[Wu Bingan] It doesn't matter where you cry over the Great Wall
In the long history of oral inheritance, the folk legend "Meng Jiangnu" has long been praised by hundreds of millions of people as one of the "Four Major Folk Legends of China." It is on par with "The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl","Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai", and "The Legend of the White Snake" and constitutes the most abundant oral heritage in China's folk culture.
It has been handed down to this day and has far-reaching influence.
Any folk oral legend that spreads like wildfire has its route from starting point to end in cultural communication, and it has a generalization and diffusion process from source to stream.
Due to its age and the rapid expansion of the spread area in several important historical periods, this route and process often become gradually blurred.
However, any cultural event passed down orally has its own laws of inheritance.
They are always accompanied by the cultural trajectory of major historical events and attached to a number of specific cultural spaces, showing a clear form of their movement and evolution.
Local scenery-important evidence for the identification of oral heritage
The oral inheritance of "The Legend of Meng Jiangnu" is the best example.
It originated from rumors of characters in a specific space in history and a specific historical event.
It quickly took root in one or two places, and was interpreted by the public into a biographical plot motif, which was then spread and expanded into many oral versions that were much the same.
Through the re-creation of folk artists and the re-dissemination of textual descriptions of literati poems, notes, and historical records, today's rich and widely disseminated oral heritage has been formed.
The oral legend of "Meng Jiangnu" in Zibo, Shandong Province is generally formed through continuous accumulation and integration.
The central character in a specific space is Meng Jiangnu, or Jiang Nu, or Meng Jiang, or its prototype is Qi Liang's wife, and the supporting character is Wan Xiliang, or Fan Xiliang, or its prototype is Qi Liang, a general of Qi; A specific space is the Great Wall, or Qi Great Wall, or Jucheng, or Qin Great Wall, or Chengzi, Changchengpu and other specific place names, including the names of multiple birthplaces; A specific major historical event was the construction of the Great Wall, which was almost implicated in the corvee of the Great Wall construction in successive dynasties since the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Period.
From here, a series of touching oral stories can be deduced.
The legend of Meng Jiangnu has now become a well-known and well-known masterpiece of oral heritage handed down in Shandong, Hebei, Hunan and even across the country.
The national research group on the oral heritage of Meng Jiangnu's legendary heritage, based on the rich oral heritage circulated locally, detailed historical clues, and the cultural landscape relics of urban and rural communities, has investigated and identified Meng Jiangnu's oral heritage in Zibo, Shandong, Jinshi, Hunan, and Qinhuangdao, Hebei.
The trajectory and characteristics of Meng Jiangnu's story activities have emerged during the process of more than 2,000 years of inheritance, and have more comprehensive understanding of the relatively solid "family background" of Meng Jiangnu's legendary oral heritage in the country.
It fully evaluated its value in many aspects such as the history of folk culture, the history of folk literature and art, the history of social life and even the history of thought.
As a spiritual and cultural wealth passed down orally by the people of China, it can be shared by all mankind, thus becoming a precious heritage for all mankind.
Meng Jiangnu's oral heritage has long formed a large folk legend circle in China.
In this cultural circle, the distribution of Meng Jiangnu's legendary oral heritage is uneven.
In most areas, including many ethnic minority areas, the oral inheritance of the legend of Meng Jiangnu has the nature of borrowing, immigrating, and introducing due to its specific historical clues and cultural space constraints.
In those areas, there is almost no historical process of inheriting the basic motif of Meng Jiangnu's legend directly into local scenery and cultural sites for localization.
Based on the methodology of fieldwork surveys, it can be concluded that the vast majority of these areas belong to the marginal areas where Meng Jiangnu's oral heritage was spread.
Meng Jiangnu's oral heritage in many places was obviously formed under the radiation influence of the center of Meng Jiangnu's legendary inheritance.
After meticulous investigation and research, the rescue and excavation of the oral heritage of the legend of Meng Jiangnu in Zibo area in Shandong Province, Qinhuangdao area in Hebei Province and Jinshi area in Hunan Province have proved that these places are formed during the oral inheritance and evolution of the legend of Meng Jiangnu over the past two thousand years.
A central area with its own characteristics.
A distinctive feature of the oral legends passed down in the center is the close adhesion of the legendary characters and events to the local cultural and historical background and natural geographical environment.
This adhesion provides people with a "credibility" to confirm the legend.
The "credibility" feature that provides confirmation is the primary feature that legends have far advantages in folk life compared to other types of oral stories.
This kind of confirmation does not refer to historical archives and historical materials, but a credible basis for oral folk art.
It may even provide some "keepsake" that makes people trustworthy.
People who tell the legend of the local Meng Jiangnu usually tell the legend, but always supplement it with on-site and physical displays and explanations, or find credible evidence to encourage people to believe in the authenticity of their oral legends as if they believed in official history.
The oral inheritance of Meng Jiangnu in Zibo, Shandong Province has this characteristic.
The legend of Mengjiangnu in Zibo has been associated with the history of the Great Wall of Qi during the Spring and Autumn Period around 549 BC since ancient times.
The legendary protagonist archetype was always mainly Qi Liang's wife in inheritance.
Therefore, many local relics related to Qi Liang's wife were left behind.
For example, there are nearly 100 kilometers of the Qi Great Wall ruins in the three districts and counties of Boshan, Zichuan and Yiyuan in Zibo City.
There are Zishui, several related place names, and the remains of related scenery such as Jiang Nvquan as evidence of the spread of legends, etc., are all "credible" evidence that legends adhere to local customs.
All these corroborations are recorded in the long history of oral inheritance and documentary notes.
They were not created artificially by any modern person.
This is an important basis for the centralized inheritance and identification of Meng Jiangnu's oral heritage.
Paradoxical-Broadening the cultural space of folklore
When exploring the artistic characteristics of oral inheritance as intangible cultural heritage, it is necessary to emphasize that all the "credible objects" of scenery relics closely related to the legend of Meng Jiangnu are for oral heritage, the most basic and major intangible cultural heritage.
It does not require the use of documentary materials to verify the value and significance of historical facts itself; on the contrary, its value lies in developing the inheritance of Meng Jiangnu's oral legend of Jiang into a more typical Meng Nv cultural space.
In Zibo, Jinshi and Qinhuangdao and other cultural centers of Meng Jiangnu's legend, the cultural activity form of this legend has been fully expressed.
This "credible" and "plausible" cultural space of Meng Jiangnu is an important organic part of Meng Jiangnu's legendary oral heritage.
Any historical data identification and truth-seeking textual research will damage the spiritual level of this oral heritage.
Cultural vitality, thus weakening its precious cultural value.
Here, the legend of Meng Jiangnu, as a folk literature for thousands of years, has a highly fictional artistic charm, which is an important reason why it has become a national intangible cultural heritage project.
Here is one of the most basic issues of classification and identification of cultural heritage.
If Meng Jiangnu and Wan Xiliang are identified as historical figures, and at the same time, the construction of the Great Wall, crying for the Great Wall, and even crying for the Great Wall are historical facts, it will lead to the archaeological excavation of various related sites such as Meng Jiangnu and Wan Xiliang's hometown, the Qi Great Wall, and the Qin Great Wall., because this is the basic means for cultural relics and archaeology to identify material cultural heritage.
For the protection of oral intangible cultural heritage such as the legend of Meng Jiangnu, this kind of cultural relics excavation, site identification and historical research are futile.
It is unscientific and completely unnecessary to try every means to claim that the region is the true birthplace of the legend of Meng Jiangnu.
The well-known word-of-mouth spread among the common people and the Jiangnu temple fairs in various places are the most valuable evidence of Meng Jiangnu's intangible cultural heritage.
Therefore, the legend of Meng Jiangnu, which is an oral literary heritage, does not need to verify whether Meng Jiangnu and Wan Xiliang actually existed in a certain historical stage and a certain place, let alone textual research on Meng Jiangnu's so-called historical events where she cried and threw herself into the city.
Where did the historical events occur? What is important is whether the two protagonists in this oral legend and their stories are representative of human civilization and of great historical, cultural and folk literature and artistic value, and whether they are worthy of our serious protection and passed on to future generations.
From the inspection of the inheritance activities of Meng Jiangnu's folk oral heritage, we can see that in Zibo, Jinshi and Qinhuangdao, areas where Meng Jiangnu's traditional folk cultural activities are concentrated have long been formed, and Meng Jiangnu's cultural relics are repeatedly performed and promoted in various forms.
In addition to repeatedly spreading Meng Jiangnu's oral legends adhered to a series of cultural landscapes, there are also groups of folk artists who pass on the legends from generation to generation, using local folk songs, folk folk arts or opera forms to pass on Meng Jiangnu's oral heritage.
What is even more vivid is that in the cultural circles of Meng Jiangnu in these areas, customs activities to sacrifice or commemorate Meng Jiangnu are circulated every relevant memorial day of the lunar calendar.
At that time, neighbors from far and near come in droves to pay homage to Meng Jiangnu and visit the local scenery and relics related to the legend of Meng Jiangnu.
All of these have become the most representative cultural elements in Meng Jiangnu's cultural space.
After thousands of years of inheritance, Meng Jiangnu's oral heritage in these places has now become a unique Meng Jiangnu cultural space.
Of course, as the oral and intangible heritage of mankind, Meng Jiangnu's oral heritage and its cultural space, like most intangible cultural heritage, have certain characteristics of symbiosis and sharing in the long history of cultural communication.
It is foreseeable that in the vast cultural circle of Meng Jiangnu's oral inheritance, there will be one or more Meng Jiangnu's oral heritage or cultural spaces with unique local characteristics, such as Suzhou in Jiangsu and Songjiang in Shanghai or Tongchuan in Shaanxi.
They also have the scale of Meng Jiangnu's cultural space.
However, the investigation, research, rescue and protection of the legend of Meng Jiangnu and its cultural space in Zibo, Qinhuangdao and Tianjin are at the forefront, demonstrating the magnificent appearance of representative works of human oral and intangible heritage with unique local characteristics, and contributing to the comprehensive protection of China Meng Jiangnu's oral heritage and cultural space.
It has made a major contribution and deserves high praise.
(The author is the honorary chairman of China Folklore Society and the deputy director of the National Expert Committee on the Protection of Intangible Cultural Heritage.)
The legend of Meng Jiangnu scattered all over the country
The legend of Meng Jiangnu has spread across a wide range.
According to Gu Jiegang's research and statistics in the 1920s, the provinces and regions where the legend has spread include: Beijing, Hebei, Liaoning, Shandong, Shanxi, Henan, Shaanxi, Jiangsu, Shanghai, Anhui, Zhejiang, Hubei, Hunan, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan, Sichuan, and Gansu.
There are also many places with relics related to Meng Jiangnu, such as the Jiangnu Temple and Jiangnu Tomb in Shanhaiguan, the Jiangnu Temple in Suizhong County, Liaoning, the Mengjiangnu Temple in Qi City, Henan, the Kuquan and Mengjiangnu Temple in Shaanxi, the Wanxiliang Stone Statue in Shanghai, and the Jiangnu Spring in Boshan, Shandong (4 places).
The "Legend of Meng Jiangnu" project applied by Zibo City of Shandong Province, Qinhuangdao City of Hebei Province, and Jinshi City of Hunan Province respectively has been included in the national intangible cultural heritage representative list.
Shandong Zibo
According to the "23rd Year of Xianggong" in "Zuo Zhuan", in the autumn of 550 BC, Qi Liang, the general of Qi, led his troops to attack Ju State (now Ju County, Shandong Province) and unfortunately died.
His wife Meng Jiang welcomed the coffin to the suburbs (at the intersection of the Great Wall of Qi and the Zishui River, now north of Yuanyuan Town, Boshan, Zibo).
The King of Qi wanted to pay his respects here, but Meng Jiang resisted and asked to go to the palace to offer sacrifices in accordance with the ceremony.
After Qi Liang was buried, Meng Jiang was still deeply saddened.
After 200 years,"Tan Gong" recorded Zeng Zi's statement on this matter: "His wife welcomed his coffin on the road and cried.
Zhuang sent people to pay tribute to him." In Liu Xiang's "Shuo Yuan·Shan Shuo Pian" of the Western Han Dynasty, there is a record that "his wife was sad and cried towards the city, but the corner collapsed..." In "The Biography of Lienu", there is a plot where Qi Liang's wife went to Zishui (now the north of the source) and died.
The deeds of Qi Liang's wife are the original content of Meng Jiangnu's legend.
Due to its profound mass character, the legend of Meng Jiangnu has been circulated for more than 2500 years.
It has been circulated throughout China, and its content has also evolved.
It was originally the wife of Qi Liang (Meng Jiangnu) of Qi during the Spring and Autumn Period, but in the end, its tragic fate was associated with Qin Shi Huang and the Great Wall of Qin Dynasty.
But tracing the origin, the capital of Qi State where Qi Liang's wife died crying and Zishui City where she committed suicide are located in Zibo, Shandong.
The story of Meng Jiangnu has been passed down in Boshan for generations, and the folk song "Meng Jiangnu Crying for the Great Wall" is still sung among the people in Boshan.
The folk custom of "sad songs and mourning" formed before the Western Han Dynasty and related to the legend of Meng Jiangnu has been passed down from generation to generation among the people of Boshan.
To this day, middle-aged and elderly women in Boshan still sing long songs instead of crying, expressing their grief with the traditional tunes of Meng Jiangnu.
Meng Jiangnu's crying tone is widely spread in rural areas, which can be said to have formed a crying culture.
Hebei Qinhuangdao
Shanhaiguan, Qinhuangdao City, is named because it borders Yanshan Mountain in the north and Bohai Sea in the south.
It is 15 kilometers away from Qinhuangdao.
The story of Meng Jiangnu continued from Songjiang Prefecture in the south of the Yangtze River to Shanhaiguan in the north.
In order to commemorate this unyielding and unyielding martyr, people established the "Chastity Nu Temple" on Fenghuang Mountain 6.5 kilometers east of Shanhaiguan, which is now known as Meng Jiangnu Temple.
According to the second chapter of "Purlin Bow" in the Book of Rites, Duke Zhuang of Qi attacked Ju, and general Qi Liang died in battle.
His wife "welcomed his coffin on the road and cried." In the Han Dynasty, the story developed again: Qi Liang, a native of Yan, fled into the garden of Meng Chao's house to avoid Qin Shi Huang's battle to build the Great Wall in the north.
He met Meng Chao's daughter Meng Zhongzi bathing in the pool.
Zhongzi was "forbidden to see her husband again because of her body as a woman." So she asked her father to marry herself to Qi Liang.
After the marriage,"the chief was angry that he fled, so he killed him and built him inside the city.
When Zhong Zi heard this, he went to the city with grief and indignation, crying.
The city collapsed in front of him, and his bones were crossed.
I don't know who was right." Therefore, he dropped blood to identify the bones and "buried them." By the Tang Dynasty, the plot and theme of the story were very similar to the later story of Meng Jiangnu.
The time of the story changed from the Spring and Autumn Period to the Qin Dynasty, and the location changed from "the Great Wall of Qi" to "the Great Wall of Qin".
The character changed from Qi Liang, a general of Qi State, to Qi Liang, a native of Yan.
Qi Liang's wife took the surname Meng.
In the Ming Dynasty, there was a plot of "Qin Shi Huang forced marriage".
At this point, the plot of the story was completely finalized, namely: "Purple swallows send seeds, ginger girls are born, talented girls in boudoir capture Qi Liang, meet in lotus ponds, swear to heaven and earth, flowers are spent in the wedding room, husband and wife are separated, cold clothes are made at night, long pavilions bid farewell, distress by the river, relatives from foreign countries, green forest farewell, sad songs, thousands of people build a city, look at the husband concave stone, drop blood to identify relatives, the Qin Emperor forced marriage, Qi Liang was buried heavily, and the sea was honored."
Hunan Jinshi
According to relevant historical records, the story of Mengjiangnu in Hunan Province did not begin to "show its face" until the middle of the Ming Dynasty, and it has been more than 400 years since.
In the twelfth year of Hongzhi of the Ming Dynasty (1499), Li Rugui, a scholar of Lizhou, wrote an article stating that Meng Jiangnu was from Lizhou, Hunan Province.
He claimed: "Since the Qin Dynasty for more than a thousand years, Li people have recited it unremittingly, and they often sang it." In the 13th year of Jiajing (1534), Hunan Governor Lin Dalu advocated the construction of the Mengjiangnu Temple in Lizhou.
Li Rugui personally wrote "The Story of the Zhenlie Temple", which is the earliest account of the story of Mengjiangnu in Hunan Province.
As a result, the story of Meng Jiangnu in Hunan was able to reach the elegant hall of literati songs, poems and poems.
As a result, the influence of the story of Meng Jiangnu in Lizhou was further expanded and developed in depth, with various folk literature such as folk songs, minor tunes, and rap operas appearing.
genre.
Not only that, the story of Meng Jiangnu has also penetrated into the customs and etiquette of various ethnic groups and regions in Hunan, especially in the areas of Li County and Yuanling in the Lishui River and Yuanshui River basins.
The habit of singing Meng Jiangnu's ballad and drama is popular in weddings, funerals, birthdays and some sacrificial activities.
literati in the Qing Dynasty used the story of Meng Jiangnu as material to create and wrote more influential works.
In the sixth year of Tongzhi of the Qing Dynasty (1867), Guo Qing wrote a preface (revised) to "Meng Jiangshan Annals".
Although it has a strong religious color, it objectively preserved a large amount of information related to the story of Meng Jiangnu and further "transformed" this traditional folk story.