The six stories in this captivating collection, published in 1887, are retellings of classical Chinese myths and legends. In his preface, Hearn writes that he "sought especially for 'weird beauty' in these phantom tales." Among those included are "The Soul of the Great Bell," the story of a young girl's sacrifice for the creation of the Emperor's sublime bell; "The Story of Ming-Y," a phantom tale about a young man's love for a woman long-dead, as well as "The Tradition of the Tea-Plant," and The Tale of the Porcelain-God."