China folklore
China folk oral narrative literature. It consists of stories related to historical events, historical figures and local scenery.
characteristics in China folklore, the protagonist of the story is generally well-known with a surname, some of whom are well-known figures in history, and the events have a specific time and place, and some also involve major events of the country and the nation; However, the results of people's activities or events are often associated with some historical and geographical phenomena and social customs, which often gives people the illusion that it is true history. But there are essential differences between folklore and history in a strict sense. Legend is neither a biography of real people nor a record of historical events (which may contain some factors of real history), but an artistic creation of the people. Many legends rely on a historical figure, event, natural object or man-made object through artistic generalization to achieve the organic integration of historical factors, historical methods and literary creation, making it an artistic history or a historical art.
Folklore with theme involves national events, class struggle, production struggle, cultural creation, contributions of outstanding figures, and family, marriage and folk customs. Its content can be roughly divided into three categories: ① Legend of characters. This kind of legend takes people as the center, narrates their deeds and experiences, and also expresses people's evaluation and wishes. For example, the narration of Qu Yuan's Li Sao, which was sung loudly, moved all Shan Gui to sob and cry. Legendary figures also include emperors and princes, leaders of peasants, celebrities in cultural creation, revolutionary leaders and heroes. In addition, there are legends of people whose names are not found in historical records, such as the legend of Liang Zhu, the legend of Meng Jiangnv, the legend of Yong Dong who sold herself to bury her father, and the legend of the singer Liu Sanjie. (2) historical legends. This kind of legend mainly narrates historical events. For example, the legend of Liang Shanbo, the legend of Yang Jiajiang, the legend of the Boxer Rebellion, the legend of Zhang Xiumei, the legend of the Red Army's Long March, and the legend of the Eighth Route Army's resistance to Japan. The Tibetan legend "The Proposer of the Tibetan King" tells the story of the marriage between Han and Tibetan in the Tang Dynasty, and Princess Wencheng married the Tibetan king Songzan Gambu. ③ Legends of local scenery. Such legends describe the origin and naming of local mountains and rivers, flowers, birds, insects and fish, customs and local specialties. The narrative objects are often given meaningful or interesting explanations, which show people's feelings of loving the countryside and their ideals and beliefs about life. Legends about the Baoyu Pagoda, the Early Balcony and Laifeng Pavilion in the West Lake, the Sun Moon Lake of the Gaoshan people in Taiwan Province, the Ma Touqin of the Mongolian people and the Water-splashing Festival of the Dai people all explain their origins in legends. Some supernatural legends, such as the legend of the Eight Immortals and the legend of the Kitchen God, are the products of people's beliefs.
the spread of folklore is often regional. Some far-reaching folktales are often combined with local customs and refined in the process of spreading. Folklores often have legendary characteristics. The story plot is not only directly related to human reality, but also conforms to the internal logic of life. At the same time, the development of the story is caused by accidental, coincidental, exaggerated and transcendental plots, so that the real scene and strange things can be organically unified, which is both full of life flavor and bizarre and touching. The creation characteristics of folklore.
There are 12 kinds of folklores that spread widely and have far-reaching influence in China:
① The legend of Dayu. Ancient folklore. Yu is the legendary ancestor of Xia Dynasty. His main achievement is water control. According to ancient records, according to legend, during the reign of Emperor Yao, there was a flood, and the Emperor ordered Gun to take care of it. Gun failed to control water and was killed in the feather suburb. His son Yu inherited his father's business and finally calmed down the flood after 13 years. The post-Shun Zen was located in Yu, from which the Xia Dynasty was established. In addition, there are stories in the legend, such as his work by * * *, killing Xiang Xiu, and Ying Long helping him to control water. The legend of Yu originally contained many mythological factors. In the long-term circulation, the myths and legends about him were "historical", and there were more plots of political activities, such as he sent people to measure the earth, convened a meeting of his subjects to discuss, rewarded meritorious deeds and punished crimes, and sought talents and abilities, which created a prominent genealogy for him. This makes Yu, a legendary figure, gradually break away from his true colors and become an imperial model in line with Confucian concepts. However, among the people, Dayu is still mainly a water control hero with miraculous colors.
The legend about Yu's water control is often associated with local scenery. For example, it is said that he carried 99 stones from Mount Tai to build a weir to keep water, and these stones later became nine Changbai Mountains in Shandong. There is also a legend in Shanxi that Dayu managed Jinyang Lake. This kind of legend focuses on his great spirit of taking risks and benefiting the people, so as to educate future generations.
② the legend of Yugong moving mountains. Ancient folklore. It is said that in ancient times, a Yugong in Beishan, who was nearly ninety years old, was determined to level the two mountains, Taihang Mountain and Wangwu Mountain, because they blocked access. Family members and neighbors came to help. They chop mountains and transport earth all day long, traveling back and forth between Bohai Sea and Taihang Mountain all year round. Hequ Zhisou laughed at Yugong for being "stupid". The foolish old man said to Zhicuo, "Although I die, I have a son. Children give birth to grandchildren, and grandchildren give birth to children; The son has a son, and the son has a grandson; Children and grandchildren are infinite; If the mountains don't increase, why bother and be uneven? " Their spirit of digging mountains every day touched God, and God sent Kwai and Moth Er Shen to carry the mountains away. This legend contains the idea that "where there is a will, there is a way" and that man can conquer nature. Ancient and modern writers, artists and politicians have all used this legend. Mao Zedong used the story of Yu Gong moving mountains to inspire and educate people to carry forward the spirit of hard struggle.
③ the legend of luban. The folklore of ancient craftsmen. Lu Ban was a craftsman of the State of Lu at the end of the Spring and Autumn Period. He was superb in skill and a native of Lu, so people later called him "Lu Ban". It is recorded in ancient books, some notes and local records. During the Warring States period, what was originally a loss for historical figures gradually became a legendary figure among the people.
There are roughly two kinds of legends about Lu Ban. One is to tell stories about his inventions. The other is the story about his construction of famous bridges, temples, temples and other buildings around the country. Artisans of all ages hope to improve their ability to conquer nature and improve their craft, and imagine Lu Ban as a technician with magical skills and infinite wisdom. In the old days, carpenters, bricklayers and masons admired Lu Ban, which was also manifested in their folk activities, in which he was regarded as the "ancestor" to build a temple to worship him. The legend of Luban played a great role in educating and uniting craftsmen.
④ the legend of Meng jiangnu. Ancient folklore. This legend has been circulating for more than 2 years, and after several evolutions, the plot is constantly enriched and the theme is increasingly distinct. The prototype of Meng Jiangnu is the wife of Qi and Liang in the Spring and Autumn Period, and she is a courteous woman image in Zuoshi Biography in the Spring and Autumn Period. The Great Wall was built repeatedly in the Northern Qi Dynasty, and the corvee was heavy, and many people levied husbands and resented women. The people associated the reality with the hard labor of building the Great Wall in Qin Dynasty, which turned the legend into a new form of anti-building corvee theme. Since then, Qi Liang has changed from a war general who died for Qi to a civilian worker who was killed, and Qi Liang's wife has become a legendary figure who sought her husband's bones and cried over the Great Wall.
Stories after the Ming and Qing Dynasties said that Meng Jiangnv was born of a gourd. Because the gourd was implicated in the two Meng Jiangnv families who lived next door, she was called Meng Jiangnv. After Meng Jiangnu cried down the Great Wall, Qin Shihuang saw her beauty and wanted to be a princess, and accepted three conditions put forward by Meng Jiangnu, namely, wearing a hemp Dai Xiao and holding a mourning staff to mourn for Qi Liang. Finally, Meng Jiangnv died by throwing herself into the sea.
The story of Meng Jiangnu in modern times spread almost all over the country, with far-reaching influence, and many different languages appeared in various places. Due to the different times, the theme and ideological tendency of the works are also more complicated.
In p>1928, A Collection of Studies on Meng Jiangnv's Stories edited by Gu Jiegang was published. This anthology is a special collection to study the legend of Meng Jiangnu. The questions and conclusions raised by the research on the historical evolution of this legend still have considerable scientific value so far. In terms of research methods, it links historical documents with folk oral legends and makes a comparison between history and geography, which has had a great influence on China's later folklore and myth research.
⑤ The Legend of Cowherd and Weaver Girl. Cowherd and Vega are derived from the star names of Cowherd and Vega. During the Han and Wei Dynasties, there was this story among the people. In the story, the cowherd was the human cowherd and the weaver girl was the daughter of the Emperor of Heaven. The Weaver Girl married the Cowherd and gave birth to a boy and a girl. Finally, the Queen Mother took her back and drew a Tianhe between them. They could only meet on the Qixi Festival every year by the Queqiao Bridge.
The legend of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl has been a household name for thousands of years. Its source can be seen from the Book of Songs Xiaoya Dadong. There are also songs about it in Nineteen Ancient Poems, The Altair. This story also gives birth to many variations in folk oral stories. Some of them are combined with two brothers' stories, and the cowherd is said to be the younger brother abused by his brother and sister-in-law. Some of them are combined with the story of feather clothes, and the weaver girl is said to be a goddess who came down to take a shower. The old cow told the cowherd to hide the clothes of the weaver girl and get married. Finally, the weaver girl found clothes and flew back to the sky. The cowherd put on old cowhide and went to heaven to meet the weaver girl. The legend of Cowherd and Weaver Girl is an artistic reflection of the economic life of small farmers in China feudal society. It takes the feudal family life as the background, and reflects the family relationship under the feudal patriarchal clan system and the marriage tragedy caused by it through the fantasy that the cowherd and the weaver girl are combined and separated and can only meet once in the sky on Tanabata. Later generations of scholars used this legendary theme to write operas such as Tianhe Pei, which further expanded its influence. Together with the legend of Meng Jiangnu, the legend of White Snake and the legend of Liang Zhu, it is called the four famous legends in China.
⑥ white snake legend. This paper mainly describes the love and marriage tragedy between White Snake and young Xu Xian. Bai Niangzi and her maid Xiaoqing Qingming were caught in the rain in West Lake, Hangzhou, and Xu Xian borrowed an umbrella. They met and got married. Fahai monk of Jinshan Temple met Xu Xian, saying that he had an evil look on his face and told him to let Bai Niangzi drink realgar wine during the Dragon Boat Festival. The White Snake appeared, scaring Xu Xian to death. Bai Niangzi and Xiaoqing stole Xiancao to save Xu Xian, but Fahai separated the husband and wife. Bai Niangzi went to Suofu, and after the water flooded Jinshan, she met Xu Xian with a broken bridge and made a good reunion. Fahai was destroyed again, and the town of Bai Niangzi was under the Leifeng Tower.
The legend of the white snake originated from the rumor that the python was found among the people. It was also influenced by the legendary White Snake in Tang Dynasty. It also absorbed some legends of the original monk-dragon fighting in Jinshan. The Three Pagodas of the West Lake further reflects the outline of the white snake story, and the story is added with the color that shemale can't live in * * *. There is a popular novel "Bai Niangzi Yongzhen Leifeng Pagoda" in the "Warning to the World" compiled by Feng Menglong at the end of the Ming Dynasty, and the trend is the same. The Legend of Leifeng Pagoda in the early years of Qing Dynasty weakened the evil spirit of White Snake and highlighted her brave character of resolutely pursuing free love. The story has certain anti-feudal significance. The Legend of the Righteous Demon and The White Snake Treasure Roll also show the same tendency, in which Fahai became the representative of evil forces. After the legend of the white snake entered the opera, the plot became richer and the characters' personalities became fuller. The legend of White Snake has developed from the initial embryonic form to the basic stereotype, which is influenced by folk literature itself and popular literature such as rap, novels, baojuan and operas.
⑦ the legend of butterfly lovers. China's famous folklore. The story shows the marriage tragedy of a young man and a young woman who failed to combine with hatred under the feudal system. It was first seen in Ten Daoism and Four Fanzhi written by Liang Zaiyan in the early Tang Dynasty. In the late Tang Dynasty, Zhang Du's Xuan Shi Zhi recorded the whole story, which was named Yi Fu Tomb. Its basic plot is: Yingtai, Shangyu Zhu's daughter, pretending to be a man's clothing study tour, and studying with Liang Shanbo in Huiji. I wish I could go home first. Two years later, when Shan Bo visited me, I knew that she was a woman and told her parents to apply for a job. I wish I had been named Ma Ziyi. After Shan Bo, Yin Ling died of illness and was buried in the west of the city. I wish Sima, the boat crosses the tomb, and the wind and waves can't enter. Ask if there is a tomb of Shanbo. I wish I had boarded the ship, and the ground suddenly cracked and sank, so I wish I could be buried together. Xie An, the prime minister of Jin Dynasty, wrote about his tomb, saying: the righteous woman's tomb. Liang Zhu's story is also found in several legends of women disguised as men listed in the collection of short Pinghua compiled by Feng Menglong in the Ming Dynasty, Ancient and Modern Novels Li Xiu Qing Yi Jie Huang Zhen Nv. Legends are not only told in scripts, but also compiled into operas. After the re-creation of scripts and operas, the anti-feudal significance was increased. The legend of Liang Zhu is based on real life and legendary, and the tragic ending and idealized ending achieve harmonious unity. It exposes the evils of feudal arranged marriage and praises pure and free love. It is an important development that the story of Liang Zhu begins with a woman disguised as a man and ends with an anti-feudal theme. The legendary anti-feudal thought is getting stronger and stronger, so it is more loved by the people.
⑧ The legend of Third Sister Liu. The folklore of Zhuang nationality in China. According to legend, there was a third-ranked woman named Liu Sanjie in Zhongjian Village, Xiajian River, Yishan District, western Guangxi, who was reborn in Oriole and liked to sing folk songs. Young people from far and near sing against it, but they can't win. Young Li Shitian, hardworking and simple, asked to learn songs from Third Sister. Mo Huairen, the rich man, saw that Third Sister was beautiful and good at singing. He wanted to be a concubine and hired someone to sing against Third Sister, but Third Sister was defeated. At this time, Li Shitian has learned a good song and often sings with Third Sister. Mo Huairen bears a grudge. Finally, Third Sister fell into the river. The third sister drifted to Liuzhou, sang songs with Li Shitian for three days and three nights, and drifted away. Later, they sang duets in Qixingyan, Guilin for 7 days and 7 nights, and turned into a pair of Oriole.
The legend of Liu Sanjie fully embodies the thoughts, aspirations and creative talents of the Zhuang people. It is of reference value to the study of social custom history and folk literature and art of all ethnic groups in southern China.
pet-name ruby legends of local scenery. Explanatory legends about mountains, rivers, scenery, etc. in a certain area. The basic feature is to explain the origin, characteristics and naming reasons of specific natural or artificial objects through vivid storylines. It often combines three components: scenery introduction, story and explanation.
China's famous mountains and rivers, famous buildings, local specialties and customs are all explained by vivid legends and stories. Legends of local scenery contain a lot of knowledge about specific scenery, mountains and rivers, architecture, specialties and folk customs, and reflect a wide range of social life. It shows the people's hard struggle to conquer nature and change the landscape of mountains and rivers, and shows the people's miserable life and various forms of resistance under the oppression of the ruling class in the past. In local legends, people express their joys and sorrows, express their life ideals and affirm their loyal love.
There are a lot of works in local scenery legends that are created by using fantastic fantasy, supernatural images and magical changes. It is also fascinating by describing the creative methods of real life. The local legends of local scenery are very obvious. Many legends are unique to a certain place, but some stories are widely circulated.
There are many works in local folklores that localize the stories of historical figures and mythical figures, and sometimes use fables to personify mountains and rivers, or put general folk stories into specific local folklores, forming a variety of colorful and unique folklore.
attending anti-imperialist legend. It refers to the legend of China's opposition to the invasion of foreign powers in modern times. From 184 to 1949, China was repeatedly invaded by foreign powers, and the people of China waged many wars against aggression. During this period, many legends and stories with the theme of opposing the invasion of foreign powers were produced among the people, which are collectively called anti-imperialist legends.
anti-imperialist legends can be divided into two categories: the first category is directly based on previous anti-aggression wars. For example, the ambition of the Boxer Rebellion will never die, and Commander Yang outsmarted Tonghua. The second category does not directly reflect a specific war, but widely exposes the plundering activities of the aggressors. Most of the incidents centered on the theft of treasures by foreign invaders, such as golden phoenix and Treasure Ship that Can't be Stolen.
Anti-imperialist legends mainly praise the heroes who fought against the enemy, including the courage and wit of famous historical figures and ordinary people. Some stories talk about some kind of objects, landscapes, or materials from a war, and even tell the story of a real person's battle.