Sima You's dream of Su Xiaoxiao / romantic ghost-encounter pictures
About the work
Imported from the workbook's Full reassessment sheet, revised 7 October 2026 (record ID 118). The assessment below is the workbook's comparative judgment under its stated criteria; source links and limits are retained.
Workbook assessment: Best supported
Date or witness: Identified pillow c.1200–1250; wider theatrical-image fashion late 12th–14th centuries
Region: Northern China, especially Pingyang and the Cizhou ceramic market
Workbook date-sort bounds: 1200 CE to 1250 CE; these bounds are not automatically invention or disappearance dates.
Description
A ghost romance moves between song, theatre, paintings and household ceramic pictures.
Evidence of adoption or transmission
Zhang identifies the same scene on an early-13th-century pillow and silk scroll; mass-produced Cizhou wares served village and town purchasers.
What remains uncertain
Cross-medium popular adoption is supported. Class was mixed, including prosperous farmers and merchants; the exact pace and origin of the fashion are unknown.
Candidate-index family 4: Sima You's dream of Su Xiaoxiao / romantic ghost-encounter pictures
The workbook groups records 118 here and rates the family Best supported. This is a research shortlist, not proof of an independently established meme family.
Dated evidence: Identified pillow c.1200–1250; wider theatrical-image fashion late 12th–14th centuries
Region: Northern China, especially Pingyang and the Cizhou ceramic market
Shortlist uncertainty: Cross-medium popular adoption is supported. Class was mixed, including prosperous farmers and merchants; the exact pace and origin of the fashion are unknown.
Workbook revision note: Added after correcting the humour-based selection
Sources
Bibliography note
Reference: Fan Jeremy Zhang, 'Dreams, Spirits, and Romantic Encounters in Jin and Yuan Theatrical Pictures,' in Patricia Buckley Ebrey and Shih-shan Susan Huang, eds., Visual and Material Cultures in Middle Period China (Brill,2017), pp.115–150; especially pp.115–117 for the story/pillow identification and pp.140–145 for ordinary consumers and adaptive popular images.