Wang Ke chats about Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio

Author: Pu Songling (Qing Dynasty), edited by Meng Fanhai and Meng Yuan
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 1998-10-01
Features: This book includes the complete text of Wang Ke's Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio (Liaozhai Zhiyi) and provides extremely detailed annotations for the entire volume. The content is comprehensive, and the annotations possess a certain scientific and theoretical basis, helping readers better understand this classical masterpiece. It is also a valuable reference for scholars studying Pu Songling and Liaozhai Zhiyi. The collation in this book does not include a "Post-Collation Note," but presents annotations sequentially. This arrangement is more convenient for readers as a reading edition. In terms of collation, the twenty-four-volume manuscript is the primary reference, supplemented by manuscript copies, the Zhuxue Zhai manuscript, and the Qingke Ting manuscript, among others. For Wang Ke's eighteen-volume edition, changes are generally avoided unless there are obvious errors or omissions. Annotations indicate differences and occasionally clarify which version is correct and which is incorrect. In cases where Wang Ke's eighteen-volume edition has missing or illegible characters, corrections are made based on other versions, with notes provided. For variant readings that are understandable, no changes are made; for those that are not, annotations specify which version uses which character and indicate what is correct. Characters in Wang Ke's eighteen-volume edition that are mistaken due to similar appearance or sound are corrected based on other versions, with notes provided. The focus of collation in this book is on comprehension and the text. Since Wang Ke's eighteen-volume edition is an abridged version, its collation value cannot be compared to that of manuscript copies and other manuscripts. Overall, Wang Ke's eighteen-volume edition shares more similarities with the twenty-four-volume manuscript and manuscript copies than with the Zhuxue Zhai manuscript, which is the next closest. In some cases, it can even correct errors in manuscript copies.