Sudongpo Legend
01 · Historical Records
The Su Dongpo legend is a body of legends about the great Northern Song man of letters Su Dongpo. The historical Su Dongpo was a figure of great brilliance; in his lifetime many legends about him already circulated among the people, some recorded in the classics in the Song and Yuan, multiplying and growing fuller in the Ming and Qing and continuing to the present.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The Su Dongpo legend is very wide in its range of circulation. In the survey and editing of the Chinese Folk Story Collection the volumes of Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Hebei, Shandong, Shaanxi, Hubei, Sichuan, Guangdong and Hainan all include it, the legends of Su Dongpo in Hangzhou being the most numerous and most outstanding. Su Dongpo served as an official in Hangzhou twice, first as assistant prefect and the second time as prefect, five years in all, leaving a great many legends here; the volume Su Dongpo's Legends in Hangzhou edited by Dong Xiaochang alone includes fifty-six Su Dongpo legends still current today. The Su Dongpo legends may be divided roughly into three kinds: one telling of his care for the people, putting himself in their place in all things and helping them relieve their worries and overcome difficulties; one chiefly displaying Su Dongpo's talent, saying he composed on the spot with quick wit, leaving a string of much-told tales; and another often attached to local scenery. The Su Dongpo legend was early noticed by men of letters and repeatedly recorded in their notebooks, becoming an important subject of popular literature and art. The literary works on Su Dongpo legend are numerous and varied, and such works of many forms as drama, narrative-singing and film and television adapted from the legend are also deeply loved. At the same time, as a distinctive cultural phenomenon the legend is deeply imprinted in the people's hearts; it has been closely bound up with the local culture of Hangzhou, and also of the other places where he lived, and has become an inseparable part of the cultural tradition.
Su Dongpo's Legends in Hangzhou
The collection edited by Dong Xiaochang including fifty-six Su Dongpo legends current today.
Legends of His Care for the People
Legends of Su Dongpo helping the people relieve their worries and overcome difficulties.
Legends of His Quick Wit
Legends displaying Su Dongpo's talent and his composing on the spot.
Legends of Local Scenery
Su Dongpo legends attached to local scenery.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The Su Dongpo legend has Hangzhou as its most important area of circulation; Su Dongpo served as an official in Hangzhou twice, five years in all, leaving a great many legends. It is included in the Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Jiangxi and other provincial volumes of the Chinese Folk Story Collection, the Hangzhou legends being the most numerous and most outstanding.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Sudongpo Legend.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
With the rapid advance of modernisation this kind of legend is declining and showing signs of endangerment, and urgently needs salvage and protection.
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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