Ancient Folklore Research Articles

Diuretic Activity of Hydroalcoholic Extract of Peristrophe bicalyculata (R.) Nees. Leaves in Saline Loaded Rats

Peristrophe bicalyculata (R.) Nees. (PB) is one of the most widely medicinal plants used in ancient folklore to treat a number of diseases. In the present investigation, the diuretic activity of hydroalcoholic extract of leaves of selected plant was evaluated in saline-loaded rats. Rats weighing in between 180 to 200 gm of either sex were taken for the present study and concentration of urinary NA+K+ and Cl- was determined to access the memorandum of association (MOA). The hydroalcoholic extract of PB leaves at the test dose of 250 mg/kg bw showed significant diuresis in 3 hours while at the test dose of 500 mg/kg bw produced substantial diuresis at the end of 4 hours.

Nature-Culture Binary versus Ancient Folklore of Bihar (An Eastern Indian State)

The research article utilizes the ancient folklore of Bihar to build an enhanced perspective on the relationship between culture and nature. Different legends, folk-beliefs, and folk practices have played an immense role in the generation of this analysis. The folklore of the Angika region as shown in the map is the primary source. The terms Angika and Ang Pradesh have both been famous in the ancient epic Mahabharata. Ang Pradesh is the abode of the warrior Karna, a prominent recurring figure in the epic. The researchers travelled to suburbs to interview the natives and document folklore. Whether nature culture could stagnantly be called binaries, is one of the central questions that the present research intends to answer.

Modern Anxieties and Traditional Influence in Horror Anime

Japan has a longstanding tradition of horror narratives that feature a variety of macabre embodiments. They draw upon ancient folklore, thereby providing a unique perspective on spirits specific to Japanese culture. The influence of these countless supernatural beings from Japanese mythology and folklore has molded many incarnations seen in popular culture, which have been commonly deemed “strange” and “weird”. This study seeks to demystify the ambiguity and “strangeness” surrounding three Japanese anime series, Another, Yamishibai, and Mononoke. It attempts to analyze how each of these anime employs folklore and traditional art-styles to portray a modern society plagued with sociocultural complications.

THE CHOIRS PRELUDES-SONGS BY PYLYP KOZYTSKYI AS MUSICAL-HISTORICAL AND ARTISTIC MATERIAL

The article analyses the features of P. Kozytskyi’s choral letter in the cycle “Eight Preludes- Songs”. Written in the traditions of M. Leontovych, the works of P. Kozytskyi show new views on the interpretation of a capella sound as an individually interpreted “choral instrumentalism”. The works demonstrate analysed two of the main semantic spheres of the choral genre in Ukrainian folklore music. The first sphere is the tragedy in the ballad “Oh, in the field, the room was standing...”, where poetic symbolism and polyphonic musical development are attained, as in the best works of M. Leontovych, such as “Pryalya” and others. The second sphere is a baby carol, which goes back to the ancient folklore patterns in music, and resonates with M. Leontovych’s “Dudaryk” and “Shchedryk”. The Eight Prelude Songs cycle by P. Kozytskyi is a collection of pearls of Ukrainian choral music. The purpose of the article is to outline the characteristic features of the works of the choral cycle “Eight Preludes-Songs” by P. Kozytskyi in musical-historical and artistic aspects on the example of selected works. Written as a tribute to the memory of M. Leontovych, this artistic material is set out in the mentioned traditions of musical folklore and “choral instrumentalism” of the Master, and bears the mark of the best modernist quest of the time. P. Kozytskyi’s style in the early 1920’s has quite different incarnations and actively evolves, which M. Yurchenko traces on the example of spiritual works: in the early compositions (1910’s) the influence of the “Petersburg style” is felt, as early as in the 20th. in those years avant-garde features, connected with intense imagery, bold conflicting comparisons, a peculiar mode sphere with natural reversals, harmony with harmless consonants, rare-life doubles, tolerant dissonances, impositions, livings, interferences, are clearly manifested. The musical compositions of the cycle are polyphonic miniatures on folk-song basis, created in continuation of M. Leontovych’s method. The latter, according to P. Kozytskyi, is based on “choral instrumentation” – the interpretation of choral parts as instrumental, which provides the “song soul” with a special colour and richness of the choral palette, in which the choir is a “magic lantern" designed to set the meaning of the song, that is, to be the newest means of creating artistic and emotional expression. Written in the traditions of the contemporary M. Leontovych, a few years after the death of the artist, P. Kozytskyi’s works show new views on the interpretation of acapella sound, above all as individually interpreted “choral instrumentalism”. As a result of the conducted research, we come to the conclusion about the innovative features of P. Kozytskyi’s choral letter in the series “Eight Preludes-Songs”. Written in the traditions of the contemporary M. Leontovych, a few years after the artist’s death, P. Kozytskyi’s works show new facets of the acapella sound, above all as individually interpreted “choral instrumentalism”.

Земледельческие песни Арцаха

The present work is dedicated to the Artsakh horovels; it aims to cover the peculiarities of the musical linguistic thinking of that region. Agricultural songs are one of the oldest layers of Armenian folk music. Our study is based on the notes of Komitas Vardapet, Robert Atayan and Matevos Muradyan, where Varanda region (present-day Martuni region) dominates. Back in the dawn of Christianity, Artsakh was one of the most important centers of the Armenian world, with its very unique dialect, ancient folklore and traditional composition. Probably this is the reason why Komitas Vardapet wrote the Artsakh horovels with special attention (10 out of 20 recorded horovels are from Artsakh). As a result of our comparative analytical work, we have come to the conclusion that almost all the horovels in that region have melodic-grammatical original formulaic expressions, the vast majority of them develop in the Tertiary-based Phrygian scale system. The expedition conducted by R. Atayan in Artsakh in 1957, during which a horovel was recrded, is getting published for the first time in the present article: (The decipherment is ours).

An Analysis of Retelling FolkloresThrough the Contemporary Interpretations in Modern Fictions

The proposed article will look at a few texts by contemporary famous fiction writers. The study looks at how these writings show a range of different perspectives toward the performers and occurrences in ancient folklore. One can see the interpretations of ancient folklore through legendary stories, and writers use ancient folklore in a modern way.
 We are excited to know our traditions and culture through reading and writing about them. Modern authors have retold ancient Indian culture with contemporary situations by attributing scientific explanations to traditional cultural ethics.
 The paper focuses on modern writers who have written in contrast with our own ancient Indian mythical tales with new modern imagination, modern problems, and solutions.

Oppari: A Tamil Musical Elegy Laced with Caste Prejudices and Identities

Though popular culture is celebrated among people across the country, the admiration for folklore and performing arts is very limited. In the domain of folklore, performing art forms are categorized and stratified based on ‘who is performing it’ or ‘who is eligible to perform’ with a benchmark of the social status of purity and pollution. This article discusses and reflects the dilution of casteism and fabricated caste identities and prejudices in oppari, ancient folklore and a musical dirge song performed in Tamil Nadu, which is considered as a polluted, discriminated cultural outcome and custom to be performed and etched with people belonging to oppressed classes in society. It also keeps a close lens and discussion on change in oppari, the role of casteism and its revamp in the contemporary scenario and sociocultural aspects of oppari within the realm of caste and performance.

On the problem of studying shamanism in the Yakut and Korean culture

The article is devoted to one of the discussed problems in religious studies, related to the question of whether shamanism is considered a world religion. This problem is closely related to the issues of ethnogenesis of both the Yakut and Korean peoples, which have not yet been completely resolved. Meanwhile, the realities are such that in the context of many studies, the word "shamanism" is used precisely in the meaning of religion. The relevance of the article is seen in the fact that comparative material on shamanism among different peoples will only contribute to the solution of many questions of shamanism. It is a fact that shamanism is still a cult of religion and a common link between the Yakuts and Koreans, who are in the same Altai linguistic environment, which had a huge impact on their culture and mentality. This closeness manifests itself in many areas of life, especially in the rich ancient folklore. Along with similar customs and traditions of shamanism in Yakutia and Korea, there are, of course, many differences caused mainly by the level of development of the structure of shamanism in both countries. The absence of any holistic concept of the history of the birth and evolution of shamanism significantly hinders the unified interpretation of its terms, up to discrepancy. The author hopes that the article will to some extent make up for the topic of Korean shamanism presented in the domestic literature.

Antimicrobial and cytotoxicity properties of Plumeria alba flower extract against oral and periodontal pathogens: A comparative in vitro study.

Context:Plumeria alba, commonly known as frangipani or West Indian jasmine, is a traditional and ancient folklore medicine known for its antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant properties. The extracts from P. alba obtained from the leaves, bark, and flowers, are commonly used to manage bacterial, fungal, and viral infections such as herpes, scabies, and fungal infections. The constituents of the P. alba plant have shown promising antihelmintic, antipyretic, and antirheumatic properties. Although studies have confirmed that extracts from Plumeria species are effective against microbial infections and cancer, its role in managing oral diseases, particularly the chronic inflammatory disease of the gums (gingivitis and periodontitis), has never been explored. Therefore, the current study aimed to explore the antimicrobial and cytotoxic properties of the P. alba flower extract against oral and periodontal pathogens compared to chlorhexidine and doxycycline.Settings and Design:This was an in vitro study.Materials and Methods:The ethanolic extract was prepared from the freshly plucked P. alba flowers. The antimicrobial properties of the extract were evaluated by testing the minimal inhibitory concentration, minimal bactericidal concentration, and well-diffusion assay against Porphyromonas gingivalis, Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, Fusobacterium nucleatum, Prevotella intermedia, Tannerella forsythia, Streptococcus mutans, Actinomyces viscosus, Streptococcus salivarius, and Candida albicans. The results were compared to chlorhexidine and doxycycline. The cytotoxicity was checked by the against human-derived gingival fibroblast and keratinocytes.Statistical Analysis Used:One-way ANOVA for the mean zones of inhibition against all the microorganisms was done.Results:P. alba extract inhibited the growth for all the tested oral and periodontal pathogens at 25 μg/ml. The well-diffusion assay of P. alba extract was comparable to chlorhexidine but was not statistically significant compared to doxycycline.Conclusion:P. alba can be used as a promising alternative to chlorhexidine for the management of oral and periodontal infections.

AZERBAYCAN ŞİİR DİLİNDE ZAMAN KONSEPTİNİN SANATSAL FELSEFİ VE BİLİMSEL TEORİK MESELELERİ

Azerbaycan şiir dilinde zaman konseptinin stilistik özellikleri, sanatsal felsefi düşüncenin ifadesinde zamanın metin konstrüksiyonlarındaki ifade imkȃnları, sanatsal yaratıcılık sürecinde zamanın kognitif kategori gibi kavranılması meseleleri incelenmiştir. Bedii düşünce tarihinin tüm aşamalarında – eski folklor örneklerinden çağdaş bedii örneklere kadar bedii (sanatsal) fikrin estetik, emosyonel ekspresif, poetik dil katmanında zamanın stilistik semantik imkânlarına rastlayabiliriz. Somut sanatsal örnekler üzerinde zaman bedii konseptinin ifade araçlarının gözlemlenmesi, zamanın ifade araçlarının fonksiyonel (işlevsel) stilistik imkânlarının incelenmesi zamanın kognitif kategori olarak görünümlerini belirlemekle yanı sıra Azerbaycan şiir dilinin gelişim eğilimlerini, etno-psikolojik faktörleri, duyguların ifadesinde bireyin kognitif psikolojik doğrultularını araştırmaya olanak sağlıyor. Araştırma istikameti çok yönlü olduğu gibi elde olunan sonuçların uygulama doğrultuları da çeşitli oluyor ve bu yönler hayatın, doğanın, toplumun çizgisinden kenarda değil. Zaman, mekân və hareket gibi kategoriler (ulamlar) kavram ve düşünceye ait tüm bilgi yükünü semantik içeriğinde taşımaktadır. Algının bir kavrama dönüştürülmesi sürecinde, zamanın kavramsal olarak anlaşılması, bilimsel yaratıcılıkta ayrı bir yöndür. Bilimsel yaratıcılık sürecinde, zamanın dilsel içeriğinden ziyade zamanın felsefi içeriğinin anlaşılması öncü bir rol oynamaktadır. Aslında zamanın bilişsel bir kategori olarak algılanması, zamanın felsefi algısı ile başlar. Zamanın dil katmanındaki ifade araçları, dilbilimsel araştırması için koşullar yaratır. Bundan şu sonucu çıkarabiliriz, bilişsel bir kategori olarak zamanın incelenmesinin, zamanın felsefi ve dilsel bir yönde incelenmesini içeren daha genel bir konu olduğu sonucuna varabiliriz.

Archetypal Discursive Typologies in Hetero(sym)phony by Cornel Țăranu

"As syntactic typologies, monody and heterophony are detectable in modern and contemporary music as states and manifestations of primordial impulses of sound communication, detectable in the ancient folklore of all peoples. Their filtering through the sieve of contemporary cerebralism cannot elude their force of penetration into the sphere of affect and of the archetypal representations. The paper proposes to fathom and bring to light some principles and ways of archetypal discursive organization in Hetero(sym)phony, by Cornel Țăranu. Keywords: musical archetype, Cornel Țăranu, Hetero(sym)phony, heterophony, sound organization, contemporary music. "

13. Transfigurations and Interferences of the Ballad Master Builder Manole with the Opera Genre. Choral Polychromies

Abstract One of the fundamental myths of the Romanian literature, Master Builder Manole had various approaches in the opera genre. On individual stylistic paths as musical language and show formula, Alfred Mendelssohn, Gheorghe Dumitrescu, and Sigismund Toduță reinterpreted the myth of the human sacrifice, in an extremely nuanced approach of the transfiguration of the ancient folklore. The choral inserts are polychromatic, having different forms and formulas: men choir, female choir, mixed choir, choral conglomerations. The three composers wrote a romantic music, in terms of content, and a classic one, in terms of the formal elements themselves.

A művészet nyelvének születése : Művészet- és nyelvelméleti megközelítés

Language is not merely a vehicle for communicating thoughts. Indeed, it has always been an art medium in itself; mimesis: a form of social, creative activity, bringing joy to those who use it. Art and language are also intertwined on a variety of other planes. The concept underlying the connection between the two is no longer visible. It has been hidden by the passing of time, but deduction may shed light on it. Artistic and linguistic activities represent man’s most characteristic attribute, making us who we are. In a structural, functional, and metaphysical approach to art and language one can presume a close ontological (or anthropological) link between the two. The following phenomena all merit particular attention in the parallel evolution of art and language: ancient, undifferentiated forms of awareness, syncretism, ancient folklore, and basic forms, in which abstraction may already be observed. Art and language rely on the transfer of meaning, that is, the transfer of the meaning of concrete, specific signs to other referents by way of abstraction. The original syncretism is moved by fundamental processes and instinctive connections, such as rhythm, repetition, indexicality and iconicity. Language comprises movement, tune, song, and image. Isomorphy facilitates interoperability between phenomena, resulting in a cultural evolution based on biological evolution, involving accelerations and leaps, as in the process of evolution. Abstraction enables man to exercise dual encoding and create secondary modelling systems, generating an endless series of new forms of awareness.

Русские народные сказки в США: в графических комментариях А. Алексеева и научном осмыслении Р. Якобсона

We analyze the graphic commentaries of Alexander Alexeieff, the illustrator and the first wave emigrant, made for The Russian Fairy tales published in the USA in 1946. We believe A. Alexeieff to have been the second to illustrate The Russian Fairy tales in the USA as Ivan Bilibin, the eminent Russian painter and book illustrator had preceded him. A. Alekseev brought his vision of artistic images to the illustration of The Russian Fairy tales, combining ancient Slavonic motives with Christian symbolism. We assume the publication also to be unique as Roman Jakobson, the well-known philologist an ancient Slavonic and Russian folklore explorer wrote the foreword to the book being cited in Russian for the first time. Having briefly considered R. Jakobson’s life and creative work, we presume it to be quite logical Jacobson to have been baptized according to the Russian Orthodox tradition, as well as to have backed up the theory of Eurasianism. From this point of view, the analyzed edition of The Russian Fairy tales is holistic in content, harmoniously combining the traditional values of the cultural heritage of the Russian world and the work of outstanding figures that developed and propagated its values and enduring significance through their works.

МЕТОДОЛОГІЧНІ ЗАМІТКИ ДО КОМПЛЕКСНОГО ЛІНГВОФОЛЬКЛОРИСТИЧНОГО АНАЛІЗУ ПОЕТИКИ МЕФОДІЇВСЬКОГО ПЕРЕКЛАДУ ПІСНІ НАД ПІСНЯМИ

The article is devoted to some methodological issues that arise in the linguistic and folklore analysis of the poetics of the Methodius's translation of the Song of Songs, which we consider as an orally poetic text, later elaborated in literature. The parameters of interlingual, interfaith and interethnic transmission under conditions of considerable time duration are outlined. Problems related to layers not only temporal, but also within several ethnic traditions, namely: ancient Egyptian, ancient Jewish, ancient Greek, ancient Slavic. There are a number of tropes and stylistic figures that are used as a means of organizing the text or used as components for stylistic symmetry. These are permanent epithets, different types of repetitions, anaphora and epiphora, tautological combinations, pleonastic combinations, allegories, comparisons, ekphrasis, specific composites, etc. It is possible to involve in the study of common in folklore hyperbole, personifications, paraphrases. The range of methodological difficulties is outlined. The article warns about the counterproductiveness of the study of literary tropes in isolation from the contexts of specific works, in the abstract non-ethnic continuum, although in synchrony and diachrony. If in the national literatures, especially in the early stages of their development, there are peculiar genre systems, then in folklore there are differences in genres of even related ethnic groups. Hence, the need to take into account the differences between the genres of wedding poetry in ancient Aramaic folklore and in the oral traditions of the peoples whose scribes translated the poem. The importance of a specific contextual study of the tracks of the Song of Songs is emphasized, because the movement of its texts in time and space is a change in their perceptions by translators, editors, transcribers, which leads to changes in understanding and aesthetic acceptance of the monument by readers. It is stressed that the full picture can be obtained only by examining all the national and ethnic branches of the family tree of the monument. The question of place in such a comprehensive study of religious allegorical and symbolic interpretations is also delivered in the article.

“Variations on the Swedish theme” by Miroslav Skoryk as a historical and psychological narrative

The purpose of the article deals with the work of contemporary Ukrainian composer Miroslav Skoryk “Variations on the Swedish theme” for piano and orchestra of stringed instruments, from the perspective of the historical and psychological narrative. The methodology of the study is to consider the musical work as such, which, in the context of the correlation of historically real and psychologically imaginary, expresses the specific aesthetics of postmodernism. Scientific novelty. It is established that using ancient folklore, on the basis of postmodernist disposition, the author expresses historical knowledge through the lens of his own psychological narrative. Conclusions. The work reveals the diversity of stylistic features as combinations of different levels of perception, describes the common and distinctive features of the style diversity used by the composer to express his own narrative concept.

Mythopoetics of ancient epics of turkic peoples

This article deals with the research on dastans, the oral lore of the epic genre of Turkic peoples, featuring daunting stories and rich ethnographic details. Interestingly, the voluminous epic monuments belong to the common cultural heritage of different groups of kindred Turkic peoples: Tatars, Kazakhs, Bashkirs, Nogai, Uzbeks, Azerbaijanis, Turkmens, and others. We analyzed the epic-dastans, widespread and preserved until now in many Turkic nations, including the Tatars and Kazakhs, to identify their mythological attributes and behavioral formulas in the image of their heroes. We have noticed that the heroes of the analyzed dastans act in a "mythological space" and reflect "mythological consciousness." There, ancient mythological ideas of the Turkic nations about the world intervene with the ideas created later under the influence of Islam. By analyzing the behavior and deeds of the heroes of epic-dastans, such as "Er Tishlik", "Alpamysh Batyr", "Edige Batyr", "Koroghly", inherent in both the Kazakh and Tatar nations, we managed to find common features between the epic and mythological heroes, made a number of conclusions regarding their behavioral nature and the continuity of the mythological and artistic systems of the Turkic peoples' thought. Starting with the ancient epic and ending with the heroic dastans of the Turks, their themes and motifs in varying degrees are related to the mythological chronotype. Scientists, who devoted their scientific works to epics research, note the presence of the mythological layer in them. The mythological motif can be most expressly traced in more ancient epics, which denoted the beginning of the ancient Turkic folklore genres' development. Since the second half of the XIX century, the scientist recorded numerous folklore works of Turkic nations, told by their bearers during long scientific expeditions across Altai, Tuva, Khakassia, Shoria, Southern Siberia, East Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Northern Mongolia, and other territories of the Turkic nations' residence.

From Excerpt to Cosplay. Paths of Knowledge in the Nordic Museum Archive

The aim of this article is to shed some light on the situation that occurs when scholarly knowledge, once highly valued, is successively undermined, while elements of the same learning live on as attractive resources to other stakeholders. More accurately, the research question relates to the process that starts with many ethnologists who, over time, come to increasingly view formerly important materials as less relevant to their own academic issues. For the sake of the argument, the Nordic Museum’s extensive collection of excerpts concerning folk customs and beliefs is used as an eye-opening case study. During the 1960s and 1970s, folklore researchers and ethnologists retreated from researching those lingering traces of the past—of which the Nordic Museum’s excerpt collection constitutes a powerful material centre—and thus this field was left free for others to claim. By drawing attention to both the productive force of the Nordic Museum’s collection of excerpts, and a number of contemporary and popular representations of ancient folklore, this article actualises a set of questions that deal with the relationship between new and old knowledge; for what becomes of previously sought after academic learning, once treasured in the Nordic Museum Archive, when the vast majority of the discipline heads for new materials, methods and theories?

Archaeological Exploration of Defence Structures & Fortress City based on Ancient Folklore of Mount Abu, Rajasthan, India

In terms of archaeology the defence structure defined as protective or fortification construction or enclosure around any settlement on the area with or without a moat. In an archaeological context, defence structures are mainly constructed on a formal or informal plan and consist of walls and fortification built in massive size. In our winter exploration, we tried to investigate the discovery of the ruins of defence structure found near sacred place/pilgrimage site in Sirohi District. Methodology: Our field survey in Sirohi district based on ancient folklore of Mount Abu to relate its multidisciplinary archaeological science related to the field of geography about the number of defence structures & fortress city. Remote sensing and GIS applications use to tracing the geo-coordinate location of structures and ruins. Also tries to focus on the contour of the area to know its higher-point, elevation and even measured MSL. Aim & Objective: In the history of Sirohi, only a few forts have been reported for example Basantgarh/Vasantagar, Chandrawati, Achalgarh, Sirohi city fort. First, three cities established in ancient time especially Vasantgarh is the oldest fortress city in the district. but What was purpose behind building these forts? What was the role of fortified temple in the kingdom? What trade links it have through trade routes and links with other kingdom? Why these cities got destroyed? We found ruins of defence structure near Vastanji, Gharkav Mata Ji, Shergaon, Utraj and Oriya. These sites are explored near Mount Abu. Conclusion: Most of the sites in above finding seem to possibly destroy in the earthquakes as these sites located near Seismic fault zone and here we found fallen ruins, large scattered rocks and buried cities mound. Most of the Modern settlement of Sirohi district built their houses on the buried mound. Still, sometimes villagers finding here artefacts related to historical settlement of ancient cities. In the end, we like to conclude that the geography of the area is very difficult to explore in a short period, our exploration continues.

ВОЛОСАТАЯ ДЕВА: БЕГЛЯНКА И БОГИНЯ

In this paper, the author offers a perspective on the evolution of the Hairy Maiden (Mao-nü) legends in written and oral Chinese tradition, from the twelfth century to the present day, on material of poems, short stories and records of the collectors of the Song – Qing eras, as well as memories of Hebei from the 1920s – 1940s and modern collections of fairy tales and legends. Attention is also paid to the pre-Song history of the character. The author suggested that it could be considered a borrowing. Field research data from 2014–2016 were used in the research. Mao-nü lives in wooded mountains, she is benevolent towards people. Stories about her can be divided into two distinctive groups. In the first group, she is a supernatural being for whom there is no return to human existence. In the second group, she returns to human existence, leaves the liminal zone and is doomed to die. W. Eberhard and Li Jianguo constructed the schemes close to the invariant of the Mao-nü plot. However, there are a few stories that do not correspond to those schemes as a whole, or their parts, in which the Hairy Maiden acts as a magical assistant. The paper describes the concept of Mao-nü as a deity and traces the connection of the Mao-nü stories to the Daoist hagiography (from “Lie xian zhuan” and on). The author also provides data on the perception of Mao-nü in the visual arts. The paper elaborates on the evidences that prove the direct descendance of the plot of the revolutionary opera “The White-Haired Girl” from ancient folklore. It describes further how the “revolutionary play” influenced the circulation of stories concerning the White-Haired fairy. An attempt is made to determine the ways in which the stories about the Hairy Maiden are connected to the stories about the “wild hairy people”, including the builders of the Great Wall. The author notes that for contemporary stories about Mao-nü, the proximity to written sources and links to the Huashan mountains are characteristic.