The Bookworm (short story)

"The Bookworm"
19th-century illustration from Xiangzhu liaozhai zhiyi tuyong (Liaozhai Zhiyi with commentary and illustrations; 1886)
Author	Pu Songling
Original title	"书痴 (Shuchi)"
Translator	Sidney L. Sondergard
Country	China
Language	Chinese
Genre(s)	Zhiguai Romance
Published in	Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio
Publication type	Anthology
Publication date	c. 1740
Published in English	2014
Preceded by	"Huangying (黃英)"
Followed by	"The Great Sage, Heaven's Equal (齐天大圣)"

"The Bookworm" (simplified Chinese: 书痴; traditional Chinese: 書癡; pinyin: Shū Chī) is a short story by Pu Songling first published in Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio (1740). The story revolves around an innocent scholar Lang Yuzhu and his romantic encounter with a celestial being hidden in his books. An English translation of the story by Sidney L. Sondergard was released in 2014.

"The Bookworm" is a "fictional extension" of a poem titled Quanxueshi (Chinese: 劝学诗; literally: "Poem exhorting studying") and written by Emperor Zhenzong, which highlights the importance of being well-read and learned. Parts of the poem are cited in "The Bookworm", most notably "There (in books), girls as beautiful as jade abound." Originally titled "Shuchi" (书痴) by Pu Songling, the full story was translated into English by Sidney L. Sondergard as "The Bookworm" in 2014.

The Martin Bodmer Foundation Library houses a 19th-century Liaozhai manuscript, silk-printed and bound leporello-style, that contains three tales including "The Bookworm", "The Great Sage, Heaven's Equal", and "The Frog God".

Lang Yuzhu (郎玉柱) is a conscientious scholar, but his scholarly ambitions have prevented him from embarking on romantic endeavours. At the same time, Lang finds himself struggling at the imperial examinations. In his twenties, he is still a loner and bachelor who fantasises about meeting "one of the beauties like those in his books", believing that "(i)n books, you'll find a jade-like beauty". One day, Lang finds a paper cut-out of the mythological character "Weaving Girl", daughter of the Queen Mother of the West and the Jade Emperor. He is puzzled at its meaning, only to find it growing and turning into a real girl who introduces herself as Yan Ruyu (颜如玉, literally "face like jade"). An initially frightened Lang turns "ecstatically happy" but does not know how to perform intercourse with her; Yan is turned off and chastises him for being such a bookworm.