The Performance and Cultural Structure of the Story of Dong Yong

Author: Lang Jing
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-01-01
Features: The story of Dong Yong can be considered the fifth major folk tale in China, aside from the Four Great Folk Tales. Initially, it was simply a story about a filial son from the Han Dynasty who served his father with great devotion. However, history chose Dong Yong as a model for promoting the virtue of filial piety and it has been passed down to this day. Particularly after the liberation, with the boost from the Huangmei Opera Heavenly Match, it became widely known. During its process, the story of Dong Yong also underwent significant changes, gradually evolving from a tale of filial piety into a love story. This book, as the first specialized work in China dedicated to studying the evolution of the Dong Yong story, uses rich materials and historically profound arguments to outline the basic stages of the story's development. It reveals the triple role of folk, official, and intellectual groups in the evolution of folk tales, thereby presenting the historical richness of the Dong Yong story before us.