Seeing as Halloween recently passed, and we’re heading closer to winter, I thought that it would be a good time to share a scary story! Set in T’ai-yuan during ancient China, “Painted Skin” can send some major chills up your spine. It can be scary, so beware!
Painted Skin
Once upon a time, a man named Wang was walking outside when he spotted a beautiful maiden walking by herself. Quickening his pace, he caught up her and asked why no one was accompanying her.
“I have run away from home,” the maiden said. She was carrying a bundle. “I do not have a place to go.”
Feeling pity, Wang offered for her to stay at his house. The maiden happily agreed and followed him home. Wang showed her his library, the room where she would be able to stay in. Although the maiden urged him to not tell others of her presence, Wang eventually told his wife. Afraid that the maiden belonged to an influential family, the wife told Wang to send the girl away. Wang refused.
All was well for some time until Wang decided to travel to the market. There, he bumped into a Taoist monk, who looked at him in shock. “What have you met?” the monk asked worriedly.
“Met? I haven’t met anything,” Wang replied in confusion.
“You fool,” said the monk. “You have been bewitched.” Stung, Wang insisted that he hadn’t been. The monk walked away muttering, “The fool! Some people don’t know when death is at hand.” Startled, Wang thought of the maiden he’d just met, but reasoned that such a young and pretty girl couldn’t be a witch.
Nonetheless, he went to check on the maiden as soon as he arrived home, but found that the library doors were locked. Now suspicious, he climbed over the courtyard wall and quietly peered through a window. To his horror, he saw a hideous monster with jagged teeth and a green face painting what looked to be human skin spread on the bed. The monster tossed the brush aside and shook the skin vigorously. It then wrapped the skin around itself, and transformed into the maiden Wang had met!
Terrified, Wang ran off to find the Taoist monk and begged him for help. The monk gave him a Taoist brush to hang on his bedroom door. Wang did as he was instructed. Before long, he heard the footsteps of the girl walking down the hallway from inside his room. Upon seeing the brush, she faltered and left. Soon after though, she angrily returned and stared hard at the door.
“You don’t frighten me, monk. Do you think I’m going to give up what is already within my grasp?” She grabbed the brush and tore it into pieces, then rushed into the room. Wang’s wife screamed as she stormed to Wang, ripped out his heart, and left.
The next day, Wang’s wife and brother went looking for the Taoist priest. When he found out what had happened, the monk resolved to help them find and subdue the monster, upset that his leniency towards it had been taken advantage of. He tracked down the monster, in the form of an old woman in a nearby house, and managed to trap it in a corked bottle.
Although Wang’s death had been avenged, his wife was still upset. She begged the monk to revive him, but the monk replied that he was unable to do that. On the other hand, he could direct her to someone who could. He told her to ask a maniac that lived in town.
Determined, she and her brother-in-law located the maniac. She begged him for help, and he replied with mocking insults that she forced herself to not respond to. In the end, the maniac disappeared into a nearby temple without helping them. Humiliated, Wang’s wife returned home and cried upon seeing Wang’s body.
Suddenly, she looked up and realized that his wound seemed to be healing before her eyes. Binding it with silk, she sat back and hoped for a miracle.
The miracle came. In the morning, Wang woke up groggy and disoriented, feeling only a slight pain in his chest. Over time, even that pain would fade.
Background:
This story is one of many ancient Chinese tales collected and translated in the book Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio by Pu Songling! Feel free to check out the other spooky tales and a video that does a great job illustrating this tale! What did you think of this story? Was it scary?
Sources:
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qp6WPunx_94
Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio: https://archive.org/stream/strangestoriesfr01pusuuoft/strangestoriesfr01pusuuoft_djvu.txt http://www.illuminatedlantern.com/cinema/archives/short_stories_the_painted_skin.php
Thank you for teaching me about this! I find it cool how you included a story about the subject. It is very cool how China has a lot of scary stories themselves. I will definitely check the website out. I wonder if they have horror movies too!
Really cool article! As much as I hate horror movies, I do enjoy reading spooky stories! I thought it was really interesting how Wang’s kind actions of taking in the young maiden resulted in his death. I’m most stories, kind actions tend to result in rewards, so I found this story really intriguing. I wasn’t expecting the maiden to be a crazy witch! Also, I think it was really cool how the maniac brought Wang back to life. I wonder what they did with the witch once they found her. I also really liked the title, as it was mysterious and spooky. Great read!
Great article Joanna! It was interesting to read this ancient Chinese story as I never read one with a scary twist. Ironically, Wang’s eagerness to help ultimately failed, almost seeing his unfortunate and untimely death. I loved the story’s pleasant ending as I was not expecting a “miracle” to happen to Wang. Overall, the spooky plot and unanticipated ending made this story a great read!
Now that I think about it, I have actually never read a Chinese horror story. This story was very interesting. I was not at all expecting the revival of Wang. I expected him to be dead as to teach a lesson: that you shouldn’t trust strangers so easily and that looks are deceiving. But I guess not all stories have to teach a lesson and can simply be for entertainment purposes. Thanks for the article!
This is a really cool article! Although I don’t read many horror stories, I thought that this story was very intriguing. It was interesting that Wang’s ignorance resulted in his death. Also, it was interesting how the monk knew about the witch in his house. I liked the ending of the story. It was a happy ending that was caused by the resurrection of Wang. Thanks for the article!
this story was very interesting and definitely terrifying to think of. i think a long time ago, there was a movie based on this in china as well. i love the creativity of the story, from the monster putting the skin on to the resurrection of Wang. unlike modern horror movies and stories, this one is super unique and unpredictable in what happens next. i loved everything about the retelling of the story. great job!
This story was very interesting and gave me the chills! I sometimes read spooky stories and this one was pretty good in my opinion! This story was very intriguing and got me very hooked from the start. I am planning on checking this website out soon. The ending was pretty good as well and I would like to see more of this in the future!
This story was very interesting and gave me the chills!. I am planning on checking this website out soon. The ending was pretty good. I sometimes read spooky stories and this one was pretty good in my opinion! The story got me interested from the start
Great article Joanne! I’ve never actually like anything scary because I don’t see the point in scaring myself. Still when I read the story, I didn’t find it scary at all. I also wonder if the wizard had a change of heart and actually helped heal Wang’s wound. Anyways, I still liked the story and I’ll be checking out those links sooner or later! Thank you again!
This article was really interesting to read! Im interested in things with horror, so this really got my attention. It was interesting that Wang’s ignorance was why he had died. The ending was nice to see when Wang had been resurrected. The way the whole story ties together is quite fascinating! Thanks for posting this article.
Before I read this article, I never knew what this tale was. So, after I read it it was very interesting and I want to learn more about it. But, I’m glad that you included links to the videos in the description. Also, good information on the subject! Also I wonder why the monk could not revive Wang. I should check those links soon for more information. Keep up the good work!
Great article Joanne! I’ve never heard of this story before and I think it is very interesting. This story really spooked me and it’s the first time I’ve heard of a scary Chinese story.It was interesting that Wang’s ignorance caused him to die. The ending also showed situational irony!
I guess this story just shows that you shouldn’t bother women walking alone at night! this was super creepy though. I have so many questions. who was this maniac, and was it him who healed Wang’s wounds? This story really kept me guessing. The ending was so surprising!
This story was very interesting to read. I like how the guy just magically healed. This story scared me. I might go check this website out. Thanks for sharing this story!
This is a really cool article! I don’t read many horror stories. I thought that this story was good. It was interesting that the dude’s ignorance ended in his death. Also, it was interesting how the monk knew about the witch in his house like supernatural stuff. I liked the ending of the story. It was a nice ending to the story.
This was such an interesting article. It was interesting to read once the monk saw Wang he knew he had let in. In the beginning of this article, I thought it was going to turn out differently. Usually, when you do good you get good. He let a woman in his house so she was safe. He ended up getting killed.
This article was so engrossing to read! I was definitely not expecting the maiden to be a witch. What a plot twist! I loved that they were able to avenge Wang’s death. It’s amazing how Wang was revived at the end. This story was so interesting! I would love to read more Chinese scary stories. Amazing piece!
I have the chills now! Before this, I’ve never heard of this story before and I think it is very scary. As the story progressed, this story really kept me guessing, never letting me know what was going to happen. This article was so fascinating. Great job Joanne!
Wow i actually got chills from this story, i have never heard such a scary story in my life. Man is Chinese culture so intriguing!
Wow, another great article, Joanne! This is such an interesting topic and was posted at the perfect time too – on Halloween! This is such a cool story and was, to be honest, a little creepy, especially if you are not a fan of supernatural or horror stories! I also thought it was really funny that the monk tracked down the monster and then trapped it in a cork bottle. Thanks for sharing!
Amazing article! I loved the twist towards the end of this tale and I think it’s really interesting how Wang trusts the maiden but she turns out to be a monster. I think that this story shows how trust shouldn’t be given to others easily. Great job Joanne!
Great article! It’s interesting how Wang did a good deed by offering the maiden a place to stay but ended up getting punished for it. I also wasn’t expecting the maiden to actually be a monster. I’m curious as to how and why Wang was revived. Very cool story!
Wow i actually got chills from this story, i have never heard such a scary story in my life. Man is Chinese culture so intriguing!
Great article! It’s a very cool and interesting topic. This story was creepy but I did not expect the ending. I find it interesting that the maiden was a monster. This story kept me tensed the whole time, I did not know what to expect.
Wow what an amazing article!! The twist at the end was really shocking to me. I never expected the maiden to be a monster. I believe that the moral of the story is to not trust others so willingly. Great story and I hope to read more like these.
This story was interesting and also confusing. Usually, you don’t invite people you don’t know into your house no matter what circumstance they’re in. But I guess since this was in ancient China, it might’ve been normal. Although the moral is to “never trust strangers” I still don’t understand why Wang got revived at the end. I love stories like these that are Chinese folktale and I hope I read more in the future! Keep up the good work!
Great article! I have never heard of this story before, but it was very intriguing to read. It was interesting to see Wang’s kindness ultimately led him to his death. I was not expecting Wang to be revived in the end. Thanks for sharing!
This is a really cool article! Although I don’t read many horror stories, I thought that this story was very intriguing. Usually, you don’t invite people you don’t know into your house no matter what circumstance they’re in. But I guess since this was in ancient China, it might’ve been normal. This story was creepy but I did not expect the ending. I find it interesting that the maiden was a monster. Nice Job!
Nice article, I have personally never heard this story before, but I am glad I just learned. I don’t like horror stories just because if they do scare me I want to get sleep. Thankfully I haven’t brought a suspicious women into my house recently because that is very common (hear the sarcasm).