''Notes of the Thatched Abode of Close Observations'' (), also translated as ''Random Jottings from the Cottage of Close Scrutiny'' and ''Fantastic Tales By Ji Xiaolan'', is a collection of purportedly true

supernatural Supernatural phenomena or entities are those beyond the Scientific law, laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin 'above, beyond, outside of' + 'nature'. Although the corollary term "nature" has had multiple meanin ...

stories compiled by

Qing Dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

scholar-official The scholar-officials, also known as literati, scholar-gentlemen or scholar-bureaucrats (), were government officials and prestigious scholars in Chinese society, forming a distinct social class. Scholar-officials were politicians and governmen ...

Ji Yun Ji Yun (; 1724–1805), also known as Ji Xiaolan () or Ji Chunfan () was a Chinese philosopher, politician, and writer. He was an influential scholar of Qing dynasty China and many anecdotes have been recorded about him. Ji Yun left behind a b ...

. Roughly comprising 1,200 entries, the majority of Ji's stories were collected from his friends and colleagues. Others were based on his own experiences during childhood and encounters during the course of his long official career.

Publication history

Ji Yun published five volumes of supernatural stories from 1789 to 1798: ''Written to Pass the Season at the Summer Resort'' (灤陽消夏錄) in 1789, ''So Have I Heard'' (如是我聞) in 1791, ''Jottings from My Haidian Lodging'' (槐西雜誌) in 1792, ''No Harm in Listening'' (姑妄聽之) in 1793, and ''More from the Summer Resort'' (灤陽續錄) in 1798. In 1800, his student, Sheng Shiyan, amalgamated the volumes into a single collection,''Yuewei caotang biji,'' named after Ji's studio.

Stories

The stories in the ''Notes'' feature many supernatural beings,

cryptids Cryptids are animals or other beings whose present existence is disputed or unsubstantiated by science. Cryptozoology, the study of cryptids, is a pseudoscience claiming that such beings may exist somewhere in the wild; it has been widely cri ...

and concepts from

Chinese folklore Chinese folklore encompasses the folklore of China, and includes songs, poetry, dances, puppetry, and tales. It often tells stories of human nature, historical or legendary events, love, and the supernatural. The stories often explain natural phe ...

, including ''

jiangshi A jiāngshī (), also known as a Chinese hopping vampire, is a type of undead creature or reanimated corpse in Chinese folklore, Chinese legends and folklore. Due to the influence of Hong Kong cinema, it is typically depicted in modern popular ...

, hulijing'' and ''

yeren The yeren () is a cryptid apeman reported to inhabit remote, mountainous regions of China, most famously in the Shennongjia Forestry District in the Hubei Province. Sightings of "hairy men" have remained constant since the Warring States Perio ...

'', in addition to ghosts and spirits.

Literary significance

According to Leo Tak-Hung Chan, the ''Notes'' is the 'most voluminous ''zhiguai'' collection in late imperial China' as well as one of the most misunderstood. Most of the tales collected by Ji were contributed by his friends and acquaintances, many of whom were distinguished government officials, scholars, and members of

gentry Gentry (from Old French , from ) are "well-born, genteel and well-bred people" of high social class, especially in the past. ''Gentry'', in its widest connotation, refers to people of good social position connected to Landed property, landed es ...

. As such, Chan argued that the ''Notes'' provides unique insight into how the

cultural elite Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, attitudes, and habits of the individuals in these ...

of eighteenth-century China viewed the supernatural, complicating popular notions that the Chinese elite during this period were just '

Confucian Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China, and is variously described as a tradition, philosophy, religion, theory of government, or way of life. Founded by Confucius ...

rationalists'.

Select translations

English

* ''Real Life in China at the Height of Empire: Revealed by the Ghosts of Ji Xiaolan'' (tr. David Pollard). Chinese University of Hong Kong Press, 2014. . * ''Shadows in a Chinese Landscape: The Notes of a Confucian Scholar'', (tr. David L. Keenan). M.E. Sharpe, 1999. . * ''The Shadow Book of Ji Yun: The Chinese Classic of Weird True Tales, Horror Stories, and Occult Knowledge'' (tr. Yi Izzy Yu and John Yu Branscum). Empress Wu Books, 2021. .

References