Folk tale

The fifth day of the fifth lunar month is a festival in the traditional Chinese calendar—the Dragon Boat Festival.This festival is a time when we wrap zongzi (glutinous rice dumplings). On this day every year, many families make zongzi, and numerous varieties with different flavors and styles emerge during this fragrant season.

In the Xinghu Chong area of Shangnanmen, Yuanling Town, Yuanling County in Western Hunan, there once stood a temple called “Meishan Temple,” dedicated to Meishan Niangniang, the local hunter goddess of the Tujia people. The Tujia’s religious beliefs were deeply influenced by Han Chinese traditions, with strong reverence for mountain deities and ancestral worship. The ancestors of the Tujia were renowned for their exceptional hunting skills, and Meishan Shen was their venerated hunter deity. Hunters performed the ritual of “An Meishan” both before and after every hunt, offering sacrifices to Meishan Niangniang.

"Chang'e must regret stealing the elixir; endless nights beneath the azure sky and vast sea." These two lines are from the poem "Chang'e" by the Tang Dynasty poet Li Shangyin. The story of Chang'e flying to the moon has been widely circulated in our country since ancient times.

During the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Imperial Academy in Luoyang, the capital city, was the highest institution for teaching Confucian classics. All its scholars were learned men, each holding the title of "Doctor." One Spring Festival, the Academy was filled with a festive atmosphere. The Doctors were busy decorating with lanterns and streamers, preparing to welcome an imperial edict. Soon, drums and gongs sounded outside the Academy—clearly, the emperor had sent messengers to congratulate the Doctors on the holiday. To everyone's delight, the edict announced that, to help the Doctors celebrate the Spring Festival joyfully, the emperor was specially granting each one a sheep.

The father of Empress Lü was an elderly private tutor. Though not wealthy or of high nobility, he was well-respected in the community. He had two daughters, both exceptionally beautiful, like delicate flower buds. The elder daughter was somewhat unusual—though grown, she refused to let others arrange a marriage for her, insisting on choosing a husband she truly favored herself. The old scholar grew increasingly anxious, and in frustration over his inability to marry off his eldest, he impulsively married his younger daughter to Fan Kuai, a dog butcher.

One morning during the first year of Jingde (1004 AD) under Emperor Zhenzong of the Song Dynasty, a grand banquet was held in the residence of the Grand Chancellor in Bianjing, the capital of the Great Song. Outside the chancellor's mansion, crowds gathered and carriages flowed like water; high officials and aristocrats from the capital arrived one after another, each bearing lavish gifts. It turned out that today was the 43rd birthday of the newly appointed chancellor, Kou Zhun. At this moment, Kou sat proudly upon his ceremonial chair, basking in success and radiant with joy.

Li Bai was fond of wine and called himself the "Immortal of Wine." Du Fu's love for wine was no less intense, earning him the title "Sage of Wine." According to statistics by Mr. Guo Moruo, among Du Fu's existing collection of over 1,400 poems, more than 300 mention wine.As early as the age of fourteen or fifteen, Du Fu was already a great drinker, a fact amply demonstrated in his poem "Zhuang You" (Travels in Youth): "In the past, at fourteen or fifteen, I roamed the literary circles... My nature bold, my passion for wine strong; With righteous heart I hate evil... Drunk, I survey the eight directions, seeing vulgar men as mere mist."

In the 26th year of the Qing Dynasty's Daoguang reign (1846 AD), the Daoguang Emperor, already 65 years old, felt his physical condition declining and often found himself overwhelmed when handling state affairs. He realized it was time to address the matter of appointing an imperial heir.The Daoguang Emperor had nine sons. The eldest son, Yizhi; the second son, Yigang; and the third son, Yiji, had all died previously. The fifth son, Yicong, had been adopted in his youth by Prince Chun, Miankai. The seventh son, Yixuan; the eighth son,

It is said that in the land where the Dai people lived, there once reigned a tyrant and his minister, Xinagao, who oppressed the people, frequently launched wars, and raided neighboring states, causing immense suffering to countless innocent civilians. Everyone in the world resented their cruelty, even the tyrant's own daughter. This despot was utterly debauched; whenever he saw a beautiful woman, he harbored evil intentions, and the number of women he violated was countless.

During his second southern inspection tour, Emperor Qianlong had seen his fill of the famed mountains and rivers of Suzhou and Hangzhou, and tasted every delicacy the Jiangnan region had to offer. As he journeyed back to the capital and passed through Shengfang Town, he suddenly craved a change of taste. So he and Liu Luoguo, both dressed in commoner's clothes, strolled onto the street. Though small, Shengfang was a vital hub for both land and water transport, boasting no fewer than dozens of restaurants serving Beijing-Tianjin style cuisine.