Legend of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai
01 · Historical Records
Since the Liang-Zhu legend formed in the Jin dynasty sixteen hundred years ago it has circulated mainly in Ningbo, Shangyu, Hangzhou, Yixing, Jining and Runan and radiated out to every region and every ethnic group of China. It has also spread to Korea, Vietnam, Burma, Japan, Singapore and Indonesia, an influence rare among Chinese folk legends. Like other oral literature and intangible cultural heritage, in the past twenty years, under the impact of modernisation and urbanisation, the mainly orally transmitted Liang-Zhu legend has suffered an unprecedented shock.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The legend of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai is one of the four great Chinese folk legends and a treasure of Chinese culture. For a thousand years it has deeply moved people's hearts with its clear theme of advocating the pursuit of knowledge, honouring love and celebrating the endless renewal of life, and has been widely loved by the people for its moving plot, sharply drawn characters and ingenious story structure. The artistic charm shown by the Liang-Zhu legend and the other art forms based on it makes it a rare flower in the forest of Chinese folk literature and art. In the course of circulation the people of every locality have continually enriched and developed its content and even built many tombs, temples and other structures on the theme of the Liang-Zhu legend. Such literary and artistic works as the Yue opera Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai, the violin concerto The Butterfly Lovers and the film Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai, together with the distinctive custom of seeking study and marriage that grew out of them, constitute a vast Liang-Zhu cultural system.
The Native Place of Zhu Yingtai (Zhu Family Village)
Shangyu is said to be the native place of Zhu Yingtai, linked to the legend's episode of setting out to study.
The Ancestral Hall of the Zhu Family
An old relic at Shangyu connected with the legend, later restored through raised funds.
The Eighteen Farewells
The classic passage of Zhu Yingtai seeing Liang Shanbo home, widely told in eastern Zhejiang.
Turning into Butterflies
The ending episode of the legend, lodging the people's longing for beautiful love.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Shangyu is an important area of the Liang-Zhu legend and is said to be the native place of Zhu Yingtai. Within the district there were formerly such relics connected with the legend as the ancestral hall of the Zhu family, and together with Hangzhou and Ningbo, Shangyu forms the core area of circulation of the legend's pursuit-of-study and farewell episodes; to this day there survives a local tradition of telling the legend and holding Liang-Zhu cultural activities, with places established for the study and transmission of Yingtai culture.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Legend of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai · Legend of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai · Legend of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai · Legend of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai · Legend of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Most of the original oral transmitters have died one after another and the younger generation is unwilling to carry on, so its transmission faces the danger of a broken line; rescue work and corresponding protective measures are urgently needed so that this excellent cultural tradition may be continued.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Chen Qiuqiang 05-1989
- Luo Yuhua
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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