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. The Jining area has since ancient times been the home of Confucius and Mencius and a centre of Confucian learning; the legend's orientation toward honouring learning and treating others with propriety corresponds to the local custom of respecting teachers and valuing education and of stressing ritual in marriage.
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 Liang-Zhu Tomb at Mapo, Weishan
The reputed joint tomb of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai at Mapo in Weishan county, Jining.
The Stele Record of the Tomb of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai
A tomb stele erected in the Zhengde reign of the Ming, one of the earlier Liang-Zhu relics.
The Eighteen Farewells
The classic passage in which Zhu Yingtai sees Liang Shanbo home.
The Meeting on the Terrace
The episode in which the two meet and part for ever after learning the truth.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Jining is one of the important areas of the Liang-Zhu legend. In the Mapo area of Weishan county there were formerly the joint tomb of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai together with a shrine and stelae; the stele recording the tomb of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai erected in the Zhengde reign of the Ming is one of the earlier surviving Liang-Zhu relics. Local people also tell such episodes as the Eighteen Farewells and the Meeting on the Terrace, so that Jining is regarded as an important area of the legend's tomb chapter.
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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