"The Legend of Wenlong" is an ancient folk story of Han Chinese origin, that was early on adopted by several people groups in Southern China including the Zhuang.
[citation needed] In 16th century Ming dynasty the famous painter, poet, writer and dramatist Xu Wei mentions "The Legend of Wenlong" in a list of 65 12th century Song dynasty Nanxi operas [2] under the title 刘文龙菱花镜 (Liu Wenlong and the Water-chestnut Mirror).
It has been preserved in written form using the traditional Zhuang writing system, Sawndip since the Ming or Qing dynasties.
When they say goodbye, as a reminder to be faithful, the couple split a metal mirror in two, and Lanshi gives Wenlong one of a pair of shoes she has made herself and keeps the other.
Wenlong, nearing his home town, meets a woman crying by the river, and talking to her discovers she is his wife.
Another is Zheng Chaoyang's 1999 opera 洗马桥 (literally "wash horse bridge"), her own adaptation of the tradition, in which Wenlong comes from Wenzhou.
Other versions include the 100-year-old late Qing dynasty manuscript of 刘文龙赶考 ("Liu Wenlong goes to take the civil service examination"), discovered in 1952 in Anhui.
[8] In 1987, a Chinese translation of the Zhuang song by Lan Hong'en was published under the title "文龙与肖尼" ("Wenlong and Xiaoni"), by which it is sometimes better known.
[9] In 1998, the Guangxi Minorities Ancient Literature Bureau printed a Youjiang Zhuang version called "唱文隆" ("The Song of Wenlong").