What does 聊斋志异 mean and what is its cultural significance? 聊斋志异 is the title of a famous collection of short stories dealing with the supernatural. What actually do the words the title is made of verbatim mean?  What is the cultural significance of those words and word-combinations so one could understand why the author (pu songling) used to choose them for the title?
According to Revised Chinese Dictionary of the Ministry of Education, ROC:


  聊齋為蒲松齡的書房，志異是說記錄一些怪異的事情，借鬼狐之事，抒發對現實政治、社會的不滿。


So 聊齋 (聊斋) is simply the name of Pu Songling's studio. 聊 could possibly mean "fun" or alternatively "to depend" or "to rely on". 齋 means a study (as in a room in which one pursues literary endeavours). 志異 (志异) simply means "records of strange happenings".