Hui Folk Tales
01 · Historical Records
The Hui folk tales of Jinyuan have a long history and are widely admired; among them such stories as Wei Zheng Beheads the Old Dragon of the Jing River in a Dream and Liu Yi Delivers a Letter can be traced back in origin to the Tang dynasty.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Hui folk tales are a form of folk literature collectively created and handed down from generation to generation by the Hui people. Jinyuan county of Guyuan city in the mountainous south of the Ningxia Hui autonomous region is one of the main areas of circulation of this heritage item, and Hui folk tales circulate in all the county's four townships, three towns and one hundred and nine administrative villages. The Jinyuan Hui folk tales include myths such as Adan, the ancestor of mankind, Adan and Haowa, and God Creates Man; historical legends such as “Hui and Han have been kin since ancient times”; figure legends such as Muhammad, Zheng He, Liu Yi Delivers a Letter, Wei Zheng Beheads the Old Dragon of the Jing River in a Dream, the Rouge Girl, Yang Liulang Guards the Three Passes, Guangchengzi and the White Cloud Temple and Jigong Practises at Yanling Temple; and in addition fantasy stories, stories of daily life, fables, jokes and animal stories. These stories include both intricately moving tales and a clear theme of justice overcoming evil, and together they paint a many-coloured scroll of Hui customs. The Jinyuan Hui folk tales artistically present the history and scenes of daily production and life of the Hui. Each story either contains philosophy or presents a vivid picture, and all reflect the Hui people's thoughts and feelings, wisdom and creativity. The storytellers are generally quick-minded, clear-headed and retentive people of wide experience among the Hui. In good spirits and at leisure from work they sit with the villagers, relatives, friends or the younger generation and tell Hui folk tales through the night, at once educating the young, passing on knowledge and seasoning and enriching people's spiritual life.
Adan the Ancestor of Mankind and God Creates Man
One of the myth-type stories among the Jinyuan Hui folk tales.
Figure Legends of Zheng He and Muhammad
Figure legends centred on historical figures of the Hui.
Liu Yi Delivers a Letter and Wei Zheng Beheads the Old Dragon of the Jing River in a Dream
Historical legendary stories current in Jinyuan whose origins can be traced to the Tang dynasty.
The Storytellers' Custom of Nightly Telling
The tradition of villagers telling Hui folk tales through the night at leisure from work and at festive gatherings.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The Jinyuan Hui folk tales have their main area of circulation in Jinyuan county of Guyuan city in the Ningxia Hui autonomous region, circulating in all four townships, three towns and one hundred and nine administrative villages of the county and radiating to the mountainous south of Ningxia and the Hui areas of settlement around it. The tales combine family transmission with social transmission and are commonly told at leisure from work, at festive gatherings and on social occasions, forming a body of storytellers centred on the older Hui storytellers.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
This heritage item is transmitted mainly in productive labour and social life, and a number of storytellers have emerged; almost every village has people who can tell a hundred or several dozen stories. The locality has successively sorted and published such collections as Jinyuan Folk Tales and Jinyuan Myths and Legends, and developed the paper-cut series Ten Great Myths and Legends of Jinyuan. The Hui folk tales may be called an encyclopedia of Hui folk life and customs; they reflect the Hui's history of development and are also vivid testimony to the cultural exchange and fusion between the Hui and other ethnic groups, with relatively high value for historical, literary, ethnological and folklore studies, and a positive role in satisfying the people's spiritual needs and promoting ethnic unity and social harmony.
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。