Long, long ago, there lived a bad-tempered Long king in the Qiantang River.
He and his shrimp soldiers and crab generals always bullied the people, causing the tides to rise and fall irregularly, destroying crops and houses.
On the banks of the river lived a poor fisherman’s family. The old couple and their five-year-old son, Liuhe, made a living by fishing.
Liuhe was clever and skilled in swimming and fishing.
One day, Liuhe’s father went fishing and was unfortunately drowned during a high tide.
After crying bitterly, the mother and son were settled in a broken temple by the villagers.
Without a fishing boat, Liuhe’s family became even poorer.
They made nets with hemp strings and used bamboo poles as supports to catch fish at the head of the tide.
Although it was dangerous, they had to do it for a living.
However, the money earned from selling the fish was not enough to buy rice, so they had to eat husks and vegetables.
One day, the tide came particularly fiercely and Liuhe’s mother was also swept away.
Liuhe was sad and angry, and decided to stop the tide from harming people again.
He carried stones from the mountain and vowed to fill up the Qiantang River and crush the Long king.
He kept throwing stones into the river and cursing the tide.
The villagers tried to persuade him, but he wouldn’t listen.
He kept doing it for forty-nine days, breaking the roof and doors and windows of the Long’s crystal palace.
The Long king had a splitting headache and asked the turtle prime minister to discuss countermeasures.
Finally, they decided to bring precious treasures to make peace with Liuhe.
On the eighteenth day of the eighth month, the Long king came to the riverbank with his shrimp soldiers, crab generals, and treasures.
Seeing the Long king bow his head, Liuhe put forward two conditions: first, to bring back his parents; second, for the tide to rise and fall regularly.
Although the Long king was unwilling, he was afraid that Liuhe would really fill up the river and crush his palace, so he agreed.
The tide retreated, and the Long king and his soldiers disappeared.
Liuhe defeated the Long king, and the villagers cheered and celebrated.
Soon, his family’s boat returned with his parents and a full load of fresh fish, and the family was reunited.
From then on, the tides in the Qiantang River became regular, and people no longer lived in fear.
Every year on the eighteenth day of the eighth month, the tide was a little bigger, as the Long king personally patrolled the river. People would come to watch the tide.
To thank Liuhe, the people built a pagoda on the hill where he had carried stones, which is now known as the “Liuhe Pagoda”.
通过阅读中国神话、民间故事、历史典故、人物传记学汉语，简单易学，中英对照，适合初学者！
Learning Chinese through reading Chinese mythology, folk stories, historical allusions, and biographies is easy to learn and bilingual, suitable for beginners!