The Strange Tales From A Chinese Studio Playing Cards draw inspiration from the eerie and enchanting tales of Liaozhai Zhiyi (聊齋誌異), a 18th-century collection of supernatural stories where the boundaries between the human world and the spirit realm blur. Compiled into 491 chapters by Qing Dynasty scholar Pu Songling (蒲松齡), these stories weave together ghostly romances, fox spirits (huli jing 狐狸精), and moral fables, reflecting the tensions between Confucian ideals and the mystical undercurrents of Chinese folklore.

The Standard Edition features the Scorched Tuck Box; the front side of the box has a big shaped hole which is patched with a colored paper from the interior of the box. Inspired by the revered tradition of Chinese thread-bound books, this tuck box is a modern homage to ancient printing and literary craft. Its design echoes the delicate paper and woven binding that protected some of history’s greatest stories, including the manuscripts of Pu Songling’s own era. The cards are all standard in every way.

The Back design features a full-bleed borderless artwork which can animates when the cards are riffled, as well as making a great visual card fanning. The Number Cards features connecting puzzle that features the characters of the Strange Tales. The Courts also feature the characters, yet within intricate framework and as two-way illustration. The Jokers are a diptych illustration of the wheel of characters.

(HUPO 琥珀) is the archaic descriptions of the colors of Gold and Amber, hence the color scheme of Red and Gold.