History of Yeh-Hsien
Probably the first recorded version (c. 850-960 C.E. [1]) of a Cinderella tale, Yeh-Hsien was first written down by Tuan Ch’eng Shih[2], though the story itself appears to come from aborigines in the extreme south. Surprisingly, the story was largely ignored until 1911, when attention was drawn to it by Japanese folklorist K. Minakata [3].
In contrast to many other early folklorists, Tuan Ch’eng Shih not only made no effort to ‘literise’ tales but also went to great effort to preserve the authenticity of his collections. In the case of Yeh-Hsien, this has provided a clean text, though it must be noted that in other tales he has ‘corrected’ stories, believing that later versions, even those collected from a different region, are bastardisations of earlier, ‘authentic’ tales.
But Ch’eng Shih’s Cinderella is particularly interesting, providing more motivations and explanations etc. than common, more detail about Yeh-hsien (good at making pottery on the wheel) giving her more character (consider today's modern, snappy one-lining protagonists) than our modern cinderellas.
About Yeh-Hsien
Certain details of this tale’s setting are unique. While European Cinderellas usually involve a mother or step-mother, a sometimes orphaned and poor girl, and a wish-granting spirit. Yeh-Hsien, however, contains elements and motivations outside the norm. Interestingly, the story continues past the ‘happily ever after’, detailing the fate of the step family—flying stones, then the tomb of the distressed women, prayed to by bachelors who then succeeded with whomever they sought to court; the king used the bones for a year then, when they stopped answering, buried them royally by the sea; during a mutiny a general opened them up to provide for his army; finally, the bones were washed away by the sea.
Over time, many tellings have lost the detail of the cave, that Yeh-Hsien’s father had two wives , and that the name of the neighbouring island kingdom (T’o’han), and. It’s possible that such details have been omitted in an attempt to refine the story (consider Perrault’s Cendrillion). But each of these details has its own significance in terms of placing the story and learning about its origins. First, we shall deal with the cave.
In the Tuan Ch’eng Shih version, the story begins:
Among the people of the south there is a tradition that before the Ch'in and Han dynasties there was a cave-master called Wu. The aborigines called the place the Wu cave.
On first reading, ‘cave’ is surprising, if not a little disturbing. As we continue to read the story, it becomes clear that Yeh-Hsien’s home is not literally a cave. Why, then, such a beginning?
According to Arthur Waley[4], aborigines in the south of China did live in caves but, when this tale was recorded (c. 9th century), the aborigines had come to live in small villages and ‘cave owner’ had come to mean ‘in the native lands’, i.e. it was used in an ethnic sense rather than a literal one.
With regard to Yeh-Hsien’s father and his two wives:
The aborigines called the place the Wu cave. He married two wives. One wife died...She had a daughter Yeh-hsien...After some years the father died, and she was ill-treated by her step-mother...
Some versions describe Yeh-Hsien’s step-mother as her father’s ‘co-wife’. Historical record shows us that Chinese men took only one wife. Chiefs and high ranking aborigines in the south, however, were sometimes documented as taking more than one wife, and modern aborigines have been shown to have more than one wife also, adding to the idea of the tale’s provenance being from this area.
Tomorrow: Commentary Part II of II; detailed analysis of Yeh-Hsien, plot elements, and comparison; notes on Cinderella.
Footnotes:
[1] Waley, p.1
[2] ibid.
[3] ibid.
[4] ibid.
References:
Waley, Arthur, 1947, The Chinese Cinderella Story, Folklore, Vol. 58, No. 1, pp. 226-238. Text kindly provided by JSTOR.
Windling, Terri, 2007, Ashes, Blood, and the Slipper of Glass, Journal of Mythic Arts, Endicott Studio, pp1-2. http://www.endicott-studio.com/rdrm/forashs.html
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