Cover -- Half title -- Editoral Board -- Title -- Copyright -- Contents -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- Chinese Units of Measure -- "I Sit Here and Sing for You": The Oral Literature of China -- Chapter 1: Folk Stories and Other Spoken Traditions -- A Ginseng Tale from Jilin -- "The Mother's Brother and His Sister's Son" -- A Folk Story of the Daur -- "Mengongnenbo" -- Folk Stories from the Tai Lue of Sipsongpanna -- "Unclear Sight, but Skillful Hands" -- "Obtaining Milk from the Deities" -- "Two Friends" -- "The Cow and the Tiger" -- "Tale of the Two Rivers, Khong and Khorng" -- A Folk Story in "Funeral Lament Lyrics" of the Luo People, Yunnan -- "The Red Silk-Cotton Tree" -- A Story from the Nuosu of Sichuan -- "Cannibal Grandmother" -- Tales of Dragons -- "February 2, the Dragon Raises His Head" -- "Dragon-Print Stone of the West Mountains" -- A Mosuo Story from Lake Lugu -- "Goddess Gemu" -- A Story of the Pumi of Yunnan -- "The Story of Zerijamu and Cuziluyi" -- Folk Stories of the Uyghur -- "Growing Gold" -- "Jingling Coins" -- "Three Wise Maxims" -- "Two Brothers Meet" -- "Afrat Khan and His Nine Daughters" -- A Tu Folk Story -- "The Qeo Family Girl" -- A Tale of the Amis -- "The Egg Boy" -- Stories of Tu Ritual -- "The Origin of the God of Riches" -- "A Snake Beats a Drum, a Donkey Rides a Person" -- A Namzi Tale -- "Brother Moon, Sister Sun" -- Namzi Riddles -- Tibetan Flirting Words and Tongue Twisters -- Flirting Words -- Tongue Twisters -- Chapter 2: Folk Song Traditions -- Flower Songs from Northwestern China -- Kazakh Marriage Songs of Lament and Sorrow -- Songs of Lament -- Songs of Sorrow -- Qing Dynasty Mountain Songs -- "A Smile" -- "A Stare" -- "Looking" -- "On Fire" (1) -- "On Fire" (2) -- "On Fire" (3) -- "Studying Styles" -- "Not Flirting" -- "Expressing One's Feelings" -- "Without a Lover" (1) -- "Without a Lover" (2).

"Looking for My Lover" -- "Making Excuses" -- "Waiting" (1) -- "Make-Believe" -- "Secondhand" -- "Waiting" (2) -- "Temptation" (1) -- "Temptation" (2) -- "Deceiving Mother" -- "Hoodwinking Mother" -- "The Torn Skirt" -- "Watching the Stars" -- "Hoodwinking People" (1) -- "Hoodwinking People" (2) -- "Hoodwinking People" (3) -- "Hoodwinking People" (4) -- "Pregnant" (1) -- "Pregnant" (2) -- "Pregnant" (3) -- "Pregnant" (4) -- "Pregnant" (5) -- "Not Pregnant" -- Untitled -- Untitled -- Untitled -- Folk Songs from Jiangsu Province -- "Maiden Wu" -- "Yearning for a Beloved (Until Death Follows)" -- "Yearning for a Beloved Until Death Follows" -- "At Sunset, the Western Mountains Gradually Turn Yellow" -- "If You Sing Mountain Songs, You'll Find It Easy to Court" -- Untitled -- "Rippling Water, Clear and Bright" -- "The Peddler" -- "The Little Cat" -- "He Goes East, She Goes West" -- "A Little Stream Separates Me from My Lass" -- "The Girl Liu" -- "Playing Cards at Night" -- "The Girl's Breasts Are White and Fresh Like Milk" -- "Breaking Up" -- "If You Don't Walk the Path of True Love, You Will Lose Your Beloved" -- Cursing Song -- "On a Worn-Out Greasy Carrying Pole" -- "Let Us Playfully Sing Mountain Songs to Ask a Question" -- "Fourth Brother and Fifth Sister" -- Saltwater Songs of Hong Kong -- Songs of the Mindong She People -- "Carrying Fish Goods on a Shoulder Pole" -- Field Song -- Matchmaking Through Singing -- Song When Meeting Someone on the Road -- "An Apron and a Red Flower Present" -- "Auntie Chats with the Sedan Chair Porters" -- "Forever by Your Side" -- "Hard to Marry a Plain-Looking Girl" -- "A Grandchild Will Be Born in the Future Soon Enough" -- Mountain Songs from Liuzhou, Guangxi (Interethnic) -- A Sani Ballad -- "Four Songs of the Seasons" -- Two Folk Songs of the Dong (Gaem) People -- "You Were Like a Tender Seedling, My Sweetheart".

"Song of the Cicadas" -- Songs of the Tu -- Mountain Songs -- "Larinbu and Jiminsu" -- Awulii -- Arilolog -- Xnjalolog -- Qarilolog -- Folk Song -- "Six Persuasions for People's Hearts" -- Chapter 3: Folk Ritual -- A Chaoxian Lunar New Year Exorcism Ritual -- House God Chant -- Manchu Shaman Songs from Northeastern China -- "Sacrifice to the Python God" -- "A Song for the God of Sacrifices" -- A Wa Soul-Calling Chant -- "Daxga Calls Back the Soul of Amrong" -- A Lahu Marriage Prayer -- The Marriage Prayer -- Yi Chants from Chuxiong Prefecture, Yunnan -- "Calling Back a Child's Spirit" -- "Closing the Coffin" -- "Cutting the New Year's Firewood" -- A Nuosu Myth from Sichuan -- "The Origin of Ghosts" -- Chapter 4: The Epic Traditions -- An Excerpt from the Epic Geser Khan -- "The Twelve-Headed Monster" -- Introductory Cantos from the Mongol Epic Jangar -- A Daur Ballad -- "The Mergen and the Fox-Fairies" -- Selections from a Yi Epic -- The Palace Lamp of the Nanzhao Kingdom -- A Tradition-Oriented Yao Creation Epic -- Miluotuo -- Two Miao (Hmong) Song Flowers -- "How Much Do You Two Really Know?" -- "Don't Weave Cloth Without a Loom" -- Chapter 5: Folk Drama -- Hand-Puppet Theater -- Excerpts from a Temple Festival Performance -- A Postmidnight Shadow Play from Shaanxi -- All Three Fear Their Wives -- A Rice-Planting Drama -- A Worthy Sister-in-Law -- A Local Drama from Shaoxing -- Records on Rescuing Mother -- Chapter 6: Professional Storytelling Traditions of the North and South -- Northern Prosimetric -- A Medley Song from Northern China -- "The Courtesan's Jewel Box" -- An Anonymous Work from the Tune Book of the Manor House of Lord Che -- "A Bannermen's Story of Hua Mulan" -- An Oral-Connected Drum Song from the Tune Book of the Manor House of Lord Che -- "The New Edition of the Manchu-Han Struggle" -- "The Precious Scroll of Chenxiang".

A Peking Drum Song -- "On the Slopes of Changban" -- A Peking Drum Song -- "Zi Qi Listening to the Qin" -- An Excerpt from Journey to the West in Fast Bamboo Clapper-Tale Style -- "Triple Theft of a Magic Fan" -- Two Shandong Fast Tales -- "Second Brother Ma" -- "Learning to Write" -- Two Versions of "Wu Song Fights the Tiger" from the Yangzhou Pinghua Tradition -- Southern Prosimetric -- Hangzhou Storytelling and Songs -- "Old Hangzhou Bridges" -- "The Market Scene" -- "The Cooper" -- Jingjiang "Telling Scriptures" from the San Mao Precious Scrolls -- "The Prime Minister Is Summoned Home" -- An Eighteenth-Century Version of "Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai" from Suzhou -- "The Newly Compiled Tale of the Golden Butterflies" -- An Excerpt from a "Women's Chantefable" -- "Suitable Attire" -- A Suzhou Chantefable Opening Ballad -- "Sighs from the Palace" -- A Suzhou Chantefable Classic from Pearl Pagoda -- "Descending the Stairs" -- A Suzhou Chantefable from the 1950s -- "The Thrice-Draped Cape" -- A Wooden-Fish Song -- "Yingtai Returns Home" -- An Excerpt from a Great Volumes Script of the Bai People, Yunnan -- "Wang Shipeng Sacrifices to the River" -- An Excerpt from a Great Volumes Script of the Bai People, Yunnan -- "Singlet of Blood and Sweat" -- Further Readings -- Contributors and Translators -- Sources of Previously Published Selections -- Translations from the Asian Classics.