Miss Lien-Hsiang by Pu Songling
Sang receives visits from Lien-hsiang, a fox spirit, and Miss Li, a ghost whose companionship makes him gravely ill. Lien-hsiang prepares a cure that Miss Li administers; Miss Li later returns to life in another girl's body, regains her former appearance, and marries Sang. Ten years after Lien-hsiang dies, a girl bought for Sang's household recalls being her, and Miss Li's bones are buried with the fox's.
By Pu Songling · Genre: Supernatural Fiction, Short Story, Romance · 5,902 words
First lines
There was a young man named Sang Tzŭ-ming, a native of I-chou, who had been left an orphan when quite young. He lived near the Saffron market, and kept himself very much to himself, only going out twice a day for his meals to a neighbour's close by, and sitting quietly at home all the rest of his time. One day the said neighbour called, and asked him in joke if he wasn't afraid of devil-foxes, so much alone as he was. "Oh," replied Sang, laughing, "what has the superior man[1] to fear from devil-foxes. If they come as men, I have here a sharp sword for them; and if as women, why, I shall open the door and ask them to walk in. " The neighbour went away, and having arranged with a friend of his, they got a young lady of their acquaintance to climb over Sang's wall with the help of a ladder, and knock at the door. Sang peeped through, and called out, "Who's there? " to which the girl answered, "A devil! " and frightened Sang so dreadfully that his teeth chattered in his head. The girl then ran away, and next morning when his neighbour came to see him, Sang told him what had happened, and said he meant to go back to his native place. The neighbour then clapped his hands, and said to Sang, "Why didn't you ask her in? " Whereupon Sang perceived that he had been tricked, and went on quietly again as before.
Genres
- Supernatural Fiction — A fox spirit treats Sang's illness, a ghost returns to life in another girl's body, and a purchased girl remembers a previous existence.
- Short Story — A single prose narrative follows Sang's relationships with two supernatural visitors through illness, marriage, death, and reunion.
- Romance — Miss Li's attachment to Sang leads to marriage after her return to life, while Lien-hsiang cares for him and encourages their union.
Tags
fox spirits · ghosts · reincarnation · supernatural healing · marriage
What this Textopian page supports
Miss Lien-Hsiang 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: Supernatural Fiction, Short Story, Romance
- Length: 5,902 words
- Structure: 1 section, 22 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Standard (8th-9th Grade)
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- Work identity for Miss Lien-Hsiang by Pu Songling
- Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
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