柳毅传 (7 世纪)

《柳毅传》又称《洞庭灵姻传》、《洞庭情记》、《洞庭记》，是中唐时期由李朝威所著的唐传奇。

故事梗概

唐高宗仪凤年间，湖北人柳毅在前往长安应试，落第。回湖南路过陕西泾水北岸，遇到一女子在冰天雪地中牧羊。多次打听之下，才知道此女乃是洞庭湖的龙宫三公主，远嫁给泾水龙王十太子。可惜小龙王生性风流，三公主还受到夫家的百般虐待。柳毅义愤填膺，答应放弃科举的机会返回家乡送信。

柳毅为三公主送信往龙宫，但洞庭君想息事宁人，不愿相救，反观洞庭君之弟钱塘君对此事则大表气愤，并带同水军前往杀泾水十太子。三公主回宫后，为柳毅奉酒答谢。钱塘君见二人眉目传情，欲撮合二人。但柳毅认为自己是杀死泾水十太子的帮凶，不能杀了太子又夺取其妻，为此拒绝了婚事。

柳毅回到地面之后，先后娶张氏，张氏亡，再娶韩氏，韩氏又亡，又想念三公主，经常望湖兴叹；而三公主亦对柳毅日夜挂念，乃化身为范阳卢氏之女，追至柳毅家。柳毅经媒妁之言，娶了这位卢氏。一年多后，生下一子，卢氏便自白自己为龙女所变，以报柳毅相救之恩德，并把柳毅接到龙宫，使柳毅成仙。

"The Tale of the Supernatural Marriage at Dongting" (Chinese: 洞庭靈姻傳), better known as "The Story of Liu Yi" (Chinese: 柳毅傳), is a Chinese chuanqi (fantasy) short story from the Tang dynasty, written by Li Chaowei (李朝威) in the second half of the 8th century. It is about a young man named Liu Yi who, out of sympathy, agrees to deliver a letter from a distressed dragon to her father, the Dragon King of Lake Dongting; following her rescue and the death of her abusive husband, the Dragon Girl transforms into a beautiful woman and marries Liu Yi.

Translations

English translations include:

"Story of the Daughter of the Dragon-king of Tung-t'ing Lake" (tr. E.D. Edwards) in Chinese Prose Literature of the T'ang Period (A.D. 618–906), Volume 2 (Arthur Probsthain, 1938)

"The Dragon's Daughter" (tr. Wang Chi-chen) in Traditional Chinese Tales (Columbia University Press, 1944)

"The Dragon King's Daughter" (tr. Yang Hsien-yi and Gladys Yang) in The Dragon King's Daughter: Ten Tang Dynasty Stories (Foreign Languages Press, 1954)

"The Legendary Marriage at Tung-t'ing" (tr. Russel E. McLeod) in Traditional Chinese Stories: Themes and Variations (Cheng & Tsui Company, 1986)

"Liu Yi; or, Tale of the Transcendent Marriage of Tung-t'ing Lake" (tr. Glen Dudbridge) in The Columbia Anthology of Traditional Chinese Literature (Columbia University Press, 1994)

"The Dragon King's Daughter" (tr. John Minford) in Classical Chinese Literature: An Anthology of Translations, Volume 1: From Antiquity to the Tang Dynasty (Columbia University Press, 2000)

"The Tale of the Supernatural Marriage at Dongting" (tr. Meghan Cai) in Tang Dynasty Tales: A Guided Reader, Volume 2 (World Scientific, 2016)

Adaptations

In the 13th century, Shang Zhongxian (尚仲賢) adapted the story into a zaju titled Liu Yi Delivers a Letter to Dongting Lake (洞庭湖柳毅傳書, English version: Liu Yi and the Dragon Princess translated by David Hawkes, The Chinese University of Hong Kong Press, 2003). In the 17th century, Li Yu created a chuanqi play titled Tower in the Mirage (蜃中樓) by combining Shang's play with that of another play featuring a Dragon Girl, Scholar Zhang Boils the Sea at Shamen Island (沙門島張生煮海).

The Qing dynasty novel Steep Cloud Tower (躋雲樓) is also based on Liu Yi's story.