Legend of Ji Gong

Name of China's national intangible cultural heritage: Legend of Jigong

Applicant: Tiantai County, Zhejiang Province

Item No.: 11

Project No.: i-11

Time of publication: 2006 (the first batch)

Category: Folk Literature

Region: Zhejiang Province

Type: new item

Applicant: Tiantai County, Zhejiang Province

Protection unit: Taizhou Tiantai Mountain Culture Research Association

The legend of Jigong

Applicant: Tiantai County, Zhejiang Province

Jigong legend is a kind of folk oral literature evolved from the story of Daoji, a Zen monk in the Southern Song Dynasty. It is distributed in Zhejiang Province with Tiantai as the center, and radiates the whole country and affects the world.

During the Six Dynasties, Sui and Tang Dynasties, there were many legends of Arhats and epileptic monks on the rooftop. In the early Southern Song Dynasty, Daoji was born in Tiantai, pretending to be crazy to help the world. After the death of Daoji, there are many supernatural legends about him on the rooftop, which are talked about by people. Since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the legend of Ji Gong has been widely spread all over the country, and has become a well-known folk story.

The legend of Ji Gong in Tiantai includes the legend of Ji Gong's birth, the legend of Li Xiuyuan's young Ji Gong, the legend of Ji Gong's madness, punishing the evil and promoting the good, supporting the dangerous and the poor, and playing with the sycophant to subdue the devil. The folklore related to Jigong is also very rich.

The legend of Jigong is attached to the real historical figures, has the original nature of the region, highlights the mysterious supernatural force, and has the magic of the plot. In addition, legends are widely involved in all aspects of life, rich and diverse in content, reflecting the people's joys and sorrows, with distinct characteristics of the people. The protagonist's action is also mixed with Zen thought and arhat belief.

For more than 800 years, the legend of Jigong has become an inexhaustible source of literature and art, which is vividly reflected in novels, paintings, sculptures, films and other fields. At the same time, as a unique cultural phenomenon, the legend of Jigong is deeply engraved in the hearts of the people, which will play a positive role in promoting the contemporary moral education and the inheritance of the Chinese national spirit.

As the historical environment of existence has changed, the original legend of Jigong is now in an endangered state, and it is urgent to take effective measures to protect it.