Chinese legend about the appearance of a magical lake. Legends and myths of ancient China. Chinese Kung Fu Myths
Xihu Lake near the city of Hangzhou many centuries ago was as beautiful as it is now. And then one day in the spring, at the equinox, at that wonderful time, when the willows gently turn green on the lake, and the air is filled with magical aroma blossoming peach blossoms, a celestial Lu Dongbing appeared by the lake. Admiring the scenery, he decided to have some fun. He turned into an old merchant of tantuan dumplings and began to invite buyers.
A man bought a tantuan for his little son. He ate that dumpling and then did not want to eat it. Three days have passed. The father became worried and ran with his son in his arms to the Duanqiao Bridge to look for the merchant he met there. The old man seemed to be waiting for him there. The father asked him to return everything as it was. Lü Dongbing smiled, took the baby from his worried father, and climbed onto the bridge. There, he suddenly turned the baby upside down and shouted: “Come out!” And the whole dumpling, as if three days had not passed, fell into the lake.
It was not an easy dumpling, but a pill of immortality. Knowing his true nature, the Magic Turtle and the White Snake who lived here immediately rushed after him. For five hundred years they had mastered the art of longevity, and their powers were equal. The White Snake swallowed the pill of immortality, and her magic prowess doubled.
18 years passed quickly.
The white snake wanted to find that boy who had already become a youth. She turned into a girl, as beautiful as a newly blossomed white lotus flower. And she decided to be called the young lady Bai (white).
One day Miss Bai passed by Sudi Dam. Looks: some beggar old man sells there a small green snake. And she weeps bitterly. The young lady took pity on her, bought her and took her to the lake to set the snake free. Suddenly, a light green haze rose above the surface of the water, and a very young girl in a green dress appeared before her. She named herself Xiao Qing. The girls decided to become sisters: Lady Bai is the eldest, Xiao Qing is the youngest.
One day, the girls were walking near Baidi Dam and Duanqiao Bridge of Xihu Lake and suddenly saw a handsome young man. The guy sat on a large spreading willow and watched a colorful street performance. Lady Bai cried out with joy: she recognized in the young man the same boy from tantuan whom she had dreamed of finding for so long. The girl decided by witchcraft and cunning to make him go down. And here's what I came up with! Black clouds suddenly thickened, lightning split the sky, terrible peals of thunder rumbled. Everyone ran away, and the guy climbed down from the tree. But to the chagrin of the girl, he did not stay near him, but hurried to the lake and called the boat, which immediately set off. Then Bai and Xiao Qing from the shore started shouting, waving their arms, begging to be taken too. The guy looked out of the cabin, saw two unfortunate girls on the shore of the lake, shivering from the cold and soaked to the skin. The young man asked the boatman to return and take the girls. After many thanks, Xiao Qing asked the name of their kind savior. The young man told how, as a child, on the local Duanqiao Bridge, fate brought him together with a celestial, and since then he was nicknamed Xu Xian (Celestial Xu). He has no wife, lives with his older sister, along with her family. Their house is near the Qingbomen gate. Xiao Qing laughed, clapped her hands, and said, “This is fate! My sister is also alone, without a husband. It is difficult to live without support and support!” And she added: "You are simply made for each other." At these words, the young man blushed heavily, and Bai lowered her head in embarrassment: They already understood this, because they fell in love with each other at first sight. The wedding was not long in coming. Xu Xian considered it inconvenient to stay in the family with his sister, and the couple moved to Zhenjiang, taking young Xiao Qing with them.
In Zhenjiang, they opened the Baohetan Pharmacy. Miss Bai made miraculous recipes, her husband prepared medicines. They did not take money from the poor. Soon they began to talk about the pharmacy. Her fame grew. Everything seemed to be going well, but then trouble knocked on the house.
On the day of the Festival of the beginning of summer, the younger sister began to persuade Bai to go to the mountains in order to wait out the dangerous midday time for them. But the White Snake hoped for her thousand-year-old magical powers, and did not want to disturb her husband if they left together. Then Xiao Qing left alone. And Xu Xian suggested to his wife, who was in a position, to drink a special wine, which is good for both the mother and the unborn child, and also expels spirits. Oh, how the White Snake did not want to drink this wine. She wasn't common man, and this wine was not even useful for her at all. But she didn't want to upset her husband. And after the wine, her body suddenly became very weak, her head began to spin, and she could hardly reach the bed. And when, after some time, Xu Xian came up to the bed and threw back its canopy, he no longer found his wife there: a white snake curled up in a ring was sleeping soundly in the bed. Xu Xian screamed in fright and fell down dead.
When Xiao Qing returned, she was greeted with a dead silence in the house. She ran around the house in anxiety, saw the body of Xu Xian on the floor and the White Snake sleeping in her former form in bed next to him, and at that moment she understood everything. She woke her older sister with difficulty. Bai was horrified to see her husband's lifeless body. "I don't know of any medicine here that can bring him back to life," she said sadly. “I will fly to the Kunlun Mountains for the only thing that can save him - for the grass of immortality. You'll stay here to look after everything." The White Snake sat on a cloud and flew to Mount Kunlun - the abode of the immortals. She easily found the red magical lingzhi herb. But as soon as she plucked a blade of grass, a white crane attacked her, guarding the grass of immortality. The Immortal of the Southern Reach appeared nearby. The girl, bursting into tears, began to beg him: “Venerable and noble old man! Let me take just this one blade of grass to resurrect my beloved.” The elder nodded his head in agreement, and Bai returned home without hindrance, carrying a wonderful blade of lingzhi on her chest.
The magic herb brought life back to Xu Xian's body. And he, deciding that the girls did not know anything about the cause of his sudden fainting (and he thought it was a simple short fainting and nothing more), only three days later told them about the snake he had seen and about the fright. The White Snake put on a face of great surprise: “I really didn’t know what to think! Well, tell me, how can a simple woman like me turn into a snake? You just imagined." And her younger sister Xiao Qing added: “You must have dreamed of Cang Long (green dragon) - and this is very good in addition to the family!” After some time, Xu Xian believed that he had really imagined everything, and the couple again began to live in love and harmony, as if nothing had happened.
And what happened to the Turtle?
After the White Snake, ahead of the Turtle, swallowed the Pill of Immortality and became twice as strong as its centuries-old enemy, the Turtle retired to the Western Limits, harboring anger and a desire for revenge.
Once, taking advantage of the opportunity, she stole three of his jewels from the sleeping Tathagata Buddha: the Golden Cup, the cassock and the Buddhist staff. She turned into a monk, called herself Fa Hai and came to the Jinshansi monastery and after a while became its abbot. People did not like to visit this temple. One day, angry at the fact that there were few candles burning in the temple, its rector (Turtle) sent illnesses to the city. The abbot expected that all the people would run to the temple in fear and his fortune would increase. But it was not there! People knew where to find salvation. They ran to Bai and her husband's pharmacy. Miraculous pills immediately stopped all diseases! Wearing the clothes of a wandering monk, Fa Hai went to look at the famous Baohetan Pharmacy, which sells such strong medicines. His anger knew no bounds when he recognized the White Snake in the girl who wrote miraculous recipes! Old anger flared up again. After waiting for the end of the pharmacy, and when Bai had already gone upstairs, the monk slipped inside and went straight to Xu Xian. “Ah, Benefactor, on the fifteenth day of the seventh month there will be a service in the Jinshansi Monastery. Come pray to get back on the path of truth.” Xu Xian gave alms to the monk and promised to come.
On the appointed day, Xu Xian was at the temple. Fa Hai, as soon as he saw him, began to whisper, “You don't know who your wife is! She is a werewolf. You must become a monk." Xu Xian didn't believe him and didn't agree. Then Fa Hai forcibly locked him in the monastery.
White Snake, along with Xiao Qing, in vain long waiting for Xu Xian, came to the monastery for him. But the abbot of the monastery did not even begin to talk to them. Instead, he struck with a staff. Magic knowledge told Bai that before her was her main old enemy. She took out a magic hairpin from her hair - and instantly streams of water poured into the monastery. Then Fa Hai took off his cassock and threw it outside the gates of the monastery - a dam grew outside the gates and blocked the way for water. The white snake realized that she had no weapon against Fa Hai. In addition, her first child was about to be born. Together with Xiang Qing, she returned to the lake and began to think about what to do next. How to take revenge on the insidious Turtle?
In the meantime, Xu Xian escaped from the monastery with a trick. Not finding his wife at home and realizing that she had been gone for a long time, he returned to Hangzhou. I walked sadly through the places where they walked together. Once, having climbed the Duanqiao Bridge (from which our story began), he burst into tears: “Where can I look for you now, my wife?”
Even though White Snake and Xiao Qing now lived at the bottom of the lake, they were magicians for that. Through the water column, they heard Xu Xian's voice and hurried to stand before him. It's probably not worth telling how happy everyone was. They went to Xu Xian's elder sister's house. Time passed quickly. Here already New Year behind, and on the Yuanxiao holiday, the White Snake gave birth to a healthy, strong baby. And all relatives happiness knew no bounds.
When her son was one month old, according to Chinese custom, Bai had to show him to family and friends. Xu Xian suddenly remembered that they had abandoned all of his wife's jewelry in Zhenjiang. And then a merchant shouted on the street: “I am selling the golden crown of the phoenix! Who wants a wonderful decoration? "That's just in time," the happy husband thought, and rushed out into the street to the merchant. The White Snake really liked the crown, and she immediately tried it on. Who would have thought that this crown was not simple. Fa Hai turned into him a golden bowl once stolen from the Buddha and turned into a merchant. If you put on this crown, you can’t take it off again: it pulls your head tighter and tighter. Bai felt a terrible pain, everything swam before her eyes, flashed, and she fell unconscious to the floor. The husband in desperation rushed to his wife, trying to do something to help. And then Fa Hai appeared in front of him: “Benefactor, I have come to free you from the werewolf.” He breathed on the crown, and it again turned into a golden bowl, and it shone with a dazzling brilliance that completely hid the White Snake. Xu Xian rushed at Fa Hai, but he heard the pleading voice of his Bai: “Please, my beloved, leave! Save and raise our son. Xiao Qing, my sister! Leave quickly! You are unable to defeat Fa Hai right now, so master your skill and avenge me when you can.” The voice became quieter, she was getting smaller until she turned into a white snake. Fa Hai put her in a golden bowl and disappeared. He erected the Layfant pagoda on the top of Thunder Mountain next to the monastery of "purity and mercy." In it he walled up the bowl with the White Snake.
So several years passed. Xiao Qing became a master during this time martial art. When she realized that she was already able to avenge her named older sister White Snake, she began to look for Fa Hai. And when she found it, their battle lasted three days and three nights. Nobody could win. The ringing of weapons reached the sky and interrupted the long-term sleep of the Buddha. He opened his eyes and saw his magical treasures - the cassock and staff that Fa Hai had once stolen. And put them back in place. Destroyed the pagoda of Leifant and raised his golden bowl to heaven. The White Snake barely managed to jump out of it and rushed to help her younger sister. Fa Hai, deprived of the three magical things, realized that he could not win the battle on his own and flew to Heaven to beg the Tathagata Buddha to save him. But the Buddha did not even want to listen and angrily pushed the false monk, and he fell from heaven directly into Lake Xihu. The white snake took out her magic golden hairpin from her hair, it shone - and the lake instantly dried up. Nowhere to hide a werewolf! Suddenly, a huge crab appeared and pulled Monk Fa Hai into it. It was difficult for the crab to crawl as before, so it began to crawl sideways since then, and then all the crabs began to do this. And when you eat a crab, opening its dorsal shell, you can see in it something similar to a shaven-headed monk. This is to remind people of the story of the White Snake.
It was passed from mouth to mouth by many generations of Chinese. This is one of the most romantic stories about the forbidden love of a man and a demon. two snakes
It must be admitted that in Chinese mythology there are a variety of versions of the legend about the White Snake. Only here the plots and even the gender of the main characters, not to mention the relationship between them and the general genre style of the narrative, differ amazingly. So, there is also a story about the forbidden (at that time) love of two girls, and the search for immortality pills, and love magic. Let's stop, perhaps, on a more or less classic version.
The spirit of the white snake embodied in the beautiful Bai She, which is translated from Chinese as a "white snake", and the spirit of the green snake into her sister Xiaoqing. The beauties were like ordinary girls in everything. Their only secret was that they wielded magical power, since they still had a snake soul.
two girls
Bai She and Xiaoqing began their earthly life in one of the most picturesque and romantic corners China near Lake Xihu or the so-called Western Lake, which is located in the city of Hangzhou and in itself is a character of many legends and tales. So, one day, walking along the picturesque shores of the lake Xihu, which is famous for its picturesqueness, and on the lake there is a humpbacked carved bridge, on which the sisters went to admire the beauties Xihu. Suddenly, it rained. At this time, a guy named Xu Xian passed by, who, seeing that the girls were getting wet in the pouring rain, gave them his umbrella and took them home on the boat. Bai She fell in love Xu Xian from the very first minute. They got married and began to live in peace and harmony.Tradition required that a girl from a decent family had a good dowry, so Bai She took advantage of her magical powers and conjured herself a luxurious house. In general, the wedding was not long in coming. Meanwhile, at the very beginning of the acquaintance, the girl did not dare to tell her lover that she had the soul of a snake. Well, then it was too late to do it: soon after marriage Bai She realized that she was pregnant.
One villain
Everything was going well, when suddenly the Taoist monk and magician Fahai intervened in the family idyll. He himself was originally a turtle, so he knew everything about the snake nature Bai She. From envy to the happiness of the young Fahay decided to expel the White Snake from the world of people, because according to the law, people and spirits were forbidden to communicate. Monk Fahay invited Xu Xian to the temple and told him the whole truth about his wife's past, but the young man did not believe a single word of the monk. Some time later in China held the Dragon Boat Festival, during which Xu Xian offered his wife a cup of wine. The catch was that the spirits that took the form of people were strictly forbidden to drink alcohol. However meek Bai She obeyed her husband and drank the wine. The summer heat overcame the young woman, and she lay down to rest. It was then that a tragedy occurred: the beauty again turned into a snake. It is clear that finding his wife in this form, Xu Xian dropped dead.Again two and a villain
Meanwhile, when the effect of alcohol has passed, Bai She regained her human form. She went to the Emeishan Mountains in search of a magical lychee (you can read more about it) in order to heal her beloved husband with his help. Lychees have been found, and Xu Xian recovered. Now he knew the whole truth about the true nature Bai She However, his love was stronger than fear, and the expectation of an heir did not allow Xu Xian to leave his wife.However, the monk Fahai was also not a blunder and was not going to deviate from his plan to separate the spouses. He kidnapped Xu Xian and imprisoned him in a monastery. Goodness wins
Right here White Snake - Bai She remembered my sister Green snake - Xiaoqing and called her for help. Together they managed to free Xu Xian and just on this happy day Bai She a son was born. The nature of magic was such that the magical powers of the White Snake dried up after the birth of a child. This was taken advantage of by the insidious Fahay, kidnapped a young mother and imprisoned her at the bottom of a deep well in Leifeng Pagoda. Xu Xian was forced to return home with his son, but without his wife. But the tragic ending is not for this legend. When the son Bai She and Xu Xian grew up, he freed his mother, and the family was reunited again. Now that's all.
Literature and cinema
For the first time the story of white snake, languishing at the will of the villain in the pagoda, was included in the book "Stories warning the world" ("Jingshi Tongyan") by the writer Feng Menglong / Feng Menglong (1574-1646), who lived and worked at the end of the Ming dynasty in the 17th century.
Over time this ancient legend became one of the favorite subjects for theatrical productions and performances of the Peking Opera. Only one television series on this topic was filmed eight pieces.
Cinema has not been left out. The first film adaptation of the legend of the White Snake was made back in 1958 by Japanese filmmakers, and one of the highest grossing was the 1993 version: a film by a Hong Kong director
Origin of the lake
In the city of Daesian, in the province of Hubei, there is a lake Liangdi. Here is the legend that is told about its origin.
About five hundred years ago, on the site of the lake, there was a lively and crowded city of Xian. Its inhabitants were mired in sins and rejected the true doctrine. Only one woman, whose name was Nian Tzu, followed the precepts of the Buddha, did good deeds and did not eat meat. One night she dreamed that soon the city would perish under water and that the harbinger of misfortune would be bloody tears that would cry from the stone lions that stand at the entrance to the yamen. The next morning, Nian Zi went outside and began to loudly warn the residents of the impending disaster. But the inhabitants did not heed the warnings and considered her crazy. And one butcher, in mockery, stained the muzzles of stone lions with pig's blood. In desperation, Nian Zi fled the city, ridiculed and cursed. And in a few hours the Heavens darkened and the city sank underground. The waters of the Yangtze River poured into the failure, and a lake formed on the site of city streets. Only a piece of land on which Nian Zi's house stood survived. Now in this place is an island that bears her name. During a storm, boats floating along the river take shelter here. The gods guard them in memory of a respectable woman who once lived here. They say that on fine days you can see the streets and the remains of houses through the water column, and fishermen from time to time pull out household utensils with nets.
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THE LAKE RITSA
an Abkhazian legend
The old people told a story which they heard from their grandparents. There was a valley where there is the
lake Ritsa now.The people who lived in the valley were rich but very greedy. There lived a widow not far from them. The widow had many children. They were very poor. The woman worked all day and all night but she could not provide her children. The family was without food, they always starved. Her neighbors got the rich harvest of millet and wheat. The rich family called the widow to work, but they did not pay much money. Sometimes she got some flour. The widow never complained. She knew that she would get nothing from her rich relatives. One day the poor family had nothing to eat. The little children cried. - we want to eat, we want to eat. The woman went to her neighbors again but they refused to give her some food. When she came back home her children cried bitterly. Then the woman filled her boiler with little stones and put it on the fire. -
I shall cook dinner for you, wait a little - said the widow. The widow and her children sat around the fire looking at the boiler. The little children were weeping. Soon they fell asleep. An old man came to the valley. He wanted to spend the night. The man came up to the houses, but nobody opened the door. Soon the old man was near the widow's house. He knocked at the door. The woman went out of the room. She invited him to her house. The old man entered the room and said - I want to eat very much. Can you give me some food. - Oh, yes I can - answered the woman. – I see the stones in the boiler. What will you give me to eat? – asked the old man. – I have nothing, but I shall wait. – I must observe the hospitality and feed you – said the widow. After some time the stones in the boiler were turned into the flour. The woman was very glad and she cooked the meal. The widow gave the meal to her quest. She woke her children and gave meal to them too. When the widow got up early in the morning the old man had already gone. She saw water around her house. Water was everywhere.She did not know what had happened. The woman has seen a narrow path from her house. The widow took her children and went along the path.
The water was swelling higher and higher. Soon the woman reached the bank. At that time the valley was under the water. A beautiful lake appeared in the place of the valley. It was called the
Lake Ritsa . The widow and her children lived happily on the bank of the lake Ritsa for a long time.Translation and pictures by
Ludmula Katsba
2010HOW RITS LAKE FORMED
The old people tell a legend, heard from their great-grandfathers, that in the place where Lake Ritsa is now located, there was a valley. Proud and stingy people from the Apshisba clan lived on it. All of them lived richly, except for one widow with many children. The poor woman worked day and night to feed the children, and yet she could not give them enough to eat. She only heard from them: “Mom, let me eat!”
Every day, from early morning until late at night, the widow worked with her neighbors. They received rich harvests of millet and wheat and did not have time to thresh the grain. Neighbors hired a widow, and paid her by giving her the grain that did not fall into the alakhvara
. And how many such grains will be typed? For two or three small cakes. But no matter how small the pay for the work, the widow never complained, because she knew that she would not achieve anything with complaints from mean relatives.Once the unfortunate family found itself in a particularly difficult position: there was not a grain of grain in the house, and the children were hungry; they kept crying plaintively:
Mom, eat!
Ma-ma, we're hungry!
The poor woman herself did not take poppy dew in her mouth for the second day - she gave everything to the children. In desperation, she thought: “It is better for me to die than to hear the complaints of hungry children. I’ll go and try again to ask the neighbors for at least a handful of grain.”
The widow went around several yards, but all her neighbors refused her. She came home empty-handed, and the children were crying: there was food. What was the poor woman to do here? She poured small pebbles into the cauldron and put it on the fire.
My dears, let your mother go around you, now I will cook dinner for you, be patient a little while it is cooked.
She says so, and she strokes the children's heads, caresses them. The children sat around the hearth, over which hung a cauldron of pebbles, and were waiting for dinner. What could they be waiting for? Evening came. The children were crying, waiting until sleep overcame them. A woman sits by the hearth and mourns.
At this time, some newcomer old man was walking around the aul and asking for a lodging for the night. But everyone denied him shelter and food. So he went to the widow's house.
Hey master!
Ay! the widow replied.
She went out and greeted the old man with the words: "Welcome!"
The old man entered and said:
I'm very hungry, I probably shouldn't hide it. Can't you feed me something?
Oh, now, good man, - she said, and she herself looks at the boiler. She is ashamed and sad that there is nothing to feed her guest.
I see that you have pebbles in your cauldron. If you have nothing hidden, then what will you feed me? - asked the guest.
No, I have nothing hidden, - the widow answered. - But I will wait, maybe God will send me something so that I can keep the law of hospitality and feed you.
After some time, the pebbles in the cauldron turned into flour, and the widow cooked hominy. She fed the guest, then woke up the children, gave them food and put them to bed, and what was left, she ate herself and went to rest.
When she got up early in the morning, the guest was gone. She went out on the threshold and saw that water was coming up to the widow's house from all sides. Everything around was already flooded and only her house, like an island, stood in the middle of a large expanse of water. From her house to the shore there was a narrow, unflooded path. The widow woke the children and said to them:
A big trouble came: the water flooded the whole village. Only our house survived and from it there is a path along which you can go ashore. So God doesn't want us to die. Come quickly!
She picked up the smallest children in her arms, and ordered the others to hold on to her hem, and they went along the path. They go, and the water comes after them. And as soon as the widow went out with the children to the high bank, the whole expanse of the valley was completely swallowed up by water.
This is how Lake Ritsa was formed. The old people also say that no matter who from the Apshisba clan appears by the lake, some unknown force pulls him to drown himself in it. That is why only the descendants of the sons of the poor widow have survived from the Apshisba clan.
From the book "Abkhaz Tales", "ALASHARA", Sukhum, 1979, p.29-31
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