Su Liuniang, the protagonist of the well-known Chaozhou opera "Su Liuniang" in Chaozhou people at home and abroad, is a real person. There is her former residence in Leipu Village where she was born, and there are many magical legends. The story of the legendary Su Liuniang and Guo Jichun who sacrificed themselves for love is more popular among Chaozhou people at home and abroad than "Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai". Chaoshan idioms such as "Marry Su Liuniang" and "No hope for Xilu" are all related to the story of Su Liuniang. During the Ming Dynasty, in Leipu Village, Taoshandu, Jieyang County, there was a Su Yuanwai who had a daughter Liuniang. She was beautiful and intelligent since childhood. She was sent to her aunt's house in Xilu to study. She fell in love with her cousin Guo Jichun and made a vow. Su Yuanwai was in a lawsuit with someone, so he betrothed Su Liuniang to Yang Ziliang, the son of Yang Shuban of Chaozhou Prefecture, and called Liuniang home. When Liuniang returned to Leipu, she heard that her father betrothed her to Yang Ziliang, and she was willing to jump into Rongjiang to repay her confidant. Before the wedding, Liu Niang fled to Taohua's mother's home in Jingbei Village for temporary shelter, so Mr. Su had to choose a maid to marry in her place. Yang Ziliang found out on the way and beat the fake Liu Niang to death with one punch. Yang Shuban heard that his son had killed someone, and fearing being blamed, he pretended that the bride had unfortunately fallen into a deep pit and died, temporarily calming the matter down. After many twists and turns, Guo Jichun's father, Mr. Guo, ordered people to go to Jingbei Village to secretly take Liu Niang to the mansion, and secretly followed Jichun to the provincial government for the examination. Later, Jichun failed the examination and returned. Yang Ziliang found out about it, and his father wrote a letter to the head of the Su clan, asking him to enforce the clan law and severely punish Su Liu Niang. The clan leader ordered the servants to trick Liu Niang back to Leipu, drag her to the ancestral temple, summon the Su clan members, open the shrine to read the clan law, and put Su Liu Niang in a pig cage, carry it to Shuangxizui, and sink it into the Rongjiang River. Guo Jichun was also very sad to hear the news and jumped into the river. It is said that the next day, Guo Jichun held Su Liuniang in his arms, and they both floated on the sea of Baiyu Island and were buried together on the top of Fengshan Mountain. Now, in Xilu Town, Chaoyang District, Shantou City, people have built a cemetery for Su Liuniang, which has become a tourist attraction. People in Su Liuniang's hometown are reluctant to talk about Su Liuniang because it is a past that is hard to look back on. But the surrounding people praise Su Liuniang as a beauty, a talented woman, and a goddess, and also regard Su Liuniang's love tragedy as a profound lesson for parents to interfere in their children's marriage. Xie Lian (Xie Chaoyun), a famous scholar in Jieyang in the Qing Dynasty, spoke up for Su Liuniang and wrote a seven-character long poem "Song of Su Liuniang", with a preface to explain its meaning. The preface records: "In the Ming Dynasty, there was Su Liuniang, a villager from Lipu (Leipu) in Jieyang. She was about two miles away from my home. I was sad that the world was not aware of it. She was the same kind as the promiscuous people, but I didn't laugh at them." The poem says: "The beauty is short-lived because of love, and it is difficult to be as affectionate as the Su family girl!" The regret is very real. Leipu Village, the hometown of Su Liuniang, and the endless legends Leipu Village (Lvpu Village, Lipu Village) was built in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, facing the stream on three sides and surrounded by green shade. At present, the former residence of Su Liuniang (four-room hall), the ancient banyan tree at the entrance of the ancient village, the ancient village gate (ancient watchtower), the deep ancient alley, and the stone tablet of admonition and public security written by Zhou Boxu, the governor of Jieyang County in the 12th year of the Republic of China, etc. are preserved. Because of the love story of Su Liuniang, this small ancient village has many legends that are well-known far and wide, and can be called "the eternal strange village". During our interview, Su Qia Shun, an 80-year-old man from Leipu Village, pointed out and explained to us the legendary ancient objects and places, which shows that the local people believe in these legends. Legend 1: The birth of a lover: "Open the north gate and give birth to a beautiful woman." Legend has it that there is a north gate in Leipu Village. Because it faces Taoshan, as long as it is opened, a peerless beauty like Su Liuniang will be born, and her nails will be red when she is born, and she will be passionate and romantic when she grows up. The villagers of Leipu believed that this was evil, so they blocked the north gate. Today, the north gate of the village is incomplete, but the ruins built in the Ming Dynasty still exist. Legend 2: The talent of a lover: Su Liuniang drew a dragon out of the grain at the age of five. According to legend, Su Liuniang was beautiful and smart. When she was five years old, she used grains to form dragons, phoenixes, birds and beasts on the grain drying field, which looked like living things. The birds in the sky and the chickens and ducks on the ground were so scared that they dared not steal the grain. What's more amazing is that Su Liuniang also knew how to add the finishing touches to a dragon. As long as she added the finishing touches to the dragon's eyes, the dragon would soar into the sky. People said she was a fairy descending from the earth. The ash yard where Su Liuniang dried grains still exists. Legend 3: The death of a lover: Su Liuniang's death is complicated and confusing. One story says that Liuniang was thrown into the river by the clan leader according to clan law. After her death, she and Guo Jichun, who had thrown themselves into the river on the other side, floated up in each other's arms, which was full of the magical color of loyal love. One story says that she and Guo Jichun both threw themselves into the river to commit suicide. It is said that this was the content of the old opera before liberation. One story says that she escaped by pretending to throw herself into the river and finally married Guo Jichun. The current script uses this result to highlight the ruthlessness of feudal clan law and the sincerity and wit of young men and women in pursuing freedom of marriage. Another story says that after she and Guo Jichun both threw themselves into the river to commit suicide, the King of Hell was moved by their true love and granted them resurrection to marry. This myth and legend clearly reflects the sympathy of the people for the ending of their love. Legend 4: The journey of the lover: Su Liuniang liked to go in and out of the Song Dynasty Bridge. Legend has it that Su Liuniang liked to go in and out of the village from the Song Dynasty stone bridge outside the East Gate. Whenever Liuniang passed by, the green bamboo bridge, flowing water, beautiful women, flowers and butterflies danced, set off each other, and the audience was enthusiastic. Xie Lian (Xie Chaoyun) of the Qing Dynasty described Su Liuniang: "The Su family has a daughter named Liuniang, who is famous for her beauty in the boudoir. Zhuo Nu is ashamed of the distant mountains, and Li Niang's breath is more fragrant than orchids. Natural ten fingers are like Magu claws, and red jade is carved to make her more graceful. Shame on the Tang Palace for dyeing phoenix fairy, falling flowers and flowing water are difficult to tune." Today, the East Gate village wall is still the same, the bamboo grove is still the same, and the stream is still the same. Legend 5: The lover's bamboo forest: the "Eagle and Peach Complaint" Feng Shui legend. Legend has it that Su Liuniang's father Su Shi practiced Feng Shui. The Feng Shui master said that Leipu is an eagle land, and it must have plump feathers. He taught him to plant a bamboo forest outside the East Gate, and Su Shi really gave birth to the beautiful Su Liuniang. However, this bamboo forest caused a story of "Eagle and Peach Grudge". It is said that the terrain of Leipu Village is very similar to an eagle, with the eagle's head turned to the neighboring Taoshan Township. There is a legend that a live "eagle" pecked at the "fairy peach". In addition, the bamboo forest borders Taoshan Township, and thieves often appear and commit crimes, so the Taoshan people are very cautious. On the other hand, the Taoshan people must carry the coffin through Leipu Village every time they go to a funeral, and the Leipu people often quarrel with them. Once, the Xie clan of Taoshan Township invited Mr. Sun Ren, a geographer. Sun Ren is good at resolving people's grievances by borrowing geography. He asked the Taoshan people to fertilize and water the bamboo forest behind the village every morning and evening, so that the Leipu people thought that they were going to use green bamboo to kill the "live eagle" and automatically uprooted the bamboo grove. Mr. Sun also told the Taoshan people not to send the dead to feed the eagle. The Taoshan people believed Mr. Sun's words and built another road, so that they no longer had to send the coffin to Leipu Village for funerals. The "Eagle and Peach Grudge" was resolved in this way. The stone tablet of admonition and public security written and engraved by Zhou Bochu, the governor of Jieyang County in the 12th year of the Republic of China, has been well preserved to this day, which to a certain extent confirms the story of "Eagle and Peach Grievance". Legend 6. The father of the lover: Mr. Su is addicted to lawsuits. It is said that Su Shi, the father of Su Liuniang, is a wise man who loves to sue others and enjoys suing. He is famous far and wide. This is reflected in the Chaozhou opera "Su Liuniang". Legend 7. "No Long, no Xing, no Su": It is said that when Leipu was first established, there were three surnames, "Long, Xing, and Su". Later, Long and Xing left for some unknown reason, leaving only Su. The Su surname has been reduced since the early Qing Dynasty, and the population was only nearly 100 people at its lowest. Local people said that it was "no Long, no Xing, no Su", meaning that without firewood (Xing and Long are homophones of the Chaoshan dialect for sending firewood and burning fire respectively), the food cannot be crispy (homonymous with the Chaoshan dialect word Su), which is a metaphor that without Long and Xing, the Su surname would not be prosperous. Legend 8, He Yeyun "built a road and shot an eagle": Legend has it that He Yeyun (Shi Muxian), the military advisor of Chen Youliang in the late Yuan Dynasty, passed by Leipu and wanted to hide in the village, but was rejected. Later, He Yeyun saw that Leipu Village was an "eagle land", so he built an official road outside the east gate of Leipu, rushing straight to the village gate, intending to "shoot an eagle", destroying the feng shui of the village. Today, the ancient Leipu Village of "Eagle Land", the East Gate of "Eagle Head", and the Green Bamboo of "Eagle Wings" still exist, and the official road of "shooting an eagle" can also be vaguely discerned. In Chaoshan, the Chaozhou Opera "Su Liuniang" has been circulated at home and abroad with its legendary love story, which can be said to be a love drama for the ages. In 1956, the famous artists Mei Lanfang and Ouyang Yuqian discovered two Ming Dynasty editions of Chaozhou opera in Japan, one of which was the "Re-Supplement of the Collection of Chaozhou Operas of Jinhuanu" (with the engraving of "Su Liuniang") hidden in the Institute of Oriental Literature of the University of Tokyo. After liberation, the Chaozhou opera "Su Liuniang" starring the famous actor Yao Xuanqiu became popular at home and abroad, and was made into a movie and made into a VCD. The famous Chaozhou opera excerpt "Taohua Dujia" is a section of "Su Liuniang". Taohua is Su Liuniang's maid, who was ordered to take a boat from Jingbeidu to Xilu to deliver letters many times. During the crossing, she competed with Du Bo in singing, using the local customs and allusions with Chaoshan characteristics to sing duets, which was humorous and fascinating. The "Jingbeidu" mentioned in the play is an ancient ferry, and "Shuangxizui" is one of the eight ancient scenic spots in Jieyang.