Notes of the Thatched Abode of Close Observations


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 stories compiled by Qing Dynasty scholar-official Ji Yun. 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 in 1789, So Have I Heard in 1791, Jottings from My Haidian Lodging in 1792, No Harm in Listening in 1793, and More from the Summer Resort 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 and concepts from Chinese folklore, including jiangshi, hulijing and yeren, 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 in China|gentry]. As such, Chan argued that the Notes provides unique insight into how the cultural elite of eighteenth-century China viewed the supernatural, complicating popular notions that the Chinese elite during this period were just 'Confucian rationalists'.

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English