Since the beginning of time, mankind has passed along stories to one another. Whether told to entertain, to teach, or to tell a history, these stories have continued to radiate from ear to ear. A modern version of one of these stories could be a blockbuster movie, or a bestselling book. The most poignant of stories, though, are the ones that are short enough and powerful enough to be remembered for the entirety of one’s life. Hans Christian Anderson is the most famous teller of these short stories, or fairy tales, but he was not the first to come across this method of storytelling. The oldest written fairy tales have come from Egypt, as early as 1300 BC, and other countries, like China, had been passing along stories verbally for years before that. The Chinese fairy tales listed below are a few such examples of stories that have been passed along through time.
The Four Dragons
The Four Dragons is an explanatory fable – it tells how the four great rivers of China were formed through the generosity and courage of four sky dragons (Long Dragon, Yellow Dragon, Black Dragon, and Pearl Dragon) despite the hindrance of the unmotivated Jade Emperor. They saved the crops, but the Emperor was furious at his usurpation of power, and so had the four dragons pinned to the earth with mountains. The dragons changed themselves into rivers, so that they could continue to bring water to China.
Bright Pearl
The story of the Bright Pearl is another explanatory fable, detailing how the two mountains on either side of the West Lake came to be. Golden Phoenix and Jade Dragon found a pebble, and over many years of hard work together, molded it into the most radiant pearl imaginable. The pearl was stolen by the Queen Mother. Later, when she was throwing a party, she displayed the pearl to her guests on an impulse. Golden Phoenix and Jade Dragon saw the light emanating from the pearl, and in the resulting struggle to reclaim it, the pearl fell to earth where it became a great lake. To guard it, Golden Phoenix and Jade Dragon turned themselves into mountains on either side of the lake.
- Bright Pearl Folk Tale
Superior Pet
The heroine of this story is an old woman – born to a poor family, she grew old alone and ended up in a house with other unmarried women, who were spiteful and often cruel. All of her wealth lay in the silver ear scoop that was the last of her family’s wealth. One day, she saved a white mouse from being killed, and nursed it back to health. When it was discovered that she had been keeping the mouse for a pet, she was forced to leave the house. She took the mouse with her, but finally, cold and hungry, she rested against a wall and lamented to the mouse that she would have to sell the ear scoop. She accidentally dropped the scoop, which the mouse grabbed and vanished with through a hole in the wall. Infuriated, the old woman dug apart the wall, and came across a pile of gold items and jewels, in the center of which was the ear scoop – the mouse’s repayment for her kindness. Because of this story, farmers in some parts of China associate the presence of a white mouse with coming good luck.
- Superior Pet
Natural Enemies
This story explains why dogs and cats hate each other. An old man had a magic wand, which was stolen by a thief. He sent his two pets, a Dog and a Cat, to retrieve it. They worked together until the moment when they reclaimed the wand. Cat got to the wand first and selfishly wished herself home without Dog. The old man assumed that Dog had deserted him, and lavished care on Cat. When Dog did return, he begged Cat to explain, but she stayed silent in order to keep the old man’s attention all for herself. Since then, dogs everywhere remember the cat’s treachery, and that is supposedly why the two do not get along.
- Natural Enemies
Jeweled Sea
Kwang-Su was a young, handsome man who had studied under one of the best tutors in China. He met a girl named Ling-Ling one day, and fell in love. When he asked her mother for her hand, though, the old woman declined, since an old rich Mandarin man had already made a bid. The mother struck a deal with Kwang-Su at his insistence – if he would retrieve a jade mortar and pestle from the Genii, who were evil spirits, he could marry Ling-Ling. Kwang-Su set out on his quest, with some reeds and seeds to help him cross the great rivers that divided the land of the Genii from China. After undergoing several challenges along the way, he obtained the mortar and pestle through wit and returned home, time to pay off the Mandarin and marry Ling-Ling. The two of them, as in most fairytales, lived happily ever after. While unique in that it is not an explanatory tale like the others listed, it is a good example of using one’s wit and resources to overcome adversity.
- Jeweled Sea
We Are All One
There was a rich man with a disease of the eyes that caused him great pain, and so he offered a reward to whoever could cure him. A kind candy peddler heard about the offer, and decided to go in search of a particular herb. Along the way, he helped save a colony of ants from drowning. When he slept that night, he dreamt he was in a great city, where the queen thanked him and promised him help should he require it. Upon waking, he discovered that it had been the ant nest that he had dreamed about. He came across a temple, and there saved a centipede there from being eaten. That night, the centipede gave him directions to find a bead that could cure the rich man’s eyes. The bead was too small for the peddler to find, so he asked the ants for help, which they gave, and he headed home triumphantly with the bead. He gave the bead to the rich man, and, grateful, the rich man paid the peddler double the reward he’d been offering. The peddler and his family lived the rest of their lives comfortably.
- We Are All One
From this selection of folklore, it is apparent that Chinese fairy tales, as is the trend with the genre in general, were often used as ways of explaining China’s natural landmarks, and as a method of teaching moral values such as kindness and wisdom. If you happen to be interested in learning more about Chinese culture through the use of fairy tales, there are multiple books with a vast collection of fables for your perusal. The stories listed above are, after all, only a small sample of the rich literature of China. There are many more in existence, though the only way they will make the impact they were designed to have is if they are read and learned from.
Written by Michael S. Atwood