Dreams have been taken seriously in China for at least three millennia. Wandering Spirits is a translation and study of the most comprehensive work on dream culture in traditional China—Lofty Principles of Dream Interpretation (Mengzhan yizhi), compiled in 1562 by Chen Shiyuan and periodically reprinted up to the modern era. The best introduction to the diversity of ideas held by the educated class about dreams, this unique treatise compiles various theories, Chen's own comments concerning the nature of dreams and their role in waking life, and almost seven hundred examples assembled from a wide range of literary sources. This annotated translation is accompanied by a full-length introduction that surveys the evolution of Chinese dream culture and the role of Chen Shiyuan and his encyclopedia.
Richard E. Strassberg is Professor Emeritus of Chinese at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is author of Inscribed Landscapes: Travel Writing from Imperial China and A Chinese Bestiary: Strange Creatures from the Guideways through Mountains and Seas (both from UC Press) among other books.
"Wandering Spirits is a very valuable contribution to the history of Chinese dream lore and dream interpretation. Richard Strassberg's polished translation makes available an important text previously available only to readers of Chinese."—Robert Ford Campany, author of To Live as Long as Heaven and Earth
"Strassberg's translation and introduction to Wandering Spirits are masterful. The contents of this remarkable collection are highly diverse, and the author's lucid prose, imagination, skill, and diligence in explanation are to be celebrated."—Robert E. Hegel, author of Reading Illustrated Fiction in Late Imperial China
312 pp.6 x 9Illus: 3 b/w photographs
9780520252943$85.00|£71.00Hardcover
Apr 2008