Selections From Strange Tales From the Liaozhai Studio

Selections from Strange Tales from the Liaozhai Studio
-Library of Chinese Classics Chinese-English
Author: Pu Songling (Qing Dynasty), edited by Zhang Youhe, translated into English by Huang Youyi, Zhang Qingnian, Zhang Ciyun, Yang Yi, Denis C Mair, and Victor H Mair
Published by Foreign Languages Press, Beijing, 2007
Library binding book, dimensions 960 x 640, 1/16, 4 Volumes, 2019 pages
ISBN: 9787119050775

Strange Tales from the Liaozhai Studio was written by Pu Songling (1640-1715) in the Qing Dynasty. Based on folk tales, the work is unique in the history of Chinese fiction. Its 500-odd tales conjure up a weird fanciful world of human beings, ghosts, fox spirits and monsters. The author vividly depicted a group of "Liaozhai Studio" characters, soon to become well known throughout China, with his superb grasp of descriptive and concise writing. The strange tales have strongly satirical flavor, intermingling the supernatural with the real world, and presenting both the beautiful and ugly sides of life. Enriched by the author's powerful imagination, Strange Tales from the Liaozhai Studio is a gem in the corpus of China's classical literary works.
In 1989, Beijing's Foreign Languages Press published and English version of Strange Tales From Make-Do Studio, with 51 stories translated by Denis C Mair and Victor H Mair. In 1997, People's China Publishing House brought out an English version translated by Huang Youyi, Zhang Qingnian, Zhang Ciyun, and Yang Yi, consisting of 193 tales in three volumes, and considered one of the most accurate English renderings.
This Chinese-English version is based on Zhang Youhe's edited Chinese text and the translation of the above-mentioned translators: 133 stories by Huang Youyi (Vols II, III, and IV), 60 stories by Zhang Qingnian, Zhang Ciyun and Yang Yi (Vols I and II), and 23 stories by Denis C Mair and Victor H Mair placed in different volumes.