Blog

Xishi ranked top among the four major beauties in ancient China, symbolizing the image of beauty in traditional Chinese culture. The place where the legend originated –Zhuji City in the central north of Zhejiang Province, was once capital of the state of Yue during the Spring and Autumn Period.西施居中国古代四大美女之首，是中国传统文化中美的象征。西施传说的发端地——浙江省中北部的诸暨，曾是春秋时期越国的古都。
The Legend of Xishi originated in the late Spring Autumn Period. It started as a dictation folktale and the earliest record was found in The Commentary of Mozi and The Commentary of Mencius. Thanks to circulation of generation after generation, it spread more widely with its content constantly enriched. With the war between the State of Wu and the State of Yue as the historical background, the legend took the life of Xishi as the main thread and various related stories as details concerning people (Dongshi: The Copycat of Xishi), names of places (The White Fish Pool), fruit delicacy (Torreya grandis), and legend (Sangjiangkou Water Lamp). It sings high praise for Xishi in terms of her beauty, kindness and sacrifice for the country.西施传说产生于春秋末期，起源于民间口头讲述，最早的文字记载见于《墨子》和《孟子》等，经历代口耳相传，流传范围扩大，内容不断丰富。西施传说以吴越争战为历史背景，以西施一生传奇经历为主干，以人物传说（如“东施效颦”）、地名传说（如“白鱼潭”）、物产传说（如“香榧眼”）、风俗传说（如“三江口水灯”）等为枝叶，从不同角度歌颂了西施的美丽、善良和“为国甘献身”的奉献精神。
The Legend of Xishi is a time-honored one, spanning a history of over 2,500 years from beginning up till now. Its area of circulation has been so wide as to cover not only Zhuji, but also Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces and the whole country and Southeast Asian countries like Korea, Japan and Singapore as well as areas of overseas Chinese worldwide. The legend is substantial and varied, involving almost all of the elements of folk literature such as people, names of places, local products, and custom and social practice. Apart from story-telling as folktale, the legend is also circulating in various forms such as traditional opera and play.西施传说历史悠久，自发端流传至今，已有二千五百多年的传承历史。其传播地域广泛，不但流传诸暨全境，辐射江浙乃至全国，甚至远播韩国、日本及新加坡等东南亚国家、地区和世界各地华人区。西施传说内容丰富，涉及人物、地名、物产、风俗等，几乎涵盖了民间文学的所有领域，除以民间文学口耳相外，传说还以曲艺、戏剧等多种形式加以传承流播。
As one of the colorful legends of people in China, the Legend of Xishi is of great value in other aspects besides the inherent significance as folk literature and art: 1) literary value: as popular literature, it circulates widely and suits readers both young and old. It has always been the source of creation for other literary initiatives and literary productions based on the Legend of Xishi have been many and varied. Meanwhile, by means of communication in literary forms, the influence of the legend has been widened and the content consolidated. And studying the interactive relationship is of great importance to the thriving of literature and art; 2) aesthetic value: as symbol of aesthetics, Xishi has taken an exclusive place in the aesthetic history of Chinese nation, which is worthwhile to explore further from the perspective of aesthetics; 3) value of cognition and history: with war between the states of Wu and Yue as the background, the Legend of Xishi was a folk interpretation of history and culture of ancient Wu and Yue, which is of reference value to the studies of history of the Spring and Autumn Period; 4) humanistic value: the praise for truth, good and beauty and the advocacy of heroism and sacrifice are all conducive to spreading the quintessence of humanism.作为中国丰富多样的人物传说之一，西施传说除了民间文艺学本身的学科意义之外，还具有其他方面的重要价值：（1）文学价值：传说作为文学普及读物，流传极广，老少咸宜，而且历来是各种文学样式的创作源泉，以西施传说为题材的文学作品多种多样；同时，通过文学形式的传播，又扩大了“西施传说”的影响，丰富了传说的内容。研究其中相辅相成的关系，对繁荣文学艺术具有重要意义。（2）美学价值：西施作为一个审美符号，在中华民族审美史上占有独一无二的地位，值得从美学角度进行深入研究。（3）认识价值与史学价值：西施传说依附于吴越争战而产生，是对古吴越历史文化的民间诠释，对研究春秋史有重要参照价值。（4）人文价值：传说褒扬真善美，崇尚英雄主义和献身精神，对弘扬优秀的人文精神，有积极意义。