Record of the Listener

by Hong Mai

Record of the Listener is a renowned zhiguai collecfion from the Song Dynasty written by Hong Mai during his later years. Recording stories of the strange circulated by word of mouth, it is the largest zhiguai compilation of the Song periodoriginally comprising 420 chapters. Its rich content includes topics such as gods and ghosts, injustice and retribution, fantasy and the uncanny, as well as regional customs. The Record of the Listener has enjoyed a privileged place in Chinese literary history; indeed, numerous vernacular short stories and dramas have sought inspiration from its storylines. It also preserves much precious research material on daily life during the Song. Nevertheless, the value placed on quantity and minimal selectivity in the original work led to an unwieldy, rambling corpus. For this volume, Professor Alister Inglis of Simmons College, Boston, USA, has selected and translated a total of 113 stories which typify the collections overall nature. All the stories encapsulate a channing narrative quality which will hold readers spellbound while, at the sametime, heighten understanding of society during the late Northern/early Southern Song era.

299 pages, Paperback

First published December 31, 2012