Soushen Ji

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Soushen Ji
Traditional Chinese搜神記
Literal meaningRecord(s) of Searching for the Spirits

The Soushen Ji, variously translated as In Search of the Sacred, In Search of the Supernatural, and Anecdotes about Spirits and Immortals, is a Chinese compilation of legends, short stories, and hearsay concerning Chinese gods, Chinese ghosts, and other supernatural phenomena. Although the authorship of the book is not made explicit in the text, it is believed to have been written and compiled by Gan Bao, a historian at the court of Emperor Yuan of Jin (sometimes wrongly referred to as Yü Pao) around AD 350. It was reissued in numerous editions, including in 1593. The book usually consists of 464 stories.

Stories[]

Gan Bao recorded a tale or legend about serpent-slaying: Li Ji Slays the Giant Serpent (Li Chi Slays the Serpent).[1][2][3][4][5]

The collection also contains a variant of the story of a Swan Maiden (or Heavenly/Celestial Bride) who marries a mortal man.[6]

Legacy[]

Pu Songling cites Gan Bao's work as a far greater work than his own, the now famous Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio.

References[]

  1. ^ Gan Bao. In Search of the Supernatural: The Written Record, translated into English by Kenneth J. DeWoskin and James Irving Crump. Stanford University Press, 1996. pp. 230-231. ISBN 0-8047-2506-3
  2. ^ Maeth Ch., Russell. “El Cuento De Li Ji.” Estudios De Asia y Africa, vol. 25, no. 3 (83), 1990, pp. 537–539. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40312235. Accessed 15 Apr. 2020.
  3. ^ Journey of a Goddess: Chen Jinggu Subdues the Snake Demon. Translated, edited, and with an introduction by Fan Pen Li Chen. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press. 2017. p. 31. ISBN 978-14384-6-7078
  4. ^ Idema, Wilt L. Personal Salvation and Filial Piety: Two Precious Scroll Narratives of Guanyin and Her Acolytes. University of Hawai'i Press. 2008. p. 205. ISBN 978-0-8248-3215-5
  5. ^ He, Saihanjula. "Critical Fantasies: Structure of Chinese Folk Tales" (2000). Masters Theses. 1609. [1]
  6. ^ Hsieh, Daniel. Love and Women in Early Chinese Fiction. The Chinese University Press. 2008. pp. 123-136. ISBN 978-962-996-305-7
  • Gan Bao. In Search of the Supernatural: The Written Record, translated into English by Kenneth J. DeWoskin and James Irving Crump. Stanford University Press, 1996. ISBN 0-8047-2506-3

Further reading[]

  • Wenjuan Xie. "Encountering Ghost Princesses in Sou Shen Ji: Rereading Classical Chinese Ghost Wife Zhiguai Tales." In Unsettling Assumptions: Tradition, Gender, Drag, edited by Greenhill Pauline and Tye Diane, 244-60. University Press of Colorado, 2014. Accessed July 1, 2020. www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt83jj2k.18.

External links[]


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