Pu Songling

Pu Songling (simplified Chinese: 蒲松龄; traditional Chinese: 蒲松齡; pinyin: Pú Sōnglíng; Wade–Giles: P'u² Sung¹-ling², 5 June 1640 – 25 February 1715) was a Qing Dynasty Chinese writer, best known as the author of Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio.

Biography

Pu was born into a poor merchant family from Zichuan (淄川, in Zibo, Shandong). At the age of 18, he received the Xiucai degree in the civil service examination; it was not until he was 71 that he was awarded the Gongsheng degree for his achievement in literature rather than for passing the Imperial examinations.

He spent most of his life working as a private tutor, collecting the stories that were later published in Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio in 1740. Some critics attribute the Vernacular Chinese novel Xingshi Yinyuan Zhuan to him.

Translations of his work

Chinese Studio

Chinese Studio (Chinese: 欢乐汉语)is a 5-minute English radio program that is a Chinese lesson that occurs at the end of each China Radio International broadcast. For example, at the end of China Drive, this program will air.

The Chinese lessons are usually an entertaining dialogue between a non-Chinese male and a Chinese female.

General Theme of the Program

The theme is generally done on a week by week basis with one topic per week and a lesson review on Sundays. For example, if the lesson is about purchasing a car, the words used in the lessons will be focused around that theme for the entire week.

Air Personalities

Past Hosts

See also

Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio

Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio or Liaozhai Zhiyi (also Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio or Strange Tales of Liaozhai) (simplified Chinese: 聊斋志异; traditional Chinese: 聊齋誌異; pinyin: Liáozhāi zhìyì; Wade–Giles: Liao²chai¹ chi⁴yi⁴) is a collection of nearly 500 mostly supernatural tales written by Pu Songling in Classical Chinese during the early Qing dynasty.

The stories differ broadly in length, with the shortest under a page long. Many are classified as Chuanqi, or Zhiguai, sometimes translated as "marvel tales", that is, stories written in classical Chinese starting in the Tang dynasty. Pu borrows from a tradition of oral storytelling where the boundary between reality and the odd or fantastic is blurred. The stories are filled with magical foxes, ghosts, scholars, jiangshi, court officials, Taoist exorcists and beasts.

Publication history

The compilation was first circulated in manuscript form before it was published posthumously. Sources differ in their account of the year of publication. One source claims the Strange Tales were published by Pu's grandson in 1740. However, the earliest surviving print version was printed in 1766 in Hangzhou.

Strange Stories

Strange Stories was a pulp magazine which ran for thirteen issues from 1939 to 1941. It was edited by Mort Weisinger, who was not credited. Contributors included Robert Bloch, Eric Frank Russell, C. L. Moore, August Derleth, and Henry Kuttner. Strange Stories was a competitor to the established leader in weird fiction, Weird Tales. With the launch, also in 1939, of the well-received Unknown, Strange Stories was unable to compete. It ceased publication in 1941 when Weisinger left to edit Superman comic books.

Publication history and contents

Songling District

Songling (松岭区 ; pinyin : Sōnglǐng Qū) is an administrative subdivision which, although administered by Daxing'anling Prefecture, in the province of Heilongjiang, forms part of the Oroqin Autonomous Banner in Inner Mongolia, which is not an official administrative entity.

Notes and references

Coordinates: 50°15′N 123°34′E / 50.250°N 123.567°E / 50.250; 123.567