Folk fable

Author: Bi Zi
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-09-01
Features: China is a renowned ancient civilization, a vast cultural nation, a developing country making great strides toward modernization, and a nation rapidly integrating into the global economic wave through reform and opening-up. China's long-standing agricultural civilization, local culture, and ethnic culture are facing an existential crisis and are in urgent need of attention. We cannot stand idly by, remain indifferent, or fail to shoulder the responsibility we should. The China Folk Literature and Art Association has therefore advocated, initiated, and hosted the "China Folk Cultural Heritage Rescue Project." We firmly believe that the folk literature, folk art, and folk customs created by the people of all ethnic groups in China, with millions of years of historical heritage, are an integral part of Chinese culture and civilization. They are a great cultural heritage on par with classical texts, historical sites, and relics, representing the intangible, non-material, oral, folk, and living half of Chinese culture. The folk fables selected in this book adopt a classification method that is an attempt and may not be entirely scientific, but the compilers still hope that this catalog will be beneficial to readers, especially young people and those with limited exposure to folk literature. During the selection process, the compilers often sighed inwardly: "The folk literary heritage of our motherland is truly a treasure trove, invaluable." The selected folk fables in this book generally follow these principles: 1. Select some classic and typical forms of folk fables passed down orally from generation to generation among various ethnic groups; 2. China's classical texts record a considerable number of fables, from which we have chosen those originating from folk traditions, those with clear oral storytelling characteristics, and those centered on folk figures and phenomena; 3. Some fables are universal, collected from Aesop's Fables or external traditions, and are included in this book for appreciation and study; 4. The book has screened some non-narrowly defined oral literature such as animal stories, short tales, legends, and jokes, resulting in many new fables rich in meaning; 5. The fables included are both traditional and newly collected, both narrowly and broadly defined, both Han and ethnic minority, both oral and artistic, as well as readable.