A Study On The Legend Of The Lord Chunshen In The Taihu Basin

Lord Chunshen,the other name HuangXie,who died in B.C.238,used to be the Prime Minister of Late Chu Dynasty.He was one of the "Four Lords of the Warring States",the other three were Lord Mengchang,Lord Pingyuan and Lord Xinling.Besides all the political hero legend about him,such as "Four Lords","three thousand retinue","shoes with beads as decoration","Lord Chunshen assassination by Li Yuan" and so on,there are a lot of other legends about him which were spread in the Taihu basin,from ancient times to the present.First of all,the The legend of the Lord Chunshen has begun to be localized since Qin and Han dynasties.After that,according to the historical records and chorography's records,there were many historical remains related to the Lord Chunshen,such as mountains and rivers named by him,temples of Lord Chunshen,and water conservancy projects named "Shen Gang" and "ChunshenPu".Local people's daily life was affected a lot by the flood and drought which occurred frequently in the Taihu basin.Therefore,in order to prevent flood,people in this area play a high value on water conservancy project.Based on this,a genealogy of flood-control legends had been formed in this area,including legends of "Da Yu","Wu Taibo","Wuzixu,","Fanli" and so on.The legend of the Lord Chunshen is also belonged to this genealogy and transmitted from one generation to another.Secondly,in the eyes of Taihu local people,the Lord Chunshen is a flood prevention character who can "remove all evil" and "Get rid of the flood".They considered the Lord Chunshen as God and then established temples of Lord Chunshen and worship him.The Taihu local people respect Lord Chunshen,praise his contribution and offer sacrifice to him to accomplish wishes and prevent flood.These factors are all reasons for the spread of the legend of the Lord Chunshen.Thirdly,the operation of the preservation mechanism is based on the achievements of Lord Chunshen as historical figures,as well as the particular geographical space of the Taihu basin.The Taihu basin is not only a natural and cultural space created by local people,but also a geographical space with belonging and local identity.On one hand,this kind of identity is the foundation of the preservation of the flood-control legend of the Lord Chunshen.On the other hand,the legend makes the local people aware of the local identity constantly.The interaction between the legend and local identity is very important.In addition,in this geographical space,besides oral and text narratives,the Legends of Lord Chunshen has been preserved by many landscapes.For example,the mountains and rivers named by the Lord Chunshen,related palace,city gate and walls of building,they are all considered as the important sign of Legends of Lord Chunshen and constantly reminds local people of the Legends.Among them,the landscapes of "ShenGang","ChunshenTang" and "HuangPu river" are all directly related to the Legends of flood-control of Lord Chunshen,which plays a very important role in the spread and preservation of this type of legend.Furthermore,in the temples of Chunshen,Lord Chunshen is considered as "SheShen" and"TuDiShen".Through apotheosizing Chunshen,the local people finally made him as a god to take care of local people's life.Therefore,the behavior of worship is also one of the important forms of preserving the flood-control legend of the Lord Chunshen in the Taihu area.In a word,the Legends of Lord Chunshen in the Taihu area was constructed by flood-control space(based on Taihu and its river system,constructed by Taihu local people and their lives),local people and collective memory about the flood-control character of Lord Chunshen.Through oral narrative,landscape narrative and folk ritual behavior,this legend has been handed down from age to age.This is the inheritance mechanism of the Legend of Lord Chunshen in the Taihu basin.With the rapid development of globalization and economy in the modern society,the Legends of Lord Chunshen are facing the new situation.Nowadays,the Local government is using the Legend of Lord Chunshen to explore historical and cultural resources,as well as tourism resources."Shen","ShenCheng" and "Chunshen"represent the local and cultural symbol of Shanghai.In recent years,the Shanghai government agencies and scholars have put forward the concept of "Culture of Chunshen".Based on the "pioneer of Shanghai" character of the Lord Chunshen,the"Culture of Chunshen" is considered as the historical and cultural resources of Shanghai.Thus it can be seen that the "Culture of Chunshen" which is created by government agencies,scholars and media is one of the public cultural resources in modern Shanghai.Moreover,the "Culture of Chunshen" is one of the origins of Shanghai 's city culture and plays an important role in promoting the cultural activities of Shanghai.