Asian Hauntings
![Cacahuate. (2008). Map of East Asia for use on Wikivoyage, English version. [Image]. Wikipedia. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Map_of_East_Asia.png](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cd/Map_of_East_Asia.png/800px-Map_of_East_Asia.png)
With 49 countries and 60% of the world's population, Asia can easily overwhelm the most intrepid of scholars with its sheer number and variety of folklore, ghost stories, and tales of the supernatural.
This LibGuide will largely focus on East Asian materials, with some Mainland Southeast Asian provided.
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East: China, Hong Kong, Japan, Macau, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, Tibet, and Taiwan
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Mainland Southeast: Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Peninsular Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam
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Relevant Bowman Library subject headings: Japan Folklore, China Fairy Tales
The works immediately below are those that are specifically featured by Professor Austin's ENG 450 class. Book cover images link to the work's respective eBook upon sign in with a valid Menlo College account.
See below for further examples of relevant Bowman Library material not directly utilized by the class.
China
The Cloak of Dreams by
A man is changed into a flea and must bring his future parents together in order to become human again. A woman convinces a river god to cure her sick son, but the remedy has mixed consequences. A young man must choose whether to be close to his wife's soul or body. And two deaf mutes transcend their physical existence in the garden of dreams. Strange and fantastical, these fairy tales of Béla Balázs (1884-1949), Hungarian writer, film critic, and famous librettist of Bluebeard's Castle, reflect his profound interest in friendship, alienation, and Taoist philosophy. Translated and introduced by Jack Zipes, one of the world's leading authorities on fairy tales, The Cloak of Dreams brings together sixteen of Balázs's unique and haunting stories. Written in 1921, these fairy tales were originally published with twenty images drawn in the Chinese style by painter Mariette Lydis, and this new edition includes a selection of Lydis's brilliant illustrations. Together, the tales and pictures accentuate the motifs and themes that run throughout Balázs's work: wandering protagonists, mysterious woods and mountains, solitude, and magical transformation. His fairy tales express our deepest desires and the hope that, even in the midst of tragedy, we can transcend our difficulties and forge our own destinies. Unusual, wondrous fairy tales that examine the world's cruelties and twists of fate, The Cloak of Dreams will entertain, startle, and intrigue.
ISBN: 9781400836031Publication Date: 2010-08-23
Many Faces of Mulian: The Precious Scrolls of Late Imperial China by ISBN: 9780295742533Publication Date: 2017
Emperor Wu Zhao and Her Pantheon of Devis, Divinities, and Dynastic Mothers by ISBN: 9780231539180Publication Date: 2015-06-16
Japan
Pandemonium and Parade by
Water sprites, mountain goblins, shape-shifting animals, and the monsters known as yôkai have long haunted the Japanese cultural landscape. This history of the strange and mysterious in Japan seeks out these creatures in folklore, encyclopedias, literature, art, science, games, manga, magazines, and movies, exploring their meanings in the Japanese cultural imagination and offering an abundance of valuable and, until now, understudied material. Michael Dylan Foster tracks yôkai over three centuries, from their appearance in seventeenth-century natural histories to their starring role in twentieth-century popular media. Focusing on the intertwining of belief and commodification, fear and pleasure, horror and humor, he illuminates different conceptions of the "natural" and the "ordinary" and sheds light on broader social and historical paradigms--and ultimately on the construction of Japan as a nation.
ISBN: 9780520942677Publication Date: 2008-01-01
Korea
Taiwan
Vietnam
Tibet
The Three Boys and Other Buddhist Folktales from Tibet by
A virtuous young woman journeys to the Land of the Dead to retrieve the still-beating heart of a king; a wily corpse-monster tricks his young captor into setting him free; a king falls under a curse that turns him into a cannibal; a shepherd who understands the speech of animals saves a princess from certain death. These are just a few of the wondrous tales that await readers of this collection of Tibetan Buddhist folktales. Fifteen stories are told for modern readers in a vivid, accessible style that reflects a centuries-old tradition of storytelling in the monasteries and marketplaces of Tibet. As a child growing up in a Buddhist monastery, Yeshi Dorjee would often coax the elderly lamas into telling him folktales. By turns thrilling, mysterious, clever, and often hilariously funny, the stories he narrates here also teach important lessons about mindfulness, compassion, and other key Buddhist principles. They will delight readers of all ages, scholars and students, Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike.
ISBN: 9781435666368Publication Date: 2007-01-01
Thailand
Cambodia
Supplemental Resources
