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

Overview

A merchant travelling toward Shantung shelters from a storm in an inn occupied by soldiers. An elderly man gives him a side room, though no food or wine is available for him. Unable to sleep, he watches the company eating, drinking and discussing unfamiliar campaigns. A procession of lanterns escorts a martial-looking, long-bearded general inside. After his meal the general dismisses his officers and summons a young attendant named Asti.

The merchant follows and peers through a door. In the lamplit room, the general removes his own head and places it on a bamboo bed. Asti detaches and lays down his arms. When the remaining body lies across the bed, the attendant separates it below the thighs and the legs fall to the floor. The lamp then goes out. The terrified observer retreats to his own room and remains awake until morning.

At cockcrow the merchant discovers that he is lying in brush, with no building or even a grave visible nearby. After running to another inn, he hears that old battlefields cover the district and supernatural occurrences are common there after dark. The collection attributes this account to Sin Tsi Hia. The general is unnamed, and no battle, historical commander or cause of his death is identified. The tale shows disassembly but not reassembly; neither Asti nor the general attacks the merchant. Their apparent household disappears with the night.

Presides over a spectral military companyRemoves head and limbsInn absent at dawn
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

    LV, The Night on the Battlefield, pp.186–189; 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)

Ghost Stories. LV, The Night on the Battlefield, pp.186–189

Full chapter/source note read in wilhelm-LV.txt and29939.html. No observed reassembly or namedhistoricalidentity; storysourceSinTsiHia notindependentlycollated.

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 Night on the BattlefieldResearch 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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