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As the most famous novel of strange stories, Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio made Pu Songling a household name.

Pu Songling seems to be writing about ghosts, but in fact he is writing about people.

The book "Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio" talks about ghosts and gods, but it also reveals human nature.

"Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio" is not written for the sake of writing about ghosts and gods. The reason why it has such a high literary status is that "Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio" reveals the darkness of the society at that time by writing about ghosts, gods, foxes and demons.

Behind the absurdity is a criticism of the dark side of officialdom and an indictment of the atrocities of corrupt officials.

At the same time, it is also like a sharp knife, profoundly showing the drawbacks of the Qing Dynasty's imperial examination system to the world.

Some people say that "Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio" is superior in its descriptions of ghosts and monsters, and its criticisms of corruption and cruelty are profound.

It is precisely because Pu Songling's description of ghosts and monsters is so vivid that he is hailed as the Ghost Saint by the world.

"Pu Songling was born in Zichuan County, Shandong Province in the 13th year of the Chongzhen reign of the Ming Dynasty. His courtesy name was Liuxian and his other name was Liuquan Jushi."

"The Pu family is a big family in the area, although not very prominent."

"But there are many educated people in the clan, and some of our ancestors passed the imperial examinations and became officials. We can be called a family of scholars."

"Pu Songling's father, Pu Pan, studied since childhood but failed to pass the imperial examinations, so he gave up studying and went into business."

"During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the country was in turmoil, and we wanted to avoid being disturbed by the rebels."

"Pupan organized villagers to protect Pujiazhuang, which resulted in the loss of property."

"In the seventh year of the Shunzhi reign of the Qing Dynasty, Pu Pan could no longer afford a private tutor because his family's financial situation gradually declined."

"He personally taught Pu Songling and the other four students to read and learn the Four Books and Five Classics as well as the eight-part essay."

"Pu Songling had a photographic memory for classics and history books, and was deeply loved by his father Pu Pan."

"In the 12th year of Shunzhi's reign, local rumors spread that the Qing court would select girls from decent families to serve as palace maids."

"The Liu family sent their 13-year-old daughter, who was engaged to Pu Songling, to Pu's home for temporary shelter, and the two got married two years later."

"In the 19th year of Shunzhi, -year-old Pu Songling took the Tongshi exam and was admitted as a scholar with first place in the county exam, prefectural exam and provincial exam."

"When Pu Songling took the Daoist examination, the Shandong Provincial Education Commissioner gave him the topic "Getting Up Early" which was derived from Mencius."

"Pu Songling was original in using the details of the novel to describe the story of a man from Qi who had a wife and a concubine in Mencius."

"It describes the mood and psychology of a man from Qi, whose wife waits for an opportunity at dawn to find out whether her husband's boasting about dating a rich man is true or not."

"The Shandong Provincial Education Commissioner was very impressed with Pu Songling's talent and gave him a very high evaluation when he was marking his papers."

"It enabled Pu Songling to obtain the first place in the list of scholars and become a student of Zichuan County."

"After Pu Songling passed the examination and became a scholar, he reviewed the classics and practiced eight-legged essays."

"In order to pass the annual imperial examinations to test the academic achievements of scholars, and to prepare for the provincial examinations held every three years."

"On the other hand, I collect and organize anecdotes and write strange stories."

"In the 17th year of Shunzhi, Pu Songling and his friends from the same hometown took part in the provincial examination, but failed to pass. The following year, his eldest son was born."

"In the second year of Emperor Kangxi's reign, Pu Songling took part in the provincial examination again, but still failed."

"Because of the same suffering, Pu Songling wrote a poem to express his frustration to his friend."

"His good friends advised Pu Songling that writing strange stories would not help him in the imperial examinations, but he did not heed the advice."

"Pu Songling devoted himself to studying and taking the imperial examinations, and paid no attention to the affairs of his family."

"At first, the Pu brothers could understand Pu Songling's participation in the imperial examination, but as he failed several times in the provincial examinations, a rift gradually developed between the brothers."

"Also, Pu Songling's wife Liu had temporarily lived in Pu's home before marriage and was loved by Pu's mother."

"This caused suspicion and dissatisfaction among Pu Songling's two sisters-in-law, who suspected that Pu's mother was giving Liu special care, and the Pu family was thus disturbed."

"In the third year of Emperor Kangxi's reign, Pu's father felt that he could no longer maintain the family business."

"He organized his four sons to divide the family property, and Pu Songling was given a few acres of thin land and three dilapidated old houses."

"Pu Songling encountered a famine and the crops failed. He could barely fill his stomach, which made it impossible for him to study and write books with peace of mind."

"Because Pu Songling lived in poverty after his family split up, his good friend invited him to study together and provided him with an environment where he could concentrate on his studies."

"Not long after Pu Songling started studying at his friend's house, someone mocked Pu Songling and his friend for failing to pass the imperial examination and for taking advantage of his friend's family."

"So the upright and stubborn Pu Songling could not stand the gossip and was unwilling to accept his friend's financial support, so he left his friend's home and became a rural private school teacher."

"When Pu Songling was a village tutor, he taught children books such as Hundred Family Names, Thousand Character Classic, The Analects of Confucius and Mencius."

"But because Pu Songling was devoted to the imperial examination, he could not fully focus on teaching."

"In addition, Pu Songling has a straightforward and stubborn character and is unwilling to humble himself to others."

“If I get along well with people, I will continue to teach. If I don’t get along well with people, I will change places.”

"As a result, we could not settle down and escape poverty."

Huang Longshi: There are many reasons why Pu Songling failed the imperial examination, the most important of which was his own fault.

The first reason why Pu Songling failed in imperial examinations repeatedly was the darkness in the officialdom.

At that time, the imperial examinations generally focused on family background and connections, and did not really emphasize real talent and knowledge.

Secondly, Pu Songling was a bohemian person who did not pay attention to details.

At that time, the examination mainly tested eight-part essays, and each essay consisted of eight parts.

Breaking the topic, continuing the topic, starting the lecture, getting started, beginning, middle, end, and conclusion.

The article format is rigid, and even the word count is specified.

Since childhood, Pu Songling liked to write articles based on his feelings, and did not like to write articles according to the eight-part essay format.

Furthermore, when Pu Songling was taking the examination for the scholar degree, the chief examiner was very caring towards him.

The examiner hated the eight-legged essay and liked Pu Songling's essay very much because it did not follow the eight-legged essay format and did not exceed the word limit, so he ranked him first.

However, when Pu Songling took part in the provincial examination later, he met rigid examiners who strictly adhered to the eight-legged essay dogma.

It is no surprise that Pu Songling's essay was rejected by the examiners because it exceeded the required number of words in the eight-part essay.

Finally, there are also problems in Pu Songling’s own direction of efforts.

Although he was obsessed with the imperial examination, he did not spend much energy and time on it.

He spent a lot of energy and time collecting materials and writing novels, and did not put all his energy into the imperial examination.

"In the ninth year of Emperor Kangxi's reign, Pu Songling accepted the offer from his friend Sun Hui, the county magistrate of Baoying County, and went south to Baoying County to work as a clerk in the government office."

"Pu Songling and Sun Hui were nominally superiors and aides, but in reality they were like brothers."

"The two would chat and drink in their free time. During the New Year or when Sun Hui's family celebrated their birthdays, Pu Songling would always be invited to attend the family dinner at the Sun residence."

"When Sun Hui went out to check on the disaster, inspect river works or visit his superiors, Pu Songling would accompany him."

"After the Lantern Festival the following year, Sun Hui went to Yangzhou to pay a visit to her superiors as usual."

"Pu Songling followed him and composed two poems, 'Going to Yangzhou with Shu Bai after the Lantern Festival'."

"Soon after Pu Songling arrived in Baoying County, he encountered the incident in which Sun Hui disobeyed orders for the people."

"Due to the flooding, the canal was blocked, affecting the transportation of grain."

"The River Censor ordered Baoying County to recruit 7,000 civilian workers to dredge the canal in Baoying County within 40 days."

"Sun Hui believed that the people were already suffering, so he only recruited 1,000 civilian workers, which slowed down the progress of dredging the river. Therefore, the river censor wanted to impeach Sun Hui."

"Pu Songling was worried about Sun Hui, but Sun Hui would rather be dismissed than recruit civilians."

"After hearing the news, the people gathered voluntarily and dredged the Baoying section of the river in just six days. This incident made Pu Songling respect Sun Hui even more."

"While Pu Songling was working as a staff member, he was keen on writing poetry and wrote more than 100 poems in less than a year."

"In the tenth year of Emperor Kangxi's reign, Pu Songling received a letter from his wife Liu telling him about the difficult living conditions at home. Pu Songling felt very distressed."

"In the early autumn of the same year, Pu Songling was unwilling to serve as a staff member for a long time."

"So he resolutely resigned and returned to his hometown, ending his one-year career as a staff member."

"Pu Songling resolutely resigned in order not to miss the provincial examination the following year."

"Sun Hui understood Pu Songling's thoughts, and before he left, he wrote a letter to intercede for him, asking officials he knew in the province to take care of him."

"In the autumn of the following year, Pu Songling went to Jinan to take part in the provincial examination, but still failed."

"Pu Songling wrote to Sun Hui to inform him, and Sun Hui wrote back to comfort Pu Songling and persuade him to concentrate on his studies."

"In the 14th year of Emperor Kangxi's reign, Pu Songling took part in the provincial examination again, but still failed."

"Despite people's ridicule and friends' advice, Pu Songling did not stop writing strange stories."

"During this period, Pu Songling was eager to change his poor situation, but several failures in the provincial examinations made him miserable, so he wrote "Ye Sheng" to express his grief and indignation to his friends."

"Pu Songling used Ye Sheng's story to express his unwillingness to accept defeat."

"At that time, local gentry bullied the common people in Zibo, but the government was partial to their own interests and bent the law."

"After hearing this, Pu Songling created the poem "Tingweimen", which implicitly satirized the government's confusion of right and wrong."

"In the 18th year of Emperor Kangxi's reign, Pu Songling recorded anecdotes and had accumulated many chapters."

"So Pu Songling compiled it into a book and officially named it "Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio."

"He also wrote a preface at the beginning of the volume, "Liao Zhai Zizhi", telling the reasons and difficulties for writing, and expressing his worries and anger by talking about ghosts and foxes."

Li Hongzhang: There are four indispensable factors for Pu Songling to write Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio.

The reason why Pu Songling wrote "Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio" was not because everything went smoothly, but because he achieved success in adversity.

If Pu Songling had passed the imperial examination and become an official of the imperial court, there might not have been any Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio.

First, the family is in decline.

Although Pu Songling was born into a large family, the family had already fallen into decline by his generation.

Pu Songling lived in the countryside all his life, leading a poor life.

In order to support his family, Pu Songling had to teach in another place.

There was a severe drought one year. The New Year was approaching and the children were clamoring for food and clothes.

There was no leftover food in the house, not even any offerings to the Kitchen God.

Pu Songling cried out to heaven and earth, feeling extremely sad.

In desperation, he could only use ghost stories as his spiritual food to barely stay alive.

Second, I failed the exam many times.

Pu Songling always regarded passing imperial examinations as his life goal, but he failed repeatedly.

After experiencing all the hardships, Pu Songling realized the drawbacks of the imperial examination.

The eight-legged essay was burdensome, the imperial examinations were unfair, and even the examiners didn’t know how to write a good essay.

Pu Songling was so angry that he had no place to vent his anger, so he put all his energy into writing.

It is precisely these venting experiences that lead to the many stories of lonely ghosts and spirits in Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio that reflect the social conditions of the time.

Third, be knowledgeable and experienced.

Although Pu Songling did not pass the imperial examination, his talent was noticed by some people.

Because of his talent, he once served as a guest of the county magistrate.

During this period, he inspected the people's conditions and managed rivers many times, and also experienced life in officialdom.

Pu Songling lived in the countryside all his life. Because he was involved in officialdom, he heard many rumors and felt the darkness of officialdom.

If Pu Songling had not had these experiences, it is likely that his "Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio" would have found it difficult to achieve the artistic conception.

Fourth, family experience.

In Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio, Pu Songling recorded many stories about free love between men and women.

Some people say that Pu Songling had another woman pursuing him, or a concubine.

Many people think that Pu Songling also had a free love relationship, but in fact Pu Songling did not have a free love relationship and did not have a concubine.

But Pu Songling had a younger sister who married a brother-in-law who was a drunkard and a gambler.

The Pu family had no power and could not take care of their sister at all.

Later, the sister asked Pu Songling for help, but Pu Songling was helpless and had to write about his sister's experience in his own novel.

"In the 18th year of Emperor Kangxi's reign, Pu Songling was hired as a tutor at the Bi family in Xipu Village, Zichuan County."

"The Bi family is a prominent local family. Bi Jiyou, the owner of the museum, served as the governor of Nantong in his early years, but later he was dismissed and returned home."

"Because Bi Jiyou had six or seven grandchildren who were about to start school and needed to deal with the correspondence, he was introduced to Pu Songling by someone."

"After Pu Songling entered the Bi family, he taught the children the Four Books and eight-legged essays."

"He also drafted letters, congratulatory messages, and memorial texts on behalf of Bi Jiyou, and lived up to Bi Jiyou's expectations."

"In his spare time, Pu Songling accompanied Bi Jiyou in conversation, so the two got along well, and Pu Songling was highly regarded by Bi Jiyou." "Because Bi Jiyou had a generous personality, good food and living conditions, and a rich collection of books."

"Pu Songling's life became stable and he found an ideal environment for studying."

"Bi Jiyou was relatively open-minded. He did not object to Pu Songling's creation of fox and ghost novels, and he took the initiative to provide materials for Pu Songling."

"Because Bi Jiyou was interested in Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio, the Bi family rushed to borrow the manuscript of Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio."

"They can also have a sneak peek at Pu Songling's new works."

"After school, the children of the Bi family often discussed learning and chatted with Pu Songling, telling him stories about foxes and ghosts."

"After Pu Songling entered Bi Jiyou's house, he was highly regarded. In addition, Tang Menglai and Gao Heng, two famous scholars in Zibo, also appreciated Pu Songling."

"It made Pu Songling a famous scholar among the local scholars, and the county officials all respected him."

"In the 20th year of Emperor Kangxi's reign, County Magistrate Wang Rulong invited Pu Songling to visit the county government office. Pu Songling politely declined, adhering to the principle that scholars should not enter the government."

"Then Zhang Mei, the successor to the county magistrate, admired Pu Songling's literary reputation and invited him to have a chat again, but Pu Songling still declined to go."

"Zhang Mei visited him personally and admired him very much."

"In the 23rd year of Emperor Kangxi's reign, after Sun Hui's father passed away, Sun Hui returned to her hometown to observe mourning."

"Because Sun Hui was promoted to an official in Beijing, he started to build a villa and his relatives ran rampant in the village."

"Pu Songling advised Sun Hui to restrain her clansmen. This incident caused quite a stir in Zibo, embarrassing Sun Hui."

"After that, Pu Songling and Sun Hui severed their relationship. When Sun Hui died two years later, Pu Songling did not go to offer condolences or write a poem for her death."

"In the 26th year of Emperor Kangxi's reign, Bi Shichi's father died, and the great poet Wang Shizhen came to the Bi family to pay his respects."

"Pu Songling, as the guest of the Bi family, was responsible for reception and accompanying affairs."

"Because Wang Shizhen liked to discuss literature and poetry, Pu Songling took out his poems and asked Wang Shizhen to criticize and correct them. Wang Shizhen gave a simple comment."

"Later, Bi Jiyou mentioned that Pu Songling was writing Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio. Wang Shizhen had heard about it before, so he borrowed the manuscript to read and became interested."

"That summer, Wang Shizhen sent someone to give Pu Songling two letters, asking to borrow the manuscript of Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio and giving him a gift of fragrant tea. Pu Songling was very happy."

"After Wang Shizhen received the manuscript of Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio and read it through, he not only added comments to some chapters, but also wrote a poem."

"After reading it, Pu Songling wrote a poem in the same rhyme to express his hardship."

"After that, the two of them often exchanged letters and became literary friends."

"After that, Pu Songling took part in two provincial examinations."

"They were disqualified from admission because their examination papers did not meet the requirements due to carelessness."

"This made Pu Songling very angry, and he wrote a series of stories mocking the examiners."

Zeng Guofan: He is superior in writing about ghosts and monsters, and his criticism of corruption and cruelty is deep to the bone.

There are hundreds of ghost stories in "Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio", which can be divided into four main categories.

First, expose the oppression of the people by corrupt officials.

There are many stories that expose the corrupt behavior of officials who take bribes and pervert the law, and also express the people's hatred for corrupt officials.

Second, he fiercely criticized the drawbacks of the imperial examination system.

Many stories either expose the hypocritical nature of the examiners, or satirize the examiners' absurd behavior of not distinguishing between the good and the bad, or criticize the harm of the imperial examination system to thousands of students.

Third, celebrate the freedom of love and marriage.

For example, "Liancheng" tells the story of Shi Xiaolian's daughter Liancheng who collected poems to choose a husband and chose the talented Qiao Sheng.

But Shi Xiaolian disliked Qiao Sheng's poverty and wanted to marry his daughter to Wang Huacheng, the son of a salt merchant.

Liancheng became ill due to worry and needed human breast meat as a medicine.

Wang Huacheng refused to offer his flesh, so Qiao Sheng cut off some of his flesh to offer as a sacrifice.

After Liancheng died, Qiaosheng also died.

The two met in the underworld and became husband and wife.

They were resurrected later, and after many twists and turns, they finally became a couple.

Fourth, reveal the philosophy of life.

For example, "Painted Skin" describes how Wang Sheng, because of his lust for beauty, let a strange woman stay in his home.

One day, Wang Sheng met a Taoist priest at the market.

The Taoist priest told Wang Sheng that he was possessed by an evil spirit and must have encountered some unusual person or incident, but Wang Sheng did not take it seriously.

Afterwards, although Wang Sheng discovered that the beautiful woman was transformed by an evil spirit and took precautions, the evil spirit still ate his heart.

With the help of the Taoist priest, the evil ghost was finally killed and Wang Sheng was resurrected.

Most of the works in "Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio" are based on foxes, ghosts, flowers, trees, gods and other strange creatures. Pu Songling used rich imagination to write these unreal things from the netherworld into real life.

It is used to criticize the corruption of corrupt officials, expose the drawbacks of the imperial examination system, and praise the pursuit of free love by young men and women.

"Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio" has achieved great success in portraying characters.

With just two or three thousand words, the characters can be portrayed vividly and lifelike.

The innocence of Xiao Cui, the purity of Yingning and the tyranny of the cruel officials and gentry are all portrayed with flesh and blood, coming to life on the paper.

In Pu Songling's writings, unreasonable events can often be reasonably resolved by relying on the power of God.

Good deeds will be rewarded, and evil deeds will be punished, which reflects a strong idealism.

"In the 32nd year of Emperor Kangxi's reign, Yu Chenglong, the provincial governor of Shandong, who admired Pu Songling's literary reputation, ordered Zhou Tong, the magistrate of Zichuan County, to invite Pu Songling to meet him in Jinan."

"Pu Songling refused to accept the invitation from Yu Chenglong, a total stranger, on the grounds of poor health."

"Zhou Tong asked Bi Jiyou to persuade him, and he reluctantly agreed."

"Yu Chenglong entertained Pu Songling with great courtesy and asked his staff to accompany him to visit the famous places in Jinan."

"At the same time, he hoped that Pu Songling could stay as his assistant, but Pu Songling politely declined."

"After reading the manuscript of Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio, Yu Chenglong wanted to spend a thousand taels of silver to buy the manuscript, but was again politely rejected by Pu Songling."

"After Pu Songling returned to Zibo from Jinan and rested for a while, Bi Jiyou died of illness. Upon hearing the news, Pu Songling rushed back to Bi's home."

"After Bi Jiyou passed away, Pu Songling continued to stay at the Bi family."

"Although he was nearly 60 years old, he still did not give up the path of imperial examinations. Being in the Bi family, he had many convenient conditions."

"It would not only save him from the hassles of household affairs, but also allow him to grasp the dynamics of the court, making it easier for him to prepare memorials in advance."

"While Pu Songling was devoted to the imperial examination, he was still persistent in writing Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio."

"In the 33rd year of Emperor Kangxi's reign, Pu Songling's close friend wrote a poem to commemorate him and at the same time persuaded him to write a ghost story."

"In the 34th year of Emperor Kangxi's reign, the Qing government went west to fight against Galdan and collected mules and horses."

"The magistrates of Zibo and several neighboring counties did not sympathize with the suffering of the people and worked hard to complete the tasks assigned by the court. Pu Songling exposed this through his poems and essays."

"Since Shandong Provincial Surveillance Commissioner Yu Chenglong invited Pu Songling to visit Jinan, Zhu Xiang became interested in Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio and asked a friend to borrow Pu Songling's manuscript to read and copy."

"In the 39th year of Emperor Kangxi's reign, Pu Songling, who had failed several provincial examinations, took part in the provincial examination again."

"He also wrote a self-deprecating poem to show his refusal to admit defeat or age, but he still failed the imperial examination."

"In the 42nd year of Emperor Kangxi's reign, a severe famine occurred in the Zichuan area that lasted for three years, causing the victims to flow to Beijing."

"Shandong Governor Wang Changguo was impeached for failing to report the disaster, and the Qing court ordered Shandong to withhold grain for disaster relief."

"But Wang Changguo and others misappropriated some of the grain to make up for the deficit and falsely reported that several counties in Zibo and Sichuan had already harvested."

"After Pu Songling learned about this, he composed the poem "Announcement of Disaster" to satirize the inhumanity of the Zichuan County Magistrate, and later satirized the Shandong Governor and other officials for lying about a good harvest."

"In May of the following year, Pu Songling went to Jinan for some business. On the way, he saw the miserable scene of starving people begging on the streets, and he recorded it all in the form of poetry."

"In the 46th year of Emperor Kangxi's reign, Emperor Kangxi made his sixth southern tour and passed through Shandong."

"Shandong Governor Zhao Shixian spent hundreds of thousands of taels of silver to host Emperor Kangxi, all of which was distributed to the prefectures and counties."

"When Pu Songling heard about this, he composed the two poems "Yi Xian" and "Qi Min Tan"."

"In the 48th year of Emperor Kangxi's reign, Pu Songling's brother Pu Bailing died of illness."

"Pu Songling felt guilty for not spending time with his brother and wanted to resign and return home."

"At the end of the same year, Pu Songling declined the Bi family's invitation to stay, ending his career as a scholar and returning to Pujiazhuang to spend his later years in peace, citing his old age and frailty as an excuse."

"Thanks to the help of the Bi family, Pu Songling's family situation improved. He bought 40 to 50 acres of land and got rid of poverty."

"During the Mid-Autumn Festival in the 52nd year of Emperor Kangxi's reign, Pu Songling and his wife Liu drank and admired the moon accompanied by several daughters-in-law."

"The next day, Liu fell ill and died on September 26."

"Pu Songling was very sad and wrote several poems in succession to express his grief."

"In the fifty-third year of Emperor Kangxi's reign, Mrs. Dong, the old lady of the Bi family, passed away."

"Pu Songling ignored the dissuasion and rode his donkey to pay his respects in person, and wrote an epitaph for Mrs. Wang at the request of the Bi family."

"The following year, on his father's death anniversary, Pu Songling went to pay his respects in person despite his sons' dissuasion."

"After returning home from the memorial service, Pu Songling caught a cold, felt unwell, and had a decreased appetite."

"That year, Pu Songling died at the age of 75."

Zuo Zongtang: The story of the scholar in "Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio" is Pu Songling's compensation to himself through stories.

First of all, the happy ending of the positive scholar in "Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio" who successfully passed the imperial examination is related to Pu Songling's expectation of passing the imperial examination.

In the stories about scholars in Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio, two situations often occur.

One is that a scholar who was nostalgic for the imperial examinations suddenly passed the exam and brought honor to his family; the other is that a scholar lived a fulfilling life after having a romantic encounter.

The scholar in this type of story is a positive image that Pu Songling affirmed. The ending is that after passing the imperial examination, the scholar has a virtuous wife and beautiful concubines, and lives a life of wealth and happiness.

The reason why Pu Songling arranged such a happy ending was related to his own repeated failures in the imperial examinations.

On the one hand, this is related to the Confucian ideal personality norms for scholars.

The ideal personality of Confucianism is to actively participate in the world and realize one's own value by participating in the imperial examinations.

On the other hand, since the birth of the imperial examination system, studying and taking exams has become the main way for scholars to seek fame and fortune.

Because if scholars succeed in the imperial examinations, in addition to gaining fame, they can also achieve class advancement, which is the pursuit of scholars.

Pu Songling was originally an ordinary Confucian scholar.

Therefore, Pu Songling, like many scholars at that time, regarded passing the imperial examination and becoming an official as the ultimate goal of life.

Even though he failed the exams many times, he did not give up this idea.

Therefore, in order to make up for the loss of not passing the imperial examination, Pu Songling made his wish hypothetically fulfilled in "Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio".

For example, Ning Caichen, the protagonist of "Nie Xiaoqian", finally passed the imperial examination and became a Jinshi.

Pu Songling placed his self-comforting psychological needs on the protagonist of the story in order to make up for his own regret of not passing the imperial examination.

It was precisely because Pu Songling failed in the imperial examination that he wrote Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio.

Let the unsuccessful scholar in the book have a happy ending to comfort your heart.

Secondly, the fact that the flower fairies and fox spirits who actively patronize the scholar in Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio are Pu Songling’s compensation for his own desolation in reality.

Against the backdrop of a booming commodity economy, everyone from high-ranking officials to ordinary people began to enjoy satisfying their personal desires.

Pu Songling was also deeply influenced by this trend at the time and yearned for a happy life.

However, his humble background and class limitations prevented him from realizing his wish.

Therefore, in his "Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio", scholars would encounter fairies and foxes who would actively patronize them, and thus they would be able to escape from their difficulties and realize their worldly desires.

The things that Tang Dynasty scholars yearned for included becoming a Jinshi, bringing honor to their ancestors, enjoying wealth and glory, and attaining enlightenment and becoming an immortal.

The heroines in these stories are mostly fairies who have descended to earth and are deeply in love with poor scholars.

If a scholar meets them, not only will his status be improved and he will embrace the beauty, he may even become an immortal.

It can be seen that this is a daydream fantasy that arises when the desires of literati are not satisfied, and "Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio" is in line with this creative mentality.

In the love story of "Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio", the woman is also extremely beautiful, does not ask for anything in return from the scholar, and even acts as the scholar's patron saint.

For example, in "Hongyu", the fox girl Hongyu is good at managing the household and does not ask for anything in return from Feng Sheng.

Finally, under Hongyu's care, Feng Sheng was selected as a filial and honest official.

The scholars in "Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio" passed the imperial examinations and had beautiful wives and concubines, goals that were difficult to achieve in reality, but they were achieved with the help of fairies and fox spirits.

Such plots are all daydreams that Pu Songling fabricated for himself when he was unable to change the status quo. They were Pu Songling's compensation for his desolation in reality.

Therefore, the destitute image in the book is Pu Songling's lament about his own bad fate.

The scholar who is favored by the beauty in the book is Pu Songling's affirmation of his own value.

This setting of the mutual influence between the secular world and the demon world is Pu Songling's way of compensating himself in his creation after his failure in the imperial examination. (End of this chapter)