Folktales

Folktales are narrative stories with a wide range of themes and full of fantasy that have been passed down orally by people since ancient times. They tell the various relationships between people in the form of strange language and symbols. Like all good creations, folktales start from life itself, but are not limited to actual situations and what people think is true and reasonable. They often contain supernatural and whimsical elements.

Chinese folk narrative prose works. Folk stories can be divided into five categories, namely: fantasy stories, animal stories, life stories, folk fables, and folk jokes.

①Fantasy stories (or folk fairy tales) contain rich imaginative elements and are full of romance. The protagonists are mostly ordinary workers, and the plots, things and some characters have supernatural properties. Often present things that are impossible in reality as possible. The plot often adopts the "three-paragraph structure method"; the characters, plot, and language are basically stereotyped, and sometimes vary in different regions. "The Sweater Girl", "Ye Xian", "Wu Kan", etc. are all fantasy stories circulated in ancient times.

②Animal stories take animals as the protagonists. Animals are often anthropomorphized. Some use the entanglement between animals to express social phenomena and interpersonal relationships; some explain the habits of animals; some contain obvious teaching significance.

③Life stories are fictionalized based on real life. It is more realistic and the stories often promote good and suppress evil. The length is relatively short, the characters are simple, and contrasting techniques are often used. Sometimes the three-section structure method is also used. The style is relatively simple and lively.

④Folk fables are oral prose stories created by the masses of people that contain obvious lessons. There are many fables recorded or quoted in the works of the Pre-Qin Dynasty, such as "Pluck the Seedlings to Help It Grow", "Waiting for the Rabbit", "Carving the Boat to Seek the Sword", etc. The style is subtle, humorous and thought-provoking.

⑤Folk jokes are short stories that are humorous and comical. A large number of them are works that satirize certain shortcomings in people's internal life and character. Many beautiful folk stories, such as the widely circulated "The Legend of Meng Jiangnu", have become one of the four famous folk stories in my country (the other three famous stories are: "The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl", "The Legend of the White Snake", "Liang Shanbo and Zhu "Yingtai". Another example is "Yan Zhao Wang built a golden platform" and other stories, which have long been recorded in history. The golden platform has become a symbol of recruiting talents and valuing talents, and has been famous throughout the ages. "The Legend of Generals", "The Story of the Boxers", etc.