Section 1: Legends and Mythologies about the Universe and Human Beings
1. The Giant Creator of the Universe Pangu and the Heaven-repairing Goddess Nvwa
2. Nvwa and the Big Dipper
3. The Rooster and the Sun
4. Another Version of Multiple Suns
5. The Origin of Weeds
6. Why Does the Moon Shine?
7. Why Do People Have Three Skin Colors?
8. Why Are Human Beings Mortal?
Section 2: About Historical Figures (I)
9. Bole and the Fabled ianlima ( 千里马; “thousand-li horse”)
10. Lu Ban Learning the Technical Skill of Woodworking
11.Zhang Yi Got Everything from Nothing with a Silken Tongue
12. The Story between Cao Zhi and Cao Pi
13. Three Stories about Zhuge Liang
14. Zuo Si and Paper Became Expensive in Luoyang
15. Hua Mulan’s Marriage (Unoffi Historical Story)
16. Emperor Taizong of Tang Dynasty and the Messenger from Tibetan Regime in
Ancient China
17. Several Legends about Lord Bao
18. Two Legends about Su Dongpo
19. The Legend about the Fictional Tiger-fighting Hero, Wu Song, Learning Skills
20. The Origin of Gengcun Village—Zhu Yuanzhang (Hongwu Emperor) Conferred Titles of Nobility on King of Geng
21. The Legend of Li Shizhen Selling c Medicine to Help Others
Section 3: About Historical Figures (II)
22. Kangxi Emperor and Lord Shi
. Yongzheng Emperor Banned Gambling
24. ianlong Emperor and Fortune-telling
25. ianlong Emperor and a Couplet
26. ianlong Emperor and His Riddle
27. Heshen, Shen Rulin and Hu Pinsan
28. Heshen Repaired the Road Used by the Emperor
29. The Story of Pu Songling Opening a Teahouse
30. Zheng Banqiao’s Two Visits at the Same Restaurant
31. Zheng Banqiao’s Visit at a Temple
32. Zheng Banqiao Took a Boat
33. The Magic Painting of Meng Luling
34. A Story about Wang Duo and His Son
Section 4: Buddhist and Taoist Stories
35. The Monkey King Teases the Black Dragon
36. Li Jing at Chentang Pass Burned the Temple
37. Bai Mudan Outwitted Lü Dongbin
38. Lü Dongbin Enlightened “Three Men of Virtue”
39. The Great Immortal Tieguai Li
40. Thousand-armed Guanyin
41. Zhao Gongming as the God of Fortune
Section 5: Life Folktales
42. Jin Yunu
43. A Tale of a Jade Bracelet
44. A Pearl Shirt
45. Xiucai’s Daughter Repelling the Suitor with Wit
46.The Story of Giving out a Treasured Object
47. A Princess Choosing Her Husband
48. Being Blessed Because of a Good Heart
49. Three Unfilial Couples
50. Zhang Er Selling Noodles
51. A Murder Mystery of a Strange Flower
52. A Lawsuit about a Horse
53. Rooster’s Egg
54. Daredevil Ma
55. Fake Silver Ingots
56. An Old Teapot
57. A Prodigal Who Returns Is More Precious than Gold
As one of the national intangible cultural heritage items, Gengcun stories
are undoubtedly a gem of folk oral literature and an exemplar of traditional folk
culture. Gengcun, a village located in north China, presents us with a unique
cultural phenomenon: almost all the residents of various ages in this small
village can tell stories. Those stories they tell range from ancient mythologies
and legends, historical figures, love stories, religious legends and cultural norms
and customs to animal fables and plant stories. Such phenomenon is rare not
only in China, but also in the world. It is considered as modern China’s One
Thousand and One Nights attracting folklorists, artists, performers, scholars
and researchers from China and many other countries. This remarkable
phenomenon stood out as early as in 1986 during the national general
investigation of folk literature. By the year 2004, eleven rounds of large-scale
investigations and collections of stories in the village had been conducted. 0
male and female story-tellers had been discovered. There are till now 15 books
on Gengcun stories and related academic research, totaling 11. million
characters. At the seminar about the story-telling groups at Gengcun village
and their works convened in 1988, hundreds of delegates from the United
States, France, Germany, Japan and other countries came and investigated
this unique phenomenon of local and folk culture. Most of them established
long-term relations and carried out exchange programs with Gengcun
village. Among them, the most active and inspiring one should be the Nu Wa
Storytelling Delegation and Eth-Noh-Tec from San Francisco.
As the key translator of the 119 selected Gengcun stories in this book,
I got to know two members of this group coincidentally in 2015 when they
again went to Gengcun to collect stories and exchange with the local people.
It was my great honor to meet Robert Kikuchi-Yngojo and Nancy Wang. I also
got to know some others from this delegation such as Doris, Doris’ daughter
Kirsten, Luanda, Melinda and Elaine. We both wished we could have met with
each other earlier after we realized that both of us have a plan to publish those
Gengcun stories since the original oral form of its transmission is limited both
in time and space. This idea inspired me to finally get started and translate the
stories. The original texts I chose are from the book Gengcun’s One Thousand
and One Nights in six volumes. The stories are categorized into eleven sections: Section 1,
Legends and Mythologies about the Universe and Human Beings, Section -, Historical Figures;
Section 4, Buddhist and Taoist Stories; Section 5, Life Folktales; Section 6, So Customs and
Local Folklores; Section 7, Four Love Stories; Section 8, Legends of Animals and Plants; Section
9, Fantasy Stories; Section 10, Animal Stories and Fables; and Section 11, Ghost Stories. Since
time was limited, it was quite hard for me to cover all the stories. Instead, I only chose the most
representative and meaningful ones to translate. During the whole process, I translated 78,866
words. For other parts, I would like to express my gratitude to my friends Wang Junya (translated
31,673 words), Liu Liyong (translated 22,0) and Wang Xiaoling (translated 2,267).
Besides, my spe thanks also go to my illustrator and best friend Hossain MD Abrarul
whose efforts have made this book a graphic one with d images and thus quite fascinating.
We hope in the near future we could translate more from the huge volumes of Gengcun
stories and make the outside world know and appreciate this cultural phenomenon.
Wei Yi
April 5th, 2016
From left to right: Doris, Doris’ daughter Kirsten, Nancy Wang, Robert Kikuchi-Yngojo, Luanda, Melinda and Elaine