In Search of the Supernatural
| In Search of the Supernatural | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional Chinese | 搜神記 | ||||||||||
| Literal meaning | Record(s) of Searching for the Spirits | ||||||||||
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The Soushen Ji, variously translated as In Search of the Sacred and In Search of the Supernatural, is a Chinese compilation of legends, short stories, and hearsay concerning Chinese gods, Chinese ghosts, and other supernatural phenomena. Although the authorship of the book is not made explicit in the text, it is believed to have been written and compiled by Gan Bao, a historian at the court of Emperor Yuan of Jin (sometimes wrongly referred to as Yü Pao) around AD 350 AD. It was reissued in numerous editions, including in 1593. The book usually consists of 464 stories.
Legacy
Pu Songling cites Gan Bao's work as a far greater work than his own, the now famous Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio.
References
- Gan Bao. In Search of the Supernatural: The Written Record, translated into English by Kenneth J. DeWoskin and James Irving Crump. Stanford University Press, 1996. ISBN 0-8047-2506-3
External links
- 搜神記 (Sou Shen Ji) at Project Gutenberg (in Chinese)
- Journal of the American Oriental Society
- Renditions.org
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