The Quelling of the Demons
The First Complete English Translation of a Classic Chinese Supernatural Novel
Demons rise. Sorcerers gather. Destiny turns against the mortal world.
The Quelling of the Demons (平妖傳 / Pingyao Zhuan) is one of the great supernatural novels of classical Chinese fiction - a strange, vivid, and magical tale of spirits, sorcery, rebellion, desire, fate, and the dangerous crossing of human ambition with the unseen world.
Attributed to Luo Guanzhong, the legendary name associated with Romance of the Three Kingdoms, this classic novel opens in a world where wealth cannot cure longing, prayers may summon more than blessings, and a mysterious painting becomes the doorway to forces beyond ordinary life.
About the Book
Set against the imaginative landscape of old China, Pingyao Zhuan blends historical atmosphere with supernatural invention. Wealthy households, temples, mysterious strangers, magical paintings, spirits, demons, monks, rebels, and wandering figures all move through a story where the visible world is never fully separate from the invisible one.
The novel begins with the desperate hopes of a prosperous man and his wife, whose longing for a child leads them into contact with a mysterious painting and strange spiritual forces. From this opening, the tale expands into a broader world of enchantment, danger, moral consequence, and demonic disruption.
More than a simple fantasy adventure, The Quelling of the Demons belongs to the older Chinese tradition in which the supernatural is also moral, social, comic, frightening, and symbolic. Spirits and demons do not merely terrify - they expose weakness, greed, longing, foolishness, and the instability of human fortune.
About This Edition
This edition presents The Quelling of the Demons (平妖傳) in a complete English translation by Valentin Saric, making this classic Chinese supernatural novel accessible to modern English-language readers.
Designed for readers of Chinese classics, mythic fantasy, supernatural literature, and translated world fiction, this edition preserves the atmosphere of the original while presenting the story in clear, readable English.
Themes & Legacy
Pingyao Zhuan stands at the crossroads of several powerful Chinese literary traditions:
the supernatural tale, the demon-quelling narrative, the moral adventure, the historical romance, and the strange comic world of spirits, monks, sorcerers, and fate.
Its world is not purely heroic and not purely frightening. It is unpredictable, ironic, magical, and often morally sharp. Human beings seek wealth, children, status, safety, power, and miracles - but the unseen world answers in ways they cannot control.
For readers interested in the wider landscape of Chinese fiction beyond Journey to the West, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and Investiture of the Gods, The Quelling of the Demons offers a fascinating window into another branch of the classical imagination: darker, stranger, more enchanted, and full of spiritual danger.
For readers who love
Classic Chinese novels
Supernatural fiction
Demon-quelling legends
Taoist and Buddhist magical worlds
Mythic fantasy
Ancient sorcery and spirit tales
Journey to the West
Investiture of the Gods
Strange tales, magical paintings, spirits, rebels, monks, and demons
At a glance
About the series
Rediscover the great epics, mysteries and chronicles of dynastic China: gods and generals, swindlers and scholars, courtesans, ghosts and emperors, in complete English translations.
