Yang Yao (1108-1135), whose given name was Tai, was a native of Xinxing Township, Longyang (now Hanshou). He was born as a hired laborer. He studied in a private school for two years when he was young. After dropping out of school, he worked as a hired laborer on a merchant ship to make a living. From the fourth year of Jianyan (1130) to the fifth year of Shaoxing (1135), he participated in various battles to defend his country. In February 1135, Song Gaozong appointed Zhang Jun, the right servant, as the military supervisor and transferred Yue Fei from the anti-Jin front to be the envoy of Xiangyang Prefecture Road in the north and south of Jinghu, launching the seventh "encirclement and suppression" against the rebel army. Yue Fei lured Huang Cheng, Yang Qin and others to surrender to the Song Dynasty, and used Yang Qin's plan to dig the sluice gate to release water, cut down trees to block the harbor, and float weeds on the water. The rebel army's vehicles and ships lost their combat effectiveness. On June 11, the main camp of Baotai Mountain was breached. Yang Yao refused to surrender to the Song Dynasty and swam out of the siege. He was captured by Niu Gao in Tianetang (now in Weidihu Township) and died heroically. After Yang Yao's death, his deeds were widely circulated in Hanshou and Dongting Lake area, forming folk stories with local characteristics. Yang Yao's folk stories have been circulated for a long time, full of charm, popular, far-reaching and extensive influence, and are precious folk literature and intangible cultural heritage projects in Hunan Province. Folk Stories about Yang Yao At the end of the Northern Song Dynasty and the beginning of the Southern Song Dynasty, the Jin soldiers invaded the Central Plains. The rulers of the Song Dynasty humiliated and begged for peace. The government plundered the people more and more, the gentry plundered easily, and the bandits robbed along the way. In addition, floods occurred year after year, forcing Yang Yao, a fisherman in Hukou, to lead the people to form an association to "defend the territory and protect the people", and then responded to the uprising of Zhong Xiang from Wuling (now Dingcheng District) to "equalize the noble and the humble, and the rich and the poor", restore and develop production, fight against the Song Dynasty, and defend against the invasion of the Jin people. After Zhong Xiang's death, the center of the uprising shifted to Longyang (now Hanshou County). Yang Yao called himself "the Great Sage Heavenly King" and was supported by the righteous army of seven states and nineteen counties. He smashed the Song army's six encirclements and suppressions in succession and repeatedly refused the Song court's amnesty and the pseudo-Qi's inducement to surrender. During the more than eight years of Yang Yao's uprising, the feudal land system and political and legal system were abolished in the uprising area, and efforts were made to develop production and build villages. He practiced both military and agricultural work, "cultivating in spring and summer" and "fighting in autumn and winter". He built dikes, planted willows to protect dikes, and built weirs to control rainwater. He raised fish, created and rebuilt warships, helped each other, protected the ecology of mosquitoes, and cared for waterfowl, leaving many good stories for future generations, as well as many precious material and spiritual civilization heritages. Yang Yao's folk tales have a long history; the content is extensive and vivid and touching; the plot is tortuous, the characters are full, the language is concise and lively, the dialect is lively and meaningful, and it is easy to say and easy to listen to. It is pleasant to the ears and the eyes, and people enjoy talking about it. Yang Yao's folk tales are centered in Hanshou, with many oral inheritors. The main lineage is clear and there are many branches. In Hanshou County alone, there are the main lines in the urban area and Weitihu Township, and the branches in Yougang, Zhoukou, Canggang, Xinxing, Niejiaqiao, Maojiatan, Taizimiao and other townships (towns). In the 1950s, Liu Ziying, the ninth-generation inheritor of the main lineage, began to narrate and record the stories orally. In the 1980s and 1990s, he traveled all over Dongting to continue narrating and recording the stories. From 1981 to the present, nearly 50 stories have been published in books and periodicals such as "Folk Literature", "Children's Literature", "Folk Customs", and "Chu Feng", as well as provincial and municipal radio and television stations, and more than 100 stories are still extant. Ballads, proverbs, and sayings were formed at the same time as Yang Yao's stories. Later, they all influenced the creation of literati, such as "The Complete Biography of Yue Fei", "Heroes of Dongting", "Hundred Heroes in the South", "Juanqihua", etc.; they also entered the storytelling of folk artists, Fisherman's song and three-stick drum. The folk tales of Yang Yao have a history of more than 800 years since they were formed in the Southern Song Dynasty. After the development of the Yuan, Ming, Qing and Republic of China, they have become ideological and artistic, easy to learn and easy to tell, and have great historical and humanistic value. The content of the Yang Yao story is to oppose feudalism, resist foreign aggression, develop production, improve life, and build a peaceful home. It praises Yang Yao and the spirit of the working people in the Dongting Lake area under his leadership who are not afraid of strong enemies, dare to fight, share weal and woe, freedom and equality, and help each other. The story is spoken in dialect, talking about the people of Dongting, narrating the affairs of Dongting, talking about the things of Dongting, integrating the folk customs of Dongting, and containing Dongting ballads and proverbs. It is colorful, loved by the general public, and easy to understand. The Yang Yao story comprehensively records the entire process of the peasant uprising, its main events, major battles and their participants, and the time and place of the events and battles. There are no errors, and many of them can be used as reliable history, making up for the lack of historical records. For example, "Liulinzui Yang Yao's First Uprising" and "The Origin of Yangqizui". The "Dingkou Victory" and "Yangwukou Victory" in the story reflect "fortifying the walls and clearing the fields", "luring the enemy deep into the ground", "luring the enemy into a trap", "arrogant soldiers will be defeated, and mournful soldiers will win", "accumulating energy and training", "empty city plan", "chain plan", "provocation method", "surprise attack method", etc. All of them reflect the military talents of Yang Yao and his generals. In the story, both the leader Yang Yao and the soldiers of the righteous army are called "yeer". "The people in the righteous area, whether officers and soldiers (civilians), men and women, old and young, each person has eight he of rice per day" reflects the idea of no feudal hierarchy, equality between the upper and lower, equality between officers and soldiers (civilians), and equality between men and women. "Mrs. Zhu (Mrs. Yang Yao) visits the mother and son (parturient woman)" and "Yang Yao comforts the defeated general" all reflect the grace and generosity of Yang Yao and his wife who cherish the soldiers and civilians like their own children. In addition, the story of Yang Yao also has folk value, which is specifically reflected in the "sending porridge rice", "making baba", "making mosquito coils", "rowing competition", "fighting", etc. in the story, which enriched the folk customs at that time and created new folk customs for the Dongting Lake area. These folk customs have been passed down to this day and have influenced various places. In addition, the story also embodies literary value, aesthetic value, use value and development and utilization value.