Nie Xiaoqian () is a fantasy story in Pu Songling's short story collection Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio, and the name of its female lead character. Pu describes her appearance as "gorgeous; girl in paintings" (). The story has been adapted into numerous films and television dramas. The name is commonly rendered as Nip Siu Sin in Hong Kong adaptations in accordance with its Cantonese pronunciation.
Plot Nie Xiaoqian is introduced as a beautiful female ghost. She died at the age of 18 and was interred in an old temple in Jinhua, Zhejiang. Nie is coerced to participate in ritual murders in the service of a demon. A pale-faced scholar, Ning Caichen, is going to Beijing to take a civil service examination. Though Nie attempts to prey upon Ning Caichen, he resists her and takes her from the demon. As Ning's sickly wife slowly dies, Nie fulfills expectations of filial piety as she takes upon the household chores. Once Ning's wife dies, he is free to pursue Nie. Nie's good works earn her humanity back. She and Ning marry and conceive a child, representative of Nie's restoration.
Characters
Nie Xiaoqian Nie Xiaoqian appears in Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio as a ghost whose beauty is matched by talent and innate kindness. Once an eighteen-year-old girl, she died young and was buried beside a derelict temple just north of Jinhua, Zhejiang. In the afterlife, she fell under the sway of a Yaksha and other Yaoguais, who compelled her to lure passing travellers to their doom. On one such mission, she tried to ensnare the scholar Ning Caichen, who sought accommodation at Lanruo Temple, but his integrity and compassion moved her to lend him her aid instead. Then, with Ning's help, she later escaped her demonic captors and found refuge in the Ning household, caring for his mother and his ailing wife. After the wife's death, she married Ning Caichen, and together the couple destroyed the yaoguais that had long haunted Jinhua. Some years later they had a son, and the story ends on a note of domestic harmony.
Ning Caichen Ning Caichen (Chinese: 宁采臣) is the male protagonist of Nie Xiaoqian, a tale within Pu Songling's Qing dynasty collection Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio (Chinese: 《聊斋志异》). A native of Zhejiang, he is depicted as generous, forthright and scrupulously upright, immune to the lure of beauty. Owing to financial hardship, Ning Caichen lodged for a time at Lanruo Temple, where he encountered Nie Xiaoqian, then under the control of a Yaksha. Naturally compassionate and unwilling to harm the living, Xiaoqian helped him evade the Yaoguais in pursuit of him and, with the swordsman Yan Chixia's assistance, he survived the ordeal. Later, Ning offered Xiaoqian refuge in his household, entrusting her with the care of his mother and his gravely ill wife. After the wife's death, he married Xiaoqian; upon her advice, he employed a magic sword-pouch to slay Laolao, the yaksha. Years afterwards, Ning passed the imperial examination and attained the degree of Jinshi (the top degree in China's ancient imperial examinations, leading to official positions). Xiaoqian bore him a son and, after he took a concubine, each woman bore another. The household remained harmonious, and all three sons matured into men of distinction.
Yan Chixia In Nie Xiaoqian, Yan Chixia lodges for a time in a derelict temple outside Jinhua. During his stay, he wounds the Yaksha with a luminous blade concealed in a sword-pouch, displaying preternatural swordsmanship. Later, he gives the pouch to the scholar Ning Caichen as a talisman against Yaoguais. In the original work, Yan Chixia is portrayed as calm, taciturn and decisive. Dressed in a scholar's robe, he is hinted to hail from the land of Qin—roughly today's Shaanxi—and combines the polish of a literatus with the vigour of a fighting man. His character blends elements of the traditional swordsman, the folk wonder-worker and the religious adept. In contemporary screen adaptations, Yan Chixia's image has changed markedly, shifting from a provincial scholar to a wandering master versed in both Buddhist and Daoist arts who roams the martial world as a lone slayer of yaoguais.
Laolao Laolao is hidden within the crumbling Lanruo Temple. A consummate deceiver, she adopts the guise of an aged crone yet wields formidable magic and retains the savage nature of a Yaksha. Laolao instructs Nie Xiaoqian to entice the scholar Ning Caichen, but the scheme fails when Ning sees through the ruse and stands firm. Laolao then attacks him herself, yet is wounded by the Taoist Yan Chixia's magic vessel and manages to escape only after crashing accidentally into a lattice window. Ning Caichen later takes Nie Xiaoqian's ashes back to her native soil for re-burial, provoking Laolao's wrath. She pursues him to the Ning household, intent on revenge. In the climactic encounter, Laolao reveals her yaksha form and launches an assault, but the magic pouch that Yan Chixia had planted earlier activates: the moment she touches it, she is sucked inside, sealed, and destroyed.
Setting The principal setting of the story is Lanruo Temple; the text situates it in open country north of the prefectural seat of Jinhua.
The term "Lanruo" comes from the Sanskrit "aranya", which first meant "quiet forest" and later came to denote a Buddhist monastery.In several stories within Strange Tales, Pu uses "lanruo" in this generic sense. In the original text, therefore, "Lanruo Temple" signifies simply "a secluded temple", not a unique proper name.
Film and television Year Title Chinese Title Actress References 1960 The Enchanting Shadow Betty Loh Ti 1975 Chinese Folklore: Nie Xiaoqian Wen Lau-mei Blue Lamp in a Winter Night Qin Meng 1981 Nie Xiaoqian Geng Xiaolu 1982 Nie Xiaoqian Chen Xiaoxu 1984 The Nocturnal Legends Zhuang Jing'er 1987 A Chinese Ghost Story Joey Wong 1991 Hu Tian'ge 1994 Spirit in an Old Temple Hui Juanyan 1995 Ghost Catcher - Legend of Beauty Yu Xiaofan 1997 A Chinese Ghost Story: The Tsui Hark Animation Anita Yuen / Sylvia Chang 1999 People Love Ghost Liu Mintao 2003 Eternity: A Chinese Ghost Story Barbie Hsu 2004 The Qian Nü lost souls: Catch tianshi Wang Qian 2005 Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio Yang Mi 2008 Love Stories in Ancient China Jiang Yan 2010 Ghost Catcher - Legend of Beauty Jenny Zhang 2011 A Chinese Ghost Story Liu Yifei 2012 Hu Xian Choo Ja-hyun 2019 The Knight of Shadows: Between Yin and Yang Zhong Chuxi 2020 The Enchanting Phantom a.k.a. A Chinese Ghost Story - Human Love Eleanor Lee
References