Li Chi Slays the Serpent
"Li Chi Slays the Serpent" is a classic Chinese myth centered around the courageous figure of Li Chi, who confronts and defeats a monstrous serpent terrorizing her community. The serpent, which resides in a mountain crevasse, has demanded annual sacrifices of young girls to appease its hunger, leading to the loss of nine lives before Li Chi steps forward. Despite her parents' objections, Li Chi volunteers to confront the beast, armed with a sword and accompanied by a hunting dog. On the fateful day, she cleverly uses sweetened rice balls to lure the serpent out, ultimately delivering a decisive blow that slays the creature.
This myth, recorded by the historian Gan Bao in the fourth century CE, is set in the historical context of the Minyue Kingdom. It touches on themes such as sacrifice, bravery, and the role of women in society, presenting Li Chi as a defiant character who challenges traditional norms. The tale has survived through centuries, highlighting its enduring relevance and the cultural significance of its protagonist, who embodies strength and resourcefulness. Li Chi's victory not only frees her community from the serpent's grasp but also leads to her recognition and eventual marriage to a king, further elevating her family's status. The story has inspired various translations and adaptations, continuing to resonate with audiences today.
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Li Chi Slays the Serpent
Author: Traditional
Time Period: 999 BCE–1 BCE
Country or Culture: China
Genre: Myth
Overview
“Li Chi Slays the Serpent” is a classic Chinese myth that tells how its heroine, resourceful and determined Li Chi, slays a serpent that has terrorized her community. For some time, a giant snake has made its home in a crevasse in the mountain range in Li Chi’s home county. The serpent begins killing people and refuses to be appeased by animal sacrifices. Soon, the serpent demands and receives a young girl to devour, lest it kill even more people. After nine years of this dreadful occurrence, young Li Chi volunteers to the local authorities. Against the wishes of her worried parents, she prepares to be the tenth girl offered to the serpent. Rather than meekly submitting to her imminent death, Li Chi arms herself with a sword and takes other creative precautions to battle the monster.
The story of “Li Chi Slays the Serpent” was transcribed first by the Chinese historian Gan Bao (Kan Pao) in the fourth century CE. Gan Bao came from a family of military and civil leaders and studied classical Chinese literature and history. He secured an appointment at the princely court of Sima Rui (276–322 CE), who became Emperor Yuan of the Eastern Jin dynasty in 317 CE. Serving Emperor Yuan, Gan Bao compiled a collection of 464 myths, legends, and folktales published in twenty chapters under the title Soushen ji (Sou-shen chi; In Search of the Supernatural: The Written Record, 1996) before his death in 336 CE. His popular anthology includes the myth “Li Chi Slays the Serpent.” The myth is set in Minyue Kingdom, which existed from 334 BCE to about 111 BCE. In Gan Bao’s recorded form, the myth contains a reference to a heroine from the Han dynasty who offered to sacrifice herself in the second century BCE. This reference establishes these years as the oldest possible date for the myth in its final form.
The oldest surviving complete copy of the anthology is a Chinese print from 1603. In 1979, Moss Roberts offered an English translation of “Li Chi Slays the Serpent” in his anthology Chinese Fairy Tales and Fantasies. Roberts’s translation is based closely on the tradition of the 1603 text. Since then, other English translations from this source, or from its variants, have appeared. Roberts uses the Wade-Giles transcription of Chinese and the traditional Chinese name order for his text, which is the source text of this presentation. Thus, the protagonist’s family name, Li, precedes her personal name, Chi. The modern Pinyin transcription of her name is Li Ji; however, this name is shared by unrelated figures, and most mentions of Li Ji refer to them, not to the protagonist of this myth. Consequently, for clarity, the more familiar Wade-Giles spelling, Li Chi, will be used in this essay, while all other figures will be referred to by their Pinyin spellings, along with Wade-Giles upon first mention.
A literary historical analysis can trace the origin of the myth in ancient times. An analysis informed by cultural criticism and new historicism illustrates how the myth “Li Chi Slays the Serpent” addresses key social issues of its original audience that have remained relevant for over a millennium. In particular, the analysis covers the issue of local government response to a threat to the community. It addresses the conflict of the Confucian order of society and the question of ordinary local people developing their own resources to mitigate a common threat. A feminist analysis focuses on the remarkable character of Li Chi, who defies common cultural stereotypes and traditional prescriptions for the role of women in feudal Chinese society.
Summary
The myth “Li Chi Slays the Serpent” is set in a mountainous region that is part of the contemporary southeastern Chinese province of Fujian (Fukien). The story takes place in the time of the bygone Minyue Kingdom (334 BCE–ca. 111 BCE), which was based in this region and was conquered by the Han dynasty of China.
“The volunteer [Li Chi] then asked the authorities for a sharp sword and a snake-hunting dog. When the appointed day of the eighth month arrived, she seated herself in the temple, clutching the sword and leading the dog. First she took several pecks of rice balls moistened with malt sugar and placed them at the mouth of the serpent’s cave.”“Li Chi Slays the Serpent”
As the myth begins, “a giant serpent seventy or eighty feet long and wider than the span of ten hands” has come to live in a cleft in the mountain range and has begun to kill people (Roberts 129). Initially, its victims are members of the local military and civil authorities. The offer of sacrificial animals such as oxen and sheep has not appeased the serpent. Instead, the serpent enters the dreams of people to make its wishes known. The serpent also voices its wishes through local mediums. It lets the people know that it will stop killing the officials, but in exchange, the serpent demands “young girls of twelve or thirteen to feast on” (129).
In helpless terror, the authorities agree to this demand. Every year, they select a sacrificial girl from “daughters of bondmaids or criminals” and keep the girl until the day of the annual sacrifice to the serpent (129). The sacrifice occurs on a certain day in the eighth traditional Chinese month of every year, which generally corresponds to the Western month of September. For nine years, annually, a young girl is placed at the front of the cave of the serpent. From within the cave, the serpent emerges to eat its victim alive.
In the tenth year, authorities look again for a suitable girl. Young Li Chi speaks with her parents, explaining her reasons for wanting to volunteer as the sacrificial victim. She tells her father, Li Tan, and her mother that they will have no one to take care of them when they are old. This is because the Li family has only six daughters, of whom Li Chi is the youngest. In traditional Chinese society, young wives joined the families of their husbands. So, without a son, “it is as if [her parents] were childless” (129). Not daring to compare her own planned sacrifice to that of Han dynasty heroine Tiying, whom she mentions nevertheless, Li Chi proposes to volunteer so that her parents will at least get some money from the officials in exchange for her sacrifice. “Since I’m no use to you alive, why shouldn’t I give up my life a little sooner?” she asks (130). However, her parents love her too much to agree. Defying them, Li Chi leaves secretly and approaches the officials. From them, she demands both a good sword and a dog trained in hunting snakes.
On the day of her impending sacrifice, Li Chi sits down in the temple built at the mouth of the cave of the serpent. Holding her sword and the leash of her dog, Li Chi takes out a large quantity of rice balls sweetened with malt sugar. She places the rice balls at the entrance to the serpent’s cave and waits for the monster to appear.
Attracted by the smell of the food, the serpent emerges. Although the serpent’s head is “as large as a rice barrel” and its eyes are “like mirrors two feet across” (131), the undeterred Li Chi lets her dog off its leash. It bites the body of the serpent. Li Chi approaches the serpent from behind and cuts several deep wounds in the serpent’s body with her sharp sword. In pain, the serpent leaps out of the cave and dies.
Li Chi enters the cave herself. There, she finds the skulls of the nine young girls killed and eaten in the nine years before. Li Chi takes the skulls out of the cave. With pity, she addresses the remains of the victims: “For your timidity you were devoured” (133).
Li Chi returns home, and soon, even the king of Yue learns of her accomplishment. He marries Li Chi, taking her as his queen. He extends his magnanimous rewards to her family: Li Chi’s father is appointed magistrate of her home county, while her mother and older sisters receive treasures. The myth concludes with the assertion that ballads and songs of Li Chi slaying the serpent have survived to the present day.
Bibliography
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