Tale of the Transcendent Marriage of Dongting Lake

"The Tale of the Supernatural Marriage at Dongting" (Chinese: 洞庭靈姻傳), better known as "The Story of Liu Yi" (Chinese: 柳毅傳), is a Chinese chuanqi (fantasy) short story from the Tang dynasty, written by Li Chaowei (李朝威) in the second half of the 8th century. It is about a young man named Liu Yi who, out of sympathy, agrees to deliver a letter from a distressed dragon to her father, the Dragon King of Lake Dongting; following her rescue and the death of her abusive husband, the Dragon Girl transforms into a beautiful woman and marries Liu Yi.

Liu Yi encounters the Dragon Girl on the bank of the Jing River. Illustration from a 1615 anthology of *zaju* plays which includes Shang Zhongxian's stage adaptation.

Translations

English translations include:^[1]

"Story of the Daughter of the Dragon-king of Tung-t'ing Lake" (tr. E.D. Edwards) in Chinese Prose Literature of the T'ang Period (A.D. 618–906), Volume 2 (Arthur Probsthain, 1938)
"The Dragon's Daughter" (tr. Wang Chi-chen) in Traditional Chinese Tales (Columbia University Press, 1944)
"The Dragon King's Daughter" (tr. Yang Hsien-yi and Gladys Yang) in The Dragon King's Daughter: Ten Tang Dynasty Stories (Foreign Languages Press, 1954)
"The Legendary Marriage at Tung-t'ing" (tr. Russel E. McLeod) in Traditional Chinese Stories: Themes and Variations (Cheng & Tsui Company, 1986)
"Liu Yi; or, Tale of the Transcendent Marriage of Tung-t'ing Lake" (tr. Glen Dudbridge) in The Columbia Anthology of Traditional Chinese Literature (Columbia University Press, 1994)
"The Dragon King's Daughter" (tr. John Minford) in Classical Chinese Literature: An Anthology of Translations, Volume 1: From Antiquity to the Tang Dynasty (Columbia University Press, 2000)
"The Tale of the Supernatural Marriage at Dongting" (tr. Meghan Cai) in Tang Dynasty Tales: A Guided Reader, Volume 2 (World Scientific, 2016)

Adaptations

In the 13th century, Shang Zhongxian (尚仲賢) adapted the story into a zaju titled Liu Yi Delivers a Letter to Dongting Lake (洞庭湖柳毅傳書, English version: Liu Yi and the Dragon Princess translated by David Hawkes, The Chinese University of Hong Kong Press, 2003^[2]). In the 17th century, Li Yu created a chuanqi play titled Tower in the Mirage (蜃中樓) by combining Shang's play with that of another play featuring a Dragon Girl, Scholar Zhang Boils the Sea at Shamen Island (沙門島張生煮海).^[3]

The Qing dynasty novel Steep Cloud Tower (躋雲樓) is also based on Liu Yi's story.

References

^ Nienhauser, Jr., William H., ed. (2016). "The Tale of the Supernatural Marriage at Dongting". Tang Dynasty Tales: A Guided Reader, Volume 2. World Scientific. pp. 43–44. ISBN 978-981-4719-52-0.
^ Liu Yi and the Dragon Princess: A Thirteenth-Century Zaju Play by Shang Zhongxian. The Chinese University of Hong Kong Press. October 2003. ISBN 978-962-996-064-3. Retrieved 27 November 2023 – via Columbia University Press.
^ Chen, Liana (June 2003). "Homeward Odyssey: Theatrical Reframing of "The Rakshas and the Sea Market"" (PDF). Journal of Chinese Ritual, Theatre and Folklore (140): 286–87. Retrieved 27 November 2023.

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[1] Nienhauser, Jr., William H., ed. (2016). "The Tale of the Supernatural Marriage at Dongting". Tang Dynasty Tales: A Guided Reader, Volume 2. World Scientific. pp. 43–44. ISBN 978-981-4719-52-0.

[2] Liu Yi and the Dragon Princess: A Thirteenth-Century Zaju Play by Shang Zhongxian. The Chinese University of Hong Kong Press. October 2003. ISBN 978-962-996-064-3. Retrieved 27 November 2023 – via Columbia University Press.

[3] Chen, Liana (June 2003). "Homeward Odyssey: Theatrical Reframing of "The Rakshas and the Sea Market"" (PDF). Journal of Chinese Ritual, Theatre and Folklore (140): 286–87. Retrieved 27 November 2023.

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