''You Xian Ku'' (Chinese: 遊仙窟) is a famous Chinese story from the "Legends of the Tang Dynasty" (唐人傳奇) written by Zhang Zhuo (張鷟). In English, its title roughly translates as "Journey to the Fairy Grotto."

The Story

Zhang Zhuo (Chinese: 張鷟, born 658－730 CE), bestowed the honorary name of Wen Cheng (文成), was a

Tang Dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

Jinshi ''Jinshi'' () was the highest and final degree in the imperial examination in Imperial China. The examination was usually taken in the imperial capital in the palace, and was also called the Metropolitan Exam. Recipients are sometimes referre ...

, a former imperial censor (御史), and a native of Luze, Shenzhou (now Shenxian 深縣 county,

Hebei Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, an ...

province). "You Xian Ku" is a story of the author's first-hand account visiting

Heyuan Héyuán (, Hakka:Fò-Ngiàn) is a prefecture-level city of Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. As of the 2020 census, its population was 2,837,686 whom 1,051,993 lived in the built-up (''or metro'') area made of Yuancheng urban ...

(now

Qinghai Qinghai (; alternately romanized as Tsinghai, Ch'inghai), also known as Kokonor, is a landlocked province in the northwest of the People's Republic of China. It is the fourth largest province of China by area and has the third smallest po ...

, Xinghai province), passing through Jishi (積石) mountain. "The days turn to nights, and the road is far. The horse is weary and the man tired" (日晚途遙，馬疲人乏). He stayed in the fairy grotto and met two women by chance: Cui Shi Niang (崔十娘) and Wu Sao (五嫂), a widow. There they drank wine, wrote poetry, and joked around. The entire text is written in Four-Six

Pianwen Pianwen ( zh, s=骈文, t=駢文, p=piánwén, l=parallel writing, c=, first=t) is a highly stylised prose style, prevalent throughout the history of Chinese literature. Its prominent features lie in its regular lines arranged in couplets; in ...

(parallel prose), mixed with

Bianwen ''Bianwen'' () refers to a literary form that is believed to be some of the earliest examples of vernacular and prosimetric narratives in Chinese literature. These texts date back to the Tang Dynasty (618–907) and Five Dynasties (907–960) ...

, with rhymes and leisurely in style. Shi Niang writes vividly and lively '' ote: since translating poetry is harder and takes more time, this will be left in its original Chinese until updated'' 天上無雙，人間有一。依依弱柳，束作腰支；焰焰橫波，翻成眼尾。才舒兩頰，孰疑地上無華；乍出雙眉，漸覺天邊失月。” Some people called it a "new form of novel" (新體小說). "You Xian Ku" is the Tang Dynasty's earliest

romance novel A romance novel or romantic novel generally refers to a type of genre fiction novel which places its primary focus on the relationship and romantic love between two people, and usually has an "emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending." Pre ...

, based on the wanton lives of

prostitutes Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, non-penet ...

first met by Tang scholars. It has had a profound influence on the love stories written by later generations. Although "You Xian Ku" had been lost in China for over a millennia, its popularity in Japan has never ceased. According to the

Old Book of Tang The ''Old Book of Tang'', or simply the ''Book of Tang'', is the first classic historical work about the Tang dynasty, comprising 200 chapters, and is one of the Twenty-Four Histories. Originally compiled during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdo ...

, every time Japan sent an envoy to china during the Tang dynasty, they had to pay a lot to buy copies of the book. In the late

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

, the book was copied, reprinted in Japan and sent back to China. In Bai Xianyong's (白先勇) novel "

Crystal Boys ''Crystal Boys'' (孽子, pinyin: ''Nièzǐ'', "sons of sin") is a novel written by author Pai Hsien-yung and first published in 1983 in Taiwan. In 1988, this novel went into circulation in China; its French and English translations were publi ...

" the chapter "Journey to the Goblin Cave" (You Yao Ku, 遊妖窟) is parodied off "You Xian Ku."

Also see

* '' The Tale of Genji'' *

Chuanqi Chuanqi ("strange tale", "legend", or "romance", depending on context) may refer to two related but distinct forms of Chinese fiction: *Chuanqi (short story), a genre of Chinese fiction usually associated with the Tang dynasty (618–907); the sto ...

* {{ill, 崔致远传, zh

Citations

* 李奭學：《人妖之間——從張鷟的〈遊仙窟〉看白先勇的〈孽子〉》，《中國文哲研究通訊》（中央研究院）第15卷第4期（2006年3月），頁135-150 7th-century books