Review of Garden of Marvels: Tales of Wonder from Early Medieval China

by . .

Garden of Marvels: Tales of Wonder from Early Medieval China
Various. Translated by Robert Ford Campany.
Full StarFull StarFull StarEmpty StarEmpty Star
What Does The Score "3.0" Mean? Solid: Above the bar. Good parts greatly outweigh any shortcomings. I'm glad to have read it once.
  1. He Yu, byname Yanju, a native of Shanyin in Guiji, once fell ill and unconscious. Only a place beneath his heart remained warm. After three days he revived. He said that a functionary had to taken him up into the heavens to appear before a magistrate. The Magistrate's official quarters were very imposing. He ordered Yu to be taken into a secret chamber with several shelves. On the shelves were a seal and a sword. Yu was directed to take whichever of the items he liked. He was short and could not reach the top shelf, so he took the short sword [from a lower shelf] and went out. He was asked, "Which did you choose?" Yu said, "I chose the sword." The functionary replied, "What a pity you didn't choose the seal. With it you may have commanded the hundred spirits. With the sword you command only local earth gods." After he had recovered from his illness, whenever Yu traveled about, he saw earth gods along the roadside bowing to him as if to a superior. Originally from 录异传. pg 22
  2. In Yuhang District there lived a man named Shen Cong. His home was near the mountains. One night he and his father were on the mountain when, during the third watch, they suddenly saw a person wearing a muslin cap and a thin, crimson damask gown. The man said that he was the king of Mount Dou. (Mount Dou is in Yuhang District.) Originally from 齐谐记. pg 27
    I like this one because it's far shorter than most other stories in the volume. A man appears at night and says something unusual. The end. And yet, scholars considered this worthy of being preserved and transmitted like all the rest. I wonder why?
See all book reviews.