A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.
Overview
In Pu Songling’s brief story as translated by Giles in1880, Magistrate Wang accepts butterflies instead of prescribed fines and releases them together for his entertainment. A colourfully dressed young woman appears in his dream, accuses him of causing the deaths of many of her sisters and promises a penalty. She then turns into a butterfly and flies away. The explicit transformation belongs to the dream, and the account does not give her an individual name or state that every butterfly can appear as a woman.
The next day a censor arrives unexpectedly while Wang still wears a white flower placed in his official hat by women of his household. The censor interprets this as disrespect and reprimands him; afterwards Wang stops accepting butterflies. The title connects this humiliation with the warning, but the narrative does not show the visitor physically placing the flower or controlling the censor. That missing causal step remains an inference rather than an additional magical power.
Origins & earliest records
Pu Songling’s literary collection in Giles’s selected translation.
Records & interpretation
Complete English account and notes where present; translator introduction and transcriber notice checked.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio
Volume II, p.289; CXXXIX, The Butterfly’s Revenge; no attached notes; complete account read.
Family & connections
A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.
Primary records and illustrations
Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio
London: Thos. de la Rue,1880, two volumes. II, p.289; CXXXIX, The Butterfly’s Revenge; no attached notes
Cache giles-story-139.txt plus master giles-studio-43629.html. No Chinese collation; global dedup clear. Games/spirits narrative not clinical fact; butterfly punishment mechanism not explicitly narrated.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Historical literary translationStrange Stories from a Chinese Studio — II, p.289; CXXXIX, The Butterfly’s Revenge; no attached notesResearch access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.