Professor Gray (Lianghui) Huang
Essay 2
11/9/22
Strange Tales From A Chinese Studio
Revisiting Film Animation VS Literature
The Magic Sword and The Magic Bag, is a short story within the 18th-century literature
Strange Tales From A Chinese Studio by Pu Soling. A Chinese ghost story (1987), produced by
Tsui Hark, is an adaptation of the short story. The literature focuses on a man named Ning
Caichen, who takes shelter in a temple, and resists the temptations of a ghost named Nie, or
Little Beauty, she tells him that she is under the control of a Yaksha- Demon, that forces her to
kill the men who take refuge in the temple. Ning helps Little Beauty by digging up her bones and
giving them a proper burial. The Yaksha is back, but Ning kills it with the magic bag, and then
he and Little Beauty have three children, even though she is a ghost1. While in the film
animation, Ning travels to the land of the dead and befriends Shine, unaware that she works for
Madame Trunk to devour human souls. Simultaneously, Red Beard rampages through the town
being fought by warrior monks White Cloud and Ten Miles. Shine prevents Ning from getting
devoured by Madame Trunk, and the two escape and get to the reincarnation gate so that she can
be reborn in a human body and be with Ning2. Tsui Hark has added many varied new characters
to this literary adaptation, enhancing the literary character and creating a more captivating,
1
Soling, Pu. “The Magic Sword and The Magic Bag.” Essay. In Strange Tales From A Chinese
Studio, edited by John Miniford, 147–54. London, England: Penguin Group, 2006.
2
“A Chinese Ghost Story : The Tsui Hark Animation (1997) 천녀유혼 小倩 HD Full.” YouTube,
YouTube, 9 May 2020, www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_gVeRhWSDk.
, modern narrative. In addition, both stories show the romantic relationship between a human and
a demon despite adversity.
Remapping and Refiguring: Newly added Characters
The additional characters added to the film adaptation of The Magic Sword and The
Magic Bag help to provide more depth to the story as well as create a more intriguing and
modern narration. Furthermore, the new characters help further develop the romantic relationship
between humans and demons despite adversity. In the literature, there are only four relevant
characters, Yan, Ning, Little Beauty, and the Yaksha demon3. There is no depth to their
characters, they have only one dimension, and the narrative focuses more on the unfolding of the
storyline in a very straightforward manner. Ning goes to the temple and meets Little Beauty, two
people die, Little Beauty warns Ning that she is going to kill him and go to Yan for protection.
Yan gives him a magical bag, Ning saves Little Beauty, they defeat the demon, and have three
children. The characters in the film version are given more depth and the narration emphasizes
the interpersonal connection among characters, a modern audience will find the narrative to be
more engaging and relevant.
The animation opens with two monks, Ten Miles and White Cloud purging the temple of
foul-smelling spirits. Evidentiary Yan is not a character in the animation; however there is a
portrayal of his occupation with Ten Miles, White Cloud, and Red Beard. Then later in the film,
a mountain spirit tries to punish Shine, but Ten Miles and White cloud appear and attack the
ghost town. Ten Miles defeats the ghost citizens while White Cloud attacks the mountain spirit.
Furthermore, there are duels between the two monks and Red Beard as they have the same
3
Soling, Pu. “The Magic Sword and The Magic Bag.” Essay. In Strange Tales From A Chinese
Studio, edited by John Miniford, 147–54. London, England: Penguin Group, 2006.
