P‘u Sung-ling

“ T‘ang by-and-by arrived at what seemed to be the palace of a king, within which sat the God of Literature precisely as we depict him on earth. “You are an upright man,” replied the God, in reply to Mr. T‘ang's prayer, “and are certainly entitled to a longer span of life; but by this time your mortal body has become decomposed, and unless you can secure the assistance of a Bôdhisatva, I can give you no aid.” So Mr. T‘ang set off once more, and hurried along until he came to a magnificent shrine standing in a thick grove of tall bamboos ”

“ The soul lay there for some time, not knowing in which direction to proceed; however, it soon recollected that the land of Buddha was in the west, and westwards accordingly it began to shape its course. ”

“ The villagers then informed him that Chang Pu-liang was a very wealthy farmer, who was accustomed every spring to make loans of grain to the poor of the district, and who was not too particular about getting back the exact amount he had lent,―taking in fact whatever they brought him without discussion; hence the sobriquet of pu liang “no measure” (i.e., the man who doesn't measure the repayments of his loans) . ”

“ Human beings, I would point out, are not beyond the pale of fixed laws, and yet there are more remarkable phenomena in their midst than in the country of those who crop their hair; [6] antiquity is unrolled before us, and many tales are to be found therein stranger than that of the nation of Flying Heads. [7] “Irrepressible bursts and luxurious ease,” [8] ―such was always one enthusiastic strain. “For ever indulging in liberal thought,” [9] ―thus spoke another openly without restraint. Were men like these to open my book, I should be a laughing-stock to them indeed. ”

“ I am rather animated by the spirit of Su Tung-P‘o, [4] who loved to hear men speak of the supernatural. I get people to commit what they tell me to writing, and subsequently I dress it up in the form of a story ”