Original Text
Lang Yuzhu, a native of Pengcheng, whose ancestors had served as prefects with such integrity that they spent all their official salaries on books rather than property, amassing a houseful of them. By the time of Lang Yuzhu, he had become even more of a bookworm. Though his family was poor and he sold off everything else, he could not bear to part with a single volume of his father's collection. While his father was alive, he had copied out the "Exhortation to Learning" compiled by Emperor Zhenzong of Song and pasted it to the right of his desk; Lang Yuzhu recited it daily and even covered the motto with white gauze for fear it might wear out. He studied not for official rank but truly believed that within books there were "golden houses" and "thousands of bushels of grain." Day and night he toiled over his texts, heedless of the changing seasons. Past twenty years of age, he gave no thought to marriage, trusting that a beauty from the books would come to him of her own accord. When guests or relatives visited, he knew not how to exchange pleasantries; after a few words, he would begin reading aloud, and the visitors, finding it tedious, would take their leave. At every examination held by the provincial education commissioner, he was always chosen as the top candidate, yet he never succeeded in the provincial examination.
One day, Lang Yuzhu was engrossed in his reading when a sudden gust of wind swept his book away; he hurriedly chased after it, and as his foot stepped down, the ground gave way beneath him. Peering into the hole, he discovered rotting grass, and upon digging further, found an ancient grain storage cellar, where the grain had already decayed into filth and dust. Though the grain was inedible, Lang Yuzhu became even more convinced that the saying "within books there are bushels of grain" was true, and he studied with redoubled effort. Another day, he climbed a ladder to the top of his bookshelves and, amidst a jumble of chaotic books, found a golden carriage about a foot long; he was overjoyed, believing this to be the fulfillment of "within books there are houses of gold." He showed it to others, only to discover it was merely gilded, not solid gold, and inwardly grumbled that the ancients had deceived him. Not long after, a man who had taken the imperial examinations in the same year as his father came to the region as an inspecting official; this man was deeply devoted to Buddhism, and someone advised Lang Yuzhu to present the golden carriage to the inspector as a shrine. The inspector was greatly pleased and bestowed upon him three hundred silver taels and two horses. Lang Yuzhu was ecstatic, believing that the sayings "within books there are houses of gold" and "within books there are carriages and horses in abundance" had all come true, and thus he studied even more diligently. However, by this time Lang Yuzhu was already thirty years old. Someone advised him to take a wife, but he said, "'Within books there are faces like jade,' so why should I worry about lacking a beautiful wife?" He continued reading for another two or three years, yet still no fulfillment came, and those around him mocked him. At that time, there was a folk rumor that the heavenly Weaving Maid had secretly descended to the mortal world, and someone jokingly said to Lang Yuzhu, "The Weaving Maid's elopement is probably meant for you." Lang Yuzhu knew they were teasing him and did not bother to argue.
One evening, Lang Yuzhu was reading the "History of the Han" and had reached nearly halfway through the eighth volume when he discovered a beauty cut from gauze tucked between the pages. Startled, he exclaimed, "'Within books there are faces fair as jade'—could this be the fulfillment of that saying?" A sense of loss and bewilderment filled his heart. Yet, as he examined the figure closely, its brows and eyes seemed as vivid as those of a living person, and on its back, faintly inscribed, were two small characters: "Weaving Maid." Lang Yuzhu was greatly astonished. Each day, he placed the beauty on his book, gazing at it and toying with it repeatedly, even to the point of neglecting sleep and food. One day, as he stared fixedly at the figure, it suddenly bent at the waist, rose up, and sat on the book, smiling at him. Lang Yuzhu, terrified, prostrated himself beneath the desk, and when he rose again, the beauty had grown to over a foot in height. Even more alarmed, he hastily kowtowed. The figure stepped down from the desk, standing gracefully tall, a veritable peerless beauty. Lang Yuzhu bowed to her and asked, "What divine being are you?" The beauty smiled and replied, "My surname is Yan, my given name Ruyu—you have long known it. You yearned for me day after day, and if I did not come, I fear that in the future, people would no longer believe the words of the ancients." Lang Yuzhu, overjoyed, then shared his chamber with her. Though he embraced her intimately in bed, he understood nothing of the true art of husband and wife.
Lang Yuzhu, whenever he read, always insisted that Yan Ruyu sit by his side. Yan Ruyu advised him to stop reading, but he would not listen. Yan Ruyu said, "The reason you cannot achieve success and fame is precisely because you only know how to read. Look at those who have their names on the list of successful candidates—how many of them read the way you do? If you do not heed my words, I will leave." Lang Yuzhu temporarily complied. But before long, he forgot her instructions and began reciting again. In an instant, when he looked for Yan Ruyu, she was nowhere to be found. Lang Yuzhu, utterly distraught, prayed repeatedly, but there was no trace of Yan Ruyu. He suddenly recalled the place where Yan Ruyu had originally hidden herself, hastily took out the "Book of Han," and carefully searched through it until he reached the original spot, where he indeed found Yan Ruyu. Lang Yuzhu called to her but she did not respond, so he had to kneel on the ground and pray earnestly. Only then did Yan Ruyu descend from the book and say, "If you disobey me again, I will never see you again!" She then had Lang Yuzhu prepare a chessboard and gambling implements, and spent each day playing games with him. But Lang Yuzhu had no interest in these things; as soon as Yan Ruyu was not looking, he would secretly read. Fearing she might discover him, he stealthily took out the eighth volume of the "Book of Han" and mixed it with other books to prevent her from finding her way back. One day, Lang Yuzhu was so absorbed in reading that he did not notice Yan Ruyu's arrival; when he suddenly saw her, he hastily closed the book, but Yan Ruyu had already vanished. Lang Yuzhu was terrified and secretly searched every book, but could not find her. Finally, he found her in the eighth volume of the "Book of Han," still on the same page. He then bowed and prayed, swearing he would no longer read. Only then did Yan Ruyu descend and play chess with him, saying, "If you cannot learn within three days, I will leave again." On the third day, Lang Yuzhu suddenly won a game against Yan Ruyu by two stones. Yan Ruyu was then very pleased and taught him to play the zither, setting a limit of five days to learn one piece. Lang Yuzhu, with his fingers plucking the strings and his eyes fixed on the music score, had no time to think of anything else; over time, his fingers began to match the rhythm of the music, and he felt encouraged without realizing it. Yan Ruyu spent each day drinking and playing games with him, and Lang Yuzhu became so happy that he forgot about reading. Yan Ruyu then urged him to go out and make friends, and from then on, Lang Yuzhu's reputation as a dashing and talented man grew greatly. Yan Ruyu said, "Now you can go and take the examinations."
One evening, Lang Yuzhu said to Yan Ruyu, "In the mortal world, when a man and woman live together, they bear children. You and I have lived together for so long—why have we no child?" Yan Ruyu smiled and replied, "You spend every day only reading books; I have always said it is of no benefit. Even concerning the chapter on marital relations, you have yet to grasp it. Within the two words 'pillow and mat' there lies great knowledge." Lang Yuzhu asked, "What knowledge?" Yan Ruyu merely smiled and did not answer. After a while, she secretly enticed and teased him. Lang Yuzhu was overjoyed and said, "I never imagined that between husband and wife there could be such ineffable delight." Thereafter, he told everyone he met, and those who heard it could not help covering their mouths with laughter. When Yan Ruyu learned of this, she reproached him, but Lang Yuzhu said, "Those who steal secret pleasures behind their parents' backs indeed should not speak of it; but the joy of natural human bonds is shared by all—what need is there to avoid it?" After eight or nine months, Yan Ruyu indeed gave birth to a son, and Lang Yuzhu hired an old woman to nurse the child.
One day, Yan Ruyu said to Lang Yuzhu, "I have been with you for two years and have already borne you a son; now I must take my leave. If I linger too long, I fear calamity will befall you, and then regret will be too late." Lang Yuzhu wept at these words, prostrating himself on the ground and refusing to rise, saying, "Do you not care for this infant who has just begun to cry?" Yan Ruyu was also deeply sorrowful, and after a long pause, she replied, "If you insist on my staying, then you must cast away all the books on your shelves." Lang Yuzhu said, "Books are your homeland and my very life—how can you utter such words!" Yan Ruyu did not press him, but said, "I only know that misfortune is destined; I must warn you beforehand." It happened that some of Lang Yuzhu's relatives had caught sight of Yan Ruyu and were all astonished, for they had never heard of him being betrothed to anyone, so they came to question him. Lang Yuzhu could not tell lies and merely remained silent. The more they suspected, and soon the matter spread abroad, reaching the ears of Magistrate Shi. This magistrate was a man from Fujian, who had passed the imperial examinations at a young age. Hearing the tale, his curiosity was stirred, and he secretly longed to behold Yan Ruyu's beauty; so he issued a summons to arrest Lang Yuzhu and Yan Ruyu. When Yan Ruyu learned of this, she hid herself and vanished without a trace. The magistrate grew enraged, threw Lang Yuzhu into prison, stripped him of his scholar's rank, and subjected him to severe torture to force him to reveal where Yan Ruyu had fled. Lang Yuzhu was nearly beaten to death but uttered not a single word. The magistrate then seized the maidservants from his household and thus learned the general outline of the affair. Deeming it the work of a demon, the magistrate personally rode in his carriage to Lang Yuzhu's home. There he saw the rooms piled high with books, so many that searching them was impossible; he then ordered all the books to be burned. The smoke from the courtyard congealed in the air, refusing to disperse, casting a dark and gloomy pall.
After his release, Lang Yuzhu traveled a great distance to find his father's former student, pleading with him to submit a petition for his exoneration. He was thus fully vindicated and restored to the status of a licentiate. That autumn, he passed the provincial examination and became a juren; the following year, he succeeded in the metropolitan examination and became a jinshi. Yet Lang Yuzhu harbored an unquenchable hatred for the county magistrate, Shi. He erected a memorial tablet for Yan Ruyu and prayed before it morning and evening, saying, "If your spirit lingers in the heavens, you must bless me so that I may be appointed to an official post in Fujian." Later, Lang Yuzhu was indeed dispatched to Fujian as an imperial censor. Within three months, he uncovered numerous misdeeds committed by Magistrate Shi and had his entire household confiscated. At that time, Lang Yuzhu had a cousin who served as a judicial officer in the prefecture, who compelled Lang Yuzhu to take a concubine, falsely claiming she was purchased as a maidservant and lodged in the official residence. Once the case was concluded, Lang Yuzhu submitted a memorial of self-accusation that very day, resigned from his post, and then returned home with the concubine.
The Chronicler of the Strange remarks: Among all things under heaven, when goods are amassed in great quantity, they invite the envy of others; and when a passion becomes excessive, it gives rise to demonic occurrences. The enchantress Yan Ruyu is indeed the book-demon. This matter borders on the bizarre, and it might not be improper to deal with it, yet to follow the example of Qin Shi Huang, burning all the books and punishing the scholars—was that not too cruel? Because that county magistrate acted out of selfish motives, he later met with a venomous retribution. Alas! What is there to wonder at in this?
Commentary
This story tells of a scholar who becomes obsessed with reading to the point of madness. Why does one read? This is a question every scholar must answer. Reading is not an end in itself; it is a means to acquire knowledge, cultivate oneself, and serve society. If one believes that reading alone will bring forth a 'house of gold,' 'a thousand bushels of grain,' or 'a face as fair as jade,' then reading becomes a religion, even a cult, and turns into its opposite. Lang Yuzhu's attitude toward reading is neither beneficial to himself nor to society, and thus the woman who emerges from the 'Book of Han' is regarded by Pu Songling as 'a female demon, a spirit of the book.' If we compare the images of Yu Shizhen and his sister Suqiu in the tenth volume's 'Suqiu,' both being spirits associated with books, it is not difficult to discern the author's differing attitudes toward them.
In this tale, there are two noteworthy plot points worth our attention. The first is the author's depiction of the paper-cut beauty criticizing Lang Yuzhu, saying, "The reason you have not achieved prominence is solely due to your reading." This leads Lang Yuzhu to abandon his studies and learn music and chess, causing his reputation for elegance and unconventionality to spread widely, eventually enabling him to pass the autumn examination and become a presented scholar the following year. Does this perhaps hint at Pu Songling's dialectical view on the relationship between quality education and examination-oriented education? The second plot point involves Lang Yuzhu's deep-seated hatred, "cut to the very marrow of his bones," toward the county magistrate surnamed Shi, which he ultimately avenges. While Lang Yuzhu's revenge against Magistrate Shi is certainly justified, this "hatred cut to the marrow" is also closely linked to the dark and reclusive temperament formed by Lang Yuzhu's prolonged detachment from society and his rigid devotion to bookish learning.