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

Overview

In a brief account translated by Giles in1880, the trader Chia sees his ship suddenly illuminated at night. A huge creature rises partly from the southern sea, towering like a hill, with eyes compared to two suns casting light widely. None of the boatmen can identify it. They watch until it sinks again and darkness returns; at port, people report a great nocturnal light at the corresponding time. The passage supplies no attack, coils, scales or measured length, despite its English title The Sea-Serpent.

Giles’s note proposes a meteoric phenomenon as an explanation. That is a translator’s conjecture rather than a solution established by the narrative. This entry therefore records the luminous creature as an unidentified literary apparition, without assigning it a dragon species, verifying an animal sighting, or treating the reported lights ashore as independent modern corroboration.

01

Origins & earliest records

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

02

Records & interpretation

Complete English narrative and attached notes read; full translator introduction and transcriber notice checked.

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

    Volume II, p.113; LXXXII, The Sea-Serpent; electronic note441; complete story and all attached 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 account and all attached notes.

Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio

London: Thos. de la Rue,1880, two volumes. II, p.113; LXXXII, The Sea-Serpent; electronic note441

Cache giles-story-082.txt plus master giles-studio-43629.html. Peony/camellia named identities and final deaths preserved; sea-creature identification uncertain. Global dedup clear; furu-tsubaki-no-rei remains distinct Japanese witness.

Inspect the digitized plate · Source collection manifest

References

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

  1. Historical literary translationStrange Stories from a Chinese Studio — II, p.113; LXXXII, The Sea-Serpent; electronic note441Research access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

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

FT·2187 · RESEARCH EDITION 01Back to top ↑