Sweetladyj Entertainment

08/11/2026

08/11/2026

“Painted Skin” is one of the most famous tales from Pu Songling’s Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio.

Wang Sheng encounters a beautiful young woman and secretly brings her home, ignoring a Daoist priest who warns that she is not what she appears to be. Suspicious, Wang eventually peeks through a window and sees the truth: a hideous creature is painting a human skin on a bed. It then puts the skin on like clothing and transforms into the beautiful woman.

Wang seeks the priest’s help, but the creature discovers that its disguise has been exposed and brutally turns on him. His devoted wife, Chen, then goes through a humiliating ordeal to save him.

Like many of Pu Songling’s stories, the horror carries a moral point. Wang is deceived partly because he wants to be deceived—beauty overwhelms his judgment even after he is warned. The painted skin becomes a literal metaphor for attractive appearances concealing something dangerous underneath.