Shehuo (traditional meery-making festivites in vilalge) from Ningxia Volume

Folk legends, an aesthetically valuable form of literature combining fictional imagination and realistic description on the basis of historical facts, widely spread in China. Chinese folk legends include figure legends and local customs and lifestyles.

Figure legends consists of stories about emperors and generals, national heroes, righteous officials, farmer rebels, revolutionary leaders, men of letters, craftsmen, miraculous doctors, religious figures and so on. Figure legends mainly focus on

Colored lantern "Liu Hai playing with a Toad"

diverse historical figures, recording their life and the public's views on them.

Legends of local customs and lifestyles are rich in China and they are the aesthetic interpretation of the origin or names of landscapes, local special produces or customs. Such legends include those about natural phenomenon, artificial scenes, local special produces, and folk customs.

Folk legends such as Tale of the White Snake, Mengjiangnu Crying at the Great Wall, Story of Butterfly Lovers, and The Cowherd and the Weaving-fairy have been told in China for ages.