An Account of Marvels and of Beasts
by Niu Sengru
translated by Maxwell Massa
“Oh, are the transformations of gods and faeries truly thus, or is it all the bewitchment of charlatans plying their art? For it is not a thing that the common knowledge touches on. As to sparrows becoming clams, pheasants becoming oysters, people becoming tigers, the rotted grass becoming fireflies, dung beetles becoming cicadas, and sea beasts becoming rocs… For the transformations of all things, those who write and compose their records cannot reach them with their knowledge, and it is all beyond their eyes and ears.”
Never before translated into English, An Account of Marvels and of Beasts is a collection of forty-four supernatural tales from ninth-century China. Ghosts, spirits, vanishings, epic drinking bouts, and visions of hell are to be found in these premodern stories. This edition includes a robust textual apparatus by translator Maxwell Massa that gives the historical context of the Tang dynasty. Included are an introduction, a biographical and a topographical appendix, and many footnotes.
Excerpt from Massa’s historical introduction:
“Niu Sengru was born around 780, coming to prominence in the aftermath of these seismic disturbances. His was a world relatively recently fallen from grace, where there was still cause for hope, but also much to fear. It is in the dark, pre-modern metropolis of Chang’an that he wrote his stories of marvels, ghosts, and goblins.”
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Table of Contents
Introduction, by Maxwell Massa
Dedication
Acknowledgements
An Account of Marvels and of Beasts
1. Du Zichun
2. Zhang the Elder
3. Pei Chen
4. The Lady Wei
5. Duke Guo of Dai
6. Miaoji the Nun
7. The Daughter of the Dang Clan
8. Cui Huan
9. Liu Guishun
10. Cui the Scholar
11. Lai Juncho
12. Cao Hui
13. Teng Tingjun
14. Yuan Wuyou
15. Gu Zong
16. The Emperor Tranquil of Zhou
17. Liu Feng
18. Dong Shen
19. Yuan Hong’er Kualang
20. Zhang Zuo
21. Xiao Zhizhong
22. Li Rui
23. Nan Zuan
24. Hou Yu
25. The Man of Ba-Qiong
26. Magister Liu
27. Diao Junchao
28. Gu Yuanzhi
29. Lu Gonghuan
30. Qi of Rao Prefecture
31. Wu Quansu
32. The Confiscator
33. The Bright Emperor Graces Guangling
34. Heavenly Master Ye
35. Xu Yuanzhang
36. Wang Guoliang
37. Zhang Chongnu
38. Lady of the Ye Clan
39. Deputy Minister Ma Zong
40. The Guest on Hua Mountain
41. Yin Zongzhi
42. Wang Huang
43. Cen Xi
44. Li Shen
Biographical Appendix
Topographical Appendix
Mythological Appendix
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Paperback Edition
356 pages. Red card cover, printed on quality paper.
ISBN: 9781969287077
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Press, reviews, endorsements
“Vivid, warm translations of delightfully witty and wicked stories by a Tang dynasty official in the ninth century who was also an early master of Chinese fantasy writing. Maxwell Massa brings the reader into a period of Chinese history marked by cultural effervescence. Massa is an unobtrusive guide, with a crisp introduction and careful annotations that never crowd the stories. The result is a rollicking read, its erudition lightly worn, opening a modern window onto a distant world of wealth and poverty, parties and officialdom, travels and intrigue—and, of course, marvels and beasts.”
Simon Rabinovitch
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About the Author
Niu Sengru (c. 780–848) was a native of Titao, Lunghsi, who moved to Honan. When Emperor Mu Tsung came to the throne, he was gradually promoted to the position of vice-minister of finance and deputy prime minister. Under Emperor Wu Tsung he was demoted to a minor post in Hunchow; but in the reign of Emperor Hsuan Tsung he was recalled to court as junior tutor to the crown prince. He died at the age of sixty-nine, receiving the title of high marshal and the posthumous title Wen-chien. His life appears in the Tang Dynasty History.
