The Painted Skin

"The Painted Skin"
19th-century illustration from Xiangzhu liaozhai zhiyi tuyong (Liaozhai Zhiyi with commentary and illustrations; 1886)
Author	Pu Songling
Original title	"畫皮 (Huapi)"
Translator	Herbert Giles (1880)
Country	China
Language	Chinese
Genre(s)	Zhiguai Chuanqi Short story
Published in	Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio
Media type	Print (Book)
Publication date	1740
Preceded by	"Qingfeng (青鳳)"
Followed by	"Jia'er (賈兒)"

"The Painted Skin" (Chinese: 畫皮; pinyin: Huàpí) is a short story by the Chinese writer Pu Songling collected in Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio in 1740. Literary critics have recognised it as one of the best and best-known entries in Strange Tales; in particular, its textual detail and in-depth characterisation are lauded. "The Painted Skin" has also received numerous adaptations in popular media, especially in film. The story's original title has become a common phrase in Chinese vocabulary, "a synonym for duplicity that wears an outwardly human face but is inwardly demonic".

Set in Shandong, the story revolves around a Chinese scholar, Wang, who becomes infatuated by a demon in disguise as a beautiful young maiden. They develop a romantic relationship which goes awry after Wang discovers her true identity. Thereafter, a Taoist priest's skills are put to the task of exorcising the demon; a fight between good and evil ensues.

An academician from Taiyuan, referred to only by his surname Wang, chances upon a homeless girl who claims to be an ill-treated concubine. Noting her beauty, as well as feeling pity for her, Wang agrees to let her stay at his residence temporarily. They make love at his study, unbeknownst to anybody else. A few days afterwards, Wang's spouse, Chen, discovers their affair and is unhappy with the arrangement, but fails at changing his mind. At the marketplace, a Taoist priest informs Wang that he has been possessed by an evil spirit. Wang dismisses this with incredulity. He returns home but finds the gates locked. Nevertheless, he manages to find a way into the courtyard and notices that the front door is bolted too. Peeking through the window, Wang makes a startling discovery − the girl is actually a "green-faced monster, a ghoul with great jagged teeth like a saw." All this while, she had been wearing a mask made of human skin, on which her attractive features were painted.

In petrification, he returns to the Taoist priest and begs him for help. The priest agrees but concurrently wishes to be lenient on a likewise sentient being, thus only offers Wang a charm meant to ward off demons. Wang goes back home and hangs the charm outside his bedroom, but it has no effect on the demon. Instead, she turns enraged and rips out Wang's heart. Wang's spouse reports this to the priest who, incited to fury, launches a full-scale offensive on the demon. They find that it has transformed into an elderly helper working at Wang's brother's place. In the climax, the demon reverts to its original form, and the priest beheads it with his wooden sword. The demon's remains dissipate into smoke which the priest stores in his calabash. He also rolls up the demon's "painted skin" and stores it away.