Being an integral component of folklore, fairy tales serve as a support, a source of knowledge about any people, nation, as they reflect the life of the environment in which they arose, the natural conditions and characteristics of the original culture, historical development. And Chinese folk tales are no exception. In the Chinese fabulous repertoire, magic tales occupy the largest place, which are divided into separate semantic categories:
- the abduction of the beloved protagonist and her subsequent salvation;
- about marrying a sorceress, an unearthly wonderful girl (for example, "Red Lily");
- about the victory of the unfortunate orphan (destitute hero) over mercenary and cruel relatives.
About the search for the disappeared beautiful bride
One of the most ancient cycles that make up Chinese folk tales is considered to be the story of the search for the missing brides: “As a young man I searched for my beloved”, in which the girl was stolen by an evil werewolf, or “The Tale of the cunning W-gen and faithful Shi-e,” which the heroine was abducted by the Black Eagle. Perhaps, in the view of the ancient Chinese, the abduction of a lover was seen as a punishment for neglecting the tradition of choosing a girl from his family as his wife. All Chinese folk tales of this type had the same structure and further development of the plot. It consisted in the fact that the hero went in search of a betrothed, at all costs sought to take her from the villain-archer and return people to the world. Naturally, the legend ended with an absolute happy ending - a safe return home as a winner and with your beloved bride. Compared to the European counterparts of similar fairy-tale plots, in Chinese there is no ornate description of a beautiful (royal) life, excessive splendor of a syllable, and the main characters are not princes and enchanted princesses, but ordinary peasant couples.
About path and trials
There are magic tales about the test that fathers of daughters in their kingdom come up with for their future son-in-law. A fairy tale called "Heavenly drum" is an example. In it, the main character marries a heavenly fairy, but the fairy father does not consider this marriage valid and takes his daughter to heaven, where he holds her in a heavenly prison. To return his beloved, a young man must pass in the kingdom of his father-in-law numerous trials that were not passed before marriage, which violated the sacred marriage ritual. Only after completing all the tasks assigned to him by the beloved father, the hero will again be able to see his wife.
Another example is the fairy tale “Red Lily”, in which the main character, the poor peasant Dulin, having received a beautiful fairy as a wife, the girl emerging from the flower, did not fully appreciate his happiness: he became lazy, arrogant. Reckoning was not long in coming. Fairy, unable to bear his scornful attitude, fled astride a peacock to the moon. It took Dulin a year to realize and correct his mistake. As soon as he began to work again, his wife returned to him and their life again became "sweet as honey."
Fighting Evil Relatives
Chinese fairy tales for children include those that tell about the “victory” of the unfortunate protagonist over his terrible relatives: a selfish and hated older brother and his wife, over his stepmother or stepfather. In such stories there is a pronounced characteristic characteristic of many folklore legends of different peoples - the idealization of the younger brother. And Chinese folk tales also represent this hero as the guardian of tribal traditions and the family hearth, for example, as in "The Tale of the Younger Brother". In it, the younger brother inherits a piece of unusable land, the dog on which he plows, and a rooster. Out of hatred, the older brother kills the unfortunate dog and bird. The heartbroken hero buries friends not far from his hut. And the next morning, a miracle tree grows at the burial place, instead of foliage on which - coins.
Household and satirical tales
Chinese folk tales, which belong to the category of “everyday”, include frankly satirical stories, for example, “The Beautiful Wife” and “The Magic Vat”. In everyday tales, the dominant role is played by all kinds of magical objects, around the features of which the plot action unfolds. However, in comparison with Russian satirical tales, in Chinese fairy tale character the judge is usually wise and positive. An example is the whole collection of tales of a fair judge Bao-gong, who was famous for his honesty and integrity.
Special attention deserves the Chinese folk tale "Liu Brothers." According to her plot, the mother had five twin sons, they called all Liu, and after that they added a serial number - the first, second, etc. The young men each had a separate magical property. They lived together happily until an angry ruler, angry over a spoiled hunt, arrested one of the brothers. But the heroes defended their brother, using their fabulous superpowers. They not only freed their youngest, but also saved the population of the region from the evil ruler and his entire retinue.
Reflection of imaginative thinking
There are several types of Chinese fairy tales: a fairy tale called "Xianhua", a mythical fairy tale is "gushi", children's tales are called "tonyhua". The most interesting are the tales called "Shenhua." Often they have a connection with the concepts of "fiction", "myth" and "legend". In ancient times, people tried to explain the incomprehensible natural phenomena by any available means. Therefore, the tale is a reflection of the imaginative thinking of the Chinese people, which is based on the imagination.