The Evolution Of The Legends Of Heroes Of The Yangs

Heroes of the Yangs is one of the favorite traditional stories in China, which has come down through almost one thousand years. During the long history, the stories concerning Heroes of the Yangs have evolved from the initial folklore to the later theatre plays and novels and full-length operas. They have been so widely spread and developed that the main figures in the stories, such as Yang Ye, She the Elder, Yang Liulang and Mu Guiying etc. have all become well-known heroes.Since the Song Dynasty, the legends of the Yangs have been passed down in the forms of oral narrations, folk performing arts, theatres, novels and etc. and widely spread among people. The major plots and figures gradually deviate from the historical facts and keep evolving, and finally constructed an enormous story system. The evolution has undergone three main stages: the emerging period of Song and Yuan Dynasty; the settling period of Ming Dynasty, and the peak period of Qing Dynasty. The oral narrations, folk performing arts, theatres and novels are truly innumerable. The reason for Heroes of the Yangs'long-lasting and popularity can be attributed to all the specialty and merits of folk arts it carries. Because it is carried out by the cooperation of labor class, folk artists and avant-garde literati, it conforms to the general law of Chinese folk stories'forming----the combination of elegance and vulgarness.This paper tries to discuss the cause for the initiation, evolution and spreading of Heroes of the Yangs on the basis of a re-organization of its evolution process. The theatres and other folk performing arts are the main objects for our observation. Some historical facts will also been taken into consideration. We hope through this case study, the viewpoint that the Chinese folk tales are usually formed by the co-operation of literati and folk arts could be supported.