Chinese Legends

legend 1 - Filial Piety
legend 2 - The Cowherd and the Weaving Princess
legend 3 - Sze Ma-Kwong

legend 4 -Cao Zhi, a Prince who composed a poem within the time
required to walk seven steps

l egend 5 - Hua Mu-lan, a girl who disguised as a boy to fight for her
country

Link 6 - A superwoman Zhong Wu-y an

Legend 7 - A tale of a white snake

Legend 8 - Tang Bo-hu, a famous scholar

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Legend 1 - Filial Piety

Thousands of years ago in China, there lived a farmer, his wife and
their son. The farmer and his son worked in the fields, and his wife
looked after the house. Every day, the farmer's wife cooked a nice
supper for the family when they finished a hard day's work. They lived
happily together.

Time passed and one cold winter came. Snow was falling heavily.
Everyone had to stay at home by the fire place. Unfortunately, the
farmer fell ill and his condition was getting worse and worse. A doctor
was called to see him. Having examined the farmer, he shook his head
and spoke to the farmer's wife in a low and sad voice. "Your husband is
very ill. He will only recover if he can have a bowl of carp soup. The
carp soup will make him feel better, but it is so cold now and no one
can fish in this weather. All the rivers have turned into ice. I am very
sorry, madam." The doctor then left the house. The farmer's wife was
so sad that she sobbed bitterly.

The farmer's son heard what the doctor had said to his mother. Quietly,
he slipped out of the house, taking with him a fishing basket. He walked
and walked towards the river. Snow and wind were hitting hard at him
and he still kept on walking until he reached the river. Naturally, the river
was covered with thick ice. It was as hard as rock. He slowly and
carefully walked on the icy river and lay down. He was hoping that the
heat from his body might melt the cold ice. Hours passed and he fell
asleep. Without knowing how long he had been laying down on the icy
river, he was suddenly awakened by the flowing movement of the river.
At once he realised that the ice had melted underneath his body.
Without hesitation, he quickly turned and dived deep into the river and
deep into the river and caught a carp.

He went home happily and knocked at the door.
"Open the door, mother, quick, quick," cried the farmer's son.
His mother opened the door and was shocked to see his son soaking
wet. "Where have you been and what on earth have you done to
yourself. You are soaking wet. Come in quickly or else you will catch a
cold."
"Mother, mother, I have caught a carp for father. Look", said the
farmer's son.
"How can you get the carp in this freezing cold weather?", asked his
mother with astonishment.
The farmer's son told his mother what he had done, and how he had
melted the ice. After the farmer's wife heard of the story, she
embraced her son and wept.
"You are really our good son", said his mother.
"You 'd better go and change to some dry clothes. I will make you a hot
bowl of congee, while I cook the carp soup for your father," said his
mother.

A couple of days later, the farmer fully recovered and the family were
very happy again.

=========================================================

Legend 2 - The Cowherd and the Weaving Princess

Once upon a time, there was a pretty princess living in the Kingdom of
Heaven. She was the youngest of the seven daughters of the King of
Heaven. This princess wove so well that she was called the Weaving
Princess.

One day, the Weaving Princess felt so bored staying in Heaven that she
thpught of descending down to earth for a visit. She discussed the plan
with her other six elder sisters, and they all insisted that she had to ask
for permission from the King.

The princess together with all her sisters went to the King and asked
for his permission. However, the King refused saying that she was too
precious to him and he did not want any harm come to her. The
Weaving Princess retired to her chamber and felt very sad. All her
sisters were heart broken when they saw their youngest sister so
unhappy. All of a sudden, the eldest sister had an idea, and suggested
that the Weaving Princess just slip out for a short trip to the Earth; she
could return before dusk. The Weaving Princess immediately jumped
for joy. All the sisters helped the Weaving Princess dress up for this
exciting journey. Scented flowers were put in her silken hair, and
colourful ribbons were tied to her tiny waist.

The Weaving Princess descended to Earth and landed on a very
scenic plain. The sky was blue, the trees were green and all the wild
flowers were colourful. She saw happy farmers working hard in the
fields. The Weaving Princess started to stroll along the road, and in the
distance, she heard a rhythmic melody coming from a distance behind
her. She was attracted to the music, so she turned back and headed in
that direction. Not far under a tree, there sat a young man wearing a
straw hat, playing a flute. Besides him there was a cow grazing in the
grass.

The Weaving Princess walked towards the young man, and said, "Who
are you? You play the flute very well". "Everybody calls me the
Cowherd, because I look after the cows for the villagers whilst they are
working in the fields” replied the young man. "Who are you? I have not
seen you before in the village, and you look very beautiful", asked the
Cowherd, shyly. The Weaving Princess told the Cowherd that she lived
very far away and she was on a sightseeing tour. Both the Cowherd
and the Weaving Princess fell in love at first sight.

The Cowherd told the Weaving Princess that his parents died when he
was young. All they had left him was a small cottage. They enjoyed
each other's company so much that they suddenly realized that it was
getting dark. The Weaving Princess remembered that she had to return
to Heaven. The Cowherd was extremely sad to see the Princess leave,
and the Weaving Princess found it very hard to break his heart. The
Cowherd suddenly over came his shyness and proposed to the
Weaving Princess. The Weaving Princess happily accepted.

The couple got married soon afterwards. The Weaving Princess helped
with the household expenses by weaving beautiful silk, the Cowherd
carried on with his work in looking after the cows, and they lived happily.

One day, when the couple was taking their lunch in the cottage, they
heard a roaring sound at the front yard. They went out and saw a
Heaven Guard had just arrived. "Your Highness, by the imperial order
of His Majesty the King of Heaven, you are summoned to return to the
Heaven Kingdom," ordered the Guard.

Both the Cowherd and the Weaving Princess knelt down to receive the
royal decree. After hearing what the Guard had said, the Weaving
Princess told the Guard that she would not return to Heaven, as she
was married to the Cowherd and was very happy. The Guard advised
her that no one from Heaven would be allowed to marry any one from
the Earth. The Weaving Princess begged the Guard to return to the
King and asked for his mercy. The Guard sympathised with the
Princess and left.

The Weaving Princess thought that was the end of the trauma and she
could live happily ever after with the Cowherd. But when the
Guard returned to Heaven and reported to the King what had
happened, the King was furious. He said "How can a Princess from
Heaven marry a man from Earth." "Go and fetch the Weaving Princess
again," ordered the King.

By this time, all the sisters of the Weaving Princess heard what had
happened, and they all came to beg the King to allow the Weaving
Princess to stay with her husband, whom she loved dearly. The King
rejected the request, and said, “the Heaven Rule cannot be broken."

The Guard then returned to Earth the second time to deliver the King's
imperial order to the Weaving Princess. After the Weaving Princess
heard what the King had said, she cried bitterly. The Cowherd was
devastated and completely heart broken. The Guard took the Weaving
Princess away from the Cowherd and brought her back to Heaven to
see the King

.

When the Weaving Princess told her father ow much she loved the
Cowherd, the King of Heaven sympathised with his daughter, but he
could not break the imperial rule. He thought of a solution. He said
from now on the 7th day of the 7th month of each year, sparrows would
form a bridge joining Heaven and Earth, so that the Weaving Princess
can meet the Cowherd once a year.

From then on, people pay tribute to the Weaving Princess on the 7th
day of the 7th month of the Lunar Year.

=========================================================
Legend 3 - Sze Ma-Kwong

A long time ago in China, there lived a boy named Sze Ma-Kwong. He
was a very clever and hardworking boy. He lived in a little village with
his mother and father. He often went fishing at the river nearby. Every
night, Sze Ma-Kwong studied very hard.

He always wanted to be a great scholar. One sunny afternoon, Sze Ma-
Kwong finished his homework and went out to play with his friends in an
open space outside their houses. There were a number of boys and
girls gathered together. One boy suggested playing hide and seek.
Everyone agreed. Sze Ma-Kwong was to be the seeker. So he turned
his back and leaned his head against the wall. He shut his eyes and
started counting.
‘One, two, three ……..’
Meanwhile, the rest of the children ran as fast as they could to hide.
Some hid behind the bushes, some covered themselves with hay and
some climbed up a tree. The place was completely silent. One could
only hear the noise made by the birds.
‘……. Eight, nine, ten,’ said Sze Ma-Kwong, and turned round to look
for the children who were hiding.

Just at that very moment, he heard someone crying out for help. ‘Help
help’. All the other children immediately dashed out from their hiding
places. Sze Ma-Kwong immediately went to look for the place where
the crying voice came from. Finally he found that the voice came from a
tall barrel sitting under a tree. (Barrels were made of clay in the olden
days for storage of water in China). A little girl was crying
out for help inside the barrel. No body knew at that time how she could
be in the tall barrel. Everybody started to panic and did not know how
to rescue the little girl. Sze Ma-Kwong thought for a little moment, then
he looked round and found a stone. He picked it up and hit the barrel
hard with it. The barrel broke into pieces and water gushed out from the
barrel. The little girl was rescued by Sze Ma-Kwong’s clever idea.
The little girl told the rest of the children that she was hiding up in the
tree, and that she had slipped and fallen into the barrel.

When Sze Ma-Kwong grew up, he became a famous minister in the
Royal Court in China.

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