Little Chu by Pu Songling
After Li Hua's son Chu dies, the orphan Chan's spirit revives and inhabits the boy's body. Chan helps Li's dead daughter Hsiao-hui speak to her mother through a neighbour's daughter, and Hsiao-hui's husband drives away the spirits attending Li's sickbed. Chan later earns a degree and cures villagers, but an illness he attributes to the devils' retaliation leads him to vow silence about their secrets.
By Pu Songling · Genre: Ghost Story, Supernatural Fiction, Short Story · 3,049 words
First lines
A man named Li Hua dwelt at Ch‘ang-chou. He was very well off, and about fifty years of age, but he had no sons; only one daughter, named Hsiao-hui, a pretty child on whom her parents doted. When she was fourteen she had a severe illness and died, leaving their home desolate and depriving them of their chief pleasure in life. Mr. Li then bought a concubine, and she by-and-by bore him a son, who was perfectly idolised, and called Chu, or the Pearl. This boy grew up to be a fine manly fellow, though so extremely stupid that when five or six years old he didn't know pulse from corn, and could hardly talk plainly. His father, however, loved him dearly, and did not observe his faults.
Genres
- Ghost Story — Chan's spirit inhabits Chu's body, while the dead Hsiao-hui borrows her friend's body to speak to her mother.
- Supernatural Fiction — A priest enslaves a murdered child's spirit, and figures from Purgatory intervene in the living family's illnesses.
- Short Story — The compact prose narrative follows one family's encounters with Chan and Hsiao-hui through to Chan's vow to stop revealing supernatural secrets.
Tags
spirit possession · afterlife · family reunion · bereavement · reincarnation · supernatural healing
What this Textopian page supports
Little Chu is listed on Textopian as a short story by Pu Songling, dated Date unknown.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Short story
- Author: Pu Songling
- Date: Date unknown
- Language: English
- Genres: Ghost Story, Supernatural Fiction, Short Story
- Length: 3,049 words
- Structure: 1 section, 9 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)
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- Work identity for Little Chu by Pu Songling
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