The really old asian Cinderella tale

My favorite story is the Chinese version of Cinderella that’s dated by 850 A.D about a girl named Yen-Shen.  What’s different about the story compared to the old Greco-European and Disney versions I that instead of a dead parent or a fairy godmother it is a pet fish that helps her.

Unlike the fairy god-mother and dead biological mother who acts like guardian angel to grant superficial wishes despite the fact she’s been suffering for so long; the fish gives her companion ship through her difficult time and when he dies is a object of emergency, not for just going to the ball.

It’s only after the stepmother killed her pet fish and ate it that the bones obtained a magical property to grant her heart’s desire in desperate need.  She is visited by a wise old man too, not some fairy though it’s arguable I guess that they could be similar.

The old wise man also warned her not to waste her gifts.

She only used her gift when it was to go to a spring festival where it’s accustomed to find a husband or wife.   Her mother was scared people would over look her ugly and bitter daughter over for her more kinder and prettier stepdaughter. 

The other Cinderella stories are about her just going to the ball and having fun.  This could depict Yen-Shen looking for a husband to escape her servitude as a servant.

When she was transformed and then lost her shoe, her ability to communicate with her dead fish was also lost.  She sacrificed her freedom as a citizen when she snuck into the palace to retrieve the lost slipper, which a merchant found and sold to the King.  She just wanted the shoe back so she can have back the only friend that stayed with her.

In the end she was caught but was let go because of her stunning beauty and tiny feet.  She learned the shoe was in the palace when the King who was awed by it wanted to find its owner whose feet were so small.

The only part I disliked was that the stepfamily was never punished for their crimes.  They were only forced to never set their eyes on Yen-Shen and died by being crushed by flying stones in their home.

I like the European version has it’s up too that I would give kudos too.  The fact that the stepsiblings cut off their heel and toes to fit into the shoe showed their desperation, vanity and selfishness for an even more luxurious lifestyle.  The three were actually punished by doves pecking out their eyes causing them to go blind.  If you think about it it’s a proper punishment.  The girls aren’t allowed to wear heels because they don’t have the same support and all three of them are blind, forever never to see all the vast treasures they so greedily want and or possess.

The Disney version is too nice; it’s watered down with sugar to give you diabetes.