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

Overview

Chih-ch‘eng appears among the attendants of the Tung-t‘ing lake king when his court borrows the boat of the unsuccessful scholar Lin. Half awake after drinking, Lin pulls at her stocking with his teeth and makes her fall. The king orders his execution, then relents when Lin appeals to their supposed shared background and demonstrates his literary skill. This appeal mentions a Dragon Lady in the king’s past; it does not identify Chih-ch‘eng as that lady or as a dragon princess. She is specifically a waiting-maid and favourite of the queen.

The king gives Lin gold and a crystal mason’s square that protects his vessel during the ensuing storm. A register has assigned 228 people to drown, and the boatmen identify the storm’s agents as General Mao, appearing as an iron cat, and General Nan, appearing as an upright, nodding wooden beam. Later an old woman offers her daughter in marriage only to the owner of a matching square. The arrangement brings Chih-ch‘eng to Lin’s boat, where the damaged stocking helps him recognize her. She explains that the king sought the queen’s consent and that she has come under the queen’s command. The episode does not establish the marriage intermediary as her biological mother merely because she presents the girl as her daughter.

On a subsequent journey Chih-ch‘eng asks to visit her parents, throws a hairpin into the lake and enters a boat that rises from the water. Her first departure is compared to a bird’s flight; her return is more explicit, for a beautiful bird flies from a house-boat window and is identified as Chih-ch‘eng herself. Gifts from the queen follow. She continues to visit twice yearly, and Lin becomes wealthy through the extraordinary goods received. These repeated visits and the particular bird manifestation belong to this named attendant’s story. They do not supply universal anatomy for lake spirits or justify merging her with separately named Dungting princesses in other narratives.

01

Origins & earliest records

Pu Songling’s literary collection, in Giles’s selected English translation.

02

Records & interpretation

Complete English story, attached notes and translator introduction read. No independent Chinese-text collation.

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 and annotated by Herbert A. Giles · 1880

    XXXVIII, The Young Lady of the Tung-t‘ing Lake, volume I; electronic notes226–227; complete narrative and both notes 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

Complete English story and every attached note, including continuation paragraphs; complete translator introduction read.

Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio

Volume I, London: Thos. de la Rue,1880. XXXVIII, The Young Lady of the Tung-t‘ing Lake, volume I; electronic notes226–227

Complete cache giles-story-038.txt and master giles-studio-43629.html. Full boat-court encounter, drowning agents, protective square, matching-square marriage and twice-yearly visits ending; notes226–227 read. First bird simile distinguished from explicit returning bird identity; no independent Chinese collation.

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References

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

  1. Historical literary translationStrange Stories from a Chinese Studio — XXXVIII, The Young Lady of the Tung-t‘ing Lake, volume I; electronic notes226–227Research 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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