Author(s)

Matsui Kaka

Corresponding Author

Matsui Kaka

ABSTRACT

Folklore contains more meaningful values than bedtime stories or tales for children. It is more like a belief passed on traditionally, the expressive body of culture, values, and sentiments shared by a particular group of people. In China, folklore has been used as a political tool, especially during and after the Cultural Revolution, which can be observed by many folklores created at that time. Lady Meng JiangNu, a very famous Chinese tale, is now counted as one of China’s Four Great Folktales, serves as the perfect example of that folklore, or folktales, can be and used to be a strong propaganda tool used to support nationalism for political purposes, given that it has so many variations such that people from different areas of China have different versions of this story. In this article, we summarize and compare the different versions of Lady Meng JiangNu and then provide a detailed analysis of the political elements in the story. Through careful comparisons and analysis, we find that distinct sentiments of resentment and servitude with respect to authority and submissiveness delivered by the stories highlight the position of power in different parts of China, namely the North and the South.

KEYWORDS

Lady Mengjiang, Folklore, Propaganda, the Tanabata festival (The Tale of Amewakahiko)