Pu Songling Memorial Hall 蒲松龄纪念馆

About Pu Songling Memorial Hall

Pu Songling died in 1715 and his descendants went on living in the house; its north building burnt down in 1938, leaving four ruined walls. In 1954 the site was restored, with a three-bay main room of 27 square metres, east and west wing rooms of 17 square metres each and an east gatehouse, put up in the manner of Qing-dynasty village dwellings of central Shandong. The scholar Lu Dahuang wrote the Liaozhai plaque that hangs in the north reception room, and the house opened to visitors in 1956. The original east gatehouse was kept and a south gatehouse added, its lintel carrying the five characters for 'Former Residence of Pu Songling' in Guo Moruo's handwriting.

The Shandong provincial government listed the residence as a provincial key cultural heritage protection unit in 1961 and relisted it in 1977, the protected area taking in the house, the attached exhibition rooms, Liuquan spring and the tomb garden. Zibo municipality approved the creation of the memorial museum in 1980. The permanent display, 'Illusion Comes from Life', covers Pu Songling's life and writings, and the collection, which began with fewer than a hundred items, now includes editions and translations of the Liaozhai Zhiyi. The museum comes under the Zibo Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism and holds national first-grade museum status.

What to look for

• The Liaozhai courtyard itself, the restored three-bay main room and wing rooms built in the local Qing village style
• The portrait of Pu Songling painted in 1713 by Zhu Xianglin, a silk hanging scroll 258 by 69 centimetres with two inscriptions in Pu's own hand
• The four surviving Pu Songling manuscripts held here, among them the Liaozhai Biaowen Cao and his copy of the Autumn Floods chapter of Zhuangzi
• The four seals Pu Songling used, cut from coarse ochre Shoushan stone and recovered from his tomb
• The south gatehouse whose lintel carries Guo Moruo's calligraphy for 'Former Residence of Pu Songling'

Location & getting there

Getting to Pu Songling Memorial Hall

Confirm the venue or campus, reservation channel and exhibition calendar. A museum name may cover more than one building.

• Search for 蒲松龄纪念馆 with 淄博市 and 淄川区.