Chinese legend · 声匠改编 · 3:49
The Nine-Colored Deer
A nine-colored deer saves a drowning man and asks only that he keep its secret. Then the king offers a huge reward, and the man leads an army to the deer.
Narrator
The Nine-Colored Deer
Tiaoda
The Crow
The King
The QueenOther languages · 2 languages
About this story
The Nine-Colored Deer is a Buddhist jataka, one of the stories of the Buddha's earlier lives, and in China it is best known from the Sutra of the Nine-Colored Deer, translated into Chinese by Zhi Qian in the 3rd-century kingdom of Wu. A deer saves a drowning man who swears to keep his secret; the man betrays him for the king's reward, and when the king learns the truth he spares the deer, while the traitor breaks out in sores. A mural from the Northern Wei dynasty (386–534) in Mogao Cave 257 at Dunhuang paints the whole story, and in 1981 the Shanghai Animation Film Studio made it into a much-loved cartoon. This version follows the sutra but gives the queen a gentler ending: she sees that she was wrong.
What it teaches
Repay kindness and keep your promises; whoever betrays a friend for money will be found out in the end. The deer also shows that telling the truth calmly, even in danger, takes real courage.
Suits
Ages 4–10
Tips for telling it
- Before you start, look up pictures of the Cave 257 mural at Dunhuang or stills from the 1981 cartoon The Nine-Colored Deer.
- Make Tiaoda's oath big and dramatic; when it comes true later, children will gasp.
- Afterwards, ask: if you were Tiaoda and saw the king's notice, what would you have done?
Questions people ask
- What is the story of the Nine-Colored Deer?
- A deer with a nine-colored coat saves a drowning man, who promises never to reveal where it lives. When the queen wants the deer's skin and the king offers a rich reward, the man leads the king's army to it. The deer tells the king the truth, the king sets it free, and the traitor breaks out in sores, just as he had sworn.
- Where does the Nine-Colored Deer story come from?
- It is a Buddhist jataka tale about one of the Buddha's earlier lives as a deer. The fullest Chinese telling is the Sutra of the Nine-Colored Deer, translated by Zhi Qian in the 3rd century, and the story is painted as a long strip of pictures in Cave 257 of the Mogao Caves at Dunhuang.
- What is the moral of the Nine-Colored Deer?
- Be grateful, keep your word, and never betray someone who helped you for the sake of money. The story also praises the deer's selflessness and the courage to tell the truth when in danger.
More Chinese folk legends
All Chinese folk legends episodes →腊八粥的传说
声匠改编
放牛娃朱重八被财主关进柴房挨饿，从老鼠洞里掏出一把杂粮，煮成一锅香喷喷的粥，那天正是腊月初八。多年后他当了皇帝，还惦记着这碗粥。
The Butterfly Lovers
声匠改编
Yingtai dresses as a boy to go to school, and her best friend Shanbo never guesses her secret. China's Butterfly Lovers legend, gently retold.
Lady Meng Jiang and the Great Wall
声匠改编
Her new husband is dragged off to build the Great Wall, so Meng Jiang sews him a winter coat and walks north to find him. When she weeps, the wall falls.
The Ballad of Mulan
声匠改编
When the Khan calls up soldiers, Mulan rides to war in her old father's place. Twelve years later she comes home, and her comrades finally see who she is.
The Legend of Nian
声匠改编
Every New Year's Eve the monster Nian stomps out of the sea. This year an old stranger won't hide, armed with red paper, lamplight and crackling bamboo.
The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl
声匠改编
A kind cowherd marries the Weaver Girl from heaven, until the Queen Mother draws a river of stars between them. Then thousands of magpies build a bridge.
