Xufu Legend
01 · Historical Records
Xu Fu, courtesy name Junfang, was a necromancer of the Qin and a man of Langya; in 219 BCE and again in 210 BCE he twice presented memorials to Qin Shi Huang at the Langya terrace, seeking on his behalf the divine mountains and the elixir of immortality in the sea. In 210 BCE Xu Fu led three thousand boys and girls and the five grains and a hundred craftsmen from the Langya port below the Langya terrace, set sail eastward for Japan and never returned. For more than two thousand years this legend has been handed down by word of mouth in the form of folk literature such as stories and poems. The legend of Xu Fu's eastward voyage has long circulated among the people of the coastal area of Shandong and Jiangsu and spread from generation to generation in the form of stories and poems. The legend of Xu Fu's eastward voyage is closely linked with the cultural exchange among China, Japan and Korea and is an important element of the maritime culture of the Shandong and Jiangsu coasts.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
For more than two thousand years this legend has been handed down by word of mouth and spread from generation to generation in the form of folk literature such as stories and poems. These legends are precious spiritual wealth of Chinese folk literature. Over the course of its transmission the Xu Fu legend has been continually enriched, producing such episodes as the eastward route, the three divine mountains, the boys and girls and the hundred craftsmen, and has become a subject of peace culture of common concern to China, Japan and Korea.
The Legend of Xu Fu's Native Place in Ganyu
The legend of Xu Fu's native place and eastward voyage current in the Ganyu area of Jiangsu.
The Legend of the Three Divine Mountains
The core episode of the Xu Fu legend in which he goes to sea in quest of the divine mountains and the elixir.
The Legend of Xu Fu's Eastward Voyage
The legend of Xu Fu leading three thousand boys and girls and the five grains and a hundred craftsmen eastward to Japan.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The Xu Fu legend is a folk legend about a historical event and a historical figure, long current among the people of the coastal area. Deeply rooted in the people and rich in local features, it is especially striking for the refinement of its language, and the places and farming customs it describes have a strong maritime cultural colour. Taking such actual place names as the Langya terrace and the Langya port as its support and linked with the local sea voyages and farming customs, the legend is vivid in its geographical description and local colour.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Xufudongdu Legend · Xufudongdu Legend · Xufu Legend · Xufu Legend.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Yet under the influence of modern media, as television, the internet and various new media gradually spread, the oral telling of folk legends is increasingly neglected, so that this ancient legend, habitually transmitted mainly by word of mouth and heart-to-heart teaching, has lost its main vehicle, and with the transmitters of the Xu Fu legend dying one after another the transmission of the oral stories faces a situation of lacking successors and urgently needs salvage and protection.
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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