The Frog God

"The Frog God"
Xue Kunsheng burning the Frog God Temple, in a 19th-century illustration from Xiangzhu liaozhai zhiyi tuyong (Liaozhai with commentary and illustrations; 1886)
Author	Pu Songling
Original title	"青蛙神 (Qingwashen)"
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	"The Great Sage, Heaven's Equal (齐天大圣)"
Followed by	"Another Frog God Tale (又)"

"The Frog God" (Chinese: 青蛙神; pinyin: Qīng Wā Shén) is a short story by Pu Songling collected in Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio (1740). It revolves around a Chinese bachelor who encounters the locally revered frog god and his subsequent romance with its daughter. The titular frog deity makes an immediate reappearance in the following story, a semi-sequel simply titled "You" (Chinese: 又; literally: "Again") in Chinese or "Another Frog God Tale" in the 2014 English translation by Sidney L. Sondergard.

The pious people who reside in the Han river region in Hubei, China, live in fear of the almighty Frog God, who is worshipped at a frog-filled temple specially dedicated to him. The Frog God possesses divine powers and can communicate with others in their dreams. Xue Kunsheng (薛昆生), a young bachelor, is selected by the Frog God to be his daughter's future spouse; the Xue family disregards this and some time later arrange for Kunsheng to take the Jiang family's daughter as his wife. The Frog God is infuriated and the Jiang family, fearful of retribution, cancel the wedding plans.

After making an offering at the Frog God temple, Xue is summoned to meet the Frog God, who takes on the form of an old man. At that point he is introduced to his daughter, Shiniang (十娘), a frog spirit who similarly passes off as a beautiful girl who Xue instantly falls in love with. Xue's parents disapprove of the arrangement initially, but there is no conflict on the day of marriage. Xue's parents-in-law occasionally visit the household afterwards and their attire is indicative of what prosperity the Xue family is to reap – red for "happy events" and white for greater wealth. Many of Shiniang's frog relatives, in their original form, now frequent the Xue residence too.

The peace enjoyed in the family fizzles out one day, however, when Xue, in a bout of bad temper, kills a handful of frogs and criticises the Frog God for imposing a reign of terror on the Hubei people. Shiniang chastises her husband for being insensitive and ungrateful, then storms off. She returns after Xue atones for his mistakes but soon afterwards leaves again – this time after being chased away by Xue, who regards Shiniang as an unfilial wife. He protests this to the Frog God and threatens to commit arson to his temple. The Frog God, in return, offers to build a house for Xue and Shiniang reunites with him.