Xihu Legend
01 · Historical Records
The Hangzhou West Lake legends are a body of folk legends formed around the scenery, famous sites and historical figures of West Lake; they gradually grew richer with the development and touring of West Lake from the Tang and Song onward, and successive literary artists adapted and recreated them from West Lake folk story materials, making them one of the representatives of Jiangnan folk literature. Taking famous mountains, famous waters and famous people as their chief features, the West Lake legends and the natural and human scenery of West Lake depend on and enhance each other.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The West Lake legends have a long origin; successive literary artists adapted and recreated them from West Lake folk story materials, producing a great many much-loved works. According to incomplete statistics some six hundred and thirty West Lake legends survive. They take famous mountains, famous waters and famous people as their chief features, the most famous being the White Snake legend, the Liang-Zhu legend, the Jigong legend, the Su Dongpo legend, the Yue Fei legend and the Yu Qian legend. Hills, waters and famous sites gain historical and cultural content from the legends and become more fascinating, and with the growth of tourism the legends' range of transmission expands, while the legends gain verisimilitude and fame from the hills, waters and famous sites. Under the impact of modern media and a dominant culture, as an oral literature the West Lake legends' environment of survival is far worse than before. Their subject matter is wide, covering figure legends, scenery legends, historical legends and myth, and their transmission relies both on word of mouth and on written and performing forms such as poetry, prose, drama and narrative-singing.
The White Snake Legend
One of the most famous of the West Lake legends.
The Liang-Zhu Legend
One of the West Lake legends connected with the scenery of West Lake.
The Jigong Legend
One of the West Lake legends set in Hangzhou.
The Su Dongpo Legend
One of the West Lake legends connected with the dredging of West Lake and the Su causeway.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The West Lake legends circulate mainly in and around Hangzhou's West Lake, closely bound up with its hills, waters, famous sites, temples and historical figures; with the growth of tourism they spread ever further with the coming and going of visitors, forming a pattern of circulation centred on Hangzhou and radiating through the whole country and even abroad.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The collecting, editing and publication of the West Lake legends once had a considerable influence in the folk-literature circles of the whole country and gave impetus to the development of local folk literature, a contribution not to be forgotten. Many transmitters are advanced in years and not a few have died one after another, so that successors are lacking, the West Lake legends face a crisis of survival and urgently need salvage and protection. They are an important part of Hangzhou's history and culture with literary, folkloric and touristic value in many respects. The West Lake legends and the West Lake scenery depend on each other and are an important vehicle of Hangzhou's history and culture and of Jiangnan folk literature.
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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