6 h 57 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 6 h 57 minPaperback · 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.
Who will love it
Readers drawn to folk tales, ghost stories and old love poems will love this anthology. It also suits those curious about Tang emperors, dragon kings and courtesan culture.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- The extraordinary enters ordinary life
- Enjoy marvels with a clear head
- Immortals cross the border for love
- Water spirits test human character
- Immortality asks for honest feeling
- Palace splendour reveals failing rule
- Power and love shape court memory
- Faithfulness matters more than rank
- Strange beings reflect human desires
Who’s who
- Guo HanA proud young scholar of Taiyuan who meets the Weaver Girl in his courtyard and learns the secrets of the stars.
- Liu YiA scholar who agrees to carry a lonely dragon princess's letter to her father beneath Lake Dongting.
- Cui YingyingA young widow's daughter in the Story of Yingying who answers a scholar's poems with care and fear.
- Li WaA Chang'an courtesan who takes in a ruined scholar and wants to see him succeed.
- Huo XiaoyuA courtesan of royal blood who trusts Li Yi's silk oath and waits for his promised return.
- Emperor XuanzongA Tang ruler weary of government who finds Yang Guifei at the Huaqing hot springs.
- Yang GuifeiA noble favourite whose beauty, music and wit bring her family and the empire to the edge.
- Pei HangA scholar who wants Yunying and works a hundred days with a jade pestle to earn her.
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- Large print paperback
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- Large print hardcover
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Anthology of the Strange and Extraordinary in 25 languages, side by side, paragraph by paragraph, once the book texts are online: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Anthology of the Strange and Extraordinary
by Wang Shizhen
A lonely scholar finds a goddess in his courtyard, and forty volumes of spirits and lovers follow.
ChallengingOver 20 hours to read16 languages
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In short
Picture a scholar lying in his courtyard on a hot summer night. A faint perfume grows stronger, and a woman in a dark silk robe floats down from the sky.
Anthology of the Strange and Extraordinary at a glance
- Reading time
- About 25 h 50 min20 h 30 min fast, 30 h 40 min slow
- Length
- 368,400 words
- Library level
- Challenging long sentences, a rich vocabulary
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A preface asks readers to read strange tales wisely
The book begins with a preface that defends its own subject. The writer says the universe is vast and holds everything, and that Confucius never said strange things were absent, only that he chose not to speak of them. He mocks the narrow scholar who studies the sky from the bottom of a well.
He has spent years in the grind of the eight-legged essay, which gave him no joy. On moonlit evenings, cup in hand, he turns to tales of immortals, spirits, brave men and beautiful women. Such pages pass the hours and break the silence.
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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
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 4 h 30 min
- Level
- Challenging
Cite this edition
Wang, Shizhen. Anthology of the Strange and Extraordinary. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/anthology-of-the-strange-and-extraordinary.
Wang, S. (2026). Anthology of the strange and extraordinary. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/anthology-of-the-strange-and-extraordinary
Wang, Shizhen. Anthology of the Strange and Extraordinary. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/anthology-of-the-strange-and-extraordinary.
@book{wang2026anthology,
author = {Wang, Shizhen},
title = {Anthology of the Strange and Extraordinary},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/anthology-of-the-strange-and-extraordinary}
}
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What is Anthology of the Strange and Extraordinary about?
It collects Chinese tales from the Tang to the Ming, covering goddesses who marry scholars, dragon kings, ghosts, fox spirits, emperors and their favourites, and courtesans. Many tales have poems tucked into the prose, while others consist entirely of prose anecdotes.
Who wrote Anthology of the Strange and Extraordinary and when?
The collection is credited to the Ming scholar Shizhen Wang, who died in 1590, with a preface signed by Tang Xianzu. The tales inside are much older, from the Tang through the Yuan and Ming periods.
Is Anthology of the Strange and Extraordinary a true story?
No. It is a collection of folk tales and unofficial histories. Some entries tell of real emperors and courts, such as Xuanzong and Wu Zetian, but they mix history with legend and anecdote, as the genre allows.
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