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

Overview

Willow is the mandarin’s daughter whom the scholar Chan first sees hunting a fox. She dies before he can court her, and her coffin is temporarily lodged in the monastery where he studies. After months of his nightly declarations beside it, she appears in his room as an ethereal young woman. She says that Yam-lo has permitted the visit because of Chan’s devotion. During later meetings she passes through closed doors and substantial walls, then disappears before morning. She describes wandering without a settled home and suffering penalties for killing animals on her hunts.

Chan’s appeals to the Goddess of Mercy secure relief and eventually permission for Willow to be born again. She reports two exceptional concessions from Yam-lo: knowledge of her future household from the book of Life and Death, and retention of her memories. She tells Chan to seek her after eighteen years. Reborn as Precious Pearl, she remembers the promise and refuses another proposed marriage. This is a new birth into another family, not the recovery of the body left in the monastery.

Meanwhile, a fairy conducts the ageing Chan to the goddess, whose Fountain of Eternal Youth restores his youth. Pearl’s parents initially turn him away, fearing the age difference; when they eventually bring him to her, his youthful appearance itself delays recognition. His explanation restores her confidence, and the couple marries. Her own account insists that ageing would not have ended her love. The complete ending thus distinguishes her enduring attachment from Chan’s fear of rejection.

Macgowan presents the episode in his 1910 English collection without identifying an individual narrator or supplying a Chinese text. Willow and Precious Pearl name two lives of the same character in this witness; they are not separate species or unrelated ghosts. The tale’s afterlife and rebirth claims are reported as its narrative framework.

Appears as an ethereal visitorPasses through walls and closed doorsRetains memory across rebirthReunites after eighteen years
01

Origins & earliest records

China, as presented in J. Macgowan’s English literary retelling; individual teller unspecified

02

Records & interpretation

Complete chapter and ending read in the 1910 edition’s Gutenberg transcription; title and contents checked.

Selected bibliography

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

  1. 01

    Chinese Folk-Lore Tales

    J. Macgowan · 1910

    Chapter III, THE BEAUTIFUL DAUGHTER OF LIU-KUNG; complete chapter through marriage. Printed pagination unverified.

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 chapter and ending read; master title and contents checked

J. Macgowan, Chinese Folk-Lore Tales (Macmillan, 1910)

1910 English edition. Chapter III, THE BEAUTIFUL DAUGHTER OF LIU-KUNG; HTML heading #id00129; printed pagination unverified

Cache macgowan-3.txt. Willow/Precious Pearl explicitly one character across rebirth, ghost visits and wall passage before new birth; preserved memory exceptional concession. Final recognition and marriage read. Eagle outward transport versus dragon return are separate brief mounts, not identified species biographies.

Inspect the digitized plate · Source collection manifest

References

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

  1. Historical English literary retellingMacgowan, III: The Beautiful Daughter of Liu-KungResearch access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

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

FT·2067 · RESEARCH EDITION 01Back to top ↑