This creepy text comes from the《聊斋志异》 (Liaozhai Zhiyi), known in English as Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, or the Liaozhai. The Liaozhai is a famous collection of supernatural short stories written by the Qing dynasty author 蒲松龄 (Pu Songling) in the 17th century.
The original Liaozhai has nearly 500 stories in it, but this specific story is called 《画皮》 – “The Painted Skin”. It’s one of the most well-known stories in the collection. The original version is much longer and more complex, and is written in ancient Chinese. The original also includes more characters, more moral and religious themes, and more horror elements, so this really is a toned-down version. This version has been shortened to be appropriate for intermediate readers, and is presented in Simplified modern Chinese. But the moral of the story is the same: don’t take home strange women you meet on the road at night!
Key vocab
心软 – xīnruǎn – soft-hearted
道士 – dàoshì – Taoist priest
偷偷 – tōutōu – secretly, stealthily
可怕 – kěpà – terrifying, scary
鬼 – guǐ – ghost
符 – fú – talisman, charm
挡住 – dǎngzhù – to block, to stop
外表 – wàibiǎo – outward appearance
表面 – biǎomiàn – surface
画皮
从前，有一个年轻的书生，名叫王生。他住在一个小城里，每天读书写字，生活很安静。
有一天晚上，他在路上遇到一个漂亮的女子。女子说自己没有家，也没有亲人，希望能住在王生家里。王生心软，就让她住下了。
几天以后，王生的身体越来越差，总觉得很累。他的妻子觉得事情不对，就去找一位老道士帮忙。
老道士来到王生家，偷偷观察那个女子。晚上，他看到女子把自己的“脸”拿下来，原来那只是一张画出来的皮！皮下面是一个可怕的鬼。
道士告诉王生：“她不是人，是鬼。你必须马上离开她。”王生很害怕，请道士救自己。
道士给了王生一张符，让他贴在门上。那天夜里，鬼想再进屋，却被符挡住了，最后痛苦地逃走了。
从那以后，王生才明白：外表美丽的东西，不一定是真的。人要小心，不要只看表面。
The Painted Skin
Long ago, there was a young scholar named Wang Sheng. He lived in a small town, reading and writing every day, living a very quiet life.
One night, he met a beautiful woman on the road. The woman said she had no home and no family, and hoped she could stay at Wang Sheng’s house. Wang Sheng was soft-hearted, so he let her stay.
A few days later, Wang Sheng’s health began to get worse and worse, and he always felt very tired. His wife felt something was wrong, so she went to find an old Taoist priest for help.
The old Taoist priest came to Wang Sheng’s house and secretly observed the woman. At night, he saw the woman take off her ‘face’ – it turned out to be just a painted skin! Beneath the skin was a terrifying ghost.
The priest told Wang Sheng: ‘She is not human, she is a ghost. You must get away from her immediately.’ Wang Sheng was very frightened and begged the priest to save him.
The priest gave Wang Sheng a talisman and told him to stick it on the door. That night, when the ghost tried to enter the room again, she was blocked by the talisman, and fled in agony.
From then on, Wang Sheng finally understood: things that appear beautiful on the outside are not necessarily real. People must be careful and not just look at the surface.
