Zibo, a City with Tales to Tell

Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio: A Work of Chinese Folklore

China's literary masterpieces are noted for their diverse styles. For instance, the novels Outlaws of the Marsh and Romance of the Three Kingdoms are likened to hard spirits, while A Dream of Red Mansions can be compared to fine wine. Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio written by Pu Songling tastes like tea. Only a land of rich culture like Zibo can produce such a wonderful work of literature.

On an early summer day in 1640, Pu Songling was born in a serene village of Zibo. No one could have known that this boy would spin fascinating yarns that would be read by people the world over.

When he was a little boy, Pu Songling was obsessed with ghost stories. He often imagined that these events had happened in his own backyard and pictured the ghosts and figures haunting the shrubbery.

However, he had to bear the hopes of his family and endure the pressure to succeed from a very young age, taking the imperial examinations that would bring glory to his family. At the age of 19, Pu Songling ranked first in local examinations three times, a cause for great rejoicing in his family, who had been facing declining fortunes.

Despite of his early success, Pu did not pass any of the further exams required to win the title of gongsheng (scholar recommended by local government for further studies at the national capital) until he was 71 years old. For 52 years from the age of 19 to 71, Pu kept taking those examinations and survived the endless frustration, depression and desperation. In the lines of his works, we can see traces of his pathetic state and his feelings of helplessness.

In his writings Pu recorded his bad luck during examinations only twice. One time was in 1687 when he was 48. Though he did well in answering the questions, his score was invalid because he unintentionally left one blank page between his answer sheets. On another occasion he performed quite well in the first section, but suffered severe bellyache that prevented him from finishing the second section. Failure in the imperial examinations led Pu Songling to live in regret and poverty all his life.

To make ends meet, Pu Songling worked as an advisor to Sun Hui, the magistrate of Baoying County, and spent nearly 42 years working as a private tutor in his home county, not retiring until he reached the age of 61.

Nevertheless, this banal life did not suppress Pu's rising artistic talent. His frustration drove him to pour out his feelings onto paper as only through writing could he express passion or get any pleasure.

Pu Songling decided to write about folklore and record anecdotes. But poverty prevented him from traveling around or throwing banquets for friends in order to collect material for his work. It is said that Pu set up a tea stall in the village instead. Those who could come up with good stories would be offered a seat and free tea. People were encouraged to tell interesting news and anecdotes they had picked up in various places. Pu was inspired by the talk and gossip.

Late at night, Pu Songling scribbled away about what he had learnt from the public and his own perspectives on society. Over 30 years of hard work resulted in Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio, published posthumously.

During Spring Festival in 1715, Pu Songling passed away at the age of 76. Fifty years later his collection of tales became wildly popular among the public. Depicting humanized flower goddesses and fox fairies, the tales display eastern social values, expressing admiration of goodness and faithfulness while despising viciousness, akin to those of Western countries encouraging people to be kind-hearted. The book is popular in both the east and the west.

Being one of the world's greatest short story books, Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio has been translated into various languages including Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, English, French, German, Russian, Italian, Czech, and Polish. More than 100 versions have been printed and some 160 films, dramas and TV series have been based on the tales.

Pu Songling never got the chance to witness the popularity of his work. Perhaps only by understanding Pu's life and philosophy can we grasp the nature of Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio.

It once enjoyed the glorious title of the "First Village of the Nation," bestowed by Emperor Qianlong (1736-1795), and was also dubbed "Golden Village" and "Land Port." Currently, Zhoucun is a burgeoning modern district of Zibo City. Although its former glory has seemingly faded, people have not forgotten its legacy. Zhang Yimou, a famous Chinese film director, first visited it in the 1990s with the film crew of To Live, and was followed by many film crews that faithfully reproduced its ancient commercial prosperity.

"Land Port" refers to the ancient commercial town of Zhoucun, since a great variety of goods were amassed and redistributed here in the past despite its lack of water transport. It was commonly known as the "big store" in the mid-Ming Dynasty. More than 400 years later, Zhoucun has become a museum of sorts, with some of the best-preserved ancient commercial streets and markets in China.

The old town, covering an area of about 50,000 square meters, is a confluence of varied businesses. Among them are many revered names such as Family Qiao's Exchange Shop (Family Qiao was a famous merchant family in Shanxi whose story has illuminated movie screens all over China), which established its Zhoucun branch in 1884, and Mobil Oil Corp, which opened an office here in 1904.

In the Silk Market Street, Ruifuxiang, a century-old famous national brand of silk goods, is still enjoying booming business. Every store in the street displays a superb collection of eye-catching silks to an enviable visitor flow comparable even to the heyday of the town. The Silver Market, next to the silk market, was formerly a banking district and is now host to an antique market. In the 1920s and 1930s, it was the seat of 108 exchange shops with total assets of six million taels of silver. It is said that the silver used to be stored in underground vaults, and you can still see the hidden doors if you look hard enough. However, back then, only owners of exchange shops knew the secret entrances. Standing on the street, you can imagine walking on mountains of silver since it's likely some of those vaults are under your feet.

The century-long prosperity of ancient Zhoucun owed much to Li Huaxi and six generations of his descendants. Li was a high-ranking official in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. In 1654, he resigned and returned to his hometown Zhoucun. To rehabilitate the local economy, he and his offspring paid all the taxes owed by the businessmen of the town. "Zero tax" attracted lots of merchants here, rebuilding the town into a regional commercial center. To show their gratitude, local people built a shrine to Li Huaxi after his death and staged a grand memorial service for him every year.

In the ancient town, commercial brand banners flutter everywhere. If you have time, you can dig up, study and savor the stories behind each of the time-honored brands here. However, for me, the refreshing natural world offering a peaceful break from the bustling unban area was more appealing.