Project Gutenberg 2008-04-30 Public domain in the USA. 266 Luo, Guanzhong 羅貫中 平妖傳 Ping yao zhuan "平妖傳" by Guanzhong Luo is a historical novel written in the late 19th century. The story unfolds during the Song Dynasty and revolves around the life of a prosperous merchant named 胡員外 (Hu Yuanwai) and his wife, who are desperate for a child. Their fortune takes a dramatic turn after an encounter with a mysterious painting that reportedly brings supernatural abilities, intertwining themes of fate, wealth, and the mystical. The opening portion introduces 胡員外, a wealthy man who, despite his riches, is troubled by and desires offspring. To resolve this, he and his wife visit a shrine to pray for a child and soon receive a magical painting from a mysterious stranger. This painting not only captivates Hu but is said to invoke the appearance of a beautiful spirit at night. As the narrative unfolds, tensions rise when Hu’s wife discovers him with the spirit, leading her to burn the painting in a fit of rage, setting off a chain of events that drastically change their fortunes. The story introduces themes of desperation, desire, and the consequences of one's actions, establishing a foundation for the magical and mystical explorations that follow. (This is an automatically generated summary.) zh Chinese fiction -- Ming dynasty, 1368-1644 PL Text Category: Historical Novels Category: Science-Fiction & Fantasy Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore 267151 2025-10-10T10:55:32.541951 text/html 266972 2025-01-10T11:37:35.736541 text/html 165392 2025-10-10T10:55:36.560891 application/epub+zip 168316 2025-10-10T10:55:34.174868 application/epub+zip 168316 2025-10-10T10:55:33.079889 application/epub+zip 304484 2025-10-10T10:55:38.291888 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 296089 2025-10-10T10:55:35.981907 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 272094 2022-09-11T14:15:29.751906 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 255786 2025-10-10T10:55:32.312908 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 255740 2008-04-30T09:14:46 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 17013 2025-10-10T10:55:38.410868 application/rdf+xml 7342 2025-10-10T10:55:33.565927 image/jpeg 2166 2025-10-10T10:55:33.320993 image/jpeg 104678 2008-04-30T09:14:48 application/octet-stream application/zip 163954 2025-10-10T10:55:32.560889 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog en.wikipedia