4 h 51 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 4 h 51 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
A traveller stops at an inn, a scholar reads late, and the unseen steps into ordinary life.
In What the Master Would Not Discuss, Yuan Mei gathers brief accounts of ghosts, fox spirits, strange omens and unsettling encounters. Scholars, clerks, merchants and families meet the supernatural in the familiar places of Qing dynasty life. A road at dusk or a quiet study becomes a place where human fears and desires take unexpected shapes.
The title draws on a saying in the Analects about subjects Confucius does not discuss. Yuan Mei turns toward those very subjects, presenting stories he hears from friends, relatives and travellers. Here, foxes take human form, and the dead have courts and records. Beneath the strangeness lie grief, loyalty, greed and the longing for justice.
What you’ll discover
- Ghosts close to home Enter inns, studies and family houses where ordinary people encounter the unseen.
- Foxes in human form Meet spirits who appear as scholars or beautiful women, bringing charm, tricks and sometimes love.
- Paperwork beyond the grave Explore an underworld of magistrates, clerks and records that echoes the Chinese state.
- Stories passed between people Follow accounts Yuan Mei presents through named tellers and places, giving strangeness a familiar setting.
- Human hearts beneath horror Find wronged women, tempted scholars and families whose attachments reach into the supernatural.
Who will love it
Readers who enjoy ghost stories, fox spirits and courtroom mysteries will find plenty here, as will anyone curious about daily life in Qing China and fans of short tales with dry humor.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A scholar writes down what Confucius avoided
- A faithful servant offers his life for his master
- Wronged ghosts find a way to be heard
- Courage and plain sense defeat many ghosts
- The underworld runs like a human government
- Foxes study, love and bargain like people
- Fate speaks in puzzles and puns
- Corpses, graves and haunted rooms demand respect
- Travelers meet strange lands and stranger creatures
- Humor and doubt keep the supernatural in check
Who’s who
- The old servantLoyal servant of Assistant Prefect Li who offers to die in his master's place and is saved by a barefoot monk's gift.
- Judge BaoThe stern King of Hell who welcomes a living magistrate and agrees that false rites should stop.
- Liu GangMagistrate of Fengdu who descends a well on a rope to end the yearly payments to the underworld.
- CaiScholar who buys a haunted house near Hangzhou and calmly refuses a ghost's invitation to hang himself.
- General Zhao LiangdongSoldier who insists on a haunted office and fights its leather-faced monster with his halberd.
- The fox licentiateA fox who has passed the Lady of Mount Tai's examination and pursues a thousand-year road to immortality.
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Ce dont le maître ne voulait pas parler
by Yuan Mei · 1788
A servant offers his life to bring his dead master back, and a barefoot monk hands him five claws and a rope.
Challenging2–5 hours to readfrançais
Excellent
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In short
A servant loves his dead master so much that he offers his own life to bring him back. A Daoist priest agrees to perform the rite, a barefoot monk hands the servant a packet holding five claws and a rope, and the night of the ritual goes in a direction nobody expects.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A scholar writes down what Confucius avoided
Yuan Mei opens with a puzzle. Confucius did not discuss the uncanny, force, disorder or spirits. Yet the old classics mention dragon's blood and ghost carts. Yuan answers that the ancient writers kept these marvels on record while teaching people to put life first.
Then he explains himself with candor. He has few pleasures. He cannot drink, sing or gamble, so he gathers stories that stir the mind and startle the ear. He writes them down, he adds, not because he believes them.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1788
- Language
- français
- Reading time
- 3 h 10 min
- Level
- Challenging
Cite this edition
Yuan, Mei. What the Master Would Not Discuss. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/what-the-master-would-not-discuss.
Yuan, M. (2026). What the Master would not discuss. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/what-the-master-would-not-discuss (Original work published 1788)
Yuan, Mei. What the Master Would Not Discuss. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/what-the-master-would-not-discuss.
@book{yuan2026what,
author = {Yuan, Mei},
title = {What the Master Would Not Discuss},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/what-the-master-would-not-discuss},
note = {First published 1788}
}
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What is What the Master Would Not Discuss about?
It is a collection of hundreds of short Chinese tales about ghosts, fox spirits, dreams, haunted houses, underworld courts and strange lands. Yuan Mei gathered them from friends, officials and old books during the eighteenth century.
Why is it called What the Master Would Not Discuss?
The title refers to Confucius, who did not discuss the uncanny, force, disorder or spirits. Yuan first called it What Confucius Would Not Discuss, then changed it to New Records of the Uncanny after finding a similar older title.
Are the stories true or made up?
Yuan says he writes the tales down not because he believes them but for entertainment. Many name a person who told the story or give a date and place, which gives them the feel of reports.
The author
Yuan Mei
1716–1797 · Chinese Qing dynasty poet
Yuan Mei (1716–1797) was a Chinese poet, essayist, and scholar of the Qing dynasty. He was born in Hangzhou and later lived in Nanjing. He served as a government official before retiring. During the eighteenth century, he wrote poetry, essays, Suiyuan Poetry Talks, and What the Master Would Not Discuss.
More by Yuan Mei
Voir tous ses livresMore like this
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