And the syllables of her name reach to those who listen, with the breath of the leaves with the trembling of the long-fingered branches with the flickering of lights and shadows, and the breath -sweet like the presence of a woman- the plethora of wildflowers -Xue Tao." Dragons, artists, aristocrats, deities. "You will ask me who she was-beautiful Xue Tao.For thousands of years and even longer, the trees have been whispering over her stony bed. In preparing the legends I sought especially for weird beauty and I could not forget this striking observation in Sir Walter Scott's "Essay on Imitations of the Ancient Ballad" "The supernatural, though appealing to certain powerful emotions very widely and deeply sown amongst the human race, is, nevertheless, a spring which is peculiarly apt to lose its elasticity by being too much pressed upon." - Lafcadio Hearn. I think that my best apology for the insignificant size of this volume is the very character of the material composing it.
In preparing the legends I sought especially for weird beauty and I could no Contents: Contents: The Soul of the Great Bell The Story of Ming-Y The Legend of Tchi-Niu The Return of Yen-Tchin-King The Tradition of the Tea Plant The Tale of the Porcelain God.