The Shadow Book of Ji Yun: The Chinese Classic of Weird True Tales, Horror Stories, and Occult Knowledge
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- Create Date：2021-07-07 04:41:18
- Update Date：2025-09-24
- Status：finish
- Author：Yun Ji
- ISBN：1953124011
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Summary
"A new and wholly fresh mother lode of 'true weird tales，' 。。。 the only real comparisons to Shadow Book's treasure trove of bizarre stories， full of humour， horror， suspense， magic and mystery， are Japan's Kwaidan， the Thousand and One Nights， and most certainly Pu Sung-ling's Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio。" ―Fortean Times
"Written more than two centuries ago， Ji Yun's 'true weird stories' prove that humanity's greatest fears are timeless。"
—Rue Morgue
Imagine if H。P。 Lovecraft were Chinese and his tales were true。 Or if a national， political figure like Benjamin Franklin was also a paranormal investigator—one who wrote up his investigations with a chilling， story-telling flair that reads like a combination of Italo Calvino， Lafcadio Hearn， and Zhuangzi。
In China， at roughly the same time that Franklin was filling the sky with electrified kites， a figure existed who was a little bit of both these things。 He was Special Advisor to the emperor of China， Head of the Department of War， Imperial Librarian， and one of the most celebrated scholars and poets of his time。 His name was Ji Yun。
Beginning in 1789， Ji Yun published five volumes of strange tales that combined supernatural and frequently moving autobiographical accounts with early speculative fictions。 By turns darkly comic， terrifying， and transcendentally mystical， they revolutionized Chinese speculative fiction AND nonfiction and portrayed a China never before depicted: one poised between old ways and new， where repeating rifles shared the world with Tibetan black-magic， Jesuit astronomers rubbed elbows with cosmic horrors， and a vibrant sex trade of the reanimated dead was conducted in the night。
Combining insights into Chinese magic and metaphysics with tales of cannibal villages， sentient fogs， alien encounters， and fox spirits， alongside nightmarish narratives of soul swapping， haunted cities， and the “jiangshi” （the Chinese vampire）， there is no literary work quite like that of Ji Yun。 Designed by him to be both entertainment and an occult technology that awakens readers to new dimensions of reality， one cannot walk away from these stories unchanged。 The Shadow Book of Ji Yun is a literary translation of Ji Yun’s most masterful tales。
Awards and Honors of Individual Pieces
*Finalist for the 2020 [Gabriel García Márquez] “Gabo” Award for Literature in Translation
*Selected for New England Review’s 2020 Haunting and Haunted Issue
*Selected for Strange Horizons’ Samovar Quarterly Special Issue
*Nominated as “Best Microfiction” by Cincinnati Review
*Nominated as “Best of the Net” by Passages North
*Nominated as “Best of the Net” by Cincinnati Review
"Written more than two centuries ago， Ji Yun's 'true weird stories' prove that humanity's greatest fears are timeless。"
—Rue Morgue
Imagine if H。P。 Lovecraft were Chinese and his tales were true。 Or if a national， political figure like Benjamin Franklin was also a paranormal investigator—one who wrote up his investigations with a chilling， story-telling flair that reads like a combination of Italo Calvino， Lafcadio Hearn， and Zhuangzi。
In China， at roughly the same time that Franklin was filling the sky with electrified kites， a figure existed who was a little bit of both these things。 He was Special Advisor to the emperor of China， Head of the Department of War， Imperial Librarian， and one of the most celebrated scholars and poets of his time。 His name was Ji Yun。
Beginning in 1789， Ji Yun published five volumes of strange tales that combined supernatural and frequently moving autobiographical accounts with early speculative fictions。 By turns darkly comic， terrifying， and transcendentally mystical， they revolutionized Chinese speculative fiction AND nonfiction and portrayed a China never before depicted: one poised between old ways and new， where repeating rifles shared the world with Tibetan black-magic， Jesuit astronomers rubbed elbows with cosmic horrors， and a vibrant sex trade of the reanimated dead was conducted in the night。
Combining insights into Chinese magic and metaphysics with tales of cannibal villages， sentient fogs， alien encounters， and fox spirits， alongside nightmarish narratives of soul swapping， haunted cities， and the “jiangshi” （the Chinese vampire）， there is no literary work quite like that of Ji Yun。 Designed by him to be both entertainment and an occult technology that awakens readers to new dimensions of reality， one cannot walk away from these stories unchanged。 The Shadow Book of Ji Yun is a literary translation of Ji Yun’s most masterful tales。
Awards and Honors of Individual Pieces
*Finalist for the 2020 [Gabriel García Márquez] “Gabo” Award for Literature in Translation
*Selected for New England Review’s 2020 Haunting and Haunted Issue
*Selected for Strange Horizons’ Samovar Quarterly Special Issue
*Nominated as “Best Microfiction” by Cincinnati Review
*Nominated as “Best of the Net” by Passages North
*Nominated as “Best of the Net” by Cincinnati Review
Reviews
Francisco
，
The Shadow Book of Ji Yun: The Chinese Classic of Weird True Tales， Horror Stories， and Occult Knowledge[Blurb Goes Here]Now， this was a very interesting read。 According to the book， Ji Yun， a man who lived in the late eighteen century， compiled these stories of "the strange"。 What makes this book different to an anthology is that anthologies are just compendiums of different genres， with good to bad stories。These stories of the strange， in contrast， are lifeless narrations of events， events tha The Shadow Book of Ji Yun: The Chinese Classic of Weird True Tales， Horror Stories， and Occult Knowledge[Blurb Goes Here]Now， this was a very interesting read。 According to the book， Ji Yun， a man who lived in the late eighteen century， compiled these stories of "the strange"。 What makes this book different to an anthology is that anthologies are just compendiums of different genres， with good to bad stories。These stories of the strange， in contrast， are lifeless narrations of events， events that are later explained by Ji Yun as if he was trying to leave the reader with a moral and a "rational" explanation， only rational if you believe in the things depicted in the stories。Still there's much to learn in this Shadow Book of Ji Yun， since the Chinese legends he mentions are similar to the ones from other parts of the world。 The existence of a creature akin to big foot， UFO abductions， vampires， just to name a few。Thank you for the advanced copy！ 。。。more
Nancy Oakes
，
more on this one later。
Karen Kohoutek
，
Excellent collection of short tales from the 18th century， a combination of folklore， personal experience， and urban legend-like "friend of a friend" narratives。 I frankly tore through them like a bag of chips， aided by the length， since some are only like a page long。 Reading this made me think a lot of our ideas about things like story structure have become really limited。 There's no reason you can't tell a really imaginative， reality-bending tale in a factual tone， in a short space！ Judging b Excellent collection of short tales from the 18th century， a combination of folklore， personal experience， and urban legend-like "friend of a friend" narratives。 I frankly tore through them like a bag of chips， aided by the length， since some are only like a page long。 Reading this made me think a lot of our ideas about things like story structure have become really limited。 There's no reason you can't tell a really imaginative， reality-bending tale in a factual tone， in a short space！ Judging by the brief statements at the end， this new translation was a labor of love， and it's a real contribution to the Chinese "weird tales" genre （along with "Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio，" which I read some years back）。 Definitely recommended for anyone interested in ghost stories and the paranormal， either fictional or nonfictional。 。。。more
D L
，
This collection of stories by Yi Jun are a fascinating insight into the lives of the Chinese people of the late 18th and 19th century。 The horror stories take up about a third of the book and what follows is a collection of broad moral fables， ghost stories and superstitions。 I very rarely saw the Lovecraftian connection， but that might be just me。 The most interesting aspect of the book was when the stories touched on the traditions and lifestyles of the Chinese people。 A man with a house built This collection of stories by Yi Jun are a fascinating insight into the lives of the Chinese people of the late 18th and 19th century。 The horror stories take up about a third of the book and what follows is a collection of broad moral fables， ghost stories and superstitions。 I very rarely saw the Lovecraftian connection， but that might be just me。 The most interesting aspect of the book was when the stories touched on the traditions and lifestyles of the Chinese people。 A man with a house built on a lucky day and pointing in the correct direction can be treated better than someone who builds his house on an unlucky day。 Then there are the levels of cannibalism during this time。A good read with an interesting collection of stories。 This book was provided by NetGalley and the publisher for an honest review。 。。。more
Raven の Nest
，
I've posted my review of The Shadow Book of Ji Yun on my blog （link here）I will be really glad if you check it outI received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review。 I've posted my review of The Shadow Book of Ji Yun on my blog （link here）I will be really glad if you check it outI received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review。 。。。more
Tess Lloyd
，
This book is utterly fascinating。 It gripped me from the start and I devoured it in one sitting。 A must read！
Jennifer Ackerman
，
I really liked this。 Riffing off the publisher's description， think Pu Songling and Zhuangzi get jiggy with Ben Franklin and Lovecraft。 Franklin in the eruptions of dry wit and wandering mind。 Lovecraftian in the sense of cosmic horror and forces beyond the limits of the human mind and in terms of what Lovecraft says when he argues that Kwaidan is a stellar example of weird fiction （in Supernatural Horror in Literature）。 Recommended for fans of flash fiction/nonfiction， the weird， metaphysical p I really liked this。 Riffing off the publisher's description， think Pu Songling and Zhuangzi get jiggy with Ben Franklin and Lovecraft。 Franklin in the eruptions of dry wit and wandering mind。 Lovecraftian in the sense of cosmic horror and forces beyond the limits of the human mind and in terms of what Lovecraft says when he argues that Kwaidan is a stellar example of weird fiction （in Supernatural Horror in Literature）。 Recommended for fans of flash fiction/nonfiction， the weird， metaphysical philosophy， the paranormal， East Asian horror and spec prose。 Or very strange memoir。 In terms of the translation， I think the translators did a marvelous job of tackling the original classical Chinese too， the depth and power of which was underplayed in most translations to modern Chinese。 It's not easy to unpack Ji Yun's thick classical language and at the same time craft a translation that speaks to a modern audience， but I think the translators pulled this off brilliantly。 Though not mentioned elsewhere， I have to say also that I really like its depiction on non-binary gender identity via some of the supernatural creatures （fox spirits， apricot spirits， etc。） in this collection。 I found that fascinating 。。。more
Annarella
，
I found it fascinating， creepy and gripping。 The world building is fascinating and the stories are great。Highly recommended。Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC， all opinions are mine
Horace Derwent
，