What Pu Songling wrote about isn't ghosts
it's the greed hatred and delusion in your heart
You think Liaozhai is just a collection of ghost stories
nearly five hundred tales
foxes demons ghosts and immortals take turns on stage
written to send chills down your spine
but if you open it again today
and read it once more through a Buddhist lens
you'll discover something that makes your back go cold
what Pu Songling wrote about was never ghosts at all
those that crawl out from the cracks in the wall
that rise up from the grave that shift beneath a painted skin
not a single one exists on its own
they are all seeds coming into manifestation
they are the greed hatred and delusion long buried in the protagonist's heart
and when the conditions come together
they surface from the depths of consciousness
and turn around to devour the person himself
Hello
everyone
I'm Wang Lijie
today let's talk about Liaozhai
in earlier episodes of Deconstructing Classics with Buddhism
we unpacked the seasonal disorder in Flowers in the Mirror and the attachment of love in Dream of the Red Chamber
the mind-monkey in Journey to the West and the ego in The Power of Now
this time let's try something different
instead of fixing on the hero of a long novel
let's open the treasure chest of short tales
and pull out these seemingly bizarre little stories one by one
and examine them under the microscope of Consciousness-Only
and you'll find
Pu Songling was never writing tales of the strange
he was writing case files
five hundred case files
each one a clinical sample of attachment
this might sound a little jarring
many people grew up hearing Liaozhai
their memory of it is all grandma's late-night ghost tales one night
a scholar passes by a graveyard
and sees horror suspense and seduction
but for an author to spend thirty or forty years writing five hundred pieces
could it really be just to scare people
a serious writer would never spend that long just to frighten
he must be using the shell of a ghost
to hold things that are harder to say outright
let's start with Pu Songling the man
to understand a book
you first have to understand the hand that wrote it
Pu Songling was born in the year sixteen forty
in Zichuan Shandong
at nineteen he took the county exams
and placed first in all three rounds county prefecture and circuit
making his name overnight
just as he came of age
all of Shandong hailed him as a prodigy
and he himself believed
that soaring through the provincial metropolitan and palace exams
was only a matter of time
but this prodigy
kept taking the exams from the age of nineteen
for more than fifty years
at forty-eight in the provincial exam
he was failed outright for misplacing a single word on his paper
at fifty-one he tried again
and for some reason never finished
not until he was seventy-one
did he barely scrape into the rank of tribute student
a title that wasn't earned by passing
but ground out by seniority in a queue
over fifty years nothing changed
only one thing he never stopped doing writing Liaozhai
from his thirties into his sixties
more than thirty years
nearly five hundred tales
picture the scene
a man overflowing with talent
ground down by the exam system for half his life
always falling just short
and always failing
the anger stuck in his chest with no way out
and he couldn't curse the emperor or the examiners outright
so everything he saw the corrupt officials the lackeys the schemers
the ravaged common folk the twisted hearts he turned it all into ghost stories
so the most terrifying thing in Liaozhai was never the ghosts
it's people
that's the setup
now to the heart of it
I've picked three stories everyone knows
and you'll find
that the ghosts in these three stories
are essentially the three seeds in your own heart
the first story
The Painted Skin
in Taiyuan there was a scholar named Wang
out for a morning walk
he came across a young girl on the road
the girl looked pitiful and frail
she claimed to be the concubine of a wealthy family
bullied by the first wife
with nowhere to go
Wang saw how beautiful she was
and his heart leapt with joy
he took her back and hid her in his study
the two of them lay entwined in pleasure
Wang was riding high
a few days later
Wang ran into a Taoist priest on the street
the moment the priest saw him his face changed
he said Wang was wrapped in a demonic aura
Wang wasn't convinced the one at home was a beauty
how could she be a demon
he didn't believe it
back home he secretly peered into the study through a crack in the window
and what he saw shattered his soul there was no beauty in the room
only a green-faced fanged demon
spreading a human skin across the bed
painting on the brows and eyes stroke by stroke with a brush
when it finished
the demon shook out the skin and draped it on
and instantly became the beauty who had stolen his senses
terrified Wang went begging to the Taoist
the priest didn't really want to harm the ghost
he gave Wang a fly whisk to deal with it himself
but that very night
the demon charged straight into the room
tore out his heart
and swaggered away
that's the gist of the story simple as that
so where's the point
the point is
from start to finish Wang never once saw the woman herself
what he saw
was a painted skin projected outward by the seed of lust in his own heart
in the terms of Consciousness-Only
this is called the imagined nature
and what drives it from behind is the manas consciousness
the manas doesn't look at what is out there
it only looks at what I want
and the mind then follows this what I want
and paints it outward
so the girl Wang saw
never truly existed
she was only the projection of his seed of lust
that painted skin wasn't painted by a ghost
he painted it himself
the most terrifying part is
when the projection grows ripe and full
it turns around and devours the one who created it
a seed doesn't only give you sweetness
once it manifests past a certain threshold
it will consume its host
you think you're enjoying a romance
but you're feeding a thing that will one day tear out your heart
look at today's influencers heavily made up and drowning in filters on short videos
do you think they are real people
they are painted skins drawn bit by bit from the desire seeds of their viewers
while you scroll you think you're looking at a person
but you're really looking at the unfulfilled illusion in your own heart
every like every pause every purchase
is you digging out your own heart bit by bit
and handing it to that painted skin
The Painted Skin was written over three hundred years ago
yet it has never grown old
think one layer deeper
what's even more ruthless about Pu Songling
is that he wrote the antidote into it too
how did Wang's wife Lady Chen finally bring her husband back
through magic
no
she did it by swallowing her humiliation
kneeling before a mad beggar in the marketplace
and swallowing a mouthful of his phlegm
why could that phlegm become the heart her husband had lost
because Lady Chen's heart
was born from her own shame her endurance and her unconditional love
this is a true heart
a heart no painted skin could ever paint
here Pu Songling leaves a very deep silence
false desire can tear out your heart
but true love can grow you a new one
this is the deep structure of The Painted Skin see the painted skin
see the self behind the painted skin
and then see what a true heart really is
the second story
The Cricket
during the Xuande reign of the Ming dynasty
the emperor loved cricket fighting
and each year the court demanded tribute from every region
in Huayin county there was an honest scholar named Cheng Ming
whom the cunning clerks named as village head
saddling him with the duty of collecting crickets
he couldn't catch a good one himself
and had to bankrupt his family buying them
he grew poorer and poorer
and was beaten half to death
just then his nine-year-old son secretly opened the pot his father had struggled to fill
the cricket jumped out
the boy grabbed at it
its leg broke
its belly split
it died
terrified the boy ran off
and was finally pulled out of a well
barely breathing when they hauled him up
he only regained his breath in the dead of night
but he lay there dazed and unmoving
Cheng Ming kept watch over a son like this
in utter despair
and the boy's soul
had already entered a small cricket
this cricket was thin and tiny
unremarkable to look at
but a fierce fighter
able to beat the strong from a place of weakness
it was passed up rank by rank
and finally presented to the emperor
the emperor was overjoyed
and lavished rewards on officials at every level
and Cheng Ming's family at the very bottom now had a hundred acres of land grand houses and fine clothes
grander than the old noble clans
the family grew rich
but the cricket fighting for the whole family in its golden cage
was his son
the brilliance of this story
is that it takes alienation right down to the bone
what is alienation
the thing you chase after with all your might
in the end becomes you yourself
the lowest official offers crickets to please the emperor
the common folk hand over crickets to protect their families
a nine-year-old boy becomes a cricket to be accepted by the system
everyone on the chain is no longer a person
but a cog in the system an insect
what is this
it is the ultimate form of greed
the deepest layer of greed isn't I want more
it's as long as I can get it
I'm willing to become anything
you think you're chasing after something
and as you go you come to realize
you are that thing
chase money your whole life
and you become a measure of money
chase fame your whole life
and you become a label in other people's eyes
chase power your whole life
and power reshapes you into the shape it needs
Pu Songling coldly placed this mechanism inside a single cricket
a nine-year-old boy turns into a cricket
to fight the family's battle in the halls of power
the family's gold and silver
was bought with his soul
this is collective karma
this is cause and effect
this is why the Lotus Sutra says
the three realms know no peace
they are like a burning house
you think you've come in to grab some benefit
but the moment you enter you're already firewood
today many parents plan out their children's futures
and they're replaying the very script of Cheng Ming's family
only they're not offering up crickets
they're offering up resumes award certificates and report cards
a seven-year-old enrolled in five after-school classes
each one for the chance that one day he might rise up and fight for it
and by the time he's twenty-five
he doesn't even know if he's a person or a resume
where is his soul
perhaps already in the golden cage of some company
fighting day and night for a ranking he has no idea why he's chasing
this is the modern version of collective karma
it's not that one person is greedy
it's the whole system being greedy together
everyone is forced to be greedy
because if you aren't
your child gets squeezed out
everyone hates this game
yet everyone is a hand pushing the game forward
the third story
The Taoist of Mount Lao
there was a young man also named Wang Pu Songling's heroes are often named Wang
the surname is simply so common in China
this Wang didn't want an ordinary life
he wanted to learn the arts of immortality
hearing that the Taoist of Mount Lao had supernatural powers
he shouldered his pack and climbed the mountain
at a glance the master saw he couldn't bear hardship
but let him in anyway
his daily task wasn't chanting or meditation
it was chopping wood
Wang chopped for a month
his hands grew thick with calluses
and he began to fume I came to learn supernatural powers
not to be a woodcutter
he wanted to leave
but before going he clung on master
at least teach me something
this month of chopping can't be for nothing
the master looked at him
and said fine
I'll teach you to walk through walls
Wang learned the wall-walking art
and went home elated
the moment he stepped in he bragged to his wife on Mount Lao I mastered an immortal's power
not even walls can stop me
his wife didn't believe him
Wang said
watch me
he stepped back a few paces
gathered his breath and charged at the wall with a thud
a lump the size of an egg swelled on his forehead
the story ends
at first glance
it seems to be about not being clever by half and being willing to endure hardship
but through a Buddhist lens it's a parable about spiritual greed
Wang isn't unwilling to practice
he just wants a shortcut
what he wants isn't the Way
it's a me who can walk through walls a me greater than his neighbor
greater than his wife greater than everyone
his motive for seeking the Way
is to make the self bigger and shinier
what is this called in Buddhism
it's self-attachment dressed in the robes of practice
more hidden than greed for wealth lust or fame
because you've already climbed the mountain meditated and chanted
yet the aim of your practice
is to make that self more powerful
the master of Mount Lao had seen through it all along
when he taught the wall-walking art
he wasn't passing on real skill
he was giving a lesson the self you haven't let go of
is that very wall
while on the mountain
you wrapped it in the loftiness of seeking immortality
but once down the mountain and pleased with yourself
it shows itself at once
and then this self
slams you until your head is bloodied
this compassion of the master
Pu Songling wrote with remarkable restraint
he didn't have the master scold Wang
nor did he let Wang stumble on the mountain
he let Wang walk through walls quite convincingly
smug all the way down
until the very moment before the person closest to him when he most wanted to show off
only then does he crash into a lump
this stroke is so cold-eyed some lessons
can only be learned at the very moment you think you've won
only then can you learn them
think about your own life
have you ever had a moment like this
some ability you'd honed for a long time
that you brought out full of confidence
only to trip up right where you were proudest
it's not that your ability fell short
it's the thought of using it to prove how great I am
that instantly turned it into a wall
this is the modern version of The Taoist of Mount Lao
so you see
the ghosts in Liaozhai have three layers
the shallowest layer
is the ghost of lust The Painted Skin
it seems to come from outside
but it is born from within
the middle layer
is the ghost of greed The Cricket
the one who chases what he seeks
in the end takes the shape of what he sought
the deepest layer
is the ghost on the path of practice The Taoist of Mount Lao
you think you're climbing the mountain
but you're only carrying a more refined self
into an even larger cage
this is greed hatred and delusion
greed is the surface
hatred is its flip side
delusion is the ground beneath
three seeds tangled together
each one will flower and bear fruit
and each one will turn around and devour you
and have you noticed
among these three protagonists
two are named Wang
this isn't laziness
in Ming and Qing fiction
Scholar Wang is the code name for the most ordinary male scholar
like saying young Wang today
Pu Songling is telling you the Wang in The Painted Skin
the Cheng Ming collecting crickets in The Cricket the Wang afraid of chopping wood on Mount Lao
they are all you
they are all me
they are every ordinary person who has passed through this world
their greed hatred and delusion
isn't because they are especially depraved
but because they are human
the Buddha said the three poisons are the ground color of all beings
not the privilege of a few bad people
with five hundred stories Pu Songling
translated this saying into the vernacular of Ming and Qing China
so if you open Liaozhai again today
what will you see
you'll see an old man ground down by the exam system for fifty years
sitting under an oil lamp in Zichuan Shandong
with a single brush
calmly writing five hundred dissection reports on the whole world's attachments
each piece is a seed
and every seed waits for its moment to manifest
and when you and I read these stories today
we aren't reading ancient curiosities
we're looking in a mirror
every short video you scroll
is a miniature painted skin
every moment you contort yourself for a title a school-district home a child's ranking
is a miniature cricket
every time you open a meditation app buy a spiritual book or join a retreat
only to find the self grows bigger and more easily stung
that is your Taoist of Mount Lao moment
Pu Songling wrote five hundred stories
you don't need to read them all
just recognize yourself in one of them
and you've truly read the book
of course
what I've offered today is only one angle of entry
Liaozhai also holds many stories of deep love compassion and kindred spirits
like Nie Xiaoqian Yingning and Xiaocui
the ghosts in those stories
are more human than many of the living
Nie Xiaoqian was a ghost forced by a demon to harm others
but meeting the upright Ning Caichen who did not covet her beauty
she came instead to long to become human
Yingning was born of a fox woman in the mountains
her laughter knew no bounds
yet it laughed away every scheme and calculation in the world
Xiaocui too was a fox woman
who to repay a debt walked a foolish young man through his hardest years
the seeds planted in these ghosts weren't greed hatred and delusion
they were gratitude laughter and an indefinable purity
what Pu Songling means is
what matters was never whether you're human or ghost living or dead
but what seed is buried in your heart
greed wrapped in human skin is the true ghost
a true heart housed in a ghost is the true human
so here's a question to leave with you the heart of the living and the painted skin of a ghost
what really sets them apart
is it the true heart beneath the surface
or whether you dare to let the seed in your heart be seen by another
if you've read the piece in Liaozhai that moved you most
tell me in the comments which one it was
and which seed in your heart it laid bare
you can also tell me
do you think Pu Songling was writing about ghosts
or about himself tormented by the exams his whole life
this question
I'd love to hear your answer too
alright
that's all for today
I'm Wang Lijie
see you next time