The Origin of the Name of Wangniangtan

Wangniang Beach, as a place name in the Yangtze River valley, is widely known as a fairy tale. It's about a beach where a cowherd turns into a dragon and abandons the tears left by his mother. On the edge of the winding Yangtze River, there is a statue of a one-legged dragon, which is related to the origin of the name Wangniang Beach.

In ancient times, there lived a landlord named Liu and many poor people by the river. Among them, a mother and son are in the most difficult situation. Mother Wang is blind, and her son Erwa is young and has no financial resources. The landlord was very reluctant to hire the mother and son, and the mother knelt down many times to plead. Landlord Liu reluctantly agreed to hire Erwa to cut cattle. It's easy to cut enough grass in the season of overgrown weeds, but in winter, it's often a busy day, but the cut grass is still not enough to feed cattle.

One day in winter, Erwa was so tired when cutting grass that she fell asleep against a tree. When I woke up, it was late, but the grass had not been cut. Erwa is in a hurry. When I looked back, I found a clump of grass growing very luxuriantly behind the tree. Erwa packed a basket without cutting a few knives. From then on, Erwa found that the grass in this place could not be cut off and would grow back every day. Erwa thought that as long as I transplanted the grass near my home, I would have more time to take care of my blind mother.

When Erwa dug up all the grass behind the tree, she saw a pearl as big as pigeon eggs under the ground. Erwa holds the pearl in her hand and can see the light through her fingers. After returning home, she discussed with her mother and they decided to hide the pearls in a rice jar. When they got up the next day, they found that only half of the rice jar was rice. Since then, the Erwa family has no worries about eating, and the mother and son can also scoop rice from the jar for their neighbors to eat.

There is no airtight wall in the world. Soon, the landlord Liu learned about it, and he wanted to keep the pearl for himself. Erwa turned the pearl out of the rice jar and swallowed it directly. After eating, Erwa felt very thirsty. There is not enough water in the water tank at home to drink. She went to the river and drank more water. The more water she drinks, the more she becomes a dragon. Listening to Wang's call to Erwa, the dragon turned back 24 times, and every time it turned back, a beach was formed at the bottom of the river. Later, people called this river beach "Wangniang Beach".