平妖傳 by Guanzhong Luo
"平妖傳" by Guanzhong Luo is a historical novel written in the late 19th century. The story unfolds during the Song Dynasty and revolves around the life of a prosperous merchant named 胡員外 (Hu Yuanwai) and his wife, who are desperate for a child. Their fortune takes a dramatic turn after an encounter with a mysterious painting that reportedly brings supernatural abilities, intertwining themes of fate, wealth, and the mystical. The opening portion
introduces 胡員外, a wealthy man who, despite his riches, is troubled by and desires offspring. To resolve this, he and his wife visit a shrine to pray for a child and soon receive a magical painting from a mysterious stranger. This painting not only captivates Hu but is said to invoke the appearance of a beautiful spirit at night. As the narrative unfolds, tensions rise when Hu’s wife discovers him with the spirit, leading her to burn the painting in a fit of rage, setting off a chain of events that drastically change their fortunes. The story introduces themes of desperation, desire, and the consequences of one's actions, establishing a foundation for the magical and mystical explorations that follow. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
Read or download for free
For an overview of the different reading options, see our Reading Guide
| Reading Options | Url | Size | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Read now! | https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/25248.html.images | 261 kB | |||
| EPUB3 (E-readers incl. Send-to-Kindle) | https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/25248.epub3.images | 162 kB | |||
| EPUB (older E-readers) | https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/25248.epub.images | 165 kB | |||
| Kindle | https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/25248.kf8.images | 297 kB | |||
| older Kindles | https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/25248.kindle.images | 289 kB | |||
| Plain Text UTF-8 | https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/25248.txt.utf-8 | 250 kB | |||
| Download HTML (zip) | https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/25248/pg25248-h.zip | 160 kB | |||
| There may be more files related to this item. | |||||
Similar Books
About this eBook
| Author | Luo, Guanzhong, 1330?-1400? |
|---|---|
| Title | 平妖傳 |
| Alternate Title | Ping yao zhuan |
| Language | Chinese |
| LoC Class | PL: Language and Literatures: Languages and literatures of Eastern Asia, Africa, Oceania |
| Subject | Chinese fiction -- Ming dynasty, 1368-1644 |
| Category | Text |
| EBook-No. | 25248 |
| Release Date | Apr 30, 2008 |
| Copyright Status | Public domain in the USA. |
| Downloads | 443 downloads in the last 30 days. |
| Project Gutenberg eBooks are always free! | |