RJ: When I was researching references for my drawings, I struggled to find authentic representations of the Tang dynasty capital city. I hesitated to use The Night Revels of Han Xizai as a reference, as it’s such a famous painting—I worried that incorporating such well-known imagery might make my work seem unoriginal. However, looking back at my illustrations, I think it was a good choice. Using this famous painting allowed me to give readers a familiar visual cue at the beginning of the narrative. In speaking with a few visitors at the major project exhibition, I learned that they actually spent more time viewing my drawings because the first panel felt familiar, making them curious to recall where they had seen similar imagery before.

The project aims to uncover lesser-known ancient Chinese eerie stories, overshadowed by the prevailing atheist communist ideology in China. These tales offer insight into traditional culture and how ancient Chinese grappled with supernatural phenomena. By exploring such stories, I seek to revive cultural treasures and immerse readers in a historically authentic, dreamlike realm.

“In Xuanping Lane of the capital city, a government official was returning home one night and entered a winding alley. There, he encountered an oil seller wearing a large hat, driving a donkey carrying a barrel. The seller didn't yield the way, so a soldier clearing the path struck him, causing the oil seller's head to fall off with a single blow.

The headless body quickly ran into a large mansion. The astonished official followed and saw the headless figure vanish under a large locust tree. He immediately informed the household of what he had witnessed, and they began to dig around the tree. After digging several feet deep, they discovered that the tree's roots had withered, revealing a large toad the size of a plate. The toad was wearing two copper caps filled with tree sap. Nearby, they found a large white mushroom that resembled the nails on a palace door, though its blister-like covers had fallen off.

It turned out that the toad was actually the donkey, the caps were the oil barrels, and the mushroom was the oil seller. The locals had been buying his oil for over a month, puzzled by its unusually good quality and low price. Once the monster was exposed, those who had consumed the oil fell ill with vomiting and diarrhea.”

Selected Story from Youyang Zazu 酉陽雜俎,
a collection of fantastic stories compiled by the Tang period writer Duan Chengshi.