Research On The Motifs Of "Victory Of The Youngest Daughter" Or "Victory Of The Youngest Son" In Chinese Folklores

There are many stories including the motifs of"victory of the youngest daughter"or"victory of the youngest son"in enormous folklores of China, such as snake man type, dog furrowing field and Selling fragrant wind type etc. They all pay much attention on the youngest child who underwent a process of experiencing destiny change, getting help from others, combating with misfortune and succeeding at last. The two motifs have formed on deep-rooted social basis instead of groundless base. In this paper, folklores with the motifs of"victory of the youngest daughter"or"victory of the youngest son"are chosen as research objects, related theories like literature, literal-anthropology, archaeology, folklore and so on are applied. With much importance exerted on literal implication of the two motifs, social, historical and literal background behind these folklores might be revealed.This paper contains six parts.The first part, a summary of this paper would make an introduction like reason for choosing, achievements of previous researchers and crucial concepts in the paper etc.The second part listed main types of stories which contain the motifs of"victory of the youngest daughter"or"victory of the youngest son". For example the flood myth with three bothers, the snake man story demonstrating rebellion of the youngest sister to her elder sister, the dog furrowing field as well as selling fragrant wind all revealing disharmony between two brothers etc.The third part would mainly deal with text analysis of these folklores. These youngest children always suffer a change of destiny at the beginning of story, and then they would rely on help from others (a few might depend on themselves) to gradually control their fate by their own. Finally, they would live a happy life and the evil man who twisted their life would get punished.The fourth part is analysis of historical and literal implication of the two motifs demonstrated in"victory of the youngest daughter/son". Social and literal factor are analyzed first. Facts like the instable marriage between men and women during the long transitory term from syndyasmian family to monogamous family, comparatively unstrained premarital sex freedom for women and they could also take along with her child to remarry etc., lay foundation for people's preference for the youngest child and provide rich materials for the two motifs demonstrated in"victory of the youngest daughter"or"victory of the youngest son". Many other concepts formed in people's sub-consciousness, such as preference for the youngest child, oppression from parents and their eldest son on their youngest son or daughter and daughter-in-law; also help the motifs maintained such a long time. Mysterious digits like two and three which displayed in folklores are also analyzed in this paper.In the fifth part, the speculation that exclusive inheritance right for the youngest son might be the rage for a time in history is made according to the two motifs demonstrated in"victory of the youngest daughter"or"victory of the youngest son". Although such tradition has long before been a thing at the past and only turns up at times in a few ethnic minorities, its glory in the past could not be forgotten for history is history.The sixth part is conclusion which generally summarizes theme of this paper and manifests the huge historical value and social importance of the two motifs demonstrated in"victory of the youngest daughter"or"victory of the youngest son".