CHINESE STORIES, BOOKS AND DECORATIONS FOR CHINESE NEW YEAR'S
(excerpts from posts)
(If you want to retell any of the stories listed below, be sure to obtain permission from the copyright holder if the material is not in the public domain)

1) Chinese folklore - The Monkey Spirit
http://mcel.pacificu.edu/as/students/myth/edtech.html#The%20Monkey%20Spirit

2) The Chinese Storyteller's Book: Supernatural Tales by Michael David Kwan. Tuttle Publishing. 2002.

3) The Extraordinary Cat in one of Pleasant DeSpain's books, Twenty-Two Splendid Tales to Tell from Around the World (American Storytelling).

4) The Ten Jugs of Wine in Sweet and Sour : Tales from China, by Carol Kendall and Yao-wenLi.

5) Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress : A Novel by Dai Sijie. Translated from the French by Ina Rilke. Published in the 'States in New York by Alfred Knopf in 2001.
ISBN: 0-375-41309-x.

6) Heather Forest's wonderful and wise collection, Wisdom Tales from Around the World (World Storytelling); this tale can also be found in Jane Yolen's Favorite Folktales from Around the World (Pantheon Fairy Tale and Folklore Library) on pg. 407 as The Lost Horse; in Sweet and Sour : Tales from China retold by Carol Kendall and Yao-wen Li as From Bad to Good to Bad to Good on pg. 39 and in Stories of the Spirit, Stories of the Heart, ed. by Christina Feldman and Jack Kornfield on pg. 262.

BOOKS:
• Wisdom Tales from Around the World: Fifty Gems of Story and Wisdom from Such Diverse Traditions As Sufi, Zen, Taoist, Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, African, and Native American (World Storytelling)
• Tales of Wisdom and Wonder by Heather Forest.
•••••

7) Magic Boat and Other Chinese Folk Stories by M.A. Jagendorf (Vanguard, 1980) In this book the story is called The Wonderful Chuang Brocade.

8) Spring of the Butterflies and Other Folktales of China's Minority Peoples by He Liyi. Lothrop, 1985.

9) Folk and Fairy Tales of Far-off Lands, edited by Eric Protter. JCA Literary Agency, 1965.

10). The Weaving of a Dream (Picture Puffins) Retold by Marilee Heyer, Viking
Kestrel, 1986. Viking Kestrel, 40 West 23rd St. NYNY10010. Copyright 1986 by Marilee Heyer.
An engrossing Chinese folktale about an old woman who weaves exquisite brocades. One day in the marketplace, she sees a painting of a palace so grand she dreams of living in it. After three years of painstaking weaving, she completes a brocade of the painting. When it is blown away by the wind, she sends each of her three sons on a dangerous quest to find it. Heyer's paintings are replete with stunning detail and lavish color. All sorts of luminous, lifelike insects, reptiles, birds and beasts populate every page, and throughout there is a perfect blending of fantasy and reality.

11) A script version of The Magic Brocade is on Aaron Sheperd's site at:
http://www.aaronshep.com/rt/RTE26.html
Picture Book:
http://www.aaronshep.com/stories/056.html
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11) The Silk Brocade, a version of The Magic Brocade, is in The Fabrics of Fairytale: Stories Spun from Far and Wide by Tanya Robyn Batt.

12) Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress : A Novel by Dai Sijie, translated by Ina Rilke. Synopses may be found at:
http://adirondackreview.homestead.com/review7.html
http://www.curledup.com/balzac.htm

13) The Mouse Bride: A Chinese Folktale by Lesley Liu (illus), Monica Chang (narrator) and Rick Charette (translator). (1994)
Card catalog description
A mouse goes to the sun, cloud, wind, and wall in search of the strongest husband for his daughter, only to find him among his own kind.

14) Why Snails Have Shells: Minority and Han Folktales from China (A Kolowalu Book), retold by Carolyn Han, translated by Jay Han, illustrated by Li Ji. Honolulu: University of Hawai`i Press, 1993.
ISBN 0-8248-1505-X
Ant and the Anteater (Yao)
Ant and the Magpie (Miao)
Corn-Picking Monkey (Han)
Dove and the Rooster (Yi)
Dove Who Tried to Eat the Sun (Tu)
Flying Frog (Mongol)
Fox and a Rabbit (Mongol)
Magpie as Teacher (Yao)
Monkey's Experience (Han)
Rabbit Judge (Tibetan)
Rooster and the Nine Suns (Hani)
Tiger and His Master (Han)
Tiger and the Bull (Dai)
Tiger and the Frog (Bouyei)
Two Quarrelsome Cats (Tibetan)
Vain Raven (Tibetan)
Why Snails Have Shells (Zhuang)
Why Snakes Bite Frogs (Miao)
Wild Geese (Hui)
Wolf, the Fox, and the Rabbit (Sala)
•••••

15) Two of Everything: A Chinese Folktale by Lily Toy Hong. (1993 - Ages 4--8)
http://www.tellingtales.com/Stories/Archive/Two_Of_Everything.htm
Digging in his garden, a poor farmer discovers an ancient brass pot. While carrying his find home, the man drops his purse, which he then tosses into the pot for safekeeping. At home, when his wife peers into the vessel she finds not one but two purses. The couple puts the magic pot to work, multiplying their remaining gold coins many times over. But their good fortune takes an unexpected turn when Mr. and Mrs. Haktak both manage to fall into the pot, and a clone of each of them appears. "Now even our troubles are beginning to double," the farmer observes wryly. How they make peace with their new lives will have youngsters, if not doubled up with laughter, at least genuinely amused, and wanting to reread this yarn--at least twice.
•••••

16) Chinese folktales:
http://www.interlog.com/~fccs/culture.htm
http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/china.html
http://www.worldandi.com/folktalesdemo/1988/9_Oct/Html/page2.htm

17) Ancient Chinese fables:
http://chinavista.com/experience/fable/fable.html
http://chineseculture.about.com/library/extra/story/blyrh.htm?once=true&

18) 8,000 Stones: A Chinese Folktale. by Diane Wolkstein. (1972)
Review by a customer:
This is a wonderful book for children to read or have read to them. I have used it many times when talking about the ingenuity of children and bolstering self esteem. It discusses the intuitive knowledge that children possess to solve problems if they are given the unfettered opportunity. I highly recommend this book to anyone with children between pre-kindergarten and 6th grade. Well written and imaginative.

19) Chinese tea stories:
http://firehorseportfolio.com/tea/

20) The Story of the White Snake
http://www.angelfire.com/darkside/ladywhitesnake/whitesnake.html

29) Chinavista Chinese Myths and Fantasies
http://www.chinavista.com/experience/myth/myth.html

30) Chinavista Selected Chinese Myths and Fantasies
http://www.chinavista.com/experience/story/story.html

31) The Taoist Pantheon
http://taoism.about.com/od/taoistpantheon/Taoist_Pantheon.htm

32) Chinese deities worshipped by farmers
http://www.chinavista.com/experience/joss1/deities.html

33) The Fighting Rooster — A Taoist Tale by Chuang Tzu
http://www.storyarts.org/library/nutshell/stories/fighting.html
BOOK:
Fables and Their Morals: The Fighting Roosters and the Eagle to the Lion in Love

34) Wild Goose — A Tale from China
http://www.storyarts.org/library/nutshell/stories/wild.html

35) Chinese Folktales:
http://www.doe.state.in.us/olr/pdf/ChineseFolktales-AnnotatedBib.pdf

36) Bones: There's a tale from China in which a man drops his ax in a pond and a mermaid type comes up and says, "Here is your ax,"offering him a much fancier silver ax. He is honest and tells her that his was just a plain one and she rewards him doubly both with his and a gold one. Later his neighbor tries to do the same thing but being greedy accepts the silver ax as his. The mermaid creature reprimands him and he does not get his old ax or a new one.
•••••

37) Bones of The Empty Pot: It is such a lovely story about an Emperor who devises a test to find a replacement for himself. He loves flowers, so gives every child in the kingdom a seed and tells them to bring him back whatever they could grow in one year. The hero of the story is a boy who loves to garden. He takes great care with the seed doing everything that a good gardener would do but with no luck. All year he works but can produce nothing. Finally the year has passed and it is time to return to the palace with his pot. He is ashamed and tells his father that he doesn't want to go. All of the other children have been bragging about their beautiful flowers. His dad tells him that he has worked his hardest and done his best and that is good enough. He encourages his son to go. So the boy takes the empty pot and stands amidst hundreds of children with their huge and colorful flowers. The emperor calls the boy forward and asks him what happens. In tears the boy tells of how hard he worked. Then the Emperor tells him that he will be the next Emperor. He says that he does not know how everyone else grew flowers, because what he had given them were boiled beans. He commends the boy for his honesty and claims him the next Emperor of China.

BOOKS:
Demi: The Empty Pot (An Owlet Book)
Downe: The Empty Pot: Lub Taig Qhuav/Lub Tais Qhuav
Houghton Mifflin: The Empty Pot (The Literature Experience 1993 Ser.)
•••••

38) Resources — China. Bones of Yeh-Shen: A Cinderella Story from China (Paperstar Book) by Aai-Ling Louie, Philomel books, NY, 1982; Mr. Chang and the Yellow Robe (Magic Mountain Fables) by Dorothee Bohlke, Garrett Educational Corp., Ada, Oklahoma, 1991.; Two of Everything: A Chinese Folktale by Lily Toy Hong, Albert Whitman & Co., Morton Grove, Illinois, 1993. ... a funny Chinese folktale with a bit of wisdom; The Magic Tapestry: A Chinese Folktale, by Demi, Henry Holt and Co., 1994; The Journey of Meng by Doreen Rappaport, Dial Books for Young Readers, NY, 1991. ...an ancient Chinese legend of love and courage during the period of the building of the Great Wall of China; Lon Po Po (Caldecott Medal Book) by Ed Young, Philomel Books, NY, 1989. ... a Red-Riding Hood story from China. A tale that is thought to be over 1000 years old; and The Magic Boat by Demi, Henry Holt & Co., 1990.
http://www.unc.edu/~rwilkers/resource-china.htm
•••••

39) Chinese and Tibet juvenile bibliography
http://falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/mulchinese.htm

40) Expansive site for Chinese folklore
http://hallkidspoetry.com/fairy_tales_folk_tales_myths/10.shtml

41) Expansive site for Chinese stories
http://www.chsa.org/

42) Inquiry: I met a wonderful storyteller last night and she told me how long ago she had heard a storyteller tell a beautiful Chinese story about the creation of a particular waterfall and mentioned a rather sketchy moment of someone washiung their face in the water or something like that. Does anyone have any ideas? i did a search on Chinese Waterfall stories and came up with 16,000+ hits. Does this story sound familiar to anyone?
Response: I have a collection called Favorite Folktales of China, translated by John Minford, introduction by Zhong Jingwen, Beijing: New World Press, 1982, which has a story called The Long Haired Girl. It is attributed as a Dong folktale – the Dong being one of the ethnic minority groups in China, living in Guizhou and Hunan provinces, and in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. It is about the creation of a waterfall, although I don’t see anything on washing someone’s face in the water. I don’t know how widely available this book is, although your friend might be able to get it on interlibrary loan.
Story bones:
Girl with long black hair lives in village on high mountain. Village suffers for lack of ready access to water. Girl goes out to collect herbs, pulls a turnip, discovers there is a spring under the turnip. Turnip flies from her hands and replants itself, blocking the spring. Repeat: pulls turnip, water flows, drinks sweet water, turnip replants itself, blocking spring. Gust of wind carries her to mountain spirit, who warns her that if she tells anyone of the spring, he will kill her. She returns to village. As she sees people suffering for lack of water, her hair turns white, as she struggles between desire to tell and fear of death. Finally, she tells people to pull up the turnip, cut it into pieces and widen the spring so it cannot be hidden. Mountain spirit tells her she must lie on the cliff with the spring water falling on her body to die slowly and painfully. A tree spirit offers to help her by carving a stone replica of her body, pulls out her white hair, implants it in the statue, and puts it in her place. The long white hair mingles with the water from the spring to become a great waterfall. They succeed in fooling the mountain spirit, and the girl’s own hair grows in long and black again, as she returns home, a hero for having risked death to bring water to her village.
•••••
Response: I remembered that this story was in Mother and Daughter Tales (An Abbeville Anthology) retold by Josephine Evetts-Secker. The story's title in this book is The Waterfall of White Hair. No source given. Using Margaret Read MacDonald's indexes, I found one book about this same story: Long-Haired Girl : A Chinese Legend by Doreen Rappaport. A picture book for ages 4-8. I don't have a copy of this book, so I don't know if it mentions any sources. I googled using ' "Chinese legend" waterfall ' and didn't find more about this story. However, this is a Chinese legend about carp -- when they swim up a waterfall, they become dragons. I mention this just in case you wanted Chinese legends about waterfalls...
New and used books at:
The Barefoot Book of Mother and Daughter Tales
•••••

43) Below is my retelling of a Singapore legend. It's a wonderful story and one that is not well known here at all. I can't understand why and I am doing my best to put it right. Please feel free to tell it, but if you want to publish it in any way please contact me for permission.
Sheila Wee

Rajah Suran’s Expedition to China
Once, in the time long ago there was a king. His name was Rajah Suran and he ruled over India. But India wasn’t enough for him; he wanted to be the most powerful king in the world. He made all the princes of the countries nearby bow down to him, pay him taxes of rice and gold and call him the most powerful king. But he still wasn’t happy. There was someone who refused to say that he was the most powerful, that he was the greatest King: and that was the Emperor of China.

This made Raja Suran very angry and he decided he would invade China. He gathered a huge army with soldiers from every part of his empire. The army was so big that it was impossible to count the number of soldiers. It was impossible to count the number of weapons, it was impossible to count the numbers of horses and elephants.

The trouble was though, that Raja Suran wasn’t exactly sure where China was. He thought that it was in the south, so he led his army into Myanmar and followed the coast southwards. People said that wherever the Army passed the forests were flattened, the rivers dried up and the mountains trembled.People said it took 6 months for that army to pass by a single village.

Down through Myanmar they went and into Thailand, then further south into Malaysia. They kept on marching for month after month until they reached the beaches of the Straits of Johor and they looked across the water to Singapore, but of course, then it was called Temasek.

Here they had to stop and build boats to ferry them across the water. Building these boats took a long time and Rajah Suran became very impatient. Every day he grumbled to himself “How long before we reach China? How long before that cocky Emperor says that I am the most powerful King?”

At last the whole army was in Temasek. They marched southwards, but it didn’t take long before they reached the Southern Sea and could go no further. Rajah Suran realized that if he wanted to reach China he would now have to travel by sea. So he set his men to building hundreds of strong ships. But he still didn’t know which way to go, so he sent men off in every direction with instructions to find the way to China and find it quickly.

Now, Rajah Suran’s journey to Temasek, had not been a secret, could not be a secret, not with so many men and horses and elephants making the ground thunder with their footsteps. Traders who sailed the coast in search of gold, spices and aromatic wood heard of Raja Suran’s plan, and they told their friends about the huge army that was looking for the way to China.Now their friends told their friends and their friends told their friends and their friends told their friends and their friends told their friends and their friends told their friends until eventually someone told the Emperor of China himself.

The emperor was very worried. He called his ministers together and asked their advice. “What shall we do?” If Rajah Suran finds the way to our land, he will surely defeat us, his army is so much bigger, so much stronger than ours. “We must find a way to stop him.”

The emperor and the ministers thought and thought and thought and thought. They thought all day and they thought all night and then just as the dawn was breaking in the morning, the chief minister burst out laughing.

“Oh yes, I have it, I have a very good plan”, he cried. He whispered his plan to the emperor and the emperor smiled for the first time in days.

“Oh yes that is a very good plan, go and get the things you need at once”.

And so the chief minister went down to the harbour to find a ship to sail to Temasek, to sail to Singapore. But he didn’t look for the best ship, the fastest ship, the newest ship. Oh no! He searched the harbour until he found the oldest ship there was. Its planks were worn and its sails were yellow with age.

The other ministers, who had not heard the plan were very puzzled, how was this old ship, going to help them, how was it going to stop Rajah Suran’s mighty army. They were even more puzzled when they heard who was going to sail on the ship and what it was going to carry.

The chief minister chose the sailors himself. He chose the oldest men he could find. Some of them were so old they could hardly walk and had to be carried onto the ship.

“Old men, sailing an old ship,The chief minister’s gone crazy” the people said

Then the chief minister did some thing that seemed just as ridiculous, he ordered that huge fruit trees should be dug up, planted into pots and carried on board the ship. “Crazy, crazy, he must have gone crazy” the people said.

Lastly he ordered that all the needles in the city, every last one should be brought to the palace.By the next morning the palace courtyard was filled with great piles of sewing needles. The chief minister ordered the servants to pick out all the rusty needles and put them into sacks. The servants worked hard and by nightfall they had gather 50 sacks full of rusty needles.

One of them approached the minister. “We’ve gathered 50 sacks of rusty needles. Shall we throw them away?”

“Throw them away! No! Don’t throw them away, put them onboard the ship!”

The servants did as they were told, but they were sure that the chief minister and the emperor had both gone crazy.

An old ship with old sailors, old fruit trees and old rusty needles, how was that going to save them from the terrible army of Raja Suran.

The emperor and the chief minister heard what people were saying, but they did not say a word, they just smiled as they waved the ship off on its journey.

A few weeks later the ship arrived in Temasek. Raja Suran and all his men were still there, and they still didn’t know the way to China.

When the lookouts spotted the old ship limping into the harbour, with huge fruit trees growing on its deck and a crew of old grandfathers, they couldn’t stop laughing. Soon everyone had heard about the strange ship and even Raja Suran himself came to take a look.

Where have you come from? he said, “What country is it that has such old sailors?”

The oldest of the sailors spoke up: “We have come from China”

When we set out we were all strong young men – we were carrying a cargo of fruit tree seeds and shiny new sewing needles. But it took us so long to get here that we have grown old, the seeds have become trees and the needles have become rusty. And he opened one of the sacks of needles to show Raja Suran.

Raja Suran sighed, If China was that far away his soldiers would be old men to weak to fight when they got there. He would be an old man too. No it was not worth it, he would send his army back to India, and go and conquer other, nearer lands.

And so the huge army turned around and marched back the way it came and China was saved.

But some stories say that Rajah Suran did not go back to India right away. They say that he followed a dream and went down below the waves of the Southern Sea to marry Princess Matabu, the Sea king’s daughter.

They say they had three sons and lived together happily for many years. But then Raja Suran began to miss the world above the ocean, to miss the sunshine, the trees and the birds flying free in the blue sky.

He became sadder and sadder until Princess Mahtabu told him that he should go back to his own world. He wanted to take her and their sons with him, he wanted the boys come and take over his kingdom when he died. But the great King of the sea said no, his daughter and the boys must remain in the under sea kingdom. But he did promise that t when the boys grew into men they would come up out of the sea and become kings of the land.

And some people say that is just what happened; when the boys grew up they came out of the sea near a place called Palembang in Sumatra. And they did become kings; the youngest prince became came the king of the land around Pelambang, and his brothers became kings of nearby kingdoms.

The youngest prince was someone you may have heard of before. His name was Sang Nila Utama, the very same Sang Nila Utama who sailed across stormy waters to land in Temasek, saw what he thought was a lion and gave our country its name Singapura - the lion city. But that as they say is another story.
Copyright Sheila Wee 2003
sheilamwee@yahoo.com

44) I heard this story years 14 years ago and have been telling it ever since. It's a Chinese story if that's any help.
Bones:
Girl in village in forest makes beautiful ribbons
Villagers sew them on clothes but have no one to show them to
Go to City
Emperor in palace sees villagers
Asks where they got clothes.
Finds out about ribbon maiden
Sends servants to fetch her
She refuses to come so they force her
Emperor tells her to make finest ribbons
She refuses
Locks her in room gives her 7 days to sew live chicken or head off
She tries but it is not alive
She cries tear on chicken
Bites thumb blood on chicken
Chicken alive
Emperor doesn't believe she sewed it tells her to sew live peacock
Same again
This time dragon but when he comes back dragon torches him
Dragon asks girl where she wants go. Home she says so she gets on his back and they fly off torching the palace as they go
Girl is so happy she makes the most beautiful ribbons of all different colours and throws them in the air as they fly and if you are very lucky you'll see a rainbow and know that's where they ribbon maiden was making her way home on the back of the dragon.

45) CHINESE FOLKTALES FOR YOUNG CHILDREN
Query: I need Chinese folktales for children under age 8. Those of you who have experience working with this age group, could you please recommend some?
Mel
Response: You could use the ancient Chinese Fable Yu gong yi shan (Zhongguo yu yan ji) (Old Man Who Moved the Mountain). I can send you my retelling off list if you like. You could easily adapt it so it would work for younger children, by adding participation.
Sheila W.
•••••
Response: The story Sheila refers to is a book by Arnold Lobel--Ming Lo Moves the Mountain. How about Two of Everything from Alice Ritchie's Treasure of Li Po. Also Chen Ping and his Magic Axe by Demi; Ticki, Ticki Tembo by Arlene Mosel, and Ko Ai's Lost Shoe from Tales of a Chinese Grandmother.
Carol C.
New and used books at:
Lobel - Ming Lo Moves the Mountain
Ritchie - The treasure of Li-Po
Demi - Chen Ping and His Magic Axe
Mosel - Tikki Tikki Tembo
Carpenter - Tales of a Chinese Grandmother
•••••
Response: The book Ming Lo Moves the Mountain isn't Yu Gong Yi Shan, although it was obviously the inspiration for it. To give you an idea of the differences between the two stories here is a summary of Ming Lo Moves the Mountain followed by Mao Tse Tung's telling of Yu Gong Yi Shan in a very famous speech.

Ming Lo Moves the Mountain
This is a story of Ming Lo and his wife who live in the shadow of a large mountain. The mountain was not a good neighbor. It dropped rocks on their home and when it rained, the mountain kept the sun from warming the house. Ming Lo's wife wanted Ming Lo to move the mountain. Ming Lo went to a wise man to get advice on how to move the mountain. The wise man made some suggestions; they did not work. Finally, the wise man gave Ming Lo his last piece of advice. He told them to dismantle their house, pick it up, stand, and face the mountain. Then Ming Lo and his wife were to do the "dance of the moving mountain." After many hours, the mountain was indeed many miles away. They rebuilt their house and lived happily ever after.

Yu Gong Yi Shan
"There is an ancient Chinese fable called The Foolish Old Man Who Removed the Mountains. It tells of an old man who lived in northern China long, long ago and was known as the Foolish Old Man of North Mountain. His house faced south and beyond his doorway stood the two great peaks, Taihang and Wangwu, obstructing the way. He called his sons, and hoe in hand they began to dig up these mountains with great determination. Another greybeard, known as the Wise Old Man, saw them and said derisively, "How silly of you to do this! It is quite impossible for you few to dig up these two huge mountains." The Foolish Old Man replied, "When I die, my sons will carry on; when they die, there will be my grandsons, and then their sons and grandsons, and so on to infinity. High as they are, the mountains cannot grow any higher and with every bit we dig, they will be that much lower. Why can't we clear them away?" Having refuted the Wise Old Man's wrong view, he went on digging every day, unshaken in his conviction. God was moved by this, and he sent down two angels, who carried the mountains away on their backs. Today, two big mountains lie like a dead weight on the Chinese people. One is imperialism, the other is feudalism. The Chinese Communist Party has long made up its mind to dig them up. We must persevere and work unceasingly, and we, too, will touch God's heart. Our God is none other than the masses of the Chinese people. If they stand up and dig together with us, why can't these two mountains be cleared away?"

I just wanted to let you know that Ming Lo Moves the Mountain isn't a traditional Chinese tale.
Sheila W.
•••••

Response: Here are a few suggestions:
Tiki Tiki Tembo - I have told this to the younger ones and they get a kick out of the repetition.
Yeh Shen - I have told this story numerous time to varied age levels including first and second graders and they all love it. They immediately recognize the connection to their known version of Cinderella. I have taken liberty with the ending. I don't use the part where the stepmother and step sister are buried in an avalanche of stones. I simply end it with Yeh Shen marrying the Emperor and living HEA. Stories Resources Page-China
http://www.unc.edu/~rwilkers/resource-china.htm
New and used books at:
Yeh-Shen: A Cinderella Story from China (Paperstar Book)

Lon Po Po -- one of my student tellers shared this tale last year. It was well received by all grade levels 1 - 4.
The Bell That Knew the Truth - Through the Grapevine by Martha Hamilton and Mitch Weiss. Also told by one of my student's last year, well received.
New and used books at:
Lon Po Po (Caldecott Medal Book)
Through the Grapevine: World Tales Kids Can Read & Tell

The following stories are suggestions but I have never told them myself. I can imagine Two of Everything working very well with eight year olds.
Two of Everything: A Chinese Folktale - Stories (Story Archive) - by Bob Wiliness
http://www.tellingtales.com/Stories/Archive/Two_Of_Everything.htm

Lord Bag of Rice in Twenty-Two Splendid Tales to Tell from Around the World (American Storytelling) by Pleasant DeSpain.

The Burning of the Rice Fields
The Old Man With A Wart
Both of these are in 22 Splendid Tales To Tell From Around the World Volume Two by Pleasant DeSpain.

Why The Sun Comes Up when Rooster Crows and Two Brothers, Two Rewards. Both in How & Why Stories: World Tales Kids Can Read and Tell (World Storytelling from August House (Paperback)) by Hamilton and Weiss -

Such A Silly Senseless Servant - Noodlehead Stories: World Tales Kids Can Read & Tell by Hamilton and Weiss.

The Empty Pot Elementary Character Education Lesson: Integrity
http://www.bu.edu/education/caec/files/elemlesson.htm
New and used books at:
Demi: The Empty Pot (An Owlet Book)
Downe: The Empty Pot: Lub Taig Qhuav/Lub Tais Qhuav
Houghton Mifflin: The Empty Pot (The Literature Experience 1993 Ser.)

The Stonecutter - I know there is a Japanese version but this bib cites it as a Chinese folktale as well. China & Tibet - A Bibliography of Children's Books
http://falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/mulchinese.htm
New and used books at:
The Stonecutter : (Chinese)

Folktales from China
http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/china.html
Karen C.

Response: Since it is Chinese New Year time, the story of the animal zodiac and how the animals were chosen would be nice. I have a version on CD by Kate Stevens called The Animal Years. She got it from The Collection of Tales by Four Elders. It tells of the various tricks the animals used to be first into the Emperor's hall to be chosen. It could get quite raucous and easy to work in participation.
Here is my bones for this story. I'm also posting to the list for anyone else who may be interested.
The CD I found this story on is a StorySave recording. To learn more, or purchase the CD, go to
http://www.storysave.ca/loader.html

The Twelve Animal Years
Bones:
One day up in heaven, the Jade Emperor looked down and saw that dragon, tiger and phoenix had come before him. They cried out that a wrong had been done to them. The Jade Emperor asked how this could be. "Tiger, you are lord of all the creatures in the forest and field. Dragon, you have dominion over the entire ocean and all other waters. Phoenix, you rule over all the birds. Have you been fighting with each other over your territories?" The animals said that no, it was the humans. "They harm us and we wish for you to make them behave."

The Jade Emperor says the next day, the South Gate of heaven would be opened at dawn. The first ten animals to come to bow before him will become the representatives of the Animal Years. Each human will belong to one of the animal years and so when they think of that, they will no longer do harm to any animal. The three agreed that this was good. They went back down to earth to tell all the animals about the competition.

Rat did not hear the announcement because he was underground in his tunnels. He comes back up and sees cat washing her face. Rat asks if she is going on a trip.
Cat says no and tells rat all about the contest.
Rat suggests they go together. Cat asks rat to wake her up if she happens to be sleeping when it is time to go. (Cat enjoys her little naps.) Rat agrees.

At the third watch, early in the morning rat wakes up. He decides to go by himself and not wake cat. He is afraid he won’t have a chance because cat is stronger than him. He leaves without waking cat. Rat arrives at South Gate to see many other animals there already. There is much noise and confusion until the Jade Emperor calls out for the animals to be still. He will not open the gate until the fifth watch, at dawn. Immediate quiet. The emperor’s scribe, Venus White Star prepares his ink, scroll and brushes. Dawn arrives and emperor orders the South Gate opened. The animals begin fighting to get in.

Now, each of the ten animals figures out a way to get in. As each animal comes before him, the emperor tells Venus White Star the name to record. (Have him say each animal’s name as they arrive. The original gives the Chinese name for each animal).

Rat scurries between all the feet and hooves and sneaks in.
Ox uses his great strength to shove his way in.
Tiger leaps over all the others and lands in front of the emperor’s throne.
Rabbit knows he can’t push in, so he crouches and with little hops sneaks in like rat.
Dragon waggles his head and waves his tail and soars through the air over the other animals to the throne.
Snake slithers and threads his way in.
Horse uses his hooves to kick the competitors out of the way.
Goat uses his horns to butt his way through.
Monkeys swings off the horns, ears and noses of the animals, just as he does in the forest.
Rooster spots an opening, flaps his wings and flies through the gate.

Emperor sees there are now ten. Rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey and rooster. He turns to Venus White Star and says, "Enough, enough". But in Chinese the word "enough" sounds much like "dog". So, Venus White Star mishears the emperor and writes down dog on the list. Emperor then says, "sufficient, sufficient." Venus White Star mishears again and writes down "pig."

Emperor is afraid Venus White Star will keep adding to the list, so he snatches the scroll from him. Okay he says, there are now twelve animals on the list. (You can list all twelve here if you like.) Emperor tells animals to go home, tell the humans about the animal years and orders them to live in peace.

Rat returns home and sees cat washing her face. Cat has only just woken up and says it must be time to go for the contest. Rat laughs and tells her it is done and that he was the first. Cat is angry rat didn’t wake her to go. Rat explains he didn’t think he could win against cat, so he left her sleeping. Cat is so furious she pounces on rat and gobbles him up in one bite. Cats have chased rats ever since. (Story ends here, but I like to add a little bit like, "so from then on, every human was born into one of the animals years that make up the Chines zodiac."
•••••
Adapted from Traditional Chinese Tales told by Kate Stevens. Her version is adapted from the telling of Wang Yulan in Collection of Tales by Four Elders.

Permission for use (from the CD notes): Kate Stevens encourages anyone who has questions about the stories to contact her. She is happy to have others tell any of these stories. She does not require requests for permission for telling the stories in performance but does require requests, in writing, when performances are to be videotaped, recorded or reproduced in any other way. Her address is: 2115 Lorne Terrace, Victoria, B.C., V8S 2H9; phone: (250) 592 1352 email: katestevens@storysave.ca

Kate requests that, with each telling, an acknowledgement in a form similar to the following be made: "This story is adapted from Kate Stevens' translated reworking." She wishes to have the genre of the original (e.g. clappertale) mentioned where appropriate and the name of the creator/performer (e.g. Pu Songling). The final statement might read: "This story is adapted from Kate Stevens' translated reworking of a story in the ______ genre as told/performed by _________."

Kate hopes that tellers will respect the cultural integrity of the story while making the tale their own. She discourages attempts to memorize.
Ruthanne E.

Response: I love Tikki-Tikki-Tembo. However, it is not a Chinese tale, but a story written by an American author. Clara Yen, a Chinese-American teller from the San Francisco Bay Area told me she'd never come across it in her research. I haven't stopped telling it, but I do always tell the kids it is a story set in China, written by an American man.
Yvonne Y.
New and used books at:
Mosel - Tikki Tikki Tembo

Response: I love the book Tales of a Chinese Grandmother for elementary aged kids, but I'm not sure whether many could really fly for very young preschool, if your "under eight years old" means the whole range. It ties each story to a Chinese celebration, custom or holiday, so there is opportunity to display items or tell about occasions then step into the story. My favorite from that collection is the fairy tale Cowherd and Weaving Maid; I use it for 2nd - 4th grade.
New and used books at:
Carpenter - Tales of a Chinese Grandmother

Also, I have a curiosity about another story mentioned from that book, Ko Ai's Lost Shoe (sometimes called The Girl in the Bell.) I tell that story, but very cautiously; my lower limit for it is 4th grade, and I'm more likely to tell it to 6th (just because they're doing world cultures that year, if they're in Texas). I've even told it in high school. I always tell kids that it's a scary story, and, in fact, I have used it at Halloween before, mixed in with other scary stories where it can receive the same level of disbelief. Anyway, my problem with the story, and maybe good fodder for discussion is...

Ko Ai plans to and does give up her own life to save her father's life. He does not ask her to, he loves her dearly--as his life! I say (I think that is from the text, but I may have added it over the years.) In fact, she knows he would never hear of it, so she keeps her plan a secret. That may be the most frightening part of all!

I cannot think of a way to do the ending properly--that is, true to the legend--that does not include this element of a girl willingly giving her life for her father. The story closes with that act viewed as laudable and generous. With older children, I think I can express in my voice and face and gestures, and just a few words, how misguided a choice it was. I emphasize that her father went mad on the spot; he had to be tied to a bamboo pole and carried home!

The tale ends with something like "And yet, the words of the fortune teller were true...... And surely her spirit is happy. So fine a daughter as she would surely be blessed by the Jade Emperor of Heaven."

I can't think of another story where I opt out by saying "THEY believe;" I think that minimizes the cultural point of view that I try to create in any story, but in this one, since I do not wish to imply that today's Chinese believe a girl child's life is of less value than an adult man's, I say something like "...for as they used to say in China, so fine a daughter as she..."

I guess I have this fear of reinforcing that to an impressionable at-risk child.

I guess I'm open to suggestion. For a legend, I just can't bring myself to change the attitude in which the story is told by the people who tell it. Yet, with this one, I can't bring myself to believe that that attitude prevails today, or would be spoken aloud today. I just haven't found a satisfactory compromise, or one I don't feel some dis-ease with. And I also can't figure out why--if I feel that way--I still love the story so much.
Mary Grace
Response to above: Ignoring the Chinese context for the moment, isn't the idea of one person voluntarily sacrificing his or her life to save another a powerful and universal one? Frightening as you say, but many things in stories are. In Greek Mythology, Alcestis agrees to die in place of her husband Admetus, but luckily Heracles comes along to wrestle with Death and rescue her. Then there is Aslan's death in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and its resonance with Christian redemptive theology - "greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends."

I don't think it is up to the storyteller to give a moral judgment, to say whether they think it misguided or not; that should be a question for the listener. With children old enough to form an opinion, they should be given the chance to respond and argue their opinions, with the storyteller playing Devil's advocate if necessary.

In Chinese culture, where the old are revered, a child sacrificing himself or herself for a parent would be particularly laudable, but emphasising that actually distracts from the sacrifice. And, pace Sheila, I think many modern Chinese still consider a girl child of less value than a boy child.

Even if Western culture, feminists argue that women have been brought up to sacrifice their life or career for someone else, parent or husband, and many blame fairy tales for this. In "Beauty and the Beast", the youngest daughter marries a stranger to save her father's life, and he knows what she is doing. Of course that's only the beginning of the story, but real-life political marriages did not always end so happily.
Philip A.
Response to above: I agree and this leads me to think: Many stories have changed or are told differently because the teller connects with parts of a story and not with other parts of it. This seems to me to be a natural part of storytelling - Is there such a thing as being "true" to the tale because how can we determine what is true?
Mary K.C.
Response to above: That is a dilemma -- perhaps a discussion at the end of any alternatives she might have had instead.
Sheila W.
Response: Good idea! (Discuss it! One of those that--now that you say it--seems so self evident!)
Is your Innkeeper's Wise Daughter the one about walking/riding, dressed/undressed, etc? That's a good idea--engaging right off with true love at the end! Tell me The Stolen Child. How did I miss it?
Mary Grace K.
Response: I wonder whether the best thing would be not to tell it to younger audiences at all. My feeling is that presenting it as a scary story at Halloween might be devaluing the culture it comes from. It may not sit comfortably with modern western culture, it is not now the way of modern Chinese culture, (or of other east asian cultures in which this is quite a common motif) but it is the past of that culture. We have many cultural practises in Europe and America which we have grown out of, yet we are proud of our heritage. This is a real tricky area, where we all need to find our own comfort zones,whilst at the same time honoring the culture we are telling the stories of.
Response: I will most likely tell Yee and the Nine Suns from Chinese Folktales, by Howard Giskin 1997 NTC Publishing Group, Illinois. Another ref I have found to a similar version of this is How the Rooster Got his Crown by Amy Poole, 1999 Holiday House. I also like The Fighting Rooster from
http://www.storyarts.org/library/nutshell/stories/fighting.html
New and used books at:
Giskin - Chinese Folktales
Poole - How the Rooster Got His Crown
Ghislaine W.

Final Comment: Many of you suggested tales to help me put together the Chinese Folktales gig for the Dallas Museum of Art. The gig was last night and it was a success, though there was scads of peripheral noise to deal with, including a booming drum-led Dragon parade during the last few minutes of my final story. Still about a hundred folks stayed to the end and I was grateful. Here are the stories I prepared for the evening:
Holding Up the Sky from Margaret Read MacDonald's Peace Tales.
New and used books at:
Peace Tales: World Folktales to Talk about
Sweet and Sour Berries, adapted from Linda Fang's tale in More Ready to Tell Tales from Around the World by Holt and Mooney.
New and used books at:
More Ready-To-Tell Tales from Around the World
Blue Rose, thanks to Rose Owens.
The Foolish Old Man who Removed the Mountains - thanks to Sheila Wee. (see above)
Lord Bag of Rice, a Chinese folktale adapted from Pleasant DeSpain.
Friendship Orchard, a Central Asian tale, and The Rabbit's Tale adapted from Pleasant DeSpain from his book Eleven Nature Tales (which I highly recommend, by the way).
New and used books at: Eleven Nature Tales: A Multicultural Journey (World Storytelling)
The Mandarin and the Tailor, adapted from The Moral Compass by William Bennett.
New and used books at: The Moral Compass
I opened with some wiggle music and then told Holding up the Sky, Sweet and Sour Berries, Blue Rose, and Friendship Orchard. Thank God I closed with Friendship Orchard that was a tried and true favorite of mine, because the concentration levels would have made it hard to finish a newer one with the major noise distractions. All of the stories seemed to go over well with the whole audience, though the middle and upper elementary kids focused the best. Yuppie Moms and Dads were the most attentive of all, yippppeee!

Thank you to all of you who contributed to helping to make this a fun gig for me. I love the challenge of learning new material for thematic tellings. Some of the new ones I may never tell again, but I will be telling Rabbit's Tale on Tuesday at a local Headstart.
Mel

46) A Chinese saying:
The fragrance of flowers needs to be carried by the wind,
The stories of good deeds require to be talked about by people.

Thanks for providing the flowers! Another great resouce for stories of good deeds.
Marilyn K.

47) The Cracked Pot - a Chinese folktale
Story:
A water bearer in China had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole which he carried across his neck. One of the pots had a crack in it, while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water.

At the end of the long walk from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full. For a full two years this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water to his house.

Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments, perfect for which it was made. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do.

After 2 years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it spoke to the water bearer one day by the stream. "I am ashamed of myself, and because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house."

The bearer said to the pot, "Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of the path, but not on the other pot's side? That's because I have always known about your flaw, and I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back, you've watered them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table. Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty to grace the house"

Moral: Each of us has our own unique flaws. We're all cracked pots. But it's the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together so very interesting and rewarding. You've just got to take each person for what they are, and look for the good in them.

Blessings to all my crackpot friends.
Barbara B.

48) Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute Home
Women in Traditional China and their Portrayal in Chinese Folktales
by Gale Billingsley
http://www.cis.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1984/4/84.04.03.x.html

49) Query: I was doing a search for a certain Chinese story or legend and found this address at the end of a web page. Maybe you can help. My mother purchased two small tapestries in China. Each pictures 100 children playing. Since I am a teacher, she gave me one as a gift. I never got it framed and have just kept it. Since my Mother's death, I have received her framed copy and would like to give my other one to a special friend. But before I do, I would like to research the story behind the 100 children. Is it a folk tale, a legend, a story of some kind? It would make the give so much more meaningful if I could add that to the gift. Can anyone help me?
Gail P. 9/19/05
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Response: I did a bit of research myself. Mainly today and for a long time the picture of one hundred children (actually boys) at play is used as a good luck charm to ensure fertility and especially continuity of the family line. The picture is hung in the bedroom or put on a bedspread, including around the emperor's bed. However, there is an old story - it's a Vietnamese tale but relates to China too. Whether the tale is the same in China I don't know, but they have the legendary King Wen (12th cent. BC) who had a hundred children though I couldn't find the tale. King Wen, who defeated the Shang and founded the Chou dynasty, also was a master of divination and was one of the originators of the I Ching. Numbers are very important in Chinese symbolism and culture, and in the I Ching, so the 'one hundred' has a specific symbolic meaning and doesn't so much refer to the literal number.

Here's an excerpt from the tale (see web page for more preceding parts), and afterwards a couple more comments on the hundred children.

TALE EXCERPT
In the generation of Sung Lam, the Dragon Lord of the Lac, the North was ruled by King Lai, the son of King Nghi. One day, Lai left the kingdom to the care of others and headed south to visit the sights. At one point he left his wife Au Coo the Princess of Au (or maybe, of the Au, name of a tribe) , and her attendants in one of his temporary palaces and went into the woods, forgetting to return. Because he left his realm unattended,

... the southern people suffered depredations from the northern people, they were not allowed to live in peace as they used to, so they called on the Dragon King: "Father, where are you, why do you let the northern people harass and attack us, your people ?" The Dragon King suddenly appeared, and what he saw was Au Co with her fantastically beautiful features. He felt glad in his heart and transformed himself into a very handsome young man, accompanied right and left by numerous attendants who sang and b eat on their drums as they went. Palaces rise up out of nowhere. Au Co willingly followed the Dragon King, and he hid her at the Dragon Platform Rock.

When King Lai came back from his wanderings, Au Co was no longer there. He sent out parties in every direction but because his uncle the Dragon King had the capability of "changing himself into all kinds of shapes, from devils to demons, dragons and snak es, tigers and elephants, he scared away all the search parties, which dared not venture too far." Then follows the narration of how King Lai's descendants lost their throne, ending the line of Shen Nong in China. The story goes back to the Dragon King a nd Au Co:

The Dragon King took Au Co for wife and she bore him a bagful [of eggs]. Considering this to be an ill omen, he had the bag thrown away in the field. After six or seven days, however, out of the bag hatched one hundred eggs and out of each egg was a boy ; only then were they brought home to be raised. These boys needed no breast-feeding or mouth-feeding, they just naturally grew up into fantastically handsome young men, blessed each one of them with great mind and courage. Everybody respected them, thi nking they were an unusual breed auguring well [for the country].

But as the Dragon King liked to stay long in the Underwater World, his wife and children yearned to go north. When they got to the frontier Huang Ti [the Chinese Emperor] heard about it, he got scared and had troops sent out to hold the pass. Unable to proceed further, Au Co and her children came back south and called out to the Dragon King: "Father, where are you, why are you leaving us alone, unprotected so that day and night we are in this terrible plight?" The Dragon King at once appeared and they met at Tuong [Chinese, Xiang]. Au Co said: "I originally came from the north and after living with you, I bore you one hundred sons. You left me and did not raise the children with me, and I became like a widow. All I could do was to pity myself." The Dragon King answered: "I am of the dragon breed, the king of the aquatic breeds; you are an immortal living on land, and though we have children born of the combination of yin and yang elements we are, like fire and water, not meant for each other, we ar e different breeds. I am afraid our union cannot last, we must now separate. I will take fifty boys with me down to the Underwater World and divide it up for them to rule, let the other fifty follow you on land and you can divide the land up for them to rule. Though we may go up to the mountains or down to the sea, if anything happens we should let each other know. Don't forget." The one hundred children obeyed, said farewell to one another and parted.

Au Co and her fifty sons went up to Phong Chau. The sons established their suzerainties and vassalities while they raised the eldest son to be their king with the dynastic name of Hung Vuong and they called their country Van Lang.

The story concludes by recounting the extent of the Van Lang country, its 15 subdivisions (with their names), the feudal system obtained under the Hung kings, the division of officials' ranks into military and civilian ranks, the names of ranks correspond ing to princes and princesses within the royal family, and the establishment of a patriarchal system of royal succession. The myth provides a long listing of the various customs associated with the ancestral Vietnamese, including the custom of tattooing one's body and that of "ploughing with knives and growing [plants? rice?] using fire," clearly a reference to the slash-and-burn method of the present-day highlanders of Vietnam. "Thus," the story ends, "the hundred sons [of Au Co and the Dragon King] ar e the ancestors of the Hundred Viet [tribes]."

Several observations are in order here. The last sentence of the story shows that the story of Lac Long Quan, the Dragon King of the Lac, and of Au Co is not merely the story of the one tribe or group that eventually became the present-day Vietnamese. R ather, the story purports to tell the ancestral story of all the Viet groups (the Hundred Viet) in the area corresponding to southern China and present-day northern Vietnam.

FENG SHUI
If you have seen the imperial bed where the emperor slept with his empress and other concubines, the silk curtains or paintings hung in the bedroom depicted "Precious Hundred Children Playing" to symbolize many descendants that lasts for generations. Therefore, married couples are recommended to hang this auspicious embroidered silk picture in their bedrooms or the descendant's luck corner of their homes. ...There are exactly 100 children happily playing with different "yang" gestures in the picture. Its presence would invoke excellent children's chi in your space which is useful for those who desire to increase fertility, conceive, have more children or have many descendants that last for generations.

Young children are said to reflect good "yang" positive energy that dominates the home. Young boys personify "PURE YANG" energy. Their appearance would bring joyful and happy energy into your homes. The "Precious Hundred Children" grinning and playing happily would bring "PURE YANG" energy that a home needs which is favorable for those who want to conceive and have many descendants in the future.

KING WEN
One of the most popular visual metaphors for family in traditional China: baizi tu, a reference to the family of King Wen, an early Chinese patriarch whose male progeny numbered one hundred. Children appear in Chinese art in many contexts, often serving didactic functions as paragons of Confucian, Buddhist and Daoist virtue, as embodiments of adult aspirations and as amuletic images that articulate adult concerns regarding prosperity, longevity, status and well being. Furthermore, images of children evoke important human qualities such as purity and simplicity that are associated with childhood and which contribute to self cultivation, societal advancement and spiritual enlightenment.
See:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Wen_sequence
http://blue.butler.edu/~jfmcgrat/china/poetry.htm
Legend of King Wen - Jiang Taigong Fishes
http://www.britishbornchinese.org.uk/pages/culture/legends/jiang.html
A Brief History of the I Ching
http://www.tryskelion.com/ichnghis.htm
Tim S. U.K. 9/20/05
•••••

49) When I read Billie S's request, I thought of my story about going up to see my mother during the three years before she died of ovarian cancer, but I first judged that that she wasn't about a cancer "survivor." After reading Holly's thoughtful reply, I realized that "I" was a cancer survivor.

My story is actually a Chinese folktale, Chien Nang, with a specific introduction and closure which some have found to be comforting or at least companionable during the times when their own lives are pressed by taking care of someone else's dire needs. It is on my website, and you are welcome to use it if it is appropriate for your audience: http://talesandlegends.net. To me, it is an example of the magic of fairy tales--that in fantasy we can actually HAVE what is not possible in real life, and the sympathetic experience is enough to sustain us.
Mary Grace K. 2/13/06
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50) Chinese folktales - "A deeper understanding of the Chinese history, customs and traditions can be made through a study of popular Chinese folktales and myths, and their related arts - the Chinese opera..." Read more at:
http://library.thinkquest.org/03oct/01397/intrstry.htm
http://library.thinkquest.org/03oct/01397/main.htm
•••••

51) China & Tibet Juvenile Bibliography
By Wendy Lanehart & Inez Ramsey
A bibliography of children's books on China and Tibet, including folktales, fiction and nonfiction.
http://falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/mulchinese.htm
Chinese Americans Juvenile Books Bibliography
By Wendy Lanehart & Inez Ramsey
http://falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/mulchinamer.htm
•••••

52) White Gourd Children - an original Chinese folktale by Xiaodong Ma
Story:
Greetings to the morning. I am a red flower. And look at me: I'm an orange flower. And I too: for I have bright yellow petals. I am pale green. And we are green, blue and purple! Seven flowers opened! Seven flowers opened! Seven flowers opened for the old man to see! Seven flowers opened! Seven flowers opened! Seven flowers opened for the old man to see!

Greetings to you, Grandpa. I am from the red flower. And look at me! I am from the orange flower! And I too, for I have bright yellow hair! We are from the pale green flower, green, blue and purple! Seven flowers opened! Seven flowers opened! Seven flowers opened and became seven boys! Seven flowers opened! Seven flowers opened! Seven flowers opened and became seven boys!

Includes sound clip sung by Worthington Hooker School Elementary School Children.
http://www.chancelopera.com/bbOTHER%20OPERAS/bbAnn4.html
•••••

53) Folktales from China, edited by D.L. Ashliman
http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/china.html
•••••

54) Chinese folktales
• The Lost Horse : A Chinese Folktale by Ed Young
Sai, introduced as a wise man, loses his horse; when people arrive to comfort him, he tells them, "You know, it may not be such a bad thing." It proves, in fact, to be fortunate: the horse returns with a mare. Sai rejects his friends' congratulations ("Perhaps it is not such a good thing"), and he is right again (the mare throws Sai's son). This pattern continues, and by the end, Sai's son, like his father, "trust[s] in the ever changing fortunes of life."
• The Jade Stone: A Chinese Folktale by Caryn Yacowitz
A stone carver can't carve the dragon out of the "perfect piece of green and white jade stone," as the Great Emperor of All China has commanded, because a dragon is not what the stone innately "wants" to be. The entire kingdom is in an uproar, and still the craftsman insists on following his creative instincts--to his death, if necessary.
• Chinese Folktales by Howard Giskin
During the course of a one-year stay, Giskin (English, Appalachian State Univ.) gathered 93 folktales written for him by his students at Northeast University at Shenyang, China (formerly Mukden, Manchuria). His aim is to make available to the English-speaking world many Chinese tales that concern local features of his students' hometowns. Aside from Chinese stories, there are also a few with Mongolian and Manchurian origins. Each brief tale is prefaced by a formulaic introduction by the student storyteller, and the works are grouped somewhat arbitrarily into such divisions as Dragon Tales; Love; Ghosts, Monsters, and Evil Spirits; History and Legend; and Human Nature.
• Folktales of China by Wolfram Eberhard
• The Hunter retold by Mary Casanova
Hai Li Bu lives in a small Chinese village. One day while hunting he rescues the Dragon King of the Sea's daughter. As a reward he is given the ability to understand the speech of animals.
• The Magic Tapestry: A Chinese Folktale by Demi
A devoted son sets out to retrieve the work, "the most heavenly tapestry ever made," painstakingly woven by his mother over three years. But it is not with the fairies of Sun Mountain, and only an impossible journey through fire and ice will bring it home. Two older brothers have refused even to contemplate the mission but, for the love of his mother, the youngest is determined to succeed.

55) The Young Head of the Family, in Fairy Ring by Kate Douglas Wiggin. Doubleday, o.p.
A Chinese story of a girl who knows how to carry fire in paper (a lantern) and wind in paper (a fan). Her widowed father-in-law designates her head of the family and she leads it to prosperity. Different versions in The milky way: And other Chinese folk tales by Adet Lin (Harcourt, o.p.), With a Deep Sea Smile: Story Hour Stretches for Large or Small Groups by Virginia Tashjian (Little, 1974) and Tales the people tell in China, by Robert Wyndham (o.p.). Not all have the head-of-family conclusion.
Karen C. 3/30/06
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56) Here's a story similar to The Mask in a post from Rocci in 1999. He tells it as a story from China, and it's a thief who is transformed by the mask. Interesting version.
Ina V.D 4/16/06
•••••
Sent: Monday, November 01, 1999 9:28 AM
I just told this story in my Church yesterday and it was a great success. We were doing a service on just this topic, the masks that we wear to disguise or protect our true selves.

I had found the story via this list, and then made it more my own.
This is the story as I now have it. Enjoy.
The Thief and the Mask
Anonymous
Source: Robert Schneider

It is said that by a particular age, people have the face that they deserve and this is just such a story.

The Emperor of China's daughter was one of the wisest and most beautiful women in all of the land. But, she was not married. The Emperor's daughter had decided that she, being an Emperor's daughter, should only marry the most handsome, honest, generous and honest man in all the land. Many men came to ask for her hand but she found fault with every one. Some were not too gentle and others not kind or generous and some were not honest enough. Some were handsome and gentle and kind and honest, but none was the most handsome and gentle and kind and honest in the land and the Princess knew it.

The Emperor, wishing that his daughter would be happy and wishing for grandchildren, decided that he would announce a great festival to be held at the palace. Every person in the kingdom would be invited and the Princess would meet each man. Surely, , if everyone came to the ball, and who wouldn't come to a festival at the palace, the Princess would find the man with the most handsome, gentle, kind and honest face in all the land.

Now, living in the land at that time, was a master thief. He was a particularly evil, despicable, sneaky, clever, dishonest man and he had the face that he deserved. He was well known and despised throughout all the land for his skill at stealing. He had become so famous, or perhaps it is best to say infamous, that he was recognized everywhere that he went and he couldn't steal anything anymore ~ which is not a good thing for a thief. It was getting so bad for him that he was thinking the most awful thoughts possible for him, he was thinking that he might actually have to get a job ~ which is not a good thing for a thief!

When the thief heard about the festival he thought to himself that this would be a wonderful career opportunity for him. How many chances would he have to visit the palace and what wonderful things must be in there!!! This was his great chance. If he steal just one precious thing from the palace he would be wealthy beyond his wildest dreams and he would never have to steal again and he also would not have to find a job!

The thief realized; however, that he would be immediately recognized so he went to the most skilled mask maker in the land, a great craftsman. The thief asked the craftsman to make him a mask that would completely conceal his identity, a mask with a face so lifelike, and honest and gentle that no one would suspect the wearer of any evil. The craftsman maker did this. In fact, he fashioned his greatest work, in a lifetime of great works. The mask was beautiful. The face was perfect, it was handsome and gentle and honest.

The day of the festival the thief bathed in his golden tub, which he had stolen. He washed himself with the fragrant soaps and expensive perfumes that he had stolen. He dressed in his finest stolen robes and wore his finest stolen sandals. He put on his new mask and he went to the festival.