A near-death experience in Pu Songling's Strange stories from Liaozhai's studio.
Journal of Near-Death Studies 2006 DOI: 10.17514/jnds-2006-25-2-p113-120 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Near-death experience |
| Keywords | Education |
| Key points | Argues that a tale from Pu Songling's collection contains key elements of a near-death experience, including a life review conceptualized as emotionally tagged souvenirs, and that other elements reflect culturally dependent Oriental thought. |
Abstract
Abstract: I present in this paper a tale from Pu Songling's "Strange Stories from Liaozhai's Studio." This story seems to contain the following key elements of a near-death experience: the life review, travel through a spiritual world, and a pilgrimage to obtain a healthy physical body "to return to life." I discuss the content of the life review in terms of emotionally tagged souvenirs. Other contents of the story are clearly culturally dependent and I discuss them within the framework of Oriental thought.