A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

Overview

Poor and close to death while lodging with the Tai family, Chao wakes beside a beautiful woman who says she has come to be his wife. Her hand feels like fire as she rubs his back and sides, and he recovers. She explains that he helped her family in an earlier life as Chu Sui-liang, whom this translation places under the Han dynasty.

She fills his bare room with rich cloth, decorated walls, furniture, food and wine, and the couple live openly as husband and wife. When an unprincipled graduate intrudes, she strikes him so that his head ends up outside a window while his body stays inside. She releases him when guests plead on his behalf. The growing crowds of onlookers put strain on the household.

At the Tuan-yang festival a white rabbit arrives, and she calls it the doctor. She has a ladder set above a tree and climbs it with Chao. Only a serving-boy follows, and all three vanish into the clouds. Those left behind find that the ladder was an old empty door-frame, and the room has returned to its former poverty.

Human-like woman whose healing hand feels like fireTransforms a bare room into a rich householdDeparts by ladder into the clouds
01

Origins & earliest records

A Pu Songling narrative, Volume II, story XCVI, in Giles's 1880 translation. The historical identity and dynasty given there are not independently resolved.

02

Records & interpretation

A single public-domain translation. Giles's note linking the rabbit to an elixir is translator commentary, not part of the story.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

  1. 01

    Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio

    Pu Songling; translated by Herbert A. Giles · 1880

    Selected bibliography; primary translation, Volume II, pp. 166–169.

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.

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

  1. Primary text, public-domain translationStrange Stories from a Chinese Studio, volumes I and II (plain text)Research access: 2026-10-06
  2. Catalogue recordStrange Stories from a Chinese Studio, catalogue recordResearch access: 2026-10-06

Image credits

A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

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