The Columbia Anthology of Chinese Folk and Popular Literature

661 Pages·2011·4.39 MB·English

by  Victor H. Mair

MAIR
“A work of monumental proportions, filling a huge gap in a field that most Chinese literature & THE COLUMBIA ANTHOLOGY OF
scholars in the West and China have chosen to ignore.”
BENDER,
SUSAN R. BLADER, Dartmouth College, translator of Tales of Magistrate Bao and
C H I N E S E F O L K
His Valiant Lieutenants: Selections from “Sanxia wuyi” eds.
In The Columbia Anthology of Chinese Folk and Popular Literature, two of the world’s leading
sinologists, Victor H. Mair and Mark Bender, capture the breadth of China’s oral-based literary heritage. &
This collection presents works drawn from the large body of oral literature of many of China’s recognized C
ethnic groups—including the Han, Yi, Miao, Tu, Daur, Tibetan, Uyghur, and Kazak—and the selections
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include a variety of genres. Chapters cover folk stories, songs, rituals, and drama, as well as epic traditions
P O P U L A R
and professional storytelling, and feature both familiar and little-known texts, from the tale of the woman I
N
warrior Hua Mulan to love stories of urban storytellers in the Yangtze delta, shaman rituals of the Manchu,
and a trickster tale of the Daur people from the forests of the northeast. The Cannibal Grandmother of E
the Yi and other strange creatures and characters unsettle accepted notions of Chinese fable and literary S L I T E R AT U R E
form. Readers are introduced to antiphonal songs of the Zhuang and the Dong, who live among the fan- E
tastic limestone hills of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region; work and matchmaking songs of the

mountain-dwelling She of Fujian province; and saltwater songs of the Cantonese-speaking boat people F
of Hong Kong. The editors feature the Mongolian epic poems of Geser Khan and Jangar; the sad tale of O
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the Qeo family girl, from the Tu people of Gansu and Qinghai provinces; and local plays known as “rice H
sprouts” from Hebei province. These fascinating juxtapositions invite comparisons among cultures, styles, L E
and genres, and expert translations preserve the individual character of each thrillingly imaginative work. K C
O
& L
“Impressive. This valuable resource gives insight into Chinese culture in all its ethnic diversity. U
With themes ranging across all aspects of human experience, it is a treasure trove of many M
P
genres that will explode preconceptions and captivate students and scholars alike.” B
O I
MARGARET WAN, University of Utah A

P A
N
“The first book to offer a substantial, representative sample of China’s rich and complex U T
oral traditions. Given the unprecedented nature of its scope and scale, it will be novel and H
L
O
innovative even to old ‘China hands’ with its abundance of little-known gems from ethnic
A L
minorities. Even the old favorites, stories derived from the most famous myths, legends, and O
fiction, are retold in regional oral genres rarely accessible in translation, appearing here new R G
and fresh.” Y
ANNE E. McLAREN, author of Performing Grief: Bridal Laments in Rural China L O
I F
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E
VICTOR H. MAIR is professor of Chinese language and literature at the University of Pennsylva-
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nia and editor of The Columbia Anthology of Traditional Chinese Literature and The Columbia History of
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Chinese Literature.
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MARK BENDER is associate professor of East Asian languages and literatures at The Ohio State U
University and author of Plum and Bamboo: China’s Suzhou Chantefable Tradition and Butterfly Mother: R
Miao (Hmong) Creation Epics from Guizhou, China. E
TRANSLATIONS FROM THE ASIAN CLASSICS Printed in the U.S.A.
Woodblock print by Daniel Heitkamp
Cover design by Alejandro Largo ISBN: 978-0-231-15313-3 EDITED BY
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS / NEW YORK VICTOR H. MAIR & MARK BENDER
www.cup.columbia.edu 9 780231 153133 COLUMBIA
The Columbia Anthology of Chinese
Folk and Popular Literature
Translations from the
Asian Classics
Translations from the Asian Classics
Editorial Board
Wm. Theodore de Bary, Chair
Paul Anderer
Donald Keene
George A. Saliba
Wei Shang
Haruo Shirane
Burton Watson
The Columbia Anthology of Chinese
Folk and Popular Literature
Edited by Victor H. Mair and Mark Bender
Columbia University Press
New York
Columbia University Press
Publishers Since 1893
New York Chichester, West Sussex
Copyright © 2011 Columbia University Press
All rights reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
The Columbia anthology of Chinese folk and popular literature / edited by Victor H. Mair and
Mark Bender.
p. cm— (Translations from the Asian classics)
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-0-231-15312-6 (cloth : alk. paper)
ISBN 978-0-231-15313-3 (pbk. : alk. paper)
ISBN 978-0-231-52673-9 (ebk.)
1. Folk literature, Chinese—Translations into English. 2. Folklore—China.
3. Ethnic folklore—China. I. Mair, Victor H., 1943– II. Bender, Mark.
GR335.c64 2011
398.20951—dc22
2010045027

Columbia University Press books are printed on permanent and durable acid-free paper.
This book is printed on paper with recycled content.
Printed in the United States of America
c 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
p 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
References to Internet Web sites (URLs) were accurate at the time of writing.
Neither the editors nor Columbia University Press is responsible for URLs
that may have expired or changed since the manuscript was prepared.
Contents
Preface xiii
Acknowledgments xv
Chinese Units of Measure xvii
“I Sit Here and Sing for You”: The Oral Literature of China 1
1. Folk Stories and Other Spoken Traditions 13
A Ginseng Tale from Jilin 16
“The Mother’s Brother and His Sister’s Son” 18
A Folk Story of the Daur 20
“Mengongnenbo” 21
Folk Stories from the Tai Lue of Sipsongpanna 29
“Unclear Sight, but Skillful Hands” 30
“Obtaining Milk from the Deities” 31
“Two Friends” 32
“The Cow and the Tiger” 35
“Tale of the Two Rivers, Khong and Khorng” 37
vi contents
A Folk Story in “Funeral Lament Lyrics” of the
Luo People, Yunnan 39
“The Red Silk-Cotton Tree” 39
A Story from the Nuosu of Sichuan 43
“Cannibal Grandmother” 44
Tales of Dragons 48
“February 2, the Dragon Raises His Head” 48
“Dragon-Print Stone of the West Mountains” 50
A Mosuo Story from Lake Lugu 53
“Goddess Gemu” 54
A Story of the Pumi of Yunnan 56
“The Story of Zerijamu and Cuziluyi” 57
Folk Stories of the Uyghur 58
“Growing Gold” 58
“Jingling Coins” 59
“Three Wise Maxims” 60
“Two Brothers Meet” 61
“Afrat Khan and His Nine Daughters” 61
A Tu Folk Story 65
“The Qeo Family Girl” 65
A Tale of the Amis 69
“The Egg Boy” 70
Stories of Tu Ritual 75
“The Origin of the God of Riches” 76
“A Snake Beats a Drum, a Donkey Rides a Person” 79
A Namzi Tale 81
“Brother Moon, Sister Sun” 81
Namzi Riddles 83
Tibetan Flirting Words and Tongue Twisters 84
Flirting Words 84
Tongue Twisters 87
contents vii
2. Folk Song Traditions 90
Flower Songs from Northwestern China 93
Kazakh Marriage Songs of Lament and Sorrow 100
Songs of Lament 100
Songs of Sorrow 103
Qing Dynasty Mountain Songs 115
“A Smile” 116
“A Stare” 116
“Looking” 116
“On Fire” (1) 116
“On Fire” (2) 117
“On Fire” (3) 117
“Studying Styles” 117
“Not Flirting” 117
“Expressing One’s Feelings” 117
“Without a Lover” (1) 118
“Without a Lover” (2) 118
“Looking for My Lover” 118
“Making Excuses” 118
“Waiting” (1) 118
“Make-Believe” 119
“Secondhand” 119
“Waiting” (2) 119
“Temptation” (1) 119
“Temptation” (2) 119
“Deceiving Mother” 120
“Hoodwinking Mother” 120
“The Torn Skirt” 120
“Watching the Stars” 120
“Hoodwinking People” (1) 120
“Hoodwinking People” (2) 120
“Hoodwinking People” (3) 121
“Hoodwinking People” (4) 121
“Pregnant” (1) 121
“Pregnant” (2) 121
“Pregnant” (3) 121
“Pregnant” (4) 122
“Pregnant” (5) 122
“Not Pregnant” 122
Untitled 122
viii contents
Untitled 122
Untitled 123
Folk Songs from Jiangsu Province 124
“Maiden Wu” 125
“Yearning for a Beloved (Until Death Follows)” 126
“Yearning for a Beloved Until Death Follows” 130
“At Sunset, the Western Mountains Gradually Turn Yellow” 131
“If You Sing Mountain Songs, You’ll Find It Easy to Court” 132
Untitled 132
“Rippling Water, Clear and Bright” 133
“The Peddler” 133
“The Little Cat” 136
“He Goes East, She Goes West” 136
“A Little Stream Separates Me from My Lass” 138
“The Girl Liu” 139
“Playing Cards at Night” 140
“The Girl’s Breasts Are White and Fresh Like Milk” 141
“Breaking Up” 141
“If You Don’t Walk the Path of True Love, You Will Lose
Your Beloved” 142
Cursing Song 142
“On a Worn-Out Greasy Carrying Pole” 142
“Let Us Playfully Sing Mountain Songs to Ask a Question” 143
“Fourth Brother and Fifth Sister” 143
Saltwater Songs of Hong Kong 145
Songs of the Mindong She People 148
“Carrying Fish Goods on a Shoulder Pole” 148
Field Song 149
Matchmaking Through Singing 150
Song When Meeting Someone on the Road 151
“An Apron and a Red Flower Present” 152
“Auntie Chats with the Sedan Chair Porters” 153
“Forever by Your Side” 154
“Hard to Marry a Plain-Looking Girl” 156
“A Grandchild Will Be Born in the Future Soon Enough” 156
Mountain Songs from Liuzhou, Guangxi (Interethnic) 158
A Sani Ballad 166
“Four Songs of the Seasons” 166
contents ix
Two Folk Songs of the Dong (Gaem) People 169
“You Were Like a Tender Seedling, My Sweetheart” 170
“Song of the Cicadas” 172
Songs of the Tu 174
Mountain Songs 174
“Larinbu and Jiminsu” 174
Awulii 176
Arilolog 176
Xnjalolog 177
Qarilolog 177
Folk Song 177
“Six Persuasions for People’s Hearts” 177
3. Folk Ritual 179
A Chaoxian Lunar New Year Exorcism Ritual 182
House God Chant 182
Manchu Shaman Songs from Northeastern China 184
“Sacrifi ce to the Python God” 185
“A Song for the God of Sacrifi ces” 187
A Wa Soul-Calling Chant 190
“Daxga Calls Back the Soul of Amrong” 190
A Lahu Marriage Prayer 193
The Marriage Prayer 195
Yi Chants from Chuxiong Prefecture, Yunnan 198
“Calling Back a Child’s Spirit” 198
“Closing the Coffi n” 199
“Cutting the New Year’s Firewood” 201
A Nuosu Myth from Sichuan 203
“The Origin of Ghosts” 204