14/08/2026
๐ป โGhost Month Tales: When Strange Tales Meets Ophthalmologyโ
Weekend fun story - Dr Chua 15/8/20/6
The seventh lunar month is traditionally known as Ghost Month (้ฌผๆ). According to Chinese folklore, this is when the gates of the underworld open and wandering spirits are allowed to return to the world of the living.
For centuries, Chinese tales of ghosts, fox spirits and supernatural encounters were told not simply to frighten people, but often to teach a moral lesson. Perhaps the most famous collection is ใ่ๆๅฟๅผใ Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, written by Pu Songling ่ฒๆพ้พ more than 300 years ago and containing nearly 500 wonderfully strange stories.
As an ophthalmologist, one story particularly catches my eye โ ใ็ณไบบ่ฏญใ The Talking Pupils.
It is, after all, the story of a man who could not control his wandering eyesโฆ and eventually lost his sight. ๐
The story concerns Fang D**g ๆนๆ , a scholar from Changโan who had an unfortunate habit of staring at beautiful women.
One day, he saw a beautiful young bride passing by. Rather than minding his own business, he stared at her and even followed her entourage.
A very bad decision.
One of the brideโs maidservants noticed him and threw a handful of dust into his eyes. Afterwards, Fangโs eyes became painful and cloudy. His sight gradually deteriorated until eventually he became completely blind.
Only then did Fang regret his behaviour. He changed his ways and spent a year reciting Buddhist scripture and reflecting upon his life.
Then something very strange happenedโฆ
One night, he heard voices coming from inside his own eyes!
Apparently, each eye was home to a tiny little person โ a ็ณไบบ, or โpupil personโ. The two complained that the thick opacity blocking Fangโs eyes was preventing them from going outside to play.
So they decided to do something about it.
๐จ From inside the eye, they began chipping away at the thick opacity.
Eventually, Fangโs left eye opened to the light again. Not only could he see, but according to the story, his vision became even better than that of an ordinary person.
From then on, Fang abandoned his frivolous ways and became known in his community as a man of good character.
๐๏ธ So what would an ophthalmologist make of all this?
Needless to say, two tiny men living inside the eyes and using hammers to chip away a โcataractโ is not an explanation you will find in any modern ophthalmology textbook. ๐
If we insist on giving the story a medical interpretation, perhaps Fang developed severe inflammation in both eyes, causing significant corneal or intraocular opacity and profound visual loss. Over time, the inflammation in one eye may have settled and the opacity partially cleared, allowing useful vision to return.
Of course, that is simply an ophthalmologist, more than 300 years later, trying to diagnose a ghost story. ๐
Pu Songlingโs real message was probably much simpler: learn some self-restraint.
After allโฆ
If you cannot keep your eyes to yourself, sooner or later they may get you into trouble. ๐
๐ ๐ป ๐ ๐ป ๐ ๐ป ๐ ๐ป ๐ ๐ป ๐ ๐ป ๐ ๐ป ๐ ๐ป ๐ ๐ป ๐ ๐ป ๐ ๐ป ๐ ๐ป ๐ ๐ป ๐ ๐ป ๐ ๐ป
๐ป ใ้ฌผๆ่ๆ๏ผๅฝ้ฌผๆ
ไบ้ไธ็ผ็งใ
ๅจๆซ่ถฃ่ฐ-่ก้่ฝ็ผ็งๅป็15/8/2026
ๅๅไธๆๆฏไผ ็ป็้ฌผๆใๆฐ้ด็ธไผ ้ฌผ้จๅ
ณๅจ่ฟไธชๆไปฝๆๅผ๏ผๆธธ้ญๅพไปฅ้่ฟไบบ้ดใ
ๅ ็พๅนดๆฅ๏ผไธญๅฝไบบ็ฑ่ฎฒ้ฌผๆชใ็ไปๅๅ็ง็ฆปๅฅๆ
ไบ๏ผไธๅชๆฏไธบไบๅไบบ๏ผๅพๅพไนๅธฆ็ไธ็นไบบ็้็ใๅ
ถไธญๆ่ๅ็๏ผๅฝ็ถๅฐไธไบๆธ
ไปฃ่ฒๆพ้พๅ็ ใ่ๆๅฟๅผใ๏ผ้้ขๆถๅฝไบ่ฟ500็ฏๅฅ้ปๅผไบใ
่บซไธบ็ผ็งๅป็๏ผๆ็นๅซๅๆฌขๅ
ถไธญไธ็ฏโโใ็ณไบบ่ฏญใใ
ๅ ไธบ่ฟๆฏไธไธช็ทไบบ็ฎกไธๅฅฝ่ชๅทฑ็็ผ็๏ผๆๅ็็็ไธ่งไบ็ๆ
ไบใ๐
ๆ
ไบ้็้ฟๅฎ็งๆๆนๆ ๆไธชๅไน ๆฏ๏ผๅๆฌข็ฏ็ๆผไบฎๅฅณๅญ็ใ
ๆไธๅคฉ๏ผไป็่งไธไฝ็พไธฝ็ๆฐๅจ็ป่ฟ๏ผไธไฝไธ็ด็ฏ็ไบบๅฎถ๏ผ่ฟๅฐพ้ๅจๅใ
่ฟไธชๅณๅฎ้ๅธธไธๅฅฝใ
ๆฐๅจ่บซ่พน็ไธซ้ฌๅ็ฐๅ๏ผไธๆๅฐๅๆ่ฟไป็็ผ็ใๆญคๅๆนๆ ๅ็ผ็ผ็ใๆททๆต๏ผ่งๅ่ถๆฅ่ถๅทฎ๏ผๆๅ็ซ็ถๅฎๅ
จๅคฑๆใ
ๅคฑๆๅ็ๆนๆ ็ปไบๆๆน๏ผๆถๆๅฟๆง๏ผๅนถ่ฑไบไธๅนดๆถ้ด่ฏต็ปไฟฎๅฟใ
็ถๅ๏ผๅฅๆช็ไบๆ
ๅ็ไบโฆโฆ
ไธๅคฉๆไธ๏ผไป็ซ็ถๅฌ่ง่ชๅทฑ็็ผ็้้ขๆไบบ่ฎฒ่ฏ๏ผ
ๅๆฅไธคๅช็ผ็้ๅไฝ็ไธไธชๅฐๅฐ็โ็ณไบบโใไธคไธชๅฐไบบๆฑๆจ๏ผ็ผๅ้ฃๅฑๅๅ็โ็ฟณโๆกไฝไบๅป่ทฏ๏ผๅฎณๅพไปไปฌไธ่ฝๅบๅป็ฉใ
ไบๆฏไปไปฌๅณๅฎ่ชๅทฑๅจๆใ
๐จ ไป็ผ็้้ข๏ผไธ็นไธ็นๆ้ฃๅฑๅ็ฟณๅฟๅผ๏ผ
ๅๆฅๆนๆ ็ๅทฆ็ผ็ซ็ถ้่งๅ
ๆ๏ผ่ไธๆฎ่ฏด่งๅๆฏๆฎ้ไบบ่ฟๅฅฝใไปๆญคไปๆน่ฟ่ชๆฐ๏ผๆไธบไนก้็งฐ่ต็ๆๅพทไนไบบใ
๐๏ธ ้ฃไน๏ผ็ผ็งๅป็ๆไน็่ฟไธชๆ
ไบ๏ผ
ๅฝ็ถ๏ผ็ณๅญ้้ขไฝ็ไธคไธชๆฟ้คๅญ็ๅฐไบบ๏ผๅธฎไฝ ๆโ็ฝๅ
้โๅฟๆโโไปฅ็ฐไปฃ็ผ็งๆฅ่ฏด๏ผๅฎๅจๆ็นๅคฉๆนๅค่ฐญใ๐
ๅฆๆไธๅฎ่ฆไปๅปๅญฆ่งๅบฆ่งฃ้๏ผไน่ฎธๆนๆ ๅฝๆถๅ ไธบๅฐๅๆๅ
ถไปๅๅ ๅผ่ตทไบไธฅ้็ๅ็ผ็็ๅๆททๆต๏ผๅฏผ่ด่งๅๅคงๅน
ไธ้๏ผๅๆฅๅ
ถไธญไธๅช็ผ็็็็้ๆธๆถ้ใๆททๆตๅ่ฝป๏ผๆไปฅ่งๅๅฅ่ฟน่ฌๆขๅคใ
ๅฝ็ถ๏ผ่ฟๅชๆฏ300ๅคๅนดๅ๏ผไธไฝ็ผ็งๅป็ๅฏน้ฌผๆ
ไบ็โ่ไธ็
ๅผ่งฃ่ฏปโใ๐
่ฒๆพ้พ็ๆญฃๆณ่ฏด็๏ผๅคงๆฆ่ฟๆฏๅไบบ่ฆๆๅพ่ชๅพใ
ๆฏ็ซโโ
็ผ็่ฅๆปๆฏไนฑ็๏ผ่ฟๆฉๅฏ่ฝไผ็ป่ชๅทฑๆน้บป็ฆใ ๐
#้ฌผๆ #ๅๅไธๆ #่ๆๅฟๅผ #็ณไบบ่ฏญ #่ฒๆพ้พ #ไธญๅฝๆฐ้ดๆ
ไบ #้ฌผๆ
ไบ #็ผ็ๆ
ไบ #็ผ็ง #็ผ็ๅฅๅบท #็ผ็งๅป็ #่ก้่ฝ็ผ็งๅป็
