INTRODUCTION
Chinese tales have a unique character. They feature life in many forms, supernatural, natural, and immortals in between. Their activities and interactions began in mythic times, when the universe was an unknown, chaotic being.
The human ancestor Pangu (盤古) was both universe and man. The creator of humans, Nuwa (女媧) was goddess and woman. Then, there were the mythic and legendary emperors, Yandi (炎帝)and Huangdi (黄帝). That placed man in the center of all things, magnificent and humble, sharing equal rights and responsibilities, caring for all living things and the environment.
This conception of man is uniquely Chinese, quite different from that of other cultures, especially the Christian West. There, God is supreme and almighty, creator of the universe and man. The greatest responsibility of man is to glorify Him.
Centrality is the basic philosophy in the Chinese ethos, guiding human thoughts and actions. The center is the mid-point between the extremes of good and evil. It is also the balancing support of these two opposite ends. It has a regulatory power modifying extreme activities to generate harmony. In contrast, Western values uphold the good as desirable, and the evil as repulsive. Western peoples raise wars to defend what they believed to be good, and to rid off evil at any cost. They divide communities and classify people in resolute terms, often as friend or foe.
Like tales of many cultures, Chinese tales narrate the interactions among all things, active or passive, powerful or impotent, kind or menacing, strong or weak, similar or different, often transcending time and space. They make distinctions between good and evil events in special transitory circumstances, to be harmonized and tolerated, not to be fought against, or destroyed.
Chinese dramas exalt human imagination and fantasy to make literature interesting and provoking, leading to understanding, acceptance, harmony and serenity. It is in this context that reading Chinese folk tales is important. It helps to enrich the spirit of children and adults alike.
The famous child psychologist, author of The Informed Heart and The Uses of Enchantment, Bruno Bettelheim has made extended studies of the mental health and intellectual development of children. He advocated the use of fairy tales as the most important enhancement. He said: “… what experiences in a child’s life are most suited to promote his ability to find meaning in life; to endow life with more meaning. On this task, the impact of parents is most important, second is our cultural heritage. When children are young, nothing can be as enriching and satisfying as the folk fairy tale.”
I suggest that parents read to their young children tales from many cultures and languages. Appreciation of folk tales of all cultures will enlighten and broaden the mind, and empower children to embrace different peoples and their heritages as having equal value to deserve respect in today’s one-world reality.
My purpose in compiling and writing this collection of Chinese tales is to show their unique character marked by a single belief of centrality and harmony (中和). This belief has been consistent in the vicissitude of history. It has also been enriched by beliefs and traditions of other cultures, such as Buddhism and Islam, imports of food-preparation and musical instruments. The Chinese language has been a unifying force for stability. Even when the Mongols and the Manchu’s ruled for hundreds of years, they held the same belief and used Chinese as official language. The land has always been called the Middle Kingdom (中國), accompanied with the concept that people within the four seas are brothers and sisters.. There had been wars. But they always ended up in harmony and the acceptance of differences. The Chinese word for fighting (武) is made up of three parts, meaning two persons laying down spears. Wars were never fought to enslave other people.
The Chinese language is one of centrality and harmony. Each word is written in a square, with two or more parts called Bu Shou, carrying a sound or a meaning. Many words have a number of meanings, depending on its use with other words in a term, a phrase or a context.
Chinese tales have a wide spectrum of forms and styles. The Chinese language, with its pictogram, ideogram and phonogram features, is a language for narrating the diverse expressions of the human mind and heart. A passage of a few words can tell a story with color and meaning, depicting humor, foolishness, wit, sorrow, happiness, or allegory. In a tradition of more than five millennia and fifty plus ethnic peoples, there are many thousand tales handed down orally and in writing.
Many of the existing texts were written in classical Chinese. They are difficult to translate into even modern Chinese, let alone other languages. Many of the narrations were statements of a fact, a claim, or a moral. They carried the marks of individual authors. Often, the same tale may have varying versions. Take Pangu or Newa for example. There were different descriptions of their personalities and deeds. Yandi and Huangdi were even more complex. Were they gods turned into humans? Or, were they humans with supernatural powers? In any case, the Chinese had seriously recognized them as ancestors, Hans and minorities included, and people living in all parts of the world as well.
The above issues were seldom questioned. They appeared when I researched into the many descriptions of the legendary emperors’ personalities and the large number of inventions credited to their names. They were facts which had influenced the world through time, travelling far and wide. I have reduced the various dimensions of each of these mythic and legendary tales, and rendered them into simple, easy to read stories for people of all ages and cultures.
The 82 tales in this book represent the spectrum of Chinese tales from mythic times until today. They are grouped into four categories for easy reference. These are Myths and Legends, Proverb Related Tales, Zen Tales, and Fantasy and Wisdom. The second group of tales show how four or five words can present an appealing story to reveal a moral. Many of them are simple enough to be included in elementary school textbooks.
The fourth group, Tales of Fantasy and Wisdom, contains a wide variety of stories, showing problem solving, mathematics, diplomacy, wits, transformations, regrets, magic, compassion, and entertainment. They are joyous and sorrowful, descriptive and poetic, bizarre and perverting. Together, they wove a literary fabric rich in color and imagination to tickle the mind and to nurture the soul.
These are not English translations. I wrote each tale based on its varying versions of oral or written texts. I tried to keep each tale short and appealing for today’s readers who are used to I-phone messaging. In this way, readers have lots of room to fill in what might be missing, or research into accessible sources for personal satisfaction. Parents reading to their children could invite questions to trigger a dialogue or conversation. Such active exchanges are sure ways to generate closer (inter-personal) relationships.
I have attached a note for every tale, indicating the source used. Whenever possible, I also include the Chinese text and a statement of my interpretation of its many possible meanings.
Finally, I thank Gertrude Chan and Anthony Ho for reading the drafts and offering valuable suggestions. I hope readers will find in these simple narrations a ready path to deepen their understanding of the Chinese and their culture.
Kong Shiu Loon,
Professor Emeritus,
University of Toronto.
2016.