The Legend of the White Deer

Jiangsu
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The legend of the white deer's traces is a folk literature project in the second batch of representative projects of municipal intangible cultural heritage. The "Legend of the White Deer's Traces" took place in Yangjiang Town, Gaochun County. According to historical records: At the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, Emperor Huizong of Song adopted the suggestion of Grand Tutor Cai Jing and sent General Zhang Kang to lead his army to the Shijiu Lake in the south of the Yangtze River to reclaim land. It was midwinter, and there was heavy snow in the Danyang Lake area. The lake beach was covered with vast white snow, and the terrain could not be seen clearly. The anxious people suddenly found traces of deer in the snow. Deer are psychic and must walk on high places. So people followed their footprints to build the foundation of the dike, with a circumference of 84 miles and 950 hectares of arable land. It was the largest lake enclosure project at the time. Because the land in the dike was fertile and irrigation was convenient, it could ensure a bumper harvest all year round, so it was named "Yongfeng Dike". The story of "The White Deer's Traces" came from this. After the construction of Yongfeng Dike, General Zhang Kang became ill due to overwork and died at the bend of the dike on the east side of Yongfeng Dike. To commemorate General Zhang, later generations built a temple at the place where he died, which was called "General Temple". The village was also named after the temple, which is Miaowan Village (now Donghu Village, Yangjinjiang Town). After many vicissitudes of life, the original temple was destroyed but the temple site still exists. Later generations built another small temple on the original temple site, also called "General Temple". To this day, old people often go there to burn incense and kowtow. "The legend of the white deer's whereabouts" has always been a good story for local people, and has been passed down from the Song Dynasty to the present. Information source: Jiangsu Provincial Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center (no pictures yet, welcome to provide.) Information source: Jiangsu Provincial Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center (no pictures yet, welcome to provide.)

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