Ideal Cultural Heroes

There are abundant legends about painters in Chinese figure legends. The plot units in different legends about painters are very similar. In this thesis, we find a narrative pattern of legends about painters with vitality by analyzing various texts of legends. The plot units in the pattern are used in narratives of legends repeatedly. People depict painters in legends as ideal cultural heroes.We analyze a lot of legends in ancient documents by the method of morphology and construct a narrative pattern of legends about painters. By comparing the modern oral legends about Tang Yin, Fu Shan and the Eight Eccentric Painters of Yangzhou, we intend not only to put the narrative pattern of legends about painters to proof, but also to show its inheritance and development in all ages. In addition, some plot units in the pattern are explained according to the theory of rites of passage and the theory of sympathetic magic.