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Overview

Tou Hsün is summoned while sleeping to a prince’s court in Giles’s1880 translation of Pu Songling. A poetic exchange leads to his meeting the prince’s daughter Lily, and a later visit brings their marriage. The prince initially mentions a difference of species, but the surrounding palace, officials and bride appear human. Tou questions whether the encounter is a dream, and Lily answers by appealing to their shared presence. Her court’s identity is disclosed only through the waking sequel.

A report announces an immense reptile devastating the kingdom. Its claimed length of ten thousand feet and its consumption of buildings belong to the court’s account within the dream. Tou takes Lily to his own home, but hesitates when she asks him to shelter her parents as well. As she protests, he wakes and finds bees on his pillow and clothing. At his friend’s suggestion he provides a hive, which a swarm soon occupies.

The bees are traced to a nearby keeper’s old hive. Inside it the keeper finds and kills a snake described as about ten feet long, recognizing it as the dream’s invader. The different measurements preserve the change in perspective rather than establishing a gigantic waking animal. The bees thrive with Tou thereafter, but Lily does not subsequently appear as a separate human wife. This is a bee-court narrative, not the frog-princess or dragon-princess story, and the tale does not assert a human biological ancestry for bees.

01

Origins & earliest records

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

02

Records & interpretation

Complete account 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, pp.56–63; LXX, The Princess Lily; electronic notes399–402 and referenced349/390; complete account and 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 attached notes read; relevant cross-referenced notes also inspected where listed.

Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio

London: Thos. de la Rue,1880, two volumes. II, pp.56–63; LXX, The Princess Lily; electronic notes399–402 and referenced349/390

Cache giles-story-070.txt; master giles-studio-43629.html. Global research-name/motif dedup performed. Chinese text not collated; no independent historical verification of narrated incidents.

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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 — II, pp.56–63; LXX, The Princess Lily; electronic notes399–402 and referenced349/390Research access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

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

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