What are the beautiful legends of mountains or waters in Yichang?

The ancestors in Yichang created rich myths and folklore in struggle for existence, which is in harmony with nature. These myths and folklore are fantastic and colorful, which once gave birth to splendid Bachu culture. It also flowed into the ears of court dignitaries and literati. Qu Yuan's Tian Wen, Jiu Ge and Jiu Zhang, Song Yu's Feng Fu and Dream of Gaotang, and Guo Pu's comments on Er Ya and Shan Hai Jing were all inspired and edified by it. Ouyang Xiu was an official in Yiying, and famous poets and writers such as Li Bai, Du Fu, Bai Juyi, Yuan Zhen, Lu You, Lu Yu, Su San and Huang Tingjian all traveled in Yiying, which was reflected in their poems. The influence and spread of Yichang myths and folklore can be seen here.

1. myth

Myth is an imaginative story about the relationship between ancient ancestors and nature and society, and it is also their naive explanation and beautiful yearning for nature and social life. The myths in Yichang can be roughly divided into four categories:

(1) Creation myth. This is the oldest story about the origin of nature and human beings. Ancient ancestors explained how the sky, earth, sun, moon, stars, mountains, plants, animals and humans were formed. Dragon created heaven and earth, Pangu created heaven and earth, and the flood soaked the sky, and Nu Wa created man, brother and sister got married, Fuxi, Nu Wa and Scarab, cultivated land, sun and moon, brother moon and sister grandson. Among them, the myth of water control of Gun and Dayu is more regional, which is closely related to the geographical origin of mountains and rivers in Yichang of the Three Gorges, including Yao Ji (goddess) helping Yu.

It is particularly worth mentioning that the Dark Biography, recorded in Yiling District in 2006, is a complete fairy tale about the creation of the world and the birth of human beings, although it is a ballad rather than a prose story. This story makes up for the blank of no creation epic (or no creation myth) in Han nationality, and has important value.

(2) The myth of the origin of species. For example, how the tortoise came, the origin of bees, the origin of cockscomb, the legend of thrush and corn, and why sandalwood trees have black lines.

(3) The myth of national origin. Such stories as blowing a clear river to the king, showing the white tiger to the king, Yishui God marrying Wang Popo, and Wu Chushan explain the origin and historical context of Tujia nationality.

(4) The myth of ancient ancestors' struggle with nature. At the beginning of human origin, people were backward in productivity, poor in knowledge, constrained and dominated by nature, and eager to understand and overcome nature, so many such fairy tales appeared. Dayu's stories of controlling water, killing animals in nine days, the Goddess Chang'e flying to the moon, and Maeda without grass are his representative works.