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

Overview

A scholar rents a reputedly haunted house in Emmet village. While he reads one evening, hundreds of tiny knights ride into his room. Their horses are fly-sized, and their hunting birds and dogs are compared to gnats and fleas. They conduct a hunt beside his bed, catching game no larger than grains of rice. A much larger procession follows, carrying tents, furniture, tableware and elaborate food. The scholar can clearly distinguish their movements and speech despite their size.

A richly dressed ruler in a scarlet hat and purple garments arrives with thousands of attendants. His herald announces a visit to the Purple Lake, which proves to be the scholar’s ink-saucer. They erect a banquet beside it, play music, dance and fish in the water used for the writing-brush. The ruler catches red carp while his company brings in vast numbers of other fish, and the cooking fills the room with scent.

The king then mocks the scholar’s poverty and book-learning, offering him food if he will become a faithful official. Angered, the scholar strikes at the court with his book. The company scatters and crawls out of the room. He digs where they vanish and finds a large nest filled with green ants, which he destroys with smoke. The source note attributes the tale to Tang Dai Tsung Schu. Its final revelation ties the court to that particular colony; the account does not identify a modern ant species or show the ruler being accepted as an official god. It is separate from the prolonged dream-marriage in Hearn’s Akinosuké narrative.

Fly-sized mounts and miniature hunting animalsUses an ink-saucer as a lakeCourt traced to a green-ant nest
01

Origins & earliest records

Chinese tales mediated by Richard Wilhelm and Frederick H. Martens

02

Records & interpretation

Complete tale and its attached source note read in the retained1921-edition transcription.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

  1. 01

    The Chinese Fairy Book

    Richard Wilhelm, editor; Frederick H. Martens, translator · 1921

    The King of the Ants, pp.125–127; New York, Frederick A. Stokes Company

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 historical translated tale

Richard Wilhelm/Frederick H. Martens, The Chinese Fairy Book (Stokes1921)

Nature and Animal Tales. The King of the Ants, pp.125–127

Complete chapter and source note read in wilhelm-XLI.txt and29939.html. Names and later revelation confined to this translated witness.

Inspect the digitized plate · Source collection manifest

References

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

  1. Historical translated taleWilhelm/Martens, The Chinese Fairy Book, The King of the Ants, pp.125–127Research 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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