard a frantic knocking at the door. Rising to answer it, he saw Changting slip inside, her voice urgent and breathless: "My family means to take a knife to you—flee at once!" With that, she turned and vanished. Shi Taipu trembled in terror, his face drained of all color, and in haste he vaulted over the wall to escape. In the distance he spied a flickering torch and rushed toward it, only to find it was a band of night hunters from his own village. Greatly relieved, he waited until they had finished their hunt and then followed them home. His heart seethed with resentment, yet he had no outlet for his fury. He thought of going to Biancheng to seek out Wang Chicheng, but his aged father had long lain ill in bed, and he pondered day and night, uncertain what course to take.
One day, two carriages suddenly arrived at the gate, and it was Old Madam Weng who had brought Changting. She said to Shi Taipu, "After you returned home that night, why did you never come to our house again?" The moment Shi Taipu saw Changting, all the resentment in his heart melted away, so he restrained himself and did not give vent to his anger. The old woman urged the couple to perform the wedding rites right there in the courtyard. Shi Taipu prepared to host a feast, but the old woman said, "I am not a person of leisure and cannot stay here to enjoy the delicacies. My old husband is a doddering fool; if there is anything amiss, I beg you, for Changting's sake and in consideration of my old age, to overlook it, and I shall be deeply honored." Having said this, she boarded the carriage and departed. It turned out that the old woman had known nothing of the plan to kill the son-in-law; it was only after the old man failed in his pursuit and returned home that she learned of it. Greatly displeased, she quarreled with the old man every day, while Changting wept and refused to eat. The old woman had forced the matter of sending her daughter, and it was not the old man's idea. After Changting entered the household, Shi Taipu questioned her and thus learned the full truth of the matter.
After two or three months, the Weng family sent to take their daughter back for a visit home. Shi Taipu suspected that Changting would not return once she left, so he tried to prevent her from going. From then on, Changting would often weep in sorrow. Over a year passed, and Changting gave birth to a son, whom they named Huier, and they hired a wet nurse to care for him. But Huier was prone to crying and had to sleep with his mother at night. One day, the Weng family again sent a carriage to fetch Changting, saying that the old lady missed her daughter terribly. Hearing this, Changting grew even more distressed, and Shi Taipu could not bear to keep her any longer. Changting wished to take her son home, but Shi Taipu would not agree, so she had to return alone. At their parting, they agreed she would return in a month, but after half a year, there was no word at all. Shi Taipu sent someone to inquire, only to find that the house the Weng family had rented was long empty. Another two years passed, and Shi Taipu's hopes and illusions were shattered, while Huier still cried all night, cutting Shi Taipu's heart like a knife. Soon after, his father fell ill and died, and his grief was so overwhelming that he himself fell sick, his condition worsening during the mourning period, so that he could not even receive guests who came to offer condolences. While Shi Taipu lay in a daze, he suddenly heard a woman weeping as she entered. Lifting his head, he saw it was Changting, dressed entirely in mourning clothes. Overcome with sorrow, he let out a great cry and fainted. The maidservant screamed in fright, and Changting stopped crying, gently stroking him for a long time until Shi Taipu gradually regained consciousness. He suspected he had died and thought they were meeting in the underworld. Changting said, "No. I have been unfilial, unable to win my father's favor. After returning home for three years, he would not let me come back, and I have indeed failed you. It happened that a family member passed by from the east of the sea and learned of your father's death. I followed my father's orders, though I cut off our personal ties, but I dared not obey his unreasonable commands and neglect my duties as a daughter-in-law. When I came, my mother knew, but my father did not." As she spoke, Huier had already crawled into her arms. When Changting finished, she stroked Huier and wept, saying, "I have a father, but my poor son has no mother!" Huier wailed loudly, and everyone in the room covered their faces in tears. Changting rose and began to manage the household affairs, arranging the offerings before the coffin neatly and completely, which greatly comforted Shi Taipu. But because he had been ill for so long, he could not get up at once. Changting then asked Shi Taipu's cousin to receive the guests who came to offer condolences. After the funeral rites were completed, Shi Taipu could finally rise with the help of a cane, and he discussed with Changting the burial of his father. Once the burial was finished, Changting prepared to return home to face her father's punishment for defying his orders. Shi Taipu held her back, and Huier cried without stopping, so she had to stay for the time being. Not long after, someone came to tell Changting that her mother was ill, and she said to Shi Taipu, "I came for your father's sake; can you not let me go for my mother's sake?" Shi Taipu agreed to her request. Changting then had the wet nurse take Huier to play elsewhere, and she left in tears. After Changting departed, several years passed without her return, and Shi Taipu and his son gradually forgot about her.
One day, just as dawn broke, Shi Taipu opened his window and saw Changting drifting in like a breeze. Greatly startled, he was about to question her when Changting, her face full of sorrow, sat down on the bed and sighed, saying, "I grew up in the inner chambers, where even a single li seemed a great distance; now, in a single day and night, I have traveled a thousand li—I am utterly exhausted!" Shi Taipu pressed her for details, but Changting hesitated, as if on the verge of speaking yet holding back. When he insisted, she finally wept and said, "What I am about to tell you today may bring me grief but give you pleasure. In recent years, my family moved to the borders of Shanxi, lodging in the home of Squire Zhao. The host and guest got along most amiably, and my father gave Hongting in marriage to Squire Zhao's son. But that young master turned out to be dissolute and reckless, causing discord in the household. My sister returned to tell my father, who kept her at home, refusing to let her go back for half a year. The Zhao son, enraged and resentful, somehow summoned a villain who called upon a spirit to bind and chain my father and drag him away. The whole family was terrified, and in an instant, they scattered in all directions." Upon hearing this, Shi Taipu could not help but laugh. Changting said angrily, "Though he is not kind, he is still my father. You and I have been married for years, sharing only affection and never resentment. Today, my family is ruined, and a hundred souls are displaced—even if you feel no sorrow for my father, can you not show me a shred of pity? Hearing this, you actually dance for joy, without a single word of comfort—how utterly heartless you are!" With that, she flicked her sleeve and departed. Shi Taipu hurried after her to apologize, but Changting had vanished without a trace. His heart filled with a sense of loss and deep regret, and he resolved to break with her completely.
After two or three days, Old Woman Weng and her daughter arrived together. Shi Taipu, upon seeing them, joyfully stepped forward to offer his greetings. Suddenly, the mother and daughter both knelt on the ground, startling Shi Taipu greatly. He hastily asked what was the matter, and the two of them burst into tears. Changting said, "That day I left in a fit of anger, but now I cannot hold firm, and still I come to beg you—what face do I have left?" Shi Taipu replied, "Though my father-in-law is not a proper man, I cannot forget the kindness of my mother-in-law and your affection. Yet, to feel joy at hearing of his misfortune is only human nature—why could you not have endured a little at that time?" Changting said, "Just now I met my mother on the road, and learned that the one who captured my father is none other than your master." Shi Taipu said, "If that is truly so, then it is very easy. But if your father does not return, it will be your father and daughter parted; I only fear that if he does return, your husband will weep for his son in sorrow." Upon hearing this, Old Woman Weng swore an oath to show her true heart, and Changting also swore to repay him. Shi Taipu then immediately prepared his baggage and set out for Biancheng. He found the Xuanwu Temple, where Wang Chicheng had just returned not long before. Shi Taipu entered and paid his respects to his master. Wang Chicheng then asked him, "What have you come for?" Shi Taipu saw an old fox under the stove, its front legs pierced and bound with a rope, and smiled, saying, "Your disciple has come for this old demon." Wang Chicheng asked what the matter was, and Shi Taipu replied, "He is my father-in-law." Then he told his master the whole truth. Wang Chicheng said this fox was cunning and treacherous, unwilling to release him easily. Shi Taipu pleaded repeatedly, and only then did his master agree. Shi Taipu then recounted in detail his father-in-law's deceitful behavior. Upon hearing this, the fox squeezed its body into the stove's hearth, as if ashamed. Wang Chicheng laughed and said, "It seems his sense of shame is not entirely lost." Shi Taipu stood up, led the fox out of the door, and cut the rope with a knife to draw it out. The fox was in such pain that its teeth chattered with a grating sound. Shi Taipu did not pull the rope out all at once but paused and tugged in intervals, laughing as he asked, "Father-in-law, does it hurt? Would you rather I stop?" The fox's eyes flashed with light, as if in anger. When the rope was finally untied, the fox flicked its tail and left the temple.
Shi Taipu bid farewell to his master and returned home. Three days earlier, a messenger had already reported that the old man had been released, so Old Madam Weng had departed alone, leaving Changting behind to await Shi Taipu. As soon as Shi Taipu arrived home, Changting came forward and knelt before him. He raised her up, saying, "If you do not forget the bond between us as husband and wife, there is no need for such gratitude." Changting replied, "Now our family has moved back to our original dwelling, which is not far from here, and communication will not be cut off. I wish to return home to visit my father; I can come back in three days—can you trust me?" Shi Taipu said, "Our son Hui was born without his mother's care, yet he did not die young. I have long grown accustomed to living alone. Now I am unlike that young Master Zhao; instead, I repay kindness with virtue, and I have done all that can be done for you. If you do not return, then you would be the one who is ungrateful. Though our two villages are close, I would not seek you out again—why speak of trust or distrust?" Changting departed the next day and returned after only two days. Shi Taipu asked, "Why have you come back so soon?" Changting said, "My father, because you once teased him in the city of Bian, has never been able to forget it; he mutters about it all day long. I could no longer bear to listen, so I returned early." From then on, Changting maintained constant visits with her mother, but Old Man Weng and Shi Taipu never exchanged greetings.
The Chronicler of the Strange remarks: The fox is by nature fickle and treacherous to the utmost degree. In the matter of breaking off engagements, the marriages of his two daughters were virtually identical, and his cunning can thus be well imagined. However, Shi Taipu, by using coercion to marry Changting, caused the old man Weng to harbor thoughts of reneging on the betrothal from the very start. Moreover, as a son-in-law, having rescued his father-in-law out of love for Changting, he ought to have set aside past grievances and moved him with benevolence and righteousness, rather than mocking him in his moment of peril. It is no wonder that old man Weng never forgot this humiliation to his dying day! Throughout the world, fathers-in-law and sons-in-law who cannot get along often find their situations quite similar to this tale.
Commentary
This piece in "Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio" can be considered an innovative work among its tales of ghosts and fox-spirits, depicting a human and a ghost conspiring together to marry a fox-maiden. The story is wildly imaginative, yet profoundly human and rich in the flavor of everyday life.
Shi Taipu, skilled in the arts of exorcism and averting evil, was hired by a family of foxes to drive away ghosts, yet secretly received aid from the very spirits he was meant to banish, becoming betrothed to the fox maiden Changting. The fox father-in-law later reneged on the marriage, first attempting to murder Shi Taipu and then refusing to allow Changting, who had returned to her natal home, to go back to her husband, thus sowing deep enmity between them. When the fox father-in-law later fell into dire straits, Shi Taipu, through Changting's mediation, extended his aid, but the lingering discord between the father-in-law and son-in-law remained unresolved.
Shi Taipu and his father-in-law were both portrayed as ordinary men, each with their own petty schemes and calculations. Shi Taipu's tactics in pursuing Changting carried a vulgar, mercenary flavor, yet it was precisely this that made the story feel close to life, intimate and amusing. The fox maiden Changting, however, shone with radiant grace. When her father plotted to harm Shi Taipu, she resolutely came to his rescue. When her father broke off the betrothal, she "wept silently and refused to eat." With a keen sense of the greater good and an understanding of propriety, she skillfully navigated the conflicts between her father and husband, weighing priorities and balancing urgencies, excelling as a mediating force in the family and marriage.
The structure of this story is complete and intricate, with the conflicts among humans, ghosts, and foxes brimming with comedic flair. At the same time, the tale contains many concise and brilliant sentences, flowing smoothly and elegantly, especially in the dialogues and discussions among characters, such as those between Shi Taipu and his father-in-law, or between Shi Taipu and Changting; the shortest exchanges are merely four characters, while the longest are expansive and eloquent, resembling the diction found in the Zuo Commentary. Feng Zhenluan remarked, "The critical passages are most incisive in their sharpness, cutting deeply with keen insight. If a young scholar were to apply this understanding to the eight-legged essay, no question in the Four Books would pose a challenge."