Tag Archives: Folk narrative

Chinese Legend General Zhuge

Nationality: Chinese American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: April13, 2017
Primary Language: English
Language: Chinese

Note: The form of this submission includes the dialogue between the informant and I before the cutoff (as you’ll see if you scroll down), as well as my own thoughts and other notes on the piece after the cutoff. The italics within the dialogue between the informant and I (before the cutoff) is where and what kind of direction I offered the informant whilst collecting. 

Informant’s Background:

My parents and I are from Central China, but I grew up in Kentucky.

Piece:

My parents told me about this general from China, who lived however many dynasties ago but he was just known for being very clever. And like one of the smartest, most cunning generals out there. He was fighting out there, with I don’t know exactly who, but he was talking to one of his lieutenants and he said that in order for them to have a successful battle, they were going to need 100,000 arrows. There was no way to get that many, so they were as good as done. But the general said he could figure something out. So he concocted a plan, his name was General Zhuge. So General Zhuge found a day where it was especially foggy. He had a plan to kind of trick the enemies into giving them their arrows. On that day, the enemies were prepared and on edge because at any moment General Zhuge’s troops would storm the beach. Zhuge had boats sent across the river. It was foggy so they couldn’t see anything so the general freaked out on the other side and ordered the enemies to start shooting arrows at these boats. What was clever, what the general did was that he filled these boats with straw people instead of men. So the arrows got stuck in the straw and as the straws got stuck, Zhuge started pulling the boats back. By the end of the day, he had more than 100,000 arrows, and all from the enemies. And I guess the kind of like moral of the story is that you have to be cunning if you want to win a war.

Piece Background Information:

I don’t know if it’s true or not but it was kind of to frame how clever and how cunning this general was back in that dynasty. They told me one day when I was out with my parents and my dad wanted to share Chinese folklore with me. I was in high school, in like sophomore or junior year. He learned that from his parents, and I guess also from the culture because it’s a pretty famous story.

—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Context of Performance:

In person, during the day at Ground Zero, a milkshake shop and cafe on USC’s campus in Los Angeles.

Thoughts on Piece: 

I enjoyed the informant’s story on the legendary General Zhuge. While this story about collecting the arrows with straw may or may not be true, General Zhuge existed. The Wikipedia on General Zhuge Liang states that this particular event is not documented in the official dynasty history and is purely fiction.

Legend of the Lost Dutchman’s Gold Mine

Nationality: American
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: University of Southern California/Scottsdale, AZ
Performance Date: 3/10/15
Primary Language: English

“So in 1540, the Spanish arrived in what’s modern day Phoenix. The area was inhabited by Apache Indians who considered the Superstition Mountains the sacred ground of the Thunder God. Coronado, one of the main conquistadors in the area, was in search of a golden city and heard from Apache stories that the mountains did, in fact, have gold. The Apache refused to help the Spanish and told them they would be cursed if they trespassed. The Spanish, didn’t take heed and instead led a troop into the range and began disappearing one by one. Despite trying to keep everyone together, more men would disappear and their bodies would be found days later headless and completely mutilated. Conquistadors fled the mountain, vowing never to return. However, 200 years later the Peralta family received a land grant that encompassed the supposed gold treasure hidden in the mountains. Mining operations occurred, though in small doses to keep the Apache happy. The Peralta brothers eventually found the gold they were searching for but were unable to collect it before the American-Mexican war began. The Peralta’s then heard rumors that the Apache were coming to attack them for their intrusion on sacred grounds and concealed the entrance to the mine. They didn’t make it out of the range however, as the Apache trapped them and killed all the brothers except one who escaped. He didn’t dare come back for another 16 years before leading another expedition with 400 men, all of whom were ambushed while ascending the range and savagely ripped apart. It’s rumored that the ghosts of the Peralta’s still roam the range, waiting to attack any people trying to find their lost gold mine.”

When my roommate began telling me this story when I asked him one afternoon about stories he might know about Arizona, many memories of my childhood rushed back as I too knew the story of the Peralta’s and their supposed hauntings of the Superstition Mountains. The informant, who grew up in Scottsdale, Arizona, about 45 minutes from the Supersitions said he heard the story through his elementary school where teachers sometimes brought up the story when recalling Arizona’s history. I have experience with the story due to many family members living in the area, and when I’ve gone to visit them I’ve taken hikes through the Supersitions where my uncle would recite the story to me, though I had forgotten most of the legend until my roommate retold it.

The informant said that when he and his friends were older, they would sometimes drive then hike to one of the rumored areas of the mine to see if anything would happen. Nothing occurred the first two times they went out there besides a friend or two trying to scare others in the bushes. On the third time, however, he and his friends recall hearing footsteps behind them that accompanied a fait metal clank. He recalls it scaring the daylights out of everyone and has since never returned. I loved hearing this legend due to my fascination with the Wild West. Furthermore, due to my familiarity with the location of the legend, it gives me a feeling of both suspense and excitement to know I’ve ventured through where the legend occurred.