Literature Studies: The Folktales of China

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Table of Contents

Introduction
What are the strengths of the book?
Do you have any criticisms of the book?
What is the point of view of the author?
In your review make special note of how the author conducted research
How was the research conducted?
Where and when did the research occur?
References

Introduction

The Folktales of China is a collection of narratives and tales from the Chinese cultural background. Most of the collections in this book are appreciated by folk narratives in China. A majority of these narratives can be traced to genuine Chinese literature. The cover has an elaborate picture portraying an ancient Chinese emperor. In a nutshell, it is impossible to read this collection as a simple work of literature. It provides a window through which the Chinese history and culture come to the limelight.

What are the strengths of the book?

The book has various strengths such as the use of powerful picture images that can easily be identified with its audience. They include things such as a spinning wheel, which provide the narratives with persevering strength. Most of the tales in the book make use of motifs such as magic. They may include enchanted transformations and fulfilled wishes. The narratives and tales in the book make use of simple, but earnest and sound themes. Most of the tales in this book embrace themes that champion for humility, generosity and compassion.

These themes are the core of the society’s upbringing. They educate their audience that for each tragedy, benefit will follow. They serve to teach their readers morals from an early age; such as nothing in life comes without conditions and the virtue of being responsible. Another strength that the book has is that the tales in its collection have a short plot. This makes the narratives shorter and easier to understand. The tales in this book are formulaic and employ a lot of repetitive patterns (Russell, 2012).

Do you have any criticisms of the book?

The most striking and highly controversial section of this narrative is perhaps the criticisms of the perception of folk narratives in Red China. This begins right from the foreword section of the book to the end notes. The history of Red China prior to 1965 was mostly characterized as a target of aggressive attacks or the focus of radiant praise. The socio-cultural revolution, which has occurred, indicates that China is not monolithic.

However, it shows that China is a dynamic and variegated just like other nations. In the evaluation of varieties from Red China, I hold the same views as Professor Eberhard. The best strategy is to make a comparison of similar tales published in the country prior to 1948, or with other varieties, which are non-Chinese.

However, this is particularly challenging. The narratives authored in pre-war China exemplify a minute trickle from an enormous ocean. These were occasional, but unpremeditated accounts based on ambiguous memories (Nai-Tung, 1969).

The comparison of Chinese varieties with those, not from China is risky. This is because like most things, tales have to go through a “sea-change” for them to be acknowledged in China. However, like other cultures, Chinese narratives do not subscribe to a particular stereotype, and at times their narratives are termed as being atypical.

For example, despite the general perception that the Chinese female gender is subservient and feminine, China is probably the only country that has a feminine dragon-slayer. Li Chi is a pre-historic feminine heroine. It can be argued that popular Chinese tales have more female heroines than Western tales. They are appreciated for all their bravery and dexterity. They are further illustrated as being more prodigious than their male counterparts (Eberhard, 1965).

What is the point of view of the author?

The editor attempts to puzzle his readers of Western origin in two distinct ways. First and foremost, most of the entries and particularly the narratives emerge as myths and not as Märchen. Secondly, narratives from the coastal regions of China are more than those from the interior regions. For those who are conversant with ancient Chinese folklore, none of the two ideas would suffice to raise any alarms. In reference to the first idea, particular geographic and personal nouns are also evident in most Chinese narratives.

However, these nouns usually vary from one version to another. This feature disrupts the common distinctions depicted in the West in relation to Märchen and legends. At times, myths also depict similar confusions. Since Chinese narratives cannot be perfectly categorized like the Western narratives, the author is justified disregarding such boundaries.

In relation to the evident partiality to coastal regions, it is significant to highlight several years prior to 1937, a period in which most of the narratives that the author considered as being reliable were written and published. In this particular era, only the coastal regions of China got any attention. The vast interior regions were absolutely disregarded. The author did his level best to incorporate other regions of China in his literature (Nai-Tung, 1969).

In your review make special note of how the author conducted research

The Folktales of China is probably the best edition of ancient Chinese folklore to be published in English. All the narratives in this issue can be traced to genuine Chinese literature and most of them with the exception of no. 73 are recognized folktales. From the forward section of the book Folktales of China, it is evident that the author or editor conducted a lot of research into the history of Chinese narratives.

The author argues that even though Chinese scholar mostly felt satisfied when Western scholars wrote narratives relating to their culture; however, their reaction in particular to the US and the UK publications in released before 1932 was not admirable. The author argues that the constant boners from the 16th century like Feng Shen Yen-I, are the most ancient pieces of literature and the fundamental origin of Chinese mythology.

This can rattle the anger of a subtle scholar such as Chao Ching-Shen. He further emphasizes that the first accredited piece of Chinese literature to be published in English was released in 1932, by R. D. Jameson. This publication was titled Three Lectures on Chinese Folklore. However, the author argues that this publication by Jameson was amplified by assumptions founded on psychoanalysis (Nai-Tung, 1969).

How was the research conducted?

The research was conducted from a critical review of secondary data sources that had information about the Chinese folklore. The author tried to remain objective by not categorizing Chinese literature by its origin like other scholars in the past have done. It would have been unfair if the author had used the interior and coastal origins to classify Chinese ancient literature.

It is evident that from the period in which the author was researching, coastal regions had far much more attention than the interior parts of China, due to their proximity to transport infrastructure such as the seaports. A lot of commercial activity took place in these seaports that attracted attention from traders to Chinese folklore. The research encompasses literature from as early as 1932. This is when the first account of the translation of Chinese tales into English was recorded (Eberhard, 1965).

Where and when did the research occur?

The research was mainly carried out in pre-historic China and mainly focused on Chinese fairy tales. Chinese folklore also formed an integral source for this book. The research looks at literature from the coastal and interior regions of China, with the coastal region forming a bulk of the articles in the book. The research also focused on feminine heroines, which is usually not a preserve of Western literature (Nai-Tung, 1969).

References

Eberhard, W. (1965). Folktales of China. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Nai-Tung, T. (1969). Folktales of China by Wolfram Eberhard. The Journal of American Folklore, 82(326), 381-384.

Russell, D. L. (2012). Literature for children: A short introduction. Boston: Pearson.

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