Thursday, September 10, 2015

Extra Reading Diary: Chinese Fairy Tales

This week, I will be reading the first half of the Chinese Fairy Tales Unit.

The Favorite of Fortune and the Child of Ill Luck
I did not like the ending of this story since the Empress, who was faithful to her husband for at least 18 years, died. I thought that was sad since she lived an honest life. The ball of red silk is meaningful to me because in Chinese legend, if two people were meant to be, they would be tied by the "red string of fate." The oddest thing about this story was that the princess could see dragons crawling into the beggar's ears, which is something I have never heard before.

The Cave of the Beasts

The father in this story is very wicked. He should have cared for his children more since they are the ones that will carry on his legacy. I was slightly upset that karma did not get the father back for leaving his two daughters back in the mountains. He even got to share their luck in finding the gold and precious stones.

The Panther

I felt that this story was very similar to the Little Red Riding Hood! The panther was the wolf and the two daughters were essentially Little Red. I felt this story was a little more gruesome because of the part where the writer indicated that the panther tore off a piece of the back of the mother's head and eat it. The little baby getting killed was also sad.

Why Dog and Cat are Enemies
This story put cats into a bad light because the cat betrayed the dog, even though it was originally the dog's idea to help the owners get their fortunes back. This story makes me think of why some Asian households have this "beckoning cat" statue. It is said that this statue brings the owner good fortune.

Yang Oerlang
I felt bad for the second daughter of the Ruler of Heaven because she fell in love with a mortal and was punished for it. Her son grew up to be very filial and tried to save her, but she ultimately died. The way she died was kind of gruesome since she was basically burned by the sunlight. All that was left was her skin and bones. I think this story was to explain why we only have one sun now; it's because Oerlang destroyed all of the other nine suns in rage. It also explains why earthworms die when they are left out in the sun, according to Chinese legends!

Drawing of Oerlang.
"Er Lang Shen" by Gworld, March 2014. Source: DeviantArt.

The Lady of the Moon
This story refuted the previous one since it stated that Hou I was the one who shot the other nine suns out of the sky, leaving one left.

The Girl with the Horse's Head or the Silkworm Goddess
I did not understand where this story was going. First, the horse wanted to marry the girl and so it ran off to find her father. Then when it finally brought him home, they killed the horse and hung his skin on a tree in the yard just so she didn't have to marry it. That's kind of mean, considering she joked about it. Then she went and kicked it and then its skin just killed her. Wow.

The God of War
In the story, it says Guan Yu and his companions sacrificed a white steed. For what purpose did they sacrifice a white horse? In order to show how "true" they were to each other? I have seen the Green Dragon weapon in Chinese dramas before and it looks pretty impressive. What's really impressive about Guan Yu is how red he is. I thought that it was sad that Guan Yu died at the hands of a mere prince. He deserved a better death than to have his head cut off.

The Miserly Farmer
I think this story teaches you that greed ultimately leads to nothing. The farmer was very greedy and would try to make the bonze pay for one pear instead of graciously giving it to him, which made the bonze destroy his entire cart.

The King of the Ants
I was very confused with this story. I wasn't sure what the moral was in this one or if there was supposed to be one at all. The majority of this story as just descriptions.

No comments:

Post a Comment