Formal story texts: The Stories of Hero Tian and Duke Peng

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（Play All）Formal story texts: The Stories of Hero Tian and Duke Peng

1.3.1: The Story of Hero Tian
1.3.2: The Story of Duke Peng

Tian Jinggui, Dianfang Township, Longshan County
recorded on 19 June 2002

This text tells the traditional story of Hero Tian, one of the three great quasi-historical (c.10th century) heroes of the Tujia in Xiangxi, along with General Xiang and Duke Peng. The tale focuses on the strength and martial prowess of Hero Tian. In the past Tujia society was based on small groups of farmers who regularly trained together as skilled fighting units, and Tujia soldiers were well known throughout China for their success in battles. This is a prepared text, written down using Chinese characters as phonetic aide-memoires to indicate Tujia words.

01	tian³hao¹hang²-nie³ pa³pa¹. The Story of Hero Tian
02	lai⁴, tian³hao¹hang²-nie³ pa³pa¹ lao⁴ li³. tian³hao¹hang² bi²zi¹ka³-nie³ xie¹qi¹ ci⁴-xi³tai²-nie³ luo⁴ la² hu³. Today I'm going to tell you the story of Hero Tian. Hero Tian was a mighty man among the Tujia.
03	guo² li⁴ qie³ jie²po¹-zu², wu² hhi²-xi² die¹, guo² guo² wu² pe²ti¹ke¹ ga³ po¹-bo³ cu¹ song¹kuo¹. Whenever he finished ploughing, his cow walked home too slowly, so he would put it on his shoulders and carry it back home.
04	ei¹ la² qie², guo² qi²bu¹li¹ bu⁴ la² ca¹ cu⁴-lie³ cang³die³-bo³ lu³-lu³, beng⁴si³ xie²-nie³ luo⁴ lao⁴ yi³, One day, he had loaded a boat with soybeans and was on his way to Changde to sell them, when he came across a capable man.
05	ei¹ luo⁴ lao⁴ bu⁴ gu³-lie³, ji³ huo³lie³ mu⁴nie³ jia²zu¹ za² mo³ kuo³-liao³, guo² li³: "nga² xi²lang¹." As the man boarded the boat, he stepped on the boat's bamboo steering pole and broke it. "Sorry!" he said.
06	tian³hao¹hang² li³: "qie⁴ sa³ tai² ou!" jie² huo³lie³ mu⁴nie³ kuo²ti¹ za⁴ mo³ pi²pi¹ zi²-liao³, hu³pa³-bo³ la²-lu³. Hero Tian replied, "That's OK", and, taking the pole in his hand as though it were a bean, crushed it into powder, which he threw into the river.
07	ei¹ luo⁴ lao⁴, guo² qi²bu¹li¹ la² pa¹ huo³-lie³ li³: "eng¹ qi²bu¹li¹ ga³-bo³-la¹ tai² ya?" qi²bu¹li¹ za⁴ mo³ pi²pi¹ zi²-liao³. The man grabbed a handful of soybeans and said: "Are these soybeans dry yet?" as he crushed them into powder.
08	tian³hao¹hang², guo² qi²bu¹li¹ la² pa¹ a³, jie² wo²tu¹ za⁴ mo³ se³si² zu²-diu², guo² li³: "qi²bu¹li¹ ga³-bo³-da² qing³mo¹ se³si² zu² ya?" Hero Tian also grabbed a handful of soybeans and squeezed oil out from them, saying, "If the soybeans weren't dry how would I be able to squeeze oil from them?"
09	ei¹ luo⁴ ge⁴-lie³ ka³kei¹la³lei¹ mo³ xi⁴ca³-lu³. This scared the man, who quietly slipped away.
10	ta¹nie¹, tian³hao¹hang² wu¹hang²-bo³ ka³tong³ lu³-zu², ka³ pu¹-nie³ lao¹bang¹ ha³-xi² li³, tong³qian³ lie²-ta¹-zu², guo² guo² ha³ mo³ se²-ta¹ ca²-ta¹-liao³. Later, Hero Tian went to Wuhan to sell timber, but the timber merchant threatened him and wouldn't pay up, so he gave the man a sound beating.
11	tu¹wan³ lao¹si¹ceng³ su²-zu², guo² guo² hi² hi²-nie³ luo⁴ jie²ri¹ma¹ da⁴xi⁴, la² si¹ ta²ci¹ wo⁴-nie³ a³ba³, guo² guo² la² nie¹-lie³ wo⁴-ji²-liao³. When the Tujia chieftain was building his citadel, Hero Tian helped hundreds of labourers. In a single day, he shifted stones which would have taken them more than a month to move.
12	tian³hao¹hang² heng⁴-xi² zu²-lie³, tu¹wan³ peng³gong¹ guo² a²ci¹-liao³. ta¹nie¹, [tu¹si¹ceng³] wo²tu¹ peng³gong¹ le, jiao²zu¹ ri¹; xian²lao¹guan¹reng³ le, jing¹si¹ ri¹; tian³hao¹hang² le, jian¹jing¹ ri¹; da⁴ha³ xian¹xi¹ bi²zi¹ka³-nie³ sa³ tie²ba¹ za⁴. After Hero Tian's fame spread, he became a favourite of Duke Peng. Later, he lived in the citadel: Duke Peng ruled, General Xiang served as military adviser, and Hero Tian as general. Together, they led the Tujia people of Xiangxi through the great events of the time.
13	tian³hao¹hang²-nie³ pa³pa¹ ri³-xi³tai², lai⁴ jiu¹ ai¹ he²lang³ li³. There are many more stories about Hero Tian, but that's enough for today.

Tian Jinggui, Dianfang Township, Longshan County
recorded on 04 July 2002

This text tells the traditional story of Duke Peng, one of the three great quasi-historical heroes of the Tujia in Xiangxi, along with General Xiang and Hero Tian. The tale tells how Duke Peng ousted Wuzuocong, freeing the Tujia people in the area from oppression and becoming their leader. In real life, Peng Jian, who defeated the existing ruler of the northern Xiangxi area in 910, primarily differed from his predecessor in initiating a dynasty that would rule the area continuously for a staggering 818 years. The dynasty only came to an end when the Qing court replaced such feudal rulers with directly appointed officials in the gaituguiliu reforms of the early 18th century (see Introduction). This is a prepared text, written down using Chinese characters as phonetic aide-memoires to indicate Tujia words.

01	peng³gong¹ jiao²zu¹-nie³ pa³pa¹. The Story of Duke Peng
02	lai⁴, peng³gong¹ jiao²zu¹-nie³ pa³pa¹ lao⁴ li³. Today I am going to tell you the story of Duke Peng.
03	ei¹ zi¹gi¹-zu², ang² bi²zi¹ka³ ong³-bo³-nie³ lang³cang³-nie³ luo⁴ci¹ba¹ wu³zuo³cong¹ jie³-la¹, guo² ci¹ci¹ ha¹tai², qie⁴ duo³ ha¹tai², luo⁴ qia¹-nie³-xi² hao⁴ri³. A long time ago, in our Tujia areas, there lived a powerful man named Wuzuocong. He was illiterate and unskilled, and only knew how to oppress people.
04	luo⁴ guo² (null)-ta¹-ce¹-nie³ sa³ ri³-xi³tai², zi¹ge¹ la² pe¹ nie²-nie³-xi², luo⁴ guo² si³ ga²-de¹xi³, luo⁴die¹ zuo⁴ a³-zu², guo² zi¹ge¹ suo¹ pe¹ nie²-pie³-duo³. People had all manner of things against him, and hated him so much they could eat his flesh for exercising bride-chamber rights. When people got married, he insisted on first having three nights with the bride.
05	ai¹ la² long¹, bi²zi¹ka³ wo⁴ta³ ci¹tu¹-nie³ luo⁴ ci¹ci¹ ha⁴ri³-nie³ luo⁴ lao⁴ wo⁴ta³ song¹kuo¹-diu², peng³gong¹ jie³-la¹, One year, an educated Tujia man, named Peng, who had been away to study, returned home.
06	guo² luo⁴ qian²la²bu¹ jie³-lie³ wu³zuo³cong¹ ha³-xie², guo² guo² meng⁴dong²ping³-lie¹ wu³zuo³cong¹ ong³-bo³-nie³ tong⁴ wo²tu¹-lie¹ jie⁴ mo³ la²-lu³. He called together a few men and went off to fight Wuzuocong, driving him out of his lair in Mengdongping.
07	wu³zuo³cong¹ luo³ta³gai²-bo³ ye⁴-lu³, ku¹za⁴ ga³-lie¹ ka⁴-bo³ peng³gong¹ da⁴ la² long¹ ta²ci¹ ha³. Wuzuocong fled to Luota [in Longshan], to the safety of the mountains, where Peng fought with him for over a year.
08	ta¹nie¹, peng³gong¹ guo² mi¹ra¹ huo³lie³ wu³zuo³ting¹ wu²-liao³, wu³zuo³cong¹ ku¹za⁴ ga³-lie¹ ra² mo³ xi⁴ca³-lu³. Later, Peng burnt down Wu's base there. Wuzuocong fled from the mountains,
09	peng³gong¹ ra⁴ huo³lie³ wu³zuo³cong¹-nie³ si³ jie²tang¹ke¹ ra⁴ mo³ dong³-liao³, ra²-ta¹tiu¹. wu³zuo³cong¹ ra²-lie³ se⁴wu³ping³ [ye⁴], mie⁴ zu²-xi² po¹-ta¹, ao¹ se²-liao³. but Peng shot him through with arrows, injuring his arm and preventing his escape. Wuzuocong fled to Sewuping, but he could not staunch the bleeding, and died there.
10	wu³zuo³cong¹ se²-lie³, peng³gong¹ guo² wu³zuo³cong¹-nie³ ang¹ngai⁴ ha³-bo³-xi², re¹ba¹cong¹, cun¹ba¹cong¹-nie³ lang³cang³ ti³-liao³. After Wuzuocong's death, Peng won back the land controlled by Wu's pact brothers, Sebacong and Cunbacong.
11	wu³zuo³cong¹ tao² a-lie¹, bi²zi¹ka³-nie³ luo⁴die¹ peng³gong¹ a²hu¹ mo³ jiao²zu¹ ri¹-liao³. peng³gong¹, guo² xian²lao¹guan¹reng³ duo³ jing¹si¹ ri¹, tian³hao¹hang² duo³ jian¹jing¹ ri¹, da⁴ha³ xian¹xi¹ bi²zi¹ka³-nie³ lang³cang³ sa³ tie²ba¹ za⁴. Now that Wuzuocong was gone, the Tujia people chose Peng as their leader. Peng asked General Xiang to serve as military adviser and Hero Tian as general, and together they managed the important affairs of the Tujia people in Xiangxi.
12	peng³gong¹ jiao²zu¹ sa³ ri¹-xi² ca², luo⁴ xie²-xi² guo² a²hu¹, ye³ hi² hi² nie¹ long¹ ong³-lie³. Duke Peng ruled well and was popular with everyone, [his lineage] holding power for 802 years.
13	mu²la¹, bi²zi¹ka³ se¹ba¹ ri¹-zu² peng³gong¹ jiao²zu¹, xian²lao¹guan¹reng³, tian³hao¹hang² suo¹ la¹hu³ nie³ti³ge¹ti¹ ri¹ mo³ jing²-la¹. Now, when the Tujia hold the 'baishouwu' dance, they sacrifice to their ancestors, Duke Peng, General Xiang, and Hero Tian.