搜神记（超好看的古代灵异志怪故事集） (智慧的馨香-一生必读国学经典系列 26)

by 干宝

《搜神记》现存二十卷，共搜集神异故事四百多篇，主要讲述了神仙术士的变幻、精灵物怪的神异、妖祥卜梦的感应、佛道信仰的因果报应以及人神、人鬼的交通恋爱等类型的故事。其中相当一部分故事取材于西汉流传下来的历史神话传说和魏晋时期的民间故事。故事大多篇幅短小、情节简单、想象奇特，极富浪漫主义色彩，深受人们喜爱。
　　《搜神记》的语言雅致清峻，被称为“直而能婉”的典范。其艺术成就在两晋志怪中独占鳌头，对后世影响极大。如关汉卿的《窦娥冤》、蒲松龄的《聊斋志异》、神话戏《天仙配》等许多传奇、小说、戏曲，都和干宝的这本《搜神记》有着密切的联系。

410 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 23, 2012

Reviews

[Mizuki · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Search of the Supernatural is a short stories/folklore/legends collection by Gan Bao, a low-ranking governmental official of the Jin Dynasty (350 A.D). (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Sear...)

All of the stories are short: many of them have only the length of one page or less, therefore some of the stories/legends in this collection feel like they have only the bare bones of a full story, but some are better developed and more complicated and intriguing.

In Search of the Supernatural most likely isn't as well known as Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio from the Qing Dynasty, and many of the stories do not read as interesting nor dramatic as the latter, still In Search Of... did lay out the groundwork for the many famous Chinese strange tales/ghost tales that were to come after it. Plus, by now many of the stories in the book have long become part of our culture.

The three stories below are among my favorite:

Note: the translation is by my own effort, it is not a professional translation.

The Priest's Magic

A beloved concubine of the Emperor of Han passed away, the Emperor missed her very much and requested a priest/mage to bring her spirit back to meet him.

At night the mage drew a screen up to separate the Emperor from part of the chamber and called the concubine's spirit up. All the Emperor could see was a female figure appearing behind the screen, the figure walked very slowly around the chamber and it looked very much like the dead concubine. The Emperor could do nothing to approach her.

As the night dept the Emperor became sadder, he recited: "Is that her, is that not her? Why she takes so long to arrive?", then he requested his musicians to write a song for his sadness.

Li Kei Slayed the Giant Serpent

In the ancient Kingdom of Minyue, a giant serpent plagued the mountains and its people. In the form of a dream sent to the local officials, the serpent demanded a yearly sacrifice of young virgin girl. So in each year during the August Festival, a daughter of slave or criminal would be brought up to the serpent's cave for the giant serpent to devour.

Nine years passed, nine girls lost their lives in order to bring peace to the mountains. In the same region, there lived a very poor man who had six daughters but no son. Li Kei, the youngest daughter, offered herself to be the sacrifice in exchange for rewards for her parents. Her parents did not agree. So Li Kei sneaked out to offer herself.

When she was about to be sent to the serpent's cave, Li Kei requested for a fine sword and snake-searching hound, and she brought honey cake mixed with wine with her. Then Li Kei brought the honey cake to the mouth of the cave and waited until the serpent appeared and devoured the cake. Only after the serpent was drunk with wine and heavy with honey cake, Li Kei ordered her hound to attack, after the serpent was wounded, she slayed it with her sword.

Afterward she walked into the serpent's cave and saw the nine skeletons of the nine dead girls, she sighed: "Poor girls, none of you had thought of fighting back, so you died."

So the mountains was plagued by the giant serpent no more. Hearing Li Kei's brave deed, the King made her Queen and her family was also heavily rewards.

Daughter of the King of Wu

The King of Wu had a beautiful daughter named Purple Jade, she was in love with a young man who was from a far humbler background. Before the young man went to study, he asked his parents to beg the King of Wu for his daughter's hand. After hearing this propose, the King was outraged and he ordered Purple Jade to marry another man from a more fitting family.

A few years later, Purple Jade's lover came back only to learn she withed and died shortly after her unwilling marriage. The young man went to her grave and cried sorrowfully then unexpectedly, the ghost of Purple Jade appeared. Touched by the young man's sorrow, Purple Jade invited him to come within the tomb with her. Her lover agreed only after Purple Jade promised not to harm him.

In the next three days, the young man and Purple Jade lived together in her tomb like husband and wife, feasting and enjoying their short-lived happiness, until Purple Jade sent her lover out because him staying any longer with her would be harmful to him. Before he went, Purple Jade gifted him a round-shaped piece of jade to show to her father.

The young man went to the palace with the jade and showed it to the King of Wu. Mistaking the young man for a grave-robber, the King was outraged but the young man escaped before he was captured. He ran to Purple Jade's grave and begged for help. Purple Jade again appeared and went to the palace and pleaded her lover's case with her father.

The King of Wu could hardly believe his dead daughter had come back, he pardoned the young man nonetheless. Whilst the King's wife, Purple Jade's mother, hearing the miraculous return of her daughter, rushed in to try hugging her, but at this moment, Purple Jade disappeared like smoke.

[Karen Chung · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a wonderful book! It's ostensibly a 4th century AD collection of tales of the supernatural and other unusual incidents, but all of the stories felt very real to me in how they mirrored the workings of the human heart. And it's a great way to work on your literary Chinese. The large font made this edition easy to read, and the annotations and translations into modern Chinese are excellent - minus a little typo here and there. Traditional Chinese edition converted from the original PRC simplified edition, with pronunciations in Mandarin Phonetic Symbols. I give it my highest recommendation.