Traditional Chinese legend, retold in simple Mandarin
The Taoist of Mount Lao
崂山道士
The Taoist of Mount Lao (崂山道士, Láoshān dàoshi) is a story from the Chinese classic by Pu Songling, retold in simple Mandarin as a 3-chapter story with audio for learners at about HSK 1 (Beginner).
Retold from Pu Songling's Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio: a spoiled rich young man climbs a mountain to learn magic, and the old Taoist gives him a month of firewood, a paper moon and one very sore lesson.
Meet the voices
- Narrator · 旁白 — An old storyteller who tells this strange tale plainly, like a grandfather by the fire.
- Wang Qi · 王七 — A spoiled rich young man who wants magic without work and complains about everything.
- The Old Taoist · 老道士 — A calm old master on Mount Lao with a dry sense of humor.
- The Taoist's Old Friend · 老朋友 — A cheerful, round old man who loves wine and a good laugh.
- Chang'e · 嫦娥 — A tiny moon lady who steps out of the paper moon to dance.
- Wang's Wife · 太太 — Wang's quick-witted young wife who teases him and does not believe a word.
3 chapters, one journey
Chapter 1: I Want Magic
我要学法术
A spoiled rich young man climbs Mount Lao to learn magic, but the old Taoist hands him an axe. Then a strange light shines from the Taoist's room.
Free to read
Chapter 2: The Paper Moon
纸月亮
Wang Qi spies on his master and is pulled into a night of wonders: a paper moon, a wine pot that never empties, and a tiny lady who dances.
SayMei Stories
Chapter 3: Through the Wall
穿墙
Wang finds the nerve to run at the wall, and it works. Back home, he cannot resist showing off to his wife, and the wall has other plans.
SayMei Stories
Key words in The Taoist of Mount Lao
Behind the story
This story comes from Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio (聊斋志异), a collection of nearly five hundred ghost, fox-spirit and magic stories by the Qing-dynasty writer Pu Songling (蒲松龄). He worked on it for much of his life, and it was printed after his death. Pu Songling never passed the highest imperial exams, and many of his tales poke fun at people who want a quick reward.
The mountain in the tale is real: Mount Lao (崂山) stands on the coast of Shandong, near today's Qingdao, and has been famous for its Taoist temples for centuries. In Chinese the story is called 崂山道士. People still use it to tease anyone who wants to learn a skill without the hard work, or who shows off before they are ready.
Did you know?
- Chang'e (嫦娥) is the moon lady of Chinese myth. Families remember her at the Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋节), when they eat mooncakes under the full moon.
- Taoism is one of China's oldest traditions, and many Taoist temples were built on mountains, because mountains were thought to be close to the heavens and to the immortals.
- Pu Songling wrote his tales in an elegant classical style, but the stories themselves are full of jokes, and many of them are still retold today.