The Fornicating Dog

"The Fornicating Dog" (simplified Chinese: 犬奸; traditional Chinese: 犬姦; pinyin: Quǎn Jiān; lit. 'Dog Sodomy') is a short story by Chinese author Pu Songling first published in Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio (1740). The story pertains to a Chinese merchant's spouse, a zoophile who develops sexual relations with the family's pet dog; Pu himself was critical of such phenomena as sexual fixation on animals. It was dropped from early editions, both Chinese and translated, of Liaozhai, notwithstanding Pu's original manuscript, and was translated into English by John Minford in 2006.

"The Fornicating Dog"
AuthorPu Songling
Original title"犬奸 (Quan jian)"
TranslatorJohn Minford
CountryChina
LanguageChinese
Genre(s)Zhiguai
Published inStrange Stories from a Chinese Studio
Publication typeAnthology
Publication datec. 1740
Published in English2006
Preceded by"The Wounded Python (斫蟒)"
Followed by"The God of Hail (雹神)"

Plot

An unnamed Qingzhou businessman often travels abroad for extended periods, leaving his wife alone at home with their pet canid, a white dog.[1] Without her partner by her side, his wife begins engaging in bestiality with the dog — this gradually becomes a routine. Upon the merchant's return, the dog violently kills him in bed. Word of this spreads, and an incensed Magistrate calls in both woman and dog for questioning. They are found guilty and made to perform their sex acts in public, after which both are sentenced to death by lingchi.[1][lower-alpha 1]

Observing that "this woman is certainly not the only creature with a human visage to have coupled with an animal",[1] Pu Songling writes in an "Appended Judgement", "(The wife) was a yaksha-demon in bed, a bitch on heat".[2] He also calls for the dog to be "torn limb from limb, and his soul dragged before Yama".[2]

Background

Originally titled "Quan jian" (犬奸), the story first appeared in Pu Songling's Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio (also known as Liaozhai). However, it was omitted from virtually all printed editions of Liaozhai until the twentieth-century, such as in Zhu Qikai (1989).[3] It was translated into English by John Minford in 2006, under the title "The Fornicating Dog".[3] Zeitlin (1997) cites it in a footnote, translating the title as "The Dog Who Committed Adultery".[4] The theme of the short story is bestiality, a common practice during Pu's time.[5] A Ming dynasty circular lists a few alleged cases of bestiality with animals like snakes, horses, sheep, donkeys, even tigers, and dogs.[6]

Reception

Frances Weightman, in her 2008 book The Quest for the Childlike in Seventeenth-century Chinese Fiction, calls the story, which she cites as "Adultery with a dog", one of the "most shocking tales in the collection".[7] In discussing the story, Song (2010) notes that although he finds copulation with animals "shameful", he recognises it as a platform for people to explore their sexuality.[6]

References

Notes
  1. An execution method tellingly known as "cutting into ten thousand pieces" practised in China till 1905, described as "the cruellest and most ignominious of all Chinese punishments".[2]

Citations
  1. Minford 2006, p. 66.
  2. Minford 2006, p. 510.
  3. Minford 2006, p. 509.
  4. Zeitlin 1997, p. 332.
  5. McMahon 1995, p. 315.
  6. Song 2010, p. 27.
  7. Weightman 2008, p. 100.

Bibliography
  • Zeitlin, Judith T. (1997). Historian of the Strange: Pu Songling and the Chinese Classical Tale. Stanford University Press. ISBN 9780804729680.
  • McMahon, Keith (1995). Misers, Shrews, and Polygamists: Sexuality and Male-female Relations in Eighteenth-century Chinese Fiction. Duke University Press. ISBN 9780822315667.
  • Minford, John (2006). Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio. Penguin Books. ISBN 9780140447408.
  • Weightman, Frances (2008). The Quest for the Childlike in Seventeenth-century Chinese Fiction: Fantasy, Naivety, and Folly. Edwin Meller Press. ISBN 9780773450752.
  • Song, Jiyuan (2010). 玩•聊斋 [Play•Liaozhai] (in Chinese). Esphere Media. ISBN 9787219057872.
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