The Tung-t’ing princess who marries Ch’ên

Overview

In Giles’s1880 translation of Pu Songling, Ch’ên Pi-chiao sees a young princess hunting with female attendants, then follows her company into a palace garden. He writes verses on her dropped handkerchief and is detained, uncertain whether he will be punished. Her mother ultimately recognizes him as the man who saved her aquatic form and arranges their marriage. The daughter later explains that she had liked his verse but lacked authority to decide his fate herself.

The princess identifies her mother as the lake king’s wife and a River Prince’s daughter. She says the Dragon King has given her an elixir of immortality, which she will share with Ch’ên. The story therefore explicitly treats her as a spirit, while not narrating a separate reptilian transformation for her. Her father is absent on a campaign with the God of War against Ch’ih-yu; the translated account does not independently identify every title it uses as one individual. The fish attendant who recognized Ch’ên is also distinct from A-nien, the maid who brought food during his detention.

Ch’ên returns home wealthy, and the account later gives him five children without separately detailing each birth. An old friend subsequently meets him and the princess aboard a splendid boat, then encounters him at home despite the apparently impossible travel interval. Ch’ên denies the first meeting, leaving the mechanism unresolved. After his death at eighty, his coffin is found empty. These closing incidents suggest the continuing otherworldly connection but do not explicitly explain the empty coffin or prove bodily duplication. The princess remains a separate witness from both Liu I’s bride and the bee-court Princess Lily.

Origins & earliest records

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

Records & interpretation

Complete English story and all attached notes read; source comparison and global dedup preserve distinct lake-princess witnesses.

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, LXIX, The Princess of the Tung-t’ing Lake, pp.43–55; electronic notes386–398 plus referenced315/292; complete story 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

References

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

1. Historical literary translationStrange Stories from a Chinese Studio — Volume II, LXIX, The Princess of the Tung-t’ing Lake, pp.43–55; electronic notes386–398 plus referenced315/292Research access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

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