Tiger Son is based on one of the tales of Po Chung-ling, a Chinese writer who lived 300 years ago. His account of Tiger Son was based on a true incident. Po Chung-ling (1640 to 1715), the talented author of Strange Stories, was a resident of Shan Dong Province in China during the Qing Dynasty (1644 to 1911). The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty to have an emperor. It was followed by the Republic of China (1911 to 1949) and President Chiang Kai-shek. Following that was The People's Republic of China (Communist China), declared in 1949.

In his youth, Po Chung-ling passed the Provincial scholastic examination but failed to obtain an official appointment. After many years and several more attempts, he was finally appointed to a minor official position. Apparently, it was not what he wanted and shortly thereafter he gave up the position.

After his retirement from officialdom, he moved back to his village in Chi-Chuen County, within the Shan Dong Province. Living a simple but peaceful life on his home farm, he started to write short stories and philosophical essays tirelessly. He wrote a total of 431 short stories according to estimations in some ancient articles. Alas, only a handful of his stories survive the ravages of time.

Today, Po Chung-ling's Strange Stories and another book titled The Dream of the Red Chamber, written by another author, are the two most famous literary works passed down from Ancient China.

The above illustration is a representation of how Po Chung-ling might have looked.

Copyright ©2004 Teresa Ng. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

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