The Inheritance Status of Xiabaoping Folk Stories

In the past, the folk stories of the Han nationality in Xiabaoping were all passed down from mouth to mouth, without special utensils and articles, and the "rise and fall" of the story was mainly maintained by the inheritors. Nowadays, with the death of the older generation of storytellers, it is difficult to train successors, and the story town is in danger of dating. In order not to let this rich traditional culture of the Han nationality disappear, in recent years, the relevant departments of Yichang City have compiled and published Liu Folk Tales, Liu Folk Songs, Lang Ajie, Liu Biography, Adventure Life, Liu Joke Hall DVD album and so on. In addition, the cultural department also compiled Yang Wanzhou's folk songs "Wild Mountain Drum Songs" and "Xiabaoping Folk Tales", which protected folk culture.

At the same time, the township invites folk story artists to teach folk stories in local primary and secondary schools, and regularly holds folk story competitions on campus to train story successors; The "Xiabaoping Township Folklore Association" was also established, with China folklorist Liu Ren as honorary president, organizing story competitions on holidays.

On June 6th, 2006, Hubei Folk Writers and Artists Association issued Document No.6 of 2006, awarding Xiabaoping Township the title of "Hometown of Folk Stories in Hubei Province". In recent years, China Academy of Social Sciences, China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, China People's Association, Hubei Federation of Literary and Art Circles and Yichang Federation of Literary and Art Circles have conducted eight surveys and held academic discussions. It is believed that the folk stories in Xiabaoping Township, represented by Liu's Collection of Folk Stories, are the epitome of Han folk literature in the Three Gorges Dam area, Yiling District of Yichang City and even the whole Three Gorges area, and have high academic and appreciation value.

However, the outstanding inheritors of Xiabaoping folk stories have a long history, and the younger generation is less and less interested in stories, and the inheritance of Xiabaoping folk stories is on the verge of extinction.