Message from mferl

[Anonymous]

Hakka Folktales in Asian Folklore and Social Life Monographs. Edited by Lou Tsu-k’uang in collaboration with Wolfram Eberhard. The Orient Cultural Service. 1974. Vol. 61.
The authors of Hakka Folktales view folktales as an expression of the “spirit of the people”. They further believe that tales reflect morals and other values of the society. The authors question the psychological approach that promulgates an interpretation of the unconscious meaning of folktales. These authors study and are more interested in what people openly express when they are asked about their ideas concerning tales.
The study is limited to one ethnic group in China, the Hakka of Taiwan, a minority of three to five million. There were some stereotypical perceptions regarding Hakka. As a minority Hakka were viewed as “backward” or more traditional than the other groups and perceived to be different from the other Chinese. However, the Hakka regarded themselves as the “true” Chinese, as immigrants from the central provinces of China (mainly Honan) who settled in Taiwan around the 12th century.
The collected stories were believed to be widely spread and known by a majority of Hakka. The authors view each teller of a story as a creative thinker who changes details in a given story thus viewing folklore as a living phenomenon. They observed that some storytellers began with most pleasing stories to the audience, and than moved to less common ones. Eberhard was interested in stories that expressed values of the common man, believing that the value system may differ from the professed “Confucian” value system.
The authors investigated the basic folklore questions, e.g. “Who is still telling folktales,” and “To whom are stories told,” and people’s perception of “What are good and what are bad stories.” They include a variety of genres such as myths, legends, historical and patriotic stories, filiality stories, ghost stories, fighting stories, animal tales, romantic stories, educational stories, and tales about customs and festivals.
The moral values expressed in the tales include: honor the gods and worship them; be a hero and love your country; be loyal, upright, honest and good; be filial toward your parents and in-laws; be loving, and strive for harmony and peace; work hard, be frugal and be careful.
This work presents a wealth of information for lesson plans. E.g. it will satisfy California standards in writing.
2.0 Writing Applications (Genres and Their Characteristics)
2.2 Write responses to literature: b. Support important ideas and viewpoints through accurate references to the text.