Hello and welcome to Chinese Folk Tales.
I'm Yushun.
It's been a while since we last shared a folktale and, whether you're a long-time listener or new to the show, we're so glad to have you with us.
Today's story is about a rebellious boy god, with dark circles under his eyes and two buns on his head, who's now a billion-dollar box office star.
Yes, I'm talking about Nezha, one of the most well-known mythological figures in China.
As of February 17th, the animated blockbuster Nezha 2 has shattered records, grossing over 12 billion yuan .
It's the first Chinese and first Asian film to surpass 10 billion yuan at the box office, making its mark in the global top 10.
In the movie, Nezha and his friend Ao Bing face all kinds of challenges, battling foes and grappling with their fates.
But the story in the film is pretty different from the original legend.
In this episode of Chinese Folk Tales, let's hear the original story, a tale full of magic power and a lot of rebellion.
The story starts with a city by the East Sea.
A general by the name of Li Jing was stationed in the coastal city, in which fishermen lived peaceful lives.
One day, the general had this worried look on his face.
Were there going to be attacks on the city?
Not really.
It was because his wife was pregnant.
Well, that was supposed to be good news, right?
But the thing was, she had been pregnant for three years and six months.
Sounds more like a tumor to me.
But the day had finally come, and she was in labor, ready to deliver.
The general was more tense and nervous than ever.
He was half ready for a monster to come out, and he was very scared of it.
Well, it wasn't a normal baby all right, but not an outright hairy alien either.
What his wife delivered was more like a bouncy meatball.
Still weird enough, and no one dared to approach.
General Lee didn't like the looks of it and he did something instinctive to an ancient military man.
He raised his sword and hacked.
But instead of blood spilling everywhere, the sword was bounced back with a bang.
Tough meatball.
But the ball of meat did split open.
And guess what was inside?
A chubby cute little baby.
Chubby.
How do Chinese describe a Michelin baby with rows of fat on its arms?
We can say, as a compliment to the parents, that the baby's arms and legs look just like lotus roots, meaning in segments.
And this baby had bulging cheeks, the color of lotus flowers, pink and delicate.
It was a normal baby after all.
The whole family was simply thrilled.
But before they were happy for long, the newborn opened his eyes and set up.
That's right.
And that was just the beginning.
He set up, then got up and started running.
He started growing the second he touched the ground.
Butt naked and rolls of fat bouncing.
The servants chased after this baby and managed to put a red cover around his belly.
The image of Nezha always wears this red belly covering.
Well, and not much else as clothing.
Amid all this excitement, as if the moment wasn't thrilling enough, a golden ray of light struck across the sky.
Maybe it was just lightning.
Following this, an old man with a flowing white beard descended from heaven, sitting on the back of a crane.
The old man's name sounds pretty familiar to the chinese people he's known as the immortal Taiyi.
He saluted General Li and congratulated him on becoming a father.
Then he got down to business and said, General Li, this child of yours is no ordinary mortal child.
I have a name for him.
It's Nezha.
Then he took out from his sleeves, which were like pockets on his gown, two treasures from heaven.
First was a long red silk ribbon.
It was not just a ribbon.
It had a name, Hun Tian Ling.
In most images of Nezha that I have seen, the ribbon goes around Nezha's hair buns.
Sometimes it's around his waist or his arms.
Then, immortal Taiyi took out a golden ring and put it around the little boy's neck.
It was called the Heaven and Earth Ring.
Actually, more like a neck collar.
Little Nezha loved these immortal gifts.
Before flying away on his crane, Immortal Taiyi said to the little boy When you are in trouble, come and find me.
Talking about having solid connections, huh?
Now, with this supernatural visit and the gifts, no one could treat Nezha like an ordinary child.
He had all the freedom he wanted.
One day, he jumped into the ocean for a little bath.
When he waved around the red silk ribbon, the ocean waved along.
So much so that it soon looked like the ocean was boiling.
That might be fun for the little boy, but not so much for those that lived in the ocean.
Oh yeah, there's this underwater kingdom in the ocean, according to Chinese mythology.
It was ruled by the Dragon King, who, at that moment, thought there had been an earthquake.
The shrimp soldiers and crab generals didn't know what was happening.
Their world was in swirls.
The bottom of the ocean was the land of the Dragon King.
No one dared to mess around there.
The son of the Dragon King was not happy with this.
He surfaced to check what was going on, only to discover a chubby toddler making trouble.
That was no one to be afraid of.
The shrimp soldiers and crab generals were no longer scared.
They rushed forward and hacked out a path in the ocean, with waves towering on both sides, ready to swallow that naughty little boy.
Just then, Nezha waved around his soap ribbon and instead of crashing down on him, the waves landed on the shrimp soldiers and crab generals.
When the noise subsided, There were only shrimp shells and crab legs floating around.
The ocean looked more like a pot of seafood porridge.
Have you ever tried it, by the way?
Seafood porridge?
It's actually pretty good.
Anyhow, the son of the Dragon King was mad.
He charged toward Nezha, ready to strangle him.
But it wasn't going to be so easy.
He was not the only one with immortal connections.
They fought a few rounds, and Nezha took off his heaven and earth ring, ready to strike.
The son of the dragon king knew what he should be afraid of.
He changed into a white dragon, ready to swim away.
But Nezha was small and quick.
He jumped onto the back of the dragon.
The white dragon struggled both in the ocean and in the sky, taking Nezha with him and making huge waves.
Nezha held on tight to the scales on the dragon's back and, without thinking of the consequence, he raised the ring high into the air and brought it down hard on the head of the white dragon.
Sparks flew into the air.
And after a few twitches the white dragon went quiet and still and then sank to the bottom of the ocean.
Uh-oh, what was Nezha thinking?
That was the son of the dragon king, and he just killed him.
The dragon king had never been challenged like this before, not to mention losing his sons.
He called the other dragon kings.
Oh yeah, so there are three other dragon kings.
That of the West Sea Dragon King and of the South and the North.
The four dragon kings convened in the coastal city where Nezha was born to submerge it underwater.
The sky darkened like ink and huge waves reached toward the sky, taking all the fishing boats with them, before crashing down again.
This was the most fearsome storm that the people in the city had ever seen.
And they also saw sea monsters of all kinds riding on the waves, coming their way, followed by the much feared dragon kings all four of them.
The people knew that their end had come.
Though he didn't witness the fight, General Li was pretty sure who the troublemaker was.
He took his sword and called for his son.
Nezha might be little, but he had guts enough.
He took the sword from his father, pointed it at the Dragon King and shouted I am the only one responsible.
I killed your son.
Take my life and don't harm the others.
Then he turned around to face his father and said, I give my flesh back to you and mother.
I won't let them harm you.
Before anyone could say anything, Nezha brought the sword across his own throat.
So he died.
And his soul flew up to find immortal Taiyi, the old man with the white beard.
The old man took some lotus roots, and those became bones and flesh.
He took petals from lotus flowers, and those became the skin.
He then took some lotus leaves, and they became a dress.
In the flowing mists in heaven.
A new Nezha came into being, made from different parts of the lotus plant.
And this Nezha never died.
It lived on in popular legends to this day.
That is the tale of Nezha, one of the few young warriors in Chinese mythology.
To the people, Nezha is an embodiment of the lotus plant and possesses power over demons.
Do you have any questions about him?
What other stories do you know about Nezha? feel free to share with us in the comments.
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Until next time, bye for now.
