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Story 65: Diao Chan Folktales

Diao Chan

Author: Anonymous

Diao Chan is one of the four beauties in ancient China. Although there is no record in ancient books, there are many descriptions in literary works. She is one of the important figures in the disputes between the Three Kingdoms in the late Han Dynasty. Luo Guanzhong’s “The Romance of the Three Kingdoms” further described and characterized Diao Chan, which had a great influence, and the folklore was particularly moving.

Diao Chan became a household name, known to women and children as “a hero among men” and “a hero among women”. According to the textual research of the scholar Mr. Meng Fanren, the character of the novel is: Diao Chan, surnamed Ren, with the diminutive Hongchang, was born in Mu’er Village, Jiuyuan County, Bingzhou County. At the age of 15, she was elected to the palace and took charge of the Diao Chan (hat ornaments worn by court officials in the Han Dynasty). , and has since been renamed Diaochan.

At the end of the Han Dynasty, a storm broke out in the palace. Diao Chan left the palace and was adopted as an adopted daughter by King Situ. Soon Dong Zhuo took power. Wang Yun took advantage of Dong and Lu’s lust, so he asked Diao Chan to implement a “serial plan”, which finally prompted Lu Bu to kill Dong Zhuo and achieve great feats. Later, Diao Chan became Lu Bu’s concubine. Lu Bu died in Baimenlou, and Cao Cao repeated the “serial plan” on the Taoyuan brothers, so he gave it to Guan Yu.

In order not to harm the Taoyuan brothers, Diao Chan “raised her neck and prayed to be beheaded,” but was protected by Guan Yu and escaped, becoming a nun. After Cao Cao learned about it, he arrested Diao Chan, but Diao Chan resolutely threw her sword and died.

The hometown of Diao Chan is in Muzhi Village, three kilometers southeast of Xinzhou City, on the way to Yuwang Cave from Taiyuan or Xinzhou. Muzhi Village was originally rich in fungus, so it was named Muzhi Village. Later, because a thousand-year-old Ganoderma lucidum was found under the locust tree in the village, it was renamed Muzhicai.

There are rumors in the village that the peach and apricot trees in the village stopped blooming three years before Diao Chan was born, and the peach and apricot trees are still struggling to survive. It is said that Diao Chan is shy of flowers. The village originally had a street archway, front hall, back hall, Wang Yun Street, Diao Chan stage and Diao Chan’s tomb.

As time passed, these buildings became ruins, and the tombs were razed to the ground in the catastrophe. Ancient bricks, stone components, copper coins, and ceramic remnants are often unearthed in the ruins, all of which are said to be related to Diao Chan.

The current tourist attraction is called Diaochan Cemetery, which was restored and built by villagers on the original site of the cemetery in recent years. The cemetery is located in the southwest of the village, covering an area of more than 4,000 square meters. It is surrounded by red-bottomed yellow tiles and wavy dragon-shaped walls. It is dazzling in the vast sea of wheat.

A horizontal plaque reading “Diao Chan Cemetery” hangs on the eaves of the door, and on both sides there are bronze inscriptions and couplets “Closing the moon and humiliating flowers are the pride of China; enduring humiliation and danger makes men raise their eyebrows.”

In the north courtyard of the mausoleum area, there are the Moon Worship Pavilion and Fengyi Pavilion, and a bluestone tomb platform is built at the back. In front of the platform is a monument of Diao Chan. Under the movement of the streamers, Diao Chan walks gracefully and gracefully, and has the appearance of “a flower shy of the moon”. Twenty antique buildings were built in the south courtyard and turned into the “Diao Chan Painted Sculpture Hall”, reflecting Diao Chan’s earth-shattering life of “not fearing danger even at the expense of her body.”

According to folk legend, after the three Taoyuan brothers came to power, they sent Diao Chan back to her hometown and buried her here after her death. It is also said that Diao Chan threw her sword and killed herself. After Guan Yu learned about it, he escorted the body back to his hometown for burial.

Therefore, there is a statue of Guan Yu in the back hall and a stage in front of the hall representing Diao Chan’s performance, all of which are in repayment of Guan Yu’s refusal to kill and escort. Zhonghuo Village in the southeast of Dingxiang County is the hometown of Lu Bu.

There are folk legends such as “Huo Qingquan”, “Smart Capture of the Red Rabbit Horse”, and “Crooked Neck Tree”, all related to Lu Bu. Therefore, the folk proverb goes, “There are no good women in Xinzhou, and there are no good men in Dingxiang.” It means that because of Diao Chan and Lu Bu, from now on, Xinzhou can no longer produce good-looking women, and Dingxiang can no longer produce handsome men.