见怪不怪 — “Seeing strange things, not taking them as strange”

In the Song Dynasty, a literary figure penned an essay titled "Jiang Zija Zhu," which recorded a peculiar tale. There was an innkeeper named Jiang Qi.

One spring, he faintly heard crying from his backyard. Each time he checked, the sound vanished.

One night, five guests stayed at his inn. In the middle of the night, they all heard a mournful cry. Following the sound, they arrived at the pigsty, only to find an old sow weeping.

One guest exclaimed, "Beast, why are you acting so strangely?" The sow then spoke in human tongue, "I am Jiang Qi's own mother..." The guests were astonished.

The sow continued, "In my life, I made a living by raising and selling pigs, accumulating wealth this way..." Suddenly, the sow rolled over and sat up, "After my death, I was punished and reborn as a pig; now I am filled with endless regret..."

The next morning, the guests recounted the night's events to Jiang Qi and urged him to care for the old sow. To their surprise, Jiang Qi retorted angrily, "How can one believe the words of an animal! If you see strange things but aren't surprised by them, their strangeness will naturally subside!" (见怪不怪，其怪自败！)

Two days later, Jiang Qi suddenly fell ill. Suspecting the sow was behind it, he ordered it to be killed. A few days later, Jiang Qi himself died.