Kongquedongnanfei Legend
01 · Historical Records
The Southern Dynasties Xu Ling included it in New Songs of the Jade Terrace under the title An Ancient Poem Made for Jiao Zhongqing's Wife, making it the earliest surviving long narrative poem of China. The legend shows fairly strong stability in its transmission and evolution, keeping its basic appearance though spread by people of different times and places; at the same time it also changes in the course of telling, each telling differing somewhat in language, plot, characters and even theme.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The two loved each other deeply, but Lanzhi was not tolerated by Jiao's mother and was forced back to her natal home. At parting they swore to love each other in life and death and not to remarry. After Lanzhi returned home her brother forced her to remarry; at her wits' end she drowned herself, and Zhongqing, hearing of it, hanged himself from a tree in the courtyard. It is said that Jiao Zhongqing's native place is Jiaojiafan in Qianshan county and Liu Lanzhi's is Liujiashan in Huaining county. The deaths of Jiao and Liu shook Lujiang commandery, every household telling of Jiao and Liu, and the story spread widely among the people. More than three hundred years later, on the basis of collective folk creation, the ancient yuefu poem Kongque Dongnan Fei was born. It was created orally by the collective of the people, the crystallisation of their feeling and wishes. Because oral literature has no fixed text, every teller can add his own understanding; the basic reason for this change lies still in the changes of Chinese society and the life experience of the people.
Lanzhi Is Sent Back to Her Natal Home
The episode in which Jiao's mother will not tolerate Lanzhi and forces her to be sent back to her natal home.
Both Die for Love
The episode in which Lanzhi drowns herself and Zhongqing hangs himself.
Legend Information in the Qianshan Dialect
The legend information preserved in such local dialect as Jiao Bacha and Kuzhizi.
The Yuefu Poem Kongque Dongnan Fei
The ancient yuefu poem born on the basis of collective folk creation.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The Kongque Dongnan Fei legend current in the more than twenty townships of Qianshan county, Anqing city, Anhui, along the Wan and Qian rivers tells of the tragedy of Jiao Zhongqing, a petty official of Lujiang commandery in the late Eastern Han, and his wife Liu Lanzhi. Transmitted collectively by the people of Qianshan county for a thousand years, it is known to every household; the local dialect preserves some information of the legend, for instance calling a mother-in-law who makes things hard for her daughter-in-law Jiao Bacha, a tormented daughter-in-law Kuzhizi, a weak and incompetent good-for-nothing Nuomi Guanren, a sycophant Liu Da and a capable and strong-willed girl Neng Xiaogu.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Kongquedongnanfei Legend.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The Kongque Dongnan Fei legend is a literary form orally created and transmitted; before it was recorded in writing by men of letters it was always handed down orally. It has an early origin, many versions and wide transmission and is rich in cultural connotation, vividly reflecting the life and ideals and wishes of the local people; it is the crystallisation of their wisdom and creativity and has had a profound influence on the transmission and development of the culture of the Wan river area, with relatively high artistic, educational 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)
This static English edition is rendered at the edge for search engines, AI crawlers and readers without JavaScript; it mirrors the bilingual dossier. 阅读中文版，或返回 英文名录。