A Prank

"A Prank" (simplified Chinese: 戏缢; traditional Chinese: 戲縊; pinyin: Xì Yì)
"A Prank"
is a short story by Pu Songling collected in Strange Stories from a Chinese
Studio (1740) that pertains to a prankster whose act goes awry. It was translated
into English by John Minford in 2006.

Contents
Plot
Background
See also
References
Notes
Citations
Bibliography

Plot 19th-century illustration from Xiangzhu

liaozhai zhiyi tuyong (Liaozhai Zhiyi with
A renowned prankster from Shandong attempts to humour a horse-riding
commentary and illustrations; 1886)
maiden; egged on by his friends, he pretends to hang himself on a millet stalk
from afar, exclaiming that he wishes to die.[1] The girl is amused and rides off, Author Pu Songling
but the mischievous man remains in his act, which is beginning to look more Original title "戏缢 (Xi yi)"
believable.[1] The truth is discovered upon actual scrutinisation – he had really Translator John Minford
hanged himself to death! Pu Songling comments, "Let this be a warning to all
Country China
libertines and pranksters."[1][a]
Language Chinese

Background Genre(s) Zhiguai

Published in Strange Stories
The story, barely four to five lines long in its original form, was written by Pu
from a Chinese
Songling and appears in Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio (1740).[3]
Studio
Originally titled "Xi yi",[2] it was fully translated into English in 2006 by John
Publication type Anthology
Minford as "A Prank".[1] A reviewer for the thirtieth volume of the 1991
Journal of Central China Normal University: Philosophy and Social Sciences Publication date c. 1740
(华中师范大学学报) regards the entire tale as an allegory of the Qin dynasty Published in English 2006
which highlights the fleetingness of life.[3] Separately, an entry in Wai guo wen
Preceded by "The Thunder
xue yan jiu (Foreign Literature Study) stresses that the prankster's death was a
God (雷公)"
result of peer influence; had his friends not encouraged him to pretend to hang
Followed by "The Dead
himself, he might not have met such a strange demise, at the expense of cheap
Monk (死僧)"
laughs.[4] Similarly, another critic, writing in Beifang luncong, notes that such
incidents, while "absurd", are quite commonplace. The story is cited in Judith T.
Zeitlin's Historian of the Strange(1996) as "Playing at Hanging".[5]

See also
 China portal

References

Notes
a. In Chinese: "是可以為儇薄之戒。"[2]

Citations
1. Minford 2006, p. 381.
2. 聊齋志異 戲縊 (http://www.sidneyluo.net/e/e6/255.htm)[Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio: Xi yi](in Chinese).
Sidney Luo. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
3. Journal of Central China Normal University 1991
, p. 96.
4. Wai guo wen xue yan jiu 1992, p. 66.
5. Zeitlin 1997, p. 166.

Bibliography
Zeitlin, Judith T. (1997). Historian of the Strange: Pu Songling and the Chinese Classical ale.
T Stanford University
Press. ISBN 9780804729680.
Minford, John (2006). Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio. Penguin Books. ISBN 9780140447408.
Wai guo wen xue yan jiu [Foreign literature study] (in Chinese). Zhongguo ren min da xue shu bao zi liao she. 1992.
華中師範大学学報 華中師範大学学報 [Journal of Central China Normal University , Philosophy and Social Sciences]
(in Chinese). 30. Central China Normal University Press. 1991.

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