Jigong Legend
01 · Historical Records
The Jigong legend is an oral folk literature evolved from the story of the Southern Song Chan master Daoji; centred on Tiantai it is distributed within Zhejiang and radiates from there to the whole country and the world. In the Six Dynasties and Sui-Tang periods many legends of arhats and mad monks were current at Tiantai. In the early Southern Song Daoji was born at Tiantai and, feigning madness while saving the world, was called Ji the Mad. From the Ming and Qing the Jigong legend circulated widely throughout the country and became a household folk tale. Since the Six Dynasties Mount Tiantai had been a place where Buddhism and Daoism were both cultivated, and the legends of arhats and mad monks fused with the local Buddhist faith, providing a deep regional soil for the formation of the Jigong legend. After the Southern Song the legend was continually elaborated through storytelling, fiction and drama, gradually evolving from a local legend into a national folk tale.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Both before and after Daoji's death many numinous legends about him appeared at Tiantai and were relished by the people. The content of the Tiantai Jigong legend covers the tale of Jigong's birth as the reincarnation of the dragon-subduing arhat, the tales of the boy Jigong as the prodigy Li Xiuyuan, and tales of Jigong's mad salvation of the world, punishing evil and praising good, helping the distressed and relieving the poor, and mocking the flatterer and subduing demons. Legends of customs and objects connected with Jigong are also very rich. Moreover the legend touches every level of life, its content rich and varied, reflecting the joys and sorrows of the people and bearing a clear popular character. The protagonist's deeds are also mingled with Chan thought and arhat belief. For more than eight hundred years the Jigong legend has been an inexhaustible material for literature and art, vividly embodied in fiction, painting and calligraphy, sculpture, film and other fields. The language of the Jigong legend is humorous and its plot vivid, combining Chan repartee with rustic wit; it praises helping the distressed and relieving the poor and punishing evil and praising good, and also lodges the lower people's longing for justice.
The Birth of Jigong (the Dragon-Subduing Arhat Reborn)
The birth episode of the legend, in which the dragon-subduing arhat is reincarnated.
The Boy Jigong (Li Xiuyuan)
The youthful legend of Jigong as the prodigy Li Xiuyuan before he became a monk.
Punishing Evil and Praising Good
The cluster of legends of Jigong's mad salvation, helping the distressed and relieving the poor and mocking the flatterer and subduing demons.
Jigong and the Scenery of Tiantai
Legends of customs and objects at Tiantai connected with Jigong.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The Jigong legend attaches to a real historical figure and has a regional originality, while stressing mysterious supernatural power and possessing a wonderful quality of plot.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
At the same time the Jigong legend, as a distinctive cultural phenomenon, is deeply imprinted in the hearts of the people and will surely play a positive role in advancing contemporary moral education and transmitting the Chinese national spirit. As the historical environment of its existence has already changed, the original Jigong legend is now in an endangered state and practical measures are urgently needed for its protection.
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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