Several of the most well-known folk stories of China have originated or are based in Jiangsu. These include Xi You Ji (Journey to the West) that has a strong association through its author, Wu Cheng’en, to Lianyungang and Huai’an.

Journey to the West (Pinyin: Xīyóu-jì)
It is one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. Originally published anonymously in the 1590s during the Ming Dynasty, and even though no direct evidence of its authorship survives, it has been ascribed to the scholar Wú Chéng'ēn since the 20th century.

The tale is also often known simply as Monkey. This was one title used for a popular, abridged translation by Arthur Waley. The Waley translation has also been published as Adventures of the Monkey God; and Monkey: Folk Novel of China; and The Adventures of Monkey. The novel is a fictionalized account of the legends around the Buddhist monk Xuanzang's pilgrimage to India during the Tang dynasty in order to obtain Buddhist religious texts called sutras. The Bodhisattva Gunnyin, on instruction from the Buddha, gives this task to the monk and his three protectors in the form of disciples — namely Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing — together with a dragon prince who acts as Xuanzang's horse mount. These four characters have agreed to help Xuanzang's as atonement for past sins.

Some scholars propose that the book satirizes the effete Chinese government at the time. Journey to the West has a strong background in Chinese folk religion, Chinese mythology and value systems; the pantheon of Taoist deities and Buddhist bodhisattvas is still reflective of Chinese folk religious beliefs today. Part of the novel's enduring popularity comes from the fact that it works on multiple levels: it is a first-rate adventure story, a dispenser of spiritual insight, and an extended allegory in which the group of pilgrims journeying toward India stands for the individual journeying toward enlightenment.

The author Wu Cheng'en (1500–1582) was a Chinese novelist and poet of the Ming Dynasty. He was born in Huai’an, Jiangsu. He studied in ancient Nanjing University for more than 10 years. He passed his provincial examinations to attain the rank of Xiu Cai, but never proceeded beyond that. This was mainly because he excelled at multiple writing forms and not just poems, and also multiple subjects, including Taoism, Buddhism, Confucianism, and he was also adept in many fields such as Chinese chess, painting, military skills, medicine, and many, many more. He basically wrote about everything under the sun, which meant that he was not suited for the strict requirements of the examinations of his period. He held a couple of minor postings but that was about all. Despite this, he and his writings were always in demand and he was renowned as a writer and poet. His genius was widely recognized as he wrote many other works of value apart from Xiyouji, which he is believed to have finished in his early sixties, around 1570.

The Butterfly Lovers or Liang Zhu
The Butterfly Lovers or Liang Zhu is a Chinese legend about the tragic romance between two lovers, Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai. The legend is sometimes regarded as the Chinese equivalent to Romeo and Juliet.

The story occurred in the Eastern Jin Dynasty. A young woman named Zhu Yingtai from Shangyu, Zhejiang, disguised herself as a man travelling to Hangzhou to study. During her journey, she met and joined Liang Shanbo, a companion schoolmate from Kuaiji (now known as Shaoxing) in the same province. They studied together for three years, during which their relationship strengthened. When the two parted, Zhu offered to arrange for Liang to marry her 16 year-old fictitious sister. When Liang travelled to Zhu's home, he discovered her true gender. Although they were devoted and passionate about each other at that point, Zhu was already engaged with Ma Wencai, a man her parents had arranged for her to be married to. Depressed, Liang died in office as a county magistrate. On the day Zhu was to be married to Ma, whirlwinds prevented the wedding procession from escorting Zhu beyond Liang's tomb. Zhu left the procession to pay her respects for Liang. Liang's tomb split apart, and Zhu dived into it to join him. A pair of butterflies emerged from the tomb and flew away.

Sleep on brushwood and taste gall
During the Spring and Autumn period (770－476BC), the State of Wu launched an attack against the State of Yue. The King of Wu was seriously wounded and soon died. His son Fuchai became the new King. Fu was determined to revenge. He drilled his army rigidly until it was a perfect fighting force. Three years later, he led his army against the State of Yue and caught its King Goujian. Fu took him to the State of Wu. In order to avenge his father's death, Fu let him live in a shabby stone house by his father's tomb and ordered him to raise horses for him. Goujie pretended to be loyal to Fu but he never forgot his humiliation. Many years later, he was set free. Goujie secretly accumulated a military force after he went back to his own state. In order to make himself tougher, he slept on firewood and tasted a gall-bladder before having dinner and going to bed. At the same time, he administered his state carefully, developing agriculture and educating the people. After a few years, his country became strong. Then Goujie seized a favorable opportunity to wipe off the State of Wu. Later, people use it to describe one who endures self-imposed hardships to strengthen one's resolve to realize one's ambition.