China tries to figure out whom a hit song is mocking

In the story “Luocha Haishi” a Chinese merchant gets lost at sea and ends up in a faraway land. The place is called Luocha, a word that refers to demons. But its people say they value beauty above all else, including in their leaders. So the merchant is shocked to find that the leaders have goblin-like faces. The higher their rank, the uglier they get. To win their favour, the merchant smears his own face with coal. The story, written by Pu Songling, a novelist during the Qing dynasty (1644–1912), is a metaphor about hypocrisy.