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Millennia of Chinese Legends Brought to Life Through Dance By Ying-Ying Zhang A daughter disguises herself as a son and takes her father’s place at war. A magical monkey, an ogre, and a humanoid pig protect a Buddhist monk as he journeys to the western heavens on a quest for true teachings. A folk hero gets drunk, but then saves a village from a vicious tiger. And the Lord Buddha asks the deities in heaven to come down to China and walk among the people, creating a civilization that would last 5,000 years. If you were to break Chinese culture into its building blocks, you would find that it is made up of stories such as these. Some are beautiful fairy tales that draw from China’s vast spiritual culture. Others are moral parables interwoven with history itself. From the time the goddess Nü Wa created the Chinese people from spirit and clay, they have been singing of the exploits of heaven, earth, and humankind. According to one legend, the four-eyed Cang Jie discovered words hidden in the patterns of a tortoise shell, inventing the first Chinese script. From this beginning, a rich catalogue of writings was born, ranging from timeless poetry to dynastic records to Taoist parables and classic novels.