Abstract: PU Songling’s life was marked by numerous regrets, which he sought to compensate through visionary aspirations in his novels. Failing the imperial examinations was his greatest existential frustration. This setback compelled him to vicariously fulfill his aspirations through the imaginative realms of his writings. Having endured four decades of mundane office work as a government official, he portrayed romantic encounters between flower sprites, fox spirits and impoverished scholars in Liaozhai Zhiyi (Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio). The portray essentially reflects his own fantasized longing for love and success. In his novels, PU depicted flower sprites, fox spirits and scholars engaging in poetic exchanges to convey emotions, fulfilling a literati’s ideal of harmonious union. The tragic love story of ZHANG Hongjian and SHI Shunhua epitomizes the shattering of PU’s romantic ideals when confronted with reality. In ancient society, where heterosexual interactions were strictly regulated, Pu created sacrificial friendships between scholars and supernatural beings, such as life-and-death bonds with fox spirits. In his portrayal of cross-class solidarity, PU depicted profound connections between elites like carriage-riding nobles and commoners who usually wear conical hats. This actualizes the Confucian ideal of make a name for oneself without forgetting one’s humble origins.