Pu Songling Exhibition Now on View at National Museum of China

On May 28, 2026, an exhibition exploring the life, legacy, and literary imagination of Pu Songling, titled Imagination Without Borders: The Chinese Writer Pu Songling and His Strange Tales from Liaozhai, opened to the public at the National Museum of China (NMC).

The opening ceremony included speeches by Wang Meng, writer and former Minister of Culture, Yang Fan, NMC Deputy Director, Sun Bo, Deputy Director of the Shandong Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, and Zhang Yanting, Chairman of the CPPCC Zibo Municipal Committee.

Also in attendance were Xing Jun, Deputy Director of the Liaoning Provincial Library, Guo Qing, Vice Mayor of Zibo, Ma Ruifang, Professor at Shandong University, Yu Tianchi, Professor at Beijing Normal University, Rania Huntington, Professor at University of Wisconsin–Madison as well as representatives from the Shandong Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, the Zibo Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism, and the Pu Songling Memorial Hall.

The opening featured art performance of selected classic excerpts from the Liaozhai Folk Ballads by Pu Zhangjun, a nationally recognized representative bearer of this intangible cultural heritage item, together with his disciple Zhang Haiying. Chen Chengjun, NMC Executive Deputy Director, presided over the ceremony.

The exhibition brings together more than 240 objects, including the Qing imperial court edition of Illustrated Strange Tales from Liaozhai, portraits of Pu, and a half volume of the handwritten and author-revised manuscript of Strange Tales from Liaozhai. Through four sections—"Life in All Things," "Feeling Beyond Boundaries," "Writing the Myriad Forms," and "Reaching Far and Wide"—the exhibition explores the tales themselves, the life of Pu, later creative adaptations, and major scholarly achievements inspired by his work. Through an immersive bamboo-grove setting, visitors are invited into a literary realm where fantasy and reality intertwine, revealing the values of loyalty, righteousness and human affection that underpin the stories, as well as the author's profound concern for society and the human condition.

For more than three centuries since its publication, Strange Tales from Liaozhai has captivated generations of readers with its extraordinary imagination and profound humanistic spirit, serving as a wellspring of inspiration across time. The exhibition enables visitors to discover genuine human feelings amidst illusions and spirits, appreciate the author's literary brilliance, and embrace the enduring artistic power of this masterpiece.

The exhibition is on view in Gallery N1.

Installation Video