Introduction to Chinese Ghost & Love Stories, by P'u Sung-ling, Pantheon, 1946, pp. 9-13.

An Austrian-born Israeli religious and social thinker, Buber is highly regarded for his research of popular myths and legends and, especially, for his translations of traditional Hasidic tales. In the following excerpt from an essay originally published in 1911 as an introduction to his German translation of P 'u 's tales, Buber notes the engaging subject matter and fascinating supernatural figures in Strange Stories.

During my studies in the myths of demons and spirits, I became familiar, first through translations, and later under the friendly instruction of Mr. Chingdao Wang, with the Chinese collections of ghost stories, and particularly with the classic Liao Chai Chih Yi. I was especially drawn by one characteristic of the tales, not possessed to this extent in the ghostlore of any other people—the atmosphere of intimacy and concord. In these stories...