Mr Liu 劉氏

In the latter years of Liang Wudi’s reign (502-49 CE), there was someone surnamed Liu; his given name is not known. He saw a thing on the roof of a hall, its face like that of a lion, but with greying hair hanging from both cheeks, around a chi (33.3cm) in length, having hands and feet like those of a human. It very gradually raised a foot, but then instantly vanished. After a short while Liu died.

From Guanggujinwuxingji.

Li Fang 李昉, et al., Taiping guangji 太平廣記 (Extensive Gleanings from the Era of Great Harmony), 10 vols (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1961), vii, 326.2588:

劉氏

梁武帝末年。有人姓劉。而不知名。于堂屋脊。見一物。面如獅子。兩頰垂白毛。長尺許。手足如人。徐徐舉一足。須臾不見。少時劉死。出廣古今五行記

Wang Wenming 王文明

[2584] Wang Wenming was serving as Magistrate of Jiang’an towards the end of the Song Taishi era (465-71 CE). His wife had been ill for a long time, and their daughter was outside preparing congee for her mother when, just as it was nearly ready, it transformed and became blood. She poured it away and made more, but this too changed in the same way. Her mother soon died, after which, while the children were weeping before her spirit tablet, their mother suddenly appeared, lying atop the bier as if she still lived. All of the children called out in sorrow, at which she immediately vanished. Before this, Wenming had made love to a maid appointed by his wife, who was then pregnant and about to give birth. On the day of his wife’s funeral, he sent the maid to look after the house, while everyone else went to see the tomb site. Just as the workers began to open the ground, the wife entered the house and beat the maid. After this his daughters all prepared their father’s food. They killed a chicken, but, after its blood had stopped running, the fowl suddenly leaped up, flew high and called out for a long time. Wenming died soon after, and each of the male relatives who succeeded him was soon buried by his successor.

From Shuyiji.

Li Fang 李昉, et al., Taiping guangji 太平廣記 (Extensive Gleanings from the Era of Great Harmony), 10 vols (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1961), vii, 325.2583-84:

王文明

[2584] 王文明。宋太始末江安令。妻久病。女于外為母作粥。將熟。變而為血。棄之更作。復如初。母尋亡。其後兒女在靈前哭。忽見其母臥靈牀上。如平生。諸兒號戚。奄然而滅。文明先愛其妻所使婢。姙身將產。葬其妻日。使婢守屋。餘人悉詣墓所。部伍始發。妻便入戶打婢。其後諸女為父辦食。殺雞。割洗已竟。雞忽跳起。軒道長鳴。文明尋卒。諸男相續喪亡。出述異記

Wang Yao 王瑤

Wang Yao fell ill and died in the third year of the Song Daming era (459 CE). After Yao’s death a spirit appeared, tall, thin and black in colour, chest bared but wearing knee breeches. It kept coming to the house, sometimes singing and whistling, sometimes speaking of scholars. It would often pelt their food with dirt and filth. It also attacked and struck the Yu family, neighbours on the eastern side, while continuing to visit the Wangs. Yu spoke to the spirit: “Having stones thrown at me is nothing to fear. If you were to throw coins, though, that would truly cause suffering.” The spirit then hurled several dozen new coins, which flew and struck Yu in the forehead. Yu spoke up again: “New coins can’t cause pain. I only fear black coins!” The spirit then pelted him with black coins. This happened six or seven times over, after which he had obtained over a hundred cash.

From Shuyiji.

Li Fang 李昉, et al., Taiping guangji 太平廣記 (Extensive Gleanings from the Era of Great Harmony), 10 vols (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1961), vii, 325.2583:

王瑤

王瑤。宋大明三年。在都病亡。瑤亡後。有一鬼。細長黑色。袒著犢鼻褌。恒來其家。或歌嘯。或學人語。常以糞穢投入食中。又于東鄰庾家犯觸人。不異王家時。庾語鬼。以土石投我。了〈了原作子。據明鈔本改。〉非所畏。若以錢見擲。此真見困。鬼便以新錢數十。飛擲庾額。庾復言。新錢不能令痛。唯畏烏錢耳。鬼以烏錢擲之。前後六七過。合得百餘錢。出述異記

Liu Kuo 劉廓

When the Song-era Chen Youzhi (d. 478 CE) was on garrison duty, Zhu Daozhen once served as Magistrate of Chanling, and Liu Kuo in the Revenue Section for Jingzhou. The two lodged together in Jiangling, and both enjoyed playing weiqi (a chess-like game), meeting night and day. Daozhen died on the sixth day of the third year in the Yuanhui era (475 CE). After several months had passed, Kuo was seated in the study when he suddenly caught sight of a person, who handed Kuo a letter, telling him: “Written by Zhu of Chanling.” It read:

Ever missing meeting for chess,

Never wanting separation.

Your fated approach draws near,

I dream you may soon visit.

When Kuo finished reading, the letter was nowhere to be seen. He was confined to bed by illness and soon died.

From Zhugongjiushi.

Li Fang 李昉, et al., Taiping guangji 太平廣記 (Extensive Gleanings from the Era of Great Harmony), 10 vols (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1961), vii, 325.2583:

劉廓

宋沈攸之在鎮。朱道珍嘗為孱陵令。劉廓為荊州戶曹。各相並居江陵。皆好圍棊。日夜相就。道珍元徽三年六日亡。至數月。廓坐齋中。忽見一人。以書授廓云。朱孱陵書。題云。每思棊聚。非意致濶。方有來緣。想能近顧。廓讀畢。失信所在。寢疾尋卒。出渚宮舊事

Liu Shulun 柳叔倫

At the beginning of the Song Emperor Xiaowu’s Daming era (457-65 CE), Commander-in-Chief Liu Shulun was lodging in the former residence of the Hengyang Wang. In the fifth year Daming (461 CE), he suddenly saw a footprint, two cun in length (c.6.6cm). Lun had a maid called Xixin, and when he sent her to fetch water to launder clothes, a thing appeared in the empty air, overturning the vessel and spilling the water. Lun drew his knife and called out to the maid, then heard something rush closely past him, so chopped at it with the blade, feeling it strike home. When he shone firelight upon it, blood covered the ground. Twenty days later, the maid fell ill and died. Lun then moved her corpse outside. The following day he went to find the corpse but was unable to find it.

From Guanggujinwuxingji

Li Fang 李昉, et al., Taiping guangji 太平廣記 (Extensive Gleanings from the Era of Great Harmony), 10 vols (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1961), vii, 325.2582-83:

柳叔倫

宋孝武大明初。太尉柳叔倫。住故衡陽王故第。大明五年。忽見一腳跡。長二寸。倫有婢細辛。使取水澣衣。空中有物。傾器倒水。倫拔刀呼婢。在側聞有物行聲。以刀斫之。覺有所中。以火照之。流血覆地。後二十日。婢病死。倫即移尸出外。明日覓尸。不知所在。出廣古今五行記

Wang Huaizhi 王懷之

In the twentieth year of the Yuanjia era (443 CE), Wang Huaizhi’s mother passed away. When the burial was finished, he suddenly caught sight of an old woman up a [lacuna] tree, her head bearing a great amount of hair, her body clothed in white luo top and skirt, her feet not standing on any branches but rather standing upright in the empty air. He returned home and told this story, after which his daughter suddenly fell ill, her face changing to mirror that of the spirit in the treetop. He therefore gave her fragrant musk, and she soon returned to normal. Successive generations have said that fragrant musk dispels evil, and this demonstrates that.

From Yiyuan.

Li Fang 李昉, et al., Taiping guangji 太平廣記 (Extensive Gleanings from the Era of Great Harmony), 10 vols (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1961), vii, 325.2582:

王懷之

王懷之。元嘉二十年。丁母憂。葬畢。忽見[□]樹上有嫗。頭戴大髮。身服白𧟌裙。足不踐柯。亭然虛立。還家敘述。其女遂得暴疾。面仍變作向樹杪鬼狀。乃與麝香服之。尋如常。世云。麝香辟惡。此其驗也。出異苑

Shen Yizhi 申翼之

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Sheng Dao’er of Guangling died in the fourteenth year of the [Eastern Han] Yuanjia era (159 CE), entrusting his orphaned daughter to his wife’s younger brother Shen Yizhi. When the mourning period was over, Yizhi married her off to a Yan Qixi of Beiqing, a poor household, squandering her betrothal gifts until they were all gone. Dao’er suddenly spoke within the bedroom, saying angrily: “When my laboured breaths were exhausted, I entrusted all I had to you. How could you forget righteousness in greedy pursuit of profit, and marry her off to commoners?” Yi was greatly ashamed.[1]

From Soushenji.

Li Fang 李昉, et al., Taiping guangji 太平廣記 (Extensive Gleanings from the Era of Great Harmony), 10 vols (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1961), vii, 325.2582:

申翼之

廣陵盛道兒。元嘉十四年亡。託孤女于婦弟申翼之。服闋。翼之以其女嫁北卿嚴齊息。寒門也。豐其禮賂始成。道兒忽室中怒曰。吾喘唾乏氣。舉門戶以相託。如何昧利忘義。結婚微族。翼大惶愧。出搜神記

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[1] The TPGJ reports transmission of this tale from the Soushenji, but as far as I can tell it is only to be found in Soushen houji 搜神後記, at juan 6. See https://ctext.org/wiki.pl?if=gb&res=184634&searchu=%E7%94%B3%E7%BF%BC%E4%B9%8B.  

Yu Jisui 庾季隨

Yu Jisui had a moral bearing, and was exceptionally brawny. During the [Liu] Song Yuanjia era (424-53 CE), he had fallen ill and was lying down during the daytime when a cloud-like white vapour emerged into his room, rising to more than five chi (1.5m). After a moment, it transformed into a rooster, and flew up onto the other bed. Jisui hacked at it. The blow brought a noise, after which the thing evaporated, and blood flowed out across the floor, but he could still hear the sound of an old Man woman weeping, constantly calling for her son, the sound approaching from some distance. [2582] It came and reached the bloodstain, at which Jisui chopped again, and a thing like some sort of ape fled out the door, then turned to glower at Jisui, before abruptly vanishing.

When the bu period arrived (3-5pm), two dark-robed young boys appeared, entering straight through the door, crying out: “Yu Jisui killed an official!” Before long there were more than a hundred people, some wearing black, some wearing vermilion; on reaching his room, they all called out: “Yu Jisui killed an official!” Jisui waved his sword and shouted loudly, at which the spirits all fled and evaporated. Stepping back, he flung himself into the temple. His son, realising suddenly that his father had disappeared, went to the temple, finding his father being pursued by spirits, which used a leather bag to gather up his qi force. After several days he was dead.

From Shuyiji.

Li Fang 李昉, et al., Taiping guangji 太平廣記 (Extensive Gleanings from the Era of Great Harmony), 10 vols (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1961), vii, 325.2581-82:

庾季隨

庾季隨。有節槩。膂力絕人。宋元嘉中。得疾晝臥。有白氣如雲。出于室內。高五尺許。有頃。化為雄雞。飛集別牀。季隨斫之。應手有聲。形即滅。地血滂流。仍聞蠻嫗哭聲。但呼阿子。自遠而來。 [2582] 徑至血處。季隨復斫。有物類猴。走出戶外。瞋目顧視季隨。忽然不見。至晡。有二青衣小兒。直從門入。唱云。庾季隨殺官。俄而有百餘人。或黑衣。或朱衣。達屋。齊喚云。庾季隨殺官。季隨揮刀大呼。鬼皆走出滅形。還步忽投寺中。子忽失父所在。至寺。見父有鬼逐後。以皮囊收其氣。數日遂亡。出述異記

Guo Xiuzhi 郭秀之

Guo Xiuzhi settled in Hailing. In the twenty-ninth year of the [Liu] Song Yuanjia era (452 CE), aged seventy-three, he fell ill and remained in the main room. To the north was a large date tree, more than four zhang tall (c. 13.2m). When a young maid rose early, opening the door and sweeping the floors, she caught sight of a person up in the tree, tall, strong and black in colour, wearing a black wrapper and cap, black leather shirt and trousers. In its hands it held bow and arrows, and it faced directly south. The entire household came to look, and all seeing it understood. Xiuzhi came leaning on a cane to see it. The figure told Xiuzhi: “Your servant has come to summon the gentleman. The gentleman should prepare himself quickly.” At sunrise it was suddenly no longer visible. The same happened over fifty-three days in total. After Xiuzhi had died it ceased.

From Shuyiji.

Li Fang 李昉, et al., Taiping guangji 太平廣記 (Extensive Gleanings from the Era of Great Harmony), 10 vols (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1961), vii, 325.2581:

郭秀之

郭秀之。寓居海陵。宋元嘉二十九年。年七十三。病止堂屋。北有大棗樹。高四丈許。小婢晨起。開戶掃地。見棗樹上有一人。修壯黑色。著皁襆帽。烏韋袴褶。手操弧矢。正立南面。舉家出看。見了了。〈了字原闕。據明鈔本補。〉秀之扶杖視之。此人謂秀之曰。僕來召君。君宜速裝。日出便不復見。積五十三日如此。秀之亡後便絕。出述異記

Suo Wanxing 索萬興

Suo Wanxing, from Dunhuang, was seated at the eastern side of the government hall when a maid suddenly caught sight of a person, wearing a headwrap and leading a piebald horse, who came straight in at the gate. On his back he bore an item very like a black leather bag that might be used to cushion one’s back. Placing this below the step, he led his horse back out of the gate. The cushion then began to rotate and moved directly into the centre of the building. Reaching the foot of the divan it rose, coming to a halt before Xing’s knees. The leather then unrolled itself in all directions, and he seemed to be surrounded be eyes. These moved and winked in a most abominable fashion. After a long time, it slowly returned to its former shape, went back to rotating, and descended from the divan, sinking to the step and departing. Xing ordered the maid to follow it, but it vanished at the eastern end of the hall. Offended by this, he fell ill and died.

From Shuyiji. 

Li Fang 李昉, et al., Taiping guangji 太平廣記 (Extensive Gleanings from the Era of Great Harmony), 10 vols (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1961), vii, 325.2581:

索萬興

敦煌索萬興。晝坐廳事東間齋中。一奴子忽見一人著幘。牽一驄馬。直從門入。負一物。狀如烏皮隱囊。置砌下。便牽馬出門。囊自輪轉。徑入齋中。緣牀腳而上。止于興膝前。皮即四處卷開。見其中周匝是眼。動瞬甚可憎惡。良久。又還更舒合。仍輪轉下牀。落砌而去。興令奴子逐至廳事東頭滅。惡之。因得疾亡。出述異記