Kongquedongnanfei Legend
01 · Historical Records
The Kongque Dongnan Fei legends current today may be divided into three kinds: the literary versions of Xia Zhujun and Li Shuocheng of the late Qing and before the founding of the People's Republic of China; and the modern versions of Li Xinglin and Li Wei, of the talent and custom kinds. The Southern Dynasties man of letters Xu Ling included it in New Songs of the Jade Terrace, and the Song Guo Maoqian compiled it into the Collection of Yuefu Poetry, widening the range of its transmission. The fifth year of Daoguang of the Qing, 1825, volume five of the Huaining County Gazetteer, volume two of the 1915 Huaining County Gazetteer and the modern and contemporary Huaining County Gazetteer all carry the legend story.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The Kongque Dongnan Fei legend tells of Jiao Zhongqing and Liu Lanzhi of the Jian'an period of the Eastern Han, who died for love under the persecution of feudal ethics; it has been current for more than seventeen hundred years and has Huaining county in Anhui as its centre, radiating to the neighbouring counties and cities and indeed the whole country. The story of the death of Jiao and Liu was spread throughout the country by travelling merchants, forming various versions, first told orally in society and later handed down in folk manuscripts.
The Literary Kind of Version
The versions of Xia Zhujun and Li Shuocheng of the late Qing and before the founding of the People's Republic, basically the same as the long poem.
The Custom Kind of Version
The version told orally by the local people, telling how Liu the elder brother extorted money from the Jiao family.
The Talent Kind of Version
The version telling how Lanzhi wittily repelled the tyrant's son Ahun with a couplet.
Gleaning in the Old Garden of Kongque Dongnan Fei
The first publicly published work of folk research on the legend, published in 2008.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The story is said to have happened in the area of Xiaoshi town in Huaining county, Anhui, on the middle reaches of the Wan river; the Wan river flows down to the Yangzi port, communications are convenient and merchants gather. The content of the literary kind is basically the same as the long poem Kongque Dongnan Fei, mostly seen in articles published by scholars and experts, with very strong literary value; the custom kind relies mainly on the oral tradition of the local people, telling how Liu the elder brother tricked the Jiao family into taking Lanzhi and seized the chance to extort a large sum of money; the talent kind chiefly tells how Lanzhi, by her wisdom and a couplet, wittily repelled the son of a local tyrant, Ahun. The legend has a long transmission, a wide area and many versions. Its background is the Jian'an era of the late Han; after the deaths of Jiao and Liu there was a great stir locally, and because the times were troubled and population movement great, many versions were derived through the personal emotional colouring of oral transmission.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Kongquedongnanfei Legend.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
More than eighty thousand characters of the legend story collection have now been excavated and collated. The Kongque Dongnan Fei legend has relatively high cultural and artistic value; more than a hundred kinds of literary and artistic works have been adapted from it. It is also important material for understanding Han marriage custom, politics and the condition of women's life, with relatively high historical and folkloric research value. Besides this, when men and women of marriageable age in Huaining and the neighbouring counties marry people mention the legend more than once, urging good relations between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law and promoting family and social harmony; the myth-coloured ending expresses people's deep hatred of old feudal custom and their yearning for a better life, with relatively high social and cultural value.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Li Zhihai 05-2024
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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