Filial Piety and Its Divine Rewards: The Legend of Dong Yong and Weaving Maiden with Related Texts

by Wilt L. Idema (Translator)

Of the many ballads, tales, and plays extolling filial piety ( xiao )--the foundational virtue of imperial China--none was more popular in that era than the legend of Dong Yong and his heavenly helpmate, Weaving Maiden. Continually revised and embellished over a millennium, the tale's popularity remains, finding new expression in Chinese film and opera in the twentieth century. The five versions of the legend presented here, alongside a selection of related texts, illustrate changing perceptions of xiao from the tenth century through the first part of the twentieth in a variety of genres. An appendix traces the development of the related legend of Weaving Maiden and Buffalo Boy from myth to folktale. Wilt L. Idema's Introduction traces the evolution of the central legend and its significance in the history of Chinese popular culture. Annotations explaining terms and references that may be unfamiliar to Western readers, a glossary, and a comprehensive bibliography further enhance the value of this book for both scholars and students.

Genres: China

144 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Wilt L. Idema obtained his BA and MA from Leiden University. Following continued study in Sapporo (at Hokkaido University) and in Kyoto (at Kyoto University), and research in Hong Kong (at the Universities Service Center), he returned to Leiden, where he taught in the Department of Chinese Language and Culture. He obtained his doctorate in 1974, and was promoted to Professor of Chinese Literature and Linguistics in 1976. Since 2000, he has been teaching at Harvard as Professor of Chinese Literature. Wilt Idema's research initially was focused on the early development of Chinese vernacular fiction (Chinese Vernacular Fiction: The Formative Period, 1974), but later shifted more towards early Chinese drama (Chinese Theater 1100-1450, A Source Book, with Stephen West; 1982; The Dramatic Oeuvre of Chu Yu-tun (1379-1439), 1985; Wang Shifu, The Moon and the Zither: The Story of the Western Wing, with Stephen H. West, 1992). In recent years he also has published on Chinese women's literature of the premodern period (The Red Brush: Writing Women of Imperial China, with Beata Grant, 2004). His current research is focused on China's rich tradition of popular narrative ballads. He is also the author, with Lloyd Haft, of A Guide to Chinese Literature (1997). For his voluminous Dutch-language translations, especially of classical Chinese poetry, he received the Martinus Nijhof Award for 1991, the highest distinction for literary translations in the Netherlands.

Reviews

[Mel]

I'm really enjoying this series of books. Wilt Idema is taking traditional Chinese legends and showing how they've changed over time in relation to different ideas. He translates the stories from different sources, Dunhuang manuscripts, plays, stories etc. The story of Dong Yong and the Weaving Maid doesn't seem to be as popular in translation or beginning Chinese books as herdboy and weaving maid. So I wasn't as familiar as this story when I read it. But it was interesting to see the developments and changes in the story over time. The story started about a young man who sold himself into slavery so he could bury his father. (I think there was an element about the expense of funerals that may have not been picked up on in the commentary). He meets a woman who asks to marry him and weaves cloth for his master so quickly that he is let go taking the material in exchange for service. The story changes from father to mother, the wife stays longer, they have a child, and then focuses on the son being bullied at school for not having a mother and finding a wise man who tells him about how to find his mother as an immortal.

The appendix of the book includes several different versions of Cowherd and Weaving maid and looks briefly at how their story develops. One of the most interesting parts was a series of folklore stories collected in the 20s and 30s which show the different aspects of the story in different parts of China. I think the appendix was really interesting and probably could have been developed into a whole other book.

I'd really recommend this series and am looking forward to reading the rest of them.