Pu Songling

The first literary figure of the Qing Dynasty in China. His pen name was Liuxian or Sword Minister, and his pen name was Liuquan. He was born in Pujiazhuang, Zichuan County, Jinan Prefecture, Shandong Province (present-day Zibo City). He had outstanding literary talent, and at the age of 19, he passed the prefectural, prefectural, and graduate exams for the children's examinations with the highest score, becoming a brilliant scholar. However, it is unclear how many times he took the local exams after that, but he was unable to pass them. Reading his posthumous writings, we can see that he never let go of his desire for fame. From the age of 33 to 70, he worked as a teacher at a private school for a powerful family in the prefecture, while devoting himself to reading and writing many books. In particular, he left an immortal name for his masterpiece, Stories from a Liaozhai, the greatest work in the history of Chinese literary novels. He only became a member of the Kōsei family at the age of 71, and lived an unfortunate life as an intellectual.

[Yutaka Fujita]

"The Eight Great Chinese Novels" edited by the Department of Chinese Literature, Osaka City University (included in "The Author and Era of 'Strange Stories from a Chinese Liaozhai'", 1965, Heibonsha)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

中国、清(しん)初の文学者。字(あざな)は留仙(りゅうせん)または剣臣(けんしん)、号は柳泉(りゅうせん)。山東省済南(さいなん)府淄川(しせん)県蒲家荘(ほかそう)（現在の淄博(しはく)市）に生まれる。卓抜な文才をもち、19歳で童子試の県試、府試、院試に連続して首席合格し秀才となったが、その後の郷試は何回受験したか正確には不明だが合格できなかった。彼の遺文を読むと、いつまでも功名の念を捨てられなかったその姿が浮かび上がる。33歳から70歳まで同県の権勢家の家塾の教師を務めるかたわら、読書と多くの著述に専念し、なかでも中国文語小説史上の最高傑作『聊斎志異(りょうさいしい)』によって不朽の文名を残した。71歳でやっと貢生(こうせい)になったにすぎず、知識人としては不遇の一生を送った。

［藤田祐賢］

『大阪市立大学中国文学研究室編『中国の八大小説』（『「聊斎志異」の作者と時代』所収・1965・平凡社）』

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