Uncanny Monkeys in Ancient Chinese Literature: An Analysis of Narratives from the Taiping Guangji 太平广记

The uncanny in pre-modern Chinese literature often emerges through encounters with supernatural beings that challenge human perception and disrupt the boundaries between the familiar and the unknown. The zhiguai 志怪 (“accounts of the strange”) and chuanqi 傳奇 (“tales of the marvellous”) genres frequently depict eerie, otherworldly creatures whose unsettling presence evokes fear and ambiguity. This study examines selected narratives from the Chushou 畜獸 (“Domestic and Wild Animals”) section of the Song dynasty (960–1279) anthology Taiping Guangji 太平廣記 (Extensive Records of the Taiping Era), where supernatural primates appear as uncanny figures that blur the distinction between human and animal, self and other. How are these creatures described? Do they follow common behavioural patterns, or do they act in unpredictable ways? What is their relationship with humans, and how do they exert control over them? Through translation and close textual analysis, this paper explores how these supernatural primates embody the tension between the natural and the unnatural, operating as eerie disruptors of social and cosmic order. By framing these narratives within the concept of the uncanny—where the familiar becomes unfamiliar—this study sheds light on the construction of fear, ambiguity, and the monstrous in pre-modern Chinese literature. It contributes to broader discussions on how ancient narratives encode anxieties about identity, transformation, and the limits of human dominion over the unknown.