Hangzhou Anecdotes

 

Hangzhou as a romantic center of eastern Asia, owns a long and centuries-old history, and she is an urbane, experienced, well-cultivated, disconsolate but elegant lady wearing the pretty catching ssq.mile with melancholy, amorous feelings and enchantment. In the past 2000 years, the different dynasty gifted her unique sublimity and characteristics which comprised of her attractions in China and neighboring countries, her eyes, West Lake, her soft hairs, rows and lines of willows and sallow, her mysterious gynaecea, the evergreen woods with diversity of trees and the variform but coquettish hills, her voice, the nonstop and melodious music played in distinctive but traditional instruments like flute, pipa and zither etc.

Her garments, the velvet and precious silk, her appearance, the full moon with argent ray, the sun in spring with cloudy and windy characters, her action, the dancers'gracefulness and the young and beauteous washwomen's washing. Her anxiety, the mizzle covering the hills and lakes with the fairy's tear and sigh, the lovers'lifelong wait but without any result, and the fishermen's long pipe carrying the unceasing smoke mingled with the humilis mist. All of her reactions and activities could be taken as poem, song, picture, and music and the literators long recitation, even some anchorets' fere all their lives.

Hence, Hangzhou accompanied with West Lake gradually became the oriental City of Light, and the holyland of Chinese culture, literature, art. Numerous love stories happened here, remaining the universal and impressive influence in the public as the time goes. Fairy, animal peri, monk and so on, all existed in the world could be the elements of romantic image and the main characters of classical stories. So she became the god of the learners, masters, poets, painters, calligraphers, musicians and wanderers and their spiritual end-result.

 Many a story or anecdote happened in Hangzhou could be found in books, and nearly all the celebrities left their names in the history could be found in Hangzhou. Hangzhou could be summarized as the cradle of Chinese-style romance and stories. If you want to learn more about China, we sincerely inform you of this unwritten information, please come here to understand and appreciate the essence of Chinese culture.    
                       
There are many legendary stories happened in Hangzhou, "Lady White Snake" is one of the most popular folk tales. We could find it in many local dramas such as Yueju, Kunqu, Chuanju and Beijing opera, In some Chinese classical literatures, it is also could be read, for instance in Sanyanerpai written by Feng Menglong and Ling Mengchu. It is expanded in china extensively. The story moved Chinese from generation to generation.

The episode is the stormy love affair between the loyal heroine Lady White Snake and her emotionally but fainthearted husband. Taking the shapes of two women, White Snake and Green Snake toured on the West Lake. There they met Xu Xian on the Broken Bridge in a rainy day, whom White Snake fell in love with and married shortly, on the one hand, she would like to repay an obligation for Xu Xian saved her from a hunter several generations ago with the help of Kwan-yin; on the other hand, she truly loved this average man for his honesty and kind-heartedness. After they married, they set up a drugstore named Baohe Tang, which nowadays has been the national preserve, for stopping the human from the disease. On a May Festival, Xu offered an herb drink, Liuhuangjiu, to White Snake. Resisting the effect of the herb in vain, White Snake turned back to a snake, which shocked Xu to death. For saving his husband, she tried her best to turn to for help all through the earth and heaven. After many sufferings and setbacks, she succeeded in saving her husband. Later, she was imprisoned in Leifeng Tower until her child, Xu Shilin, who was a nationwide top examinee in the imperial examination, came to this tower and requested the god for helping him to save his mother.

This is a love story but also a family story, basically refelcting the folk wishes. This is the main ideas of this romantic story which to some extent indicates Chinese people's sentiment and thinking. In Ten Scenes of the West Lake, there are two scenic spots, that is, Leifeng Pagoda in Evening Glow and Lingering Snow on the Broken Bridge. You will have distinctive understanding towards these scenic spot from before on condition that you know these legendary stories and the background culture.

 There is an ancient stone-arch bridge across Zhonghe River named Wangxian Bridge which has a beautiful and touching story in the folk community.

A long time ago, a kind-hearted and young shopkeeper operated a small hotel selling some food made from wheat, and his neighbor was an old couple. Unluckily this couple died before long, and remained a girl who later became this young man's wife. This young couple lived depending on each other and treated the customers in hospitality. Their business went well and they also led a happy life. One day, a lame and dirty elder wearing the rags and standing the agony from fester and smelliness came to their small hotel. The customers could not bear such uncomfortableness and left there continually, but they did not mind his dirtiness and smelliness at all. They treated him as other consumers in hospitality, whereas this old man went out without paying for dining and acknowledgement when he was full. The thing lasted like this for three days, they still served him like before until the last day when the elder held up the bowl and blew a mouth of air into it and said the noodles were not delicious, then he went out directly. This couple thought him was so poor that they did not want to embarrass him. When young man was about to pouring the leftover into the hogwash tank, his wife suddenly stopped him and said it was a pity to waste the left, and she wanted to eat them. After she ate them out, she felt very strange and whole body was filled with fragrance, and at this time a pure white lotus rose from the river nearby. She set foot on the lotus and flied up to the heaven.

In fact, this lame elder was Tie Guaili, one of the Eight Immortals in the legend. He heard that this youngster was very kind and wanted to check it right or not by himself. He wanted to aid him to be a celestial being, however because of this young man's impurity; this bowl of precious noodles was eaten by his wife who was He Xiangu, another member of the Eight Immortals in the legend. This young man felt quite regretful when he saw his wife become the celestial being, so from then on, he waited on the bridge for that lame elder's recurrence, and then the people call this bridge as Wangxianqiao. This is a story going around Hangzhou, and adding the romance and mystery to the history and culture of Hangzhou.

The story of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai as the China's Romeo and Juliet, was one of our country's four folklores including Lady White Snake, Niu Lang and Zhi Nv, Meng Jiangnv and this one. The story, which concerns closely with Hangzhou, happened in Zhejiang in Eastern Jin Dynasty.

Zhu Yingtai, a girl whose nickname was Jiu Mei, wholeheartedly wanted to study in Hangzhou. His father could not stand her lasting disturbance and requirement and agreed to allow her to go there posing as a man with her servant girl. On the way to Hangzhou, they came across a young learner, Liang Shanbo who came from Kuaiji and also prepared to study in Hangzhou, in Caoqiaomen. They talked with each other so happily and joyfully that they decided to be sworn brothers. Afterwards, they studied together at Wansong School for three years, during these years; Liang Shanbo did not know his young brother was a lady at all. One day Zhu Yingtai receive a letter from his family that his father ordered her came back as quickly as possible. She deeply loved Liang Shanbo but could not express her love straightforwardly, so she requested his teacher's wife to deliver her love sign, a jade article, to Liang Shanbo. On her way to go back home, he dropped several hints to Liang Shanbo who saw her off, but this jannock and faithful man did not apprehend her love at all, when they came to the phoenix hill, Zhu Yingtai told Liang Shanbo that she had a young sister named Jiu Mei and she was willing to be a matchmaker and hoped him went to her house as soon as he can for proposal. After Liang Shanbo learned that she was girl, he hurried to go to her house; unfortunately Zhu Yingtai had been betrothed with an official's son, Ma Wencai. Zhu Yingtai strongly refused this marriage and met Liang Shanbo in her boudoir to release her hearty love to him. Liang Shanbo died for strike from this shocking news, and Zhu Yingtai endeavored to see him for the last time after she heard of this sad news. On that day that Ma Wencai married her, what surprised all the present guests were the clothes Zhu Yingtai wore, the mourning dress! On the way, which passed through Liang Shanbo's tomb, to Ma's family, Zhu Yingtai insisted on seeing Liang's tomb. When her sedan chair reached his tomb, this poor girl cried her eyes out.

In a flash, it began to thunder, and the rain and wind occurred simultaneously. The tomb dehisced when the thunderbolt happened, and Zhu Yingtai quickly jumped into the tomb, then the thunder, rain and wind stopped instantly; the sun shined again. A couple of butterflies emerged and elegantly danced together in the sky with freedom. This is the love story with the tragic end which also could add some personalized characters for Hangzhou.

Immortal Buddha Ji Gong, a legendry character, was widely known among the civilians in Hangzhou for hundreds of years. The image of Ji Gong in local people's mind was wearing the broken caps of monk and broken cassock and holding broken fan. He did not look like monk or commoner but the madman. He spoke humorously and had the powerful theurgy, and he liked focusing on unjust things in the world but he was deeply loved by the public.

It is said that Ji Gong became a monk at Linyin Temple at the age of 18, but he never abided by the rules and principles, and he liked drinking and eating dog meat, subsequently, he turned to the Jingci Temple as an amanuensis monk. On one occasion, the fire destroyed the main hall of Jingci Temple, the abbot turned to him for the big wood for restoring that hall, after he slept for three days because of overdrinking, he shouted at :"the wood is here, take it from well,  the wood really effused from the well of temple continually until the woods were enough for rebuilding the hall. Nowadays, there is a Shenmu Well in Jingci Temple. One day, Ji Gong predicted there would be a hill flying to the front of Linyin Temple, for the sake of saving the villagers ,he took the measure of looting bride to take the villages away from their houses and eventually avoided happening of disaster. This is the story illustrating the origin of Peak Flying-From-Afar.

Undoubtedly, the anecdotes and folklores in Hangzhou were innumerable; each part of its corners may conceal a story or a legend. In the past 2000 years, the stories happened and remained in the records of peoples' mouths and memory and passed down from one generation to another. It is really an encyclopedical records with all diversities of stories and romance probably happen nowadays and connected closely with ordinary people's daily lives. A classical story could be widely known for it reflect and meet the grassroots' needs, pleasure and leisure faithfully in some way. We are sure you will be attracted totally by its history, romance, culture and so many moving stories if you are really interested in China, especially its culture and history.