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Historical Introduction

The origins of Chinese folk tales include history, songs, theater, and the oral tradition of storytelling. Undoubtedly, storytelling was the earliest way these stories were handed down from generation to generation. They were sometimes translated into songs and vice versa. By about 1100 BC, many stories we now think of as folk tales were common in “historical” accounts. These stories explained the origins of natural phenomena and documented the lives and deeds of semi-legendary figures and were believed to be true. They were written in a very factual style in order to record what was thought of as scientific or historical information and often consisted only of outlines.

During the Han Dynasty (206 BC to AD 220), literature flourished as the great masters of the era used the refined language of the court to record popular folk tales and songs. During this period, most Chinese literary works were written in wen yen wen, or the classical Chinese language. The combination of refined language with lively folk elements resulted in some of the finest early examples of Chinese literature. However, by the beginning of the T’ang Dynasty (AD 618 to 907), the early creativeness of the Han Dynasty degenerated into a highly stylized and excessively ornate type of literature.

It was during the T’ang Dynasty that the first real fiction appeared, with short stories that had riveting plots and highly developed characters. These stories dealt with virtue, social satire, religion, and love and influenced later drama and fiction. Superstitions documented in the earlier “historical” accounts were thus elevated into the realm of imaginative literature. The stories were written in the elegant wen yen wen.

By the Sung Dynasty (AD 960 to 1279), some writers, feeling constrained by the formality of wen yen wen, rewrote the earlier historical accounts and recorded folk tales using the common language of China, called bai hua. These stories were very popular but were not respected as “real” literature. However, they are often much more colorful and poetic than the writings of the respected classical writers.

It was also during the Sung Dynasty that the tradition of storytelling underwent a glorious renaissance. This rebirth was the result of the rising importance of a new middle class in China. Before then, Chinese society consisted of five broad social classes. In decreasing order of importance, these classes consisted of aristocrats, scholars, peasants, artisans, and merchants. All this changed when previously despised merchants and artisans began making a lot of money from trading their goods with other cities and countries.

As a result, teahouses became very popular, especially with merchants and other lower middle-class people seeking entertainment with their newfound leisure and money. These teahouses were delightful resting places after a hard day’s work, and they served tea and simple refreshments such as peanuts and other snacks. As more teahouses opened up, competition became fierce.

The more successful teahouse owners hired professional storytellers to entertain their guests for free. Because the customers arrived at different times, the storyteller would tell jokes and anecdotes until the teahouse audience was large enough and then begin his tale. His performance often included singing, poetry recital, and acting.

This trend not only spread and proliferated Chinese folk tales, it also affected their content. New stories were told that included merchants or other lower-middle class heroes that appealed to the tea-house audiences. No longer were heroes of stories noble figures who had very few shortcomings. They were often ordinary and very human. Many of these stories tell of common men who struggle to win beautiful princesses in marriage and high stations in life.

With the invention of moveable-type printing in China during the Sung Dynasty, more and more of the previously illiterate masses became literate along with the increasingly prosperous merchant and artisan classes. The rise in literacy made hua ben popular. These hua ben were outlines written in bai hua that helped storytellers remember plots. The hua ben told many of the same stories heard by teahouse patrons and eventually inspired the Chinese novel.

Later in about the fourteenth century, many plays were written based on the earlier orally transmitted stories. Previously, plays had been the exclusive entertainment of the rich and elite, but during the Sung Dynasty, actors began forming troupes that toured the country and entertained a large cross-section of society. New stories sprang into being from these plays, which were often performed at festivals. Because they were meant to entertain, the stories often contained poetry, song, dance, and highly elaborate plots and characters not found in the earlier brief “historical” accounts.

During the Ming Dynasty (AD 1368 to 1644), in addition to poetry and essays written in wen yen wen, which continued the tradition of classical writings, there was literature written in bai hua. This type of literature began to thrive and eventually enlivened drama and the novel. Many great works of this period were based on stories made popular during the Sung Dynasty.

Religion also influenced Chinese folk tales. The two major Chinese religions were Buddhism and Taoism. Buddhism became popular in the early half of the sixth century, but Taoism was made popular about four centuries earlier. Buddhists wrote quite a few “moral” tales to teach followers the tenets of Buddhism, which was brought to China in AD 67. Some of the earliest tales were based on religious sermons. These stories have moral dimensions that promote virtues central to Buddhism, such as patience, moderation, and a respect for life. Taoism was named after Lao Tze (603 to 531 BC), a great Chinese philosopher. Taoists believed in the relationship between men and nature. Taoism also influenced literature by stressing the freedom of the individual and thus inspired writers to develop their own styles uninhibited by earlier literary conventions.

After the establishment of the Communist Party in China in the 1920s, traditional Chinese stories finally came into their own. Long regarded as “common,” these tales weren’t looked upon as a “true” form of literature until the 1930s, despite the fact that the songs and oral renditions of the tales inspired so many great Chinese writers of the past. The Communist government praised these tales because first, they were written in the simple and beautiful bai hua of the common people. Thus, they represented a triumph over the aristocratic minority, who read and wrote wen yen wen. Second, because they were written in bai hua, they presented an invigorating “new” form of literature that replaced literature written in wen yen wen. Traditional Chinese stories consequently became more popular because they were promoted by the Communist Party as symbolic of the power of the people under Communism over the autocratic emperors of old.

Today, traditional Chinese tales offer a glimpse of the richness, beauty, and down-to-earth spirit of Chinese culture. It is my hope that the reader of this book will gain insight into a colorful ancient civilization. Chinese religion, philosophy, and tradition permeate all of the tales, and yet they all deal with human universals such as self-sacrifice, wisdom, gentleness, vanity, greed, ambition, and love. Although many of the Chinese beliefs and traditions recounted here may seem strange to Western readers, these and all classical tales have survived for so long because of their universal appeal. Ultimately, they remind us of our shared humanity.