LINE

Text:AAAPrint
Learning Chinese

The legend of Dong Yong and the Seventh Fairy(2)

1
2015-04-08 13:48The World of Chinese Editor: Yao Lan

One night Dong Yong was weaving cloth and he was getting more anxious that he would never finish in time. What could they possibly do? But his wife was calm and assured him everything would be fine, and ordered him to go to sleep. Dong Yong did not know that his lovely wife was not at all a poor maiden but the Seventh Daughter of The Jade Emperor of the heavens. Deep at night when her husband was asleep, she weaved ten pieces of beautiful cloth with her fairy magic.

Imagine how surprised Dong Yong was when he awoke to find ten perfect pieces of fabric! It became immediately apparent his wife had some kind of secret. He and his wife brought the cloth pieces to the landlord, and the pieces were so beautiful he even reduced their contract from three years to one hundred days. Upon arriving back at their house, Dong Yong could not hold it in anymore and asked his wife how she had weaved such beautiful cloth. She was unable to keep the secret any longer, and confessed to being a fairy, The Seventh Daughter of the Jade Emperor. She had other news as well – she was pregnant.

Dong Yong learned that his beautiful wife was actually a fairy, and that they were going to have a baby. He could not possibly have been any happier in his whole life. For a short period of time their mutual attachment grew into great love, and both were enormously happy together.

But all good things must come to an end. When the fairy's father, The Jade Emperor, found out about his daughter's secret husband and her life on earth, he sent messengers to his daughter warning her that if she did not come back home to heaven that same afternoon, he would smash Dong Yong into a million pieces.

The Seventh Fairy loved Dong Yong very much and did not want a cruel death for him, so she said her farewells and told him that next year she would come back to the exact same spot and give him his newborn son. Dong Yong cried and tried to stop her, but the Seventh Fairy was flying back to heaven. Dong Yong tried to run after her and catch her, and fell down in tears.

The legend of Dong Yong has been spreading for over two thousand years and its very popular in the rural areas of China. There are things named after Dong Yong, for instance, there is Dongjia Village and elsewhere there is a stele emblazoned with "Dong Yong's Native Place". There is also "Consensual marriage cloth" in Xiaohuai Village in Wanrong County, Shanxi Province. There are even ceremonies that worship such dutiful sons during temple fairs in places like Wuzhi County, Henan Province.

Main image courtesy of Bikini.ghfood.net via Baidu images

Article by Nargiz Koshoibekova

 

  

Related news

MorePhoto

Most popular in 24h

MoreTop news

MoreVideo

News
Politics
Business
Society
Culture
Military
Sci-tech
Entertainment
Sports
Odd
Features
Biz
Economy
Travel
Travel News
Travel Types
Events
Food
Hotel
Bar & Club
Architecture
Gallery
Photo
CNS Photo
Video
Video
Learning Chinese
Learn About China
Social Chinese
Business Chinese
Buzz Words
Bilingual
Resources
ECNS Wire
Special Coverage
Infographics
Voices
LINE
Back to top Links | About Us | Jobs | Contact Us | Privacy Policy
Copyright ©1999-2018 Chinanews.com. All rights reserved.
Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.