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

Overview

Ch’ên Pi-chiao saves an aquatic creature wounded by General Chia’s arrow in Pu Songling’s Princess of the Tung-t’ing Lake, here read in Giles’s1880 translation. A smaller fish clings to its tail, and Ch’ên persuades the general to release both, first putting plaster on the wound. Giles calls the larger creature a dolphin, but his note records a competing identification as an alligator or cayman and rejects it. This editorial disagreement prevents a confident zoological classification of the story’s animal form.

After a later shipwreck, Ch’ên reaches an extraordinary palace and becomes endangered by entering its restricted spaces. An attendant recognizes him and prevents his arrest. The queen then welcomes him as her rescuer, and her daughter explains that the wounded creature was her mother and the accompanying fish was a servant. The queen is married to the king of the lake and is herself a River Prince’s daughter. The account gives these relationships without personal names for those rulers.

The queen arranges Ch’ên’s marriage to her daughter, transforming his apparent offence into repayment for an earlier kindness. Her initial anger arose before she knew the trespasser’s identity. Neither the queen’s human appearance nor the daughter’s explanation supplies a universal body for aquatic royal beings. This household is kept distinct from the disowned princess and her avenging uncle in the separate Liu I narrative, despite their shared lake setting.

01

Origins & earliest records

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

02

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

Complete20,815-character local tale and notes, plus referenced315/292, read.

Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio

London: Thos. de la Rue,1880, volume II. Volume II, LXIX, The Princess of the Tung-t’ing Lake, pp.43–55; electronic notes386–398 plus referenced315/292

Cache giles-story-069.txt plus master giles-studio-43629.html. Distinct from Wilhelm DisownedPrincess and Giles beePrincessLily. Queen aquatic identity dolphin versus commentator alligator disputed; no automatic royal-title equivalences or bilocation explanation.

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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 — 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

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

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