In a letter I received from Isabel, she talked about a story
that is common in China, called, ”The eight immortal cross the sea.” This story
is about eight immortals that found themselves by the Eastern Sea. Lu
Dongbi, one of the immortals, suggested to the others that they all travel
across it. Rather than using the traditional way to travel on a cloud, he asked
that they each use their magical powers to cross the sea.
So, Lu Dongbin tossed his sword into the seaand it became a boat. Tieguai
Li used his crutch to use as a board to stand on. Han Xiangzi had a basket whichgrew bigger to
become a boat and He Xiangu did the same with her lotus. Lan Caihe turned his
jade board into a canoe and Cao Guojiu turned his “imperial tablets,” into a
raft. Zhongli Quanj used his banana leaf and Zhang Guolao used his magical
donkey.
The eight immortals
set off to sea creating a blinding light that attracted the Dragon prince, who
was beneath the water. He abducted an immortal to steal his magical power. The
other immortals set off after him creating a war beneath the sea. The immortals
declaired a victory after throwing a mountain into the middle of the sea, which
is now called Penglai fairy land. This is now a beautiful city in China!
Primary Source: Isabel
Secondary Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eight_Immortals
This seems like such an interesting fairytale. I could not pronounce the names to save my life, but it was so cool to see how each individual turned something basic into a power to help each other.
ReplyDeleteI just love stories that tell how cities were formed, whether they are real or not, it's always a joy. I loved the photo you included as well, this helped me really capture the story,
I like how they have their own faritale books just like we have. Its interesting to see how much our country is like theirs but its also crazy to see all the differences we have between them too.
ReplyDeleteKaitlyn, you picked such a unique topic! I never came across this in the autobiographies I read, but I think that's great. You gave a great description of the story and the picture was great.
ReplyDeleteI, like Becca, didn't come across this subject in my set of autobiographies. Although, your description was enlightening on the matter and different.
ReplyDeleteThis is interesting! I like hearing myths from around the world!
ReplyDeleteIt's cool how stories like these make up so much of the Chinese culture! Interesting!:)
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