Oral Traditions in Contemporary China
eBook - PDF

Oral Traditions in Contemporary China

Healing a Nation

  1. 263 pages
  2. English
  3. PDF
  4. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - PDF

Oral Traditions in Contemporary China

Healing a Nation

About this book

In Oral Traditions in Contemporary China: Healing a Nation, Juwen Zhang provides a systematic survey of such oral traditions as folk and fairy tales, proverbs, ballads, and folksongs that are vibrantly practiced today. Zhang establishes a theoretical framework for understanding how Chinese culture has continued for thousands of years with vitality and validity, core and arbitrary identity markers, and folkloric identity. This framework, which describes a cultural self-healing mechanism, is equally applicable to the exploration of other traditions and cultures in the world. Through topics from Chinese Cinderella to the Grimms of China, from proverbs like "older ginger is spicier" to the life-views held by the Chinese, and from mountain songs and ballads to the musical instruments like the clay-vessel-flute, the author weaves these oral traditions across time and space into a mesmerizing intellectual journey. Focusing on contemporary practice, this book serves as a bridge between Chinese and international folklore scholarship and other related disciplines as well. Those interested in Chinese culture in general and Chinese folklore, literature, and oral tradition in particular will certainly delight in perusing this book.

Frequently asked questions

Yes, you can cancel anytime from the Subscription tab in your account settings on the Perlego website. Your subscription will stay active until the end of your current billing period. Learn how to cancel your subscription.
At the moment all of our mobile-responsive ePub books are available to download via the app. Most of our PDFs are also available to download and we're working on making the final remaining ones downloadable now. Learn more here.
Perlego offers two plans: Essential and Complete
  • Essential is ideal for learners and professionals who enjoy exploring a wide range of subjects. Access the Essential Library with 800,000+ trusted titles and best-sellers across business, personal growth, and the humanities. Includes unlimited reading time and Standard Read Aloud voice.
  • Complete: Perfect for advanced learners and researchers needing full, unrestricted access. Unlock 1.4M+ books across hundreds of subjects, including academic and specialized titles. The Complete Plan also includes advanced features like Premium Read Aloud and Research Assistant.
Both plans are available with monthly, semester, or annual billing cycles.
We are an online textbook subscription service, where you can get access to an entire online library for less than the price of a single book per month. With over 1 million books across 1000+ topics, we’ve got you covered! Learn more here.
Look out for the read-aloud symbol on your next book to see if you can listen to it. The read-aloud tool reads text aloud for you, highlighting the text as it is being read. You can pause it, speed it up and slow it down. Learn more here.
Yes! You can use the Perlego app on both iOS or Android devices to read anytime, anywhere — even offline. Perfect for commutes or when you’re on the go.
Please note we cannot support devices running on iOS 13 and Android 7 or earlier. Learn more about using the app.
Yes, you can access Oral Traditions in Contemporary China by Juwen Zhang in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Social Sciences & Folklore & Mythic Literary Criticism. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Half Title
  3. Series Page
  4. Title Page
  5. Copyright Page
  6. Dedication
  7. Contents
  8. Preface
  9. Acknowledgments
  10. I: Introduction
  11. Chapter 1: Folklore and Folkloristics in China
  12. Chapter 2: The Inherent Cultural Self-Healing Mechanism
  13. II: Gushi
  14. Chapter 3: Fairy Tale as Tonghua: Localizing Narrative Genre and National Spirit
  15. Chapter 4: The Moon Man: A Tale in Telling for a Thousand Years
  16. III: Yanyu
  17. Chapter 5: Proverbs with Chinese Characteristics: A History In and Outside China
  18. Chapter 6: Older Ginger Is Spicier: Chinese Life-Views in Proverbs
  19. IV: Geyao
  20. Chapter 7: The Trilateral Trajectories: Oral, Literary, and Musical Traditions of Ballads
  21. Chapter 8: Stories without Words: The Traditionalization of a Musical Instrument
  22. Glossary
  23. Bibliography
  24. Index
  25. About the Author