Tales from China

by Birch, Cyril; Fowler, Rosamund

• ISBN13: 9780192750785
• ISBN10: 019275078X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-02-01
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

This collection of Chinese stories begins with the great legends of how Earth and Heaven came into being, and of how the archer Yi rid the Emperor Yao of the menace of the ten suns. Engrossing folk tales about ghosts and rainmakers, poor students and magicians, and the man who was nearly made into fishpaste flesh out Chinese culture, character, and customs. Throughout all these stories, the author has kept the subtle oriental flavour of the originals, bringing to life all the magic and mystery of China.

Author Biography

Cyril Birch is a professor in the Department of Oriental Languages at Berkeley in California.

Table of Contents

The Conquerors of Chaos
Heaven and Earth and Man	1	(5)
The Greatest Archer	6	(11)
The Quellers of the Flood	17	(16)
Fairies, Ghosts, and Others
The Dinner that Cooked Itself	33	(6)
How Marriages are Made	39	(6)
The Three Precious Packets	45	(7)
The Man Who Nearly Became Fishpaste	52	(6)
A Shiver of Ghosts	58	(18)
Magicians of the Way	76	(9)
The Inn of Donkeys	85	(6)
The Pavilion of Peril	91	(6)
The Rainmakers	97	(12)
The Revolt of the Demons
Aunt Piety	109	(10)
Eggborn	119	(15)
The Text	134	(13)
Eterna	147	(14)
Recruits	161	(10)
Revolt	171