A Story

A story about Chinese spirits

From Classical Chinese Talkes of the Supernatural

Summary:

In this story Huang Yuan wakes up one morning to find a black dog guarding his house and acting like it belonged there. So Huang took the dog hunting with him and his friends. When they saw a deer, Huang let the dog loose but the dog ran too slowly and they were not able to catch the deer.

Then the dog led them to a cave. After walking a bit inside the cave there were lots of trees in rows surrounded by a wall. The dog led Huang through the gate and there was a row of houses. He noticed that every single person in the 'village' were attractive well dressed girls. All of the girls were occupied in some sort of amusing leisurely activity: some were playing instruments and others were playing chess.

After reaching the northern pavilion, Huang came across three rooms, there were two girls standing guard who smiled when they saw him as though they were expecting him. They said that the black dog had brought Miao-yin's groom. One kept guard outside, the other went in and a few minutes later four maids came out. They told Huang that the Lady of Supreme Purity had this message for him: "I have a young daughter who has just pinned up her hair. According to a preordained decree, she should become your wife" (As noted in the footnotes, at 15 girls would pin up their hair to signify their coming of age).

So Huang met Miao-yin in a magical looking room where he was impressed by her beauty and charm, they did the marriage vows and went to bed happily together that night.

In a few days the groom wanted to go home to see his family and tell them what happened for a little while. His bride is sad b/c she lets him know that men and spirits have different ways of life and that they were not meant to be together