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Overview
Liu I meets a grieving woman herding unusual sheep after her husband has rejected her. She identifies herself as the youngest daughter of the Dragon-King of Dungting, married to the second son of the Dragon-King of Ging Dschou. She calls her flock rain-sheep or thunder-rams. The source note relates sheep to cloud imagery; the narrative distinguishes these proud, fierce animals from ordinary sheep. She gives Liu I a letter asking her father for help.
Her paternal uncle Tsian Tang rescues her and reports eating her husband. Liu I refuses the uncle’s subsequent pressure to marry her, although he is moved by her farewell. Later he marries an apparently human young woman who resembles the princess. Only after the birth of their son does she confirm her identity: she had fallen ill with longing and approached him in disguise because her family feared he would reject a direct proposal.
She invites Liu I to leave the human world and share the dragons’ stated ten-thousand-year longevity. Ten years after his disappearance, a relative encounters him amid a moving mountain, a boat and a splendid palace on the water. Liu I gives the relative fifty pills, each said to grant another year; after taking them over fifty years, the relative also disappears. This closing episode concerns Liu I and his cousin, not a second marriage or another form of the princess. She is distinct from the seventh daughter in chapter XLV and the ninth daughter at the Lake of the Maidens in chapter XLVI.
Origins & earliest records
Chinese tales mediated by Richard Wilhelm and Frederick H. Martens
Records & interpretation
Complete tale and its attached source note read in the retained1921-edition transcription.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
The Chinese Fairy Book
XLVII, The Disowned Princess, pp.151–161; New York, Frederick A. Stokes Company
Family, evolution & connections
The Dungting Dragon-Princess’s family — Wilhelm/Martens XLVII
Complete Dragon-Princess narrative and note, pp.151–161.
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- Two dragon brothers (sibling group, not a parent)
- Dungting Dragon-King, married to the unnamed Queen
- Her and Liu I’s unnamed son
Explicit king–brother relation, named uncle, king and queen’s daughter, later completed marriage and son. The root represents two brothers, not an invented parent. The princess’s older siblings are unstated individually. Her former Ging Dschou marriage is distinct from the later Liu I marriage; no son is assigned to the former husband. The separate princesses in XLV and XLVI are not merged.
The Dragon-King and Queen of Dungting
The princess calls herself the Dungting Dragon-King’s youngest daughter; the Queen later calls her my daughter. Their personal names and the princess’s older siblings are not supplied.
Tsian Tang
The Dungting King explicitly identifies Tsian Tang as his brother. The later marriage discussion also calls him the princess’s uncle, establishing the paternal relation within this account.
The Ging Dschou Dragon-King’s second son
The princess identifies her abusive husband as the Ging Dschou Dragon-King’s second son. Tsian Tang later reports killing him, and the account expressly announces the marriage annulled before the eventual marriage to Liu I.
Liu I
Liu I first rejects Tsian Tang’s pressured proposal. A later wedding to a woman presenting as human is completed; she subsequently reveals herself as the Dragon-Princess. The refusal and the later marriage are separate episodes.
The princess and Liu I’s unnamed son
After the completed wedding, the princess and Liu I have an unnamed son. His birth precedes her identity disclosure; no daughter, additional child or individual name is supplied.
Primary records and illustrations
Richard Wilhelm/Frederick H. Martens, The Chinese Fairy Book (Stokes1921)
Nature and Animal Tales. XLVII, The Disowned Princess, pp.151–161
Complete chapter and attached note read in wilhelm-XLVII.txt and29939.html. Source-specific identity, reported claims and complete ending preserved; earlier Chinese witness not independently collated.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Historical translated taleWilhelm/Martens, The Chinese Fairy Book, The Disowned Princess, pp.151–161Research access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
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