6 h 57 minAudiobook4 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What happens to the ordinary world when the strange refuses to stay outside it?
Anthology of the Strange and Extraordinary gathers brief tales from China, credited to the Ming scholar Wang Shizhen. Odd happenings, uncanny meetings and marvels take their place beyond the boundaries of official history. Each story offers a small glimpse of a world where the familiar and the unsettling lie close together, inviting you to pause over what does not quite fit.
The collection belongs to zhiguai, the Chinese tradition of recording anomalies. Its accounts of strange encounters and extraordinary events offer more than a passing shiver: they open a way into Chinese literary culture. Read a tale at a time, and consider how learned writers make room for wonders that ordinary accounts leave out.
What you’ll discover
- Odd happenings and marvels Explore tales that give the unusual a place outside the boundaries of official history.
- The uncanny close at hand Enter a world where the line between ordinary life and strange encounters feels thin.
- A long literary tradition Discover zhiguai, a Chinese practice of setting down accounts of anomalies and wonders.
- A scholar's literary world Approach the marvelous through a collection credited to Ming poet and critic Wang Shizhen.
- Brief tales worth lingering over Take each complete story on its own, and leave room for it to settle.
Is it for you?
This book suits readers who enjoy folklore, ghost stories and old tales told in brief, and anyone curious about Chinese literary culture. It may be less suited to those who want one long plot with developed characters.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Strange tales have a long Chinese tradition
- A Ming scholar gathers the marvelous
- Expect spirits, wonders and moral surprises
- Read in small pieces and listen closely
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- 15-minute summary
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- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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Antología de lo extraño y lo extraordinario
by Wang Shizhen
Short Chinese tales record strange events and uncanny encounters.
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From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 4
Strange tales have a long Chinese tradition
Chinese writers have recorded the strange for well over a thousand years. The usual name for this kind of writing is zhiguai, which means accounts of anomalies. These books gathered rumors, local legends, omens and reports of marvels, and they often sat close to the writing of history.
The writers did not always treat such stories as pure invention. Many believed that a wide-ranging mind should note the unusual things that people saw and heard, even when no one could explain them. A scholar might copy a tale from a friend, an older book or a traveler, and set it down in a few lines.
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Who was Wang Shizhen?
Wang Shizhen was a Ming dynasty scholar, poet and literary critic who died in 1590. He held a respected place among the writers of his time and is remembered for his influence on literary taste.
What are Chinese strange tales?
They are short accounts of ghosts, spirits, omens and marvels, a genre called zhiguai, meaning records of anomalies. Chinese writers have kept such collections for over a thousand years, often in brief plain prose.
Is this a true story?
No. It is a collection of tales and reports of wonders. Readers of the time may have treated some as rumor or belief, but today they are read as folklore and literature.
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