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1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems“The Tragic Tale of Ko-Ngai’s Sacrifice” is the title of an uploaded document containing Lafcadio Hearn’s story “The Soul of the Great Bell.” In Hearn’s literary tale, Ko-Ngai gives her life during the casting of a great bell, whose voice seems to preserve her name and grief. The sacrifice and the bell’s voice are story events, not verified history.
What is the story of Ko-Ngai and the great bell?
An emperor orders the official Kouan-Yu to cast a great bell. Earlier attempts fail, and the threatened consequences leave Kouan-Yu in fear of punishment. His daughter Ko-Ngai secretly seeks advice from an astrologer, who says a maiden’s flesh must be mixed with the metals for the casting to succeed.
At the third attempt, Ko-Ngai leaps into the molten metal. The bell is successfully cast, but its sound seems to carry her voice. It calls “Ko-Ngai” and ends in a sobbing “Hiai.” In the story’s closing explanation, a lost shoe becomes the detail told to children as the story of the bell is passed on.
Why does the bell cry out Ko-Ngai and “Hiai”?
Within Hearn’s narrative, the bell’s voice makes Ko-Ngai’s sacrifice audible: her name recalls the daughter who leapt into the casting, while “Hiai” gives the sound a note of mourning. The shoe provides a tangible trace of her disappearance. Together, these images turn the bell from an imperial object into a memorial shaped by loss.
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The story’s central tensions include filial devotion under an authoritarian threat, the cost of sacrifice, and grief transformed into a remembered voice. These readings arise from the characters and imagery in Hearn’s text; they do not establish a broader claim about Chinese culture or religion.
Who wrote “The Soul of the Great Bell,” and what is its source?
Lafcadio Hearn included “The Soul of the Great Bell” in his collection Some Chinese Ghosts. The introductory note attached to the story is dated Tokyo, January 20, 1904. Hearn says the tale is related in Pe-Hiao-Tou-Choue and names Yu-Pao-Tchen. That is Hearn’s attribution; the earlier source and the tale’s transmission have not been independently verified here.
The Project Gutenberg text provides the story in its digitized edition of Some Chinese Ghosts: read “The Soul of the Great Bell” in Project Gutenberg’s text. The Library of Congress catalog also lists the story among the contents of Hearn’s collection: Library of Congress catalog record.
Is Ko-Ngai’s sacrifice a historical event?
The evidence here establishes Ko-Ngai’s sacrifice, the bell’s voice, and the lost shoe as events and motifs in Hearn’s literary narrative—not as documented history about a real woman or a particular bell. The story says the bell should be heard for one hundred li; that is a claim within the tale, not a measured historical statistic.
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Why does the document title differ from Hearn’s title?
The phrase “The Tragic Tale of Ko-Ngai’s Sacrifice” is the heading on a user-uploaded Scribd document, which also labels it “Religion & Spirituality” and “Classics.” The text itself identifies Hearn’s story as “The Soul of the Great Bell.” Those labels describe the uploaded document, not Hearn’s canonical story title or the original collection. See the Scribd document listing.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Where can you read the story?
The complete text is available online in Project Gutenberg’s digitized Some Chinese Ghosts. A print edition of the collection is another way to read the story alongside Hearn’s other tales, but a purchase is not necessary to access this text.
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