in about the fourteenth century, many plays were written based on the earlier orally transmitted stories. Previously, plays had been the exclusive entertainment of the rich and elite, but during the Sung Dynasty, actors began forming troupes that toured the country and entertained a large cross-section of society. New stories sprang into being from these plays, which were often performed at festivals. Because they were meant to entertain, the stories often contained poetry, song, dance, and highly elaborate plots and characters not found in the earlier brief “historical” accounts.
During the Ming Dynasty (AD 1368 to 1644), in addition to poetry and essays written in wen yen wen, which continued the tradition of classical writings, there was literature written in bai hua. This type of literature began to thrive and eventually enlivened drama and the novel. Many great works of this period were based on stories made popular during the Sung Dynasty.
Religion also influenced Chinese folk tales. The two major Chinese religions were Buddhism and Taoism. Buddhism became popular in the early half of the sixth century, but Taoism was made popular about four centuries earlier. Buddhists wrote quite a few “moral” tales to teach followers the tenets of Buddhism, which was brought to China in AD 67. Some of the earliest tales were based on religious sermons. These stories have moral dimensions that promote virtues central to Buddhism, such as patience, moderation, and a respect for life. Taoism was named after Lao Tze (603 to 531 BC), a great Chinese philosopher. Taoists believed in the relationship between men and nature. Taoism also influenced literature by stressing the freedom of the individual and thus inspired writers to develop their own styles uninhibited by earlier literary conventions.
After the establishment of the Communist Party in China in the 1920s, traditional Chinese stories finally came into their own. Long regarded as “common,” these tales weren’t looked upon as a “true” form of literature until the 1930s, despite the fact that the songs and oral renditions of the tales inspired so many great Chinese writers of the past. The Communist government praised these tales because first, they were written in the simple and beautiful bai hua of the common people. Thus, they represented a triumph over the aristocratic minority, who read and wrote wen yen wen. Second, because they were written in bai hua, they presented an invigorating “new” form of literature that replaced literature written in wen yen wen. Traditional Chinese stories consequently became more popular because they were promoted by the Communist Party as symbolic of the power of the people under Communism over the autocratic emperors of old.
Today, traditional Chinese tales offer a glimpse of the richness, beauty, and down-to-earth spirit of Chinese culture. It is my hope that the reader of this book will gain insight into a colorful ancient civilization. Chinese religion, philosophy, and tradition permeate all of the tales, and yet they all deal with human universals such as self-sacrifice, wisdom, gentleness, vanity, greed, ambition, and love. Although many of the Chinese beliefs and traditions recounted here may seem strange to Western readers, these and all classical tales have survived for so long because of their universal appeal. Ultimately, they remind us of our shared humanity.
Pan Gu and the Creation
The Chinese believe that in the beginning, the universe was empty except for a big ball of energy shaped like a chicken egg. This ball of energy had existed since the beginning of time and was called Chaos. Inside the egg, only mist swirled about until one day, the first living creature formed in Chaos.
His name was Pan Gu, and he is the ancestor of us all. After he was formed, he slept for a long time while his body grew bigger and bigger. At first, his body was very small. But after 18,000 years, he grew so extremely big that Chaos could no longer hold him. His strong and heavy head poked against one end of Chaos, and his sturdy feet strained against the other end.
By this time, Pan Gu was enormous beyond measure. In the small and narrow space of Chaos, Pan Gu was cramped and uncomfortable. One day, he became so uncomfortable that he awoke. He opened his eyes in amazement. Beyond the haziness of Chaos, Pan Gu saw darkness so inky that nothing else was visible.
“I’ll soon change this situation,” thought Pan Gu to himself. He stretched out his hand and made an immense fist, which he struck against the wall of Chaos with all his might. Ka-bam! The shell of the egg of Chaos cracked.
As the stuff of Chaos leaked out into the darkness, the clear and light energy, called the Yang by the Chinese, curled upwards and formed the beautiful blue sky. The heavier, murkier elements, called the Yin, sank to form the earth. After Chaos was divided, the universe became a bright wide space. But the distance between sky and earth was very small, and the elements of sky and earth would frequently mix. Pan Gu couldn’t stand up straight in this space and felt like dividing the two so that more distance separated them.
Finally one day, Pan Gu was so bothered that he planted his huge feet on the ground and his hands against the sky. Pan Gu grew an inch every day, and the sky was accordingly pushed one inch higher each day and the earth grew one inch thicker from the pressure of his heavy weight. Time passed. Day after day, Pan Gu stood between heaven and earth, not daring to let go of his hold on the sky, afraid that heaven and earth would mix and all would revert to Chaos.
His salty sweat streamed down from his forehead, stinging his eyes, but he couldn’t mop it away. It flowed down his body and fell as rain and dew onto the ground, where it collected into pools to form the seas and oceans.
The work of supporting the sky was extremely hard, and Pan Gu could not suppress a deep sigh of suffering. His breath turned into the floating clouds and the wind, and the sound of his sigh became the rumbling thunder. Over many, many years, he saw the heavens slowly rise and the earth grow thicker and thicker, and he rejoiced.
Finally, after another 18,000 years, the sky was very high and the earth very thick. There was no longer any danger of sky and earth mixing. At last, Pan Gu was satisfied and let go his hold. But the strenuous work of holding earth and sky apart for so long had exhausted Pan Gu, and he fell to the ground immediately.
His body became the massive mountains, his blood and body fluids the surging rivers. His sinews and veins transformed into narrow and crooked roads, his skin and muscles the fertile fields. The hairs on his skin turned into the beautiful and multitudinous grass, flowers, trees, and woods. Even his bones and teeth turned into bright, hard gold, brilliant jewels, and precious pearls. His beautiful hair flew up and filled the whole sky with countless bright stars.
Pan Gu was still not dead and observed the changes with great satisfaction. He knew he was dying, but he wanted to gaze upon his work forever. He winked and sent his left eye into the clear sky, where it turned into the golden sun. He winked again, and his right eye also sailed past the clouds and turned into the bright and silvery moon. Thus to this day, Pan Gu looks lovingly down upon his greatest creation, the bountiful and beautiful earth.
Nu Wo, the Mother of Mankind
THE CREATION OF MAN
According to ancient Chinese legend, after the world was created, it held only mountains, rivers, grass, flowers, and trees. There were also birds, beasts, insects, and fish, but mankind did not exist. One day, a
