The Black Ghosts (short story)

"The Black Ghosts"
Short story by Pu Songling
19th-century illustration from Xiangzhu liaozhai zhiyi tuyong (Liaozhai Zhiyi with commentary and illustrations; 1886)
Original title黑鬼 (Heigui)
TranslatorSidney L. Sondergard
CountryChina
LanguageChinese
Genre(s)Chuanqi
Publication
Published inStrange Stories from a Chinese Studio
Publication typeAnthology
Publication datec. 1740
Published in English2014

"The Black Ghosts" (Chinese: 黑鬼; pinyin: Hēiguǐ) is a short story written by Chinese author Pu Songling collected in Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio (Liaozhai; 1740). It concerns a Chinese official who purchases a pair of "black ghosts" (a pejorative for African slaves), and details how they are exploited. The story was fully translated into English by Sidney L. Sondergard in 2014.