The wine insect

Overview

In Pu Songling’s short account translated by Giles in1880, a foreign Buddhist priest tells the prosperous and heavy-drinking Mr. Lin that he harbours a wine insect. The priest draws it out by restraining Lin in the sun near a vessel of wine. Something leaves Lin’s mouth and enters the drink: the narrative describes an insect about three inches long, with mouth and eyes, wriggling like a tadpole. It supplies no wings or further anatomical classification. These are literary events, not a diagnosis or a safe treatment for alcohol use.

The priest refuses money and asks instead for the creature, calling it the essence of wine. Stirring it in water is said to turn the water into wine, and Lin tests this successfully within the story. Afterwards he dislikes wine, becomes thin and eventually falls into poverty. Giles’s note reports a commentator’s interpretation that the priest wrongly interfered with something beneficial to Lin. The reversal is therefore part of the tale’s ambiguity, not a factual claim that heavy drinking ensures health or prosperity. The account offers no personal name, reproductive history or general ecology for the insect.

Origins & earliest records

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

Records & interpretation

Complete English story and attached notes read; full introduction and transcriber notice checked.

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, pp.259–260; CXXVI, The Wine Insect; electronic notes595–596; complete story and all attached 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 — II, pp.259–260; CXXVI, The Wine Insect; electronic notes595–596Research access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

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