Zibuyu (Guomai Classic)

This book is a notebook novel compiled by Yuan Mei during the Qianjia period of the Qing Dynasty. It was originally called "Zi Buyu". Later, it was changed to "Xin Qixie" when it was found that there were similarities in the Yuan Dynasty. The stories in the book come from folk rumors, oral narrations from relatives and friends, other people's writings, real life and the author's creation. Most of the stories in the book are about ghosts and spirits, but also about strange people and anecdotes. Yuan Mei uses concise words, documentary writing, and bizarre stories to show the bizarre world, and reveals many "evils" in ordinary life in an extremely humorous and obscure way, involving morality, system, religion, customs, human nature and other aspects. The content of this edition is based on "Thirty Kinds of Suiyuan" written in the Jiaqing period, and is based on Zhu Chundian's proofreading, Shen Meng and Gan Lindian's proofreading, "Grand View of Notes and Novel", and "The Complete Works of Yuan Mei" edited by Wang Yingzhi, with 205 selected articles, re-edited and arranged. It is divided into six chapters based on the search for gods, mythical monsters, ghosts, strange people, illusions, and secrets, and is equipped with newly created ghost illustrations based on the content of the text.