author
active 317-322 Bao Gan
A court historian of the Eastern Jin period, he is best known for gathering strange tales that helped shape the Chinese supernatural tradition. His writing blends history, folklore, and wonder in a way that still feels vivid centuries later.
6 Audiobooks
搜神記 volume 1-3
by active 317-322 Bao Gan
搜神記 volume 18-20
by active 317-322 Bao Gan
搜神記 volume 15-17
by active 317-322 Bao Gan
搜神記 volume 4-10
by active 317-322 Bao Gan
搜神記 volume 11-14
by active 317-322 Bao Gan
搜神記
by active 317-322 Bao Gan
About the author
Little is known about his personal life, but Gan Bao was a Chinese historian and writer who served at the Eastern Jin court in the early 4th century. He is remembered above all for Soushen Ji (In Search of the Supernatural), a collection of stories about spirits, omens, miracles, and uncanny events.
His work stands out because it treats the marvelous not just as entertainment, but as something tied to memory, belief, and the recording of human experience. That mix of storytelling and historical curiosity helped make his writing influential in later Chinese literature, especially traditions of strange tales and supernatural fiction.
Because he lived so long ago, surviving biographical details are limited. What remains clear is his lasting place in literary history: a writer who preserved folklore and mystery in a form that continued to inspire readers and storytellers for generations.