Story: The Jade Kuanyin

"The Jade Kuanyin" is story 8 in the Ming dynasty collection Common Words to Warn the World 警世通言 (see the Chinese text embedded in a colorful web page). Professor Patrick Hanan reads a two-volume 1958 Taipei facsimile of the 1624 edition (I should locate and scan bits of this!). The first task for my students is to imitate Professor Hanan in summing the story up:

In "The Jade Guanyin" (TY 8), a jade carver in the service of a prince runs away with a maid from the prince's household. Later, in a distant city, they are recognized by someone from his staff and brought back, and the carver is beaten and exiled. On his way into exile, the maid joins him again. In fact, unknown to him, she has been beaten to death; this is her ghost. The carver is recalled to the capital to serve the Emperor, and the same man from the prince's staff recognizes the maid and tells the prince that he has seen a ghost. When the prince disbelieves him, he stakes his life on it. The girl is brought to the prince's palace, but when her sedan chair is opened, there is nobody inside. The informer escapes with a severe beating. The ghost returns home, tells her husband that she can stay no longer, and takes him away with her into her ghostly existence.

I bet my students can do as well as that! Time for class...