The Magic Lotus Lantern And Other Tales from the Han Chinese (World Folklore Series) [ハードカバー]

Haiwang Yuan's Magic Lotus Lantern and Other Tales from the Han China is a fine collection of Chinese fairy tales and legends known to the hearts of people in China as well as the Chinese living abroad. For the first time in many years, these well-loved stories are presented in English to American readers and other readers of English.

Reading Magic Lotus Lantern ... brought back my childhood memories of storytelling time. Growing up in a small village in China during the Cultural Revolution in the 1960's--when schools were closed, public libraries were nonexistent and most books were banned--my favorite pastime was storytelling in the evening. Grandma Yu next door was a great storyteller. Many of the stories she told can be found in Yuan's book, with slight variations as it is true with fairy tales retold around the world.

"The Origin of the Mid-Autumn Festival" reminds me of how as a child, on the full-moon nights of August fifteenth (Chinese calendar), my friends and I looked up to the big glowing disc, trying to identify the lonely Chang `e and her companion the Jade Rabbit.

"Cowherd and Weaving Girl", a bittersweet love story, so deeply touched us that we spent many cloudless nights, looking for the ladle shaped seven stars-- the symbol of the seven fairy sisters on one side the Milky Way and Cowherd with his two children on the other. I also remember, on an early rainy morning of the seventh day of the seventh month (lunar calendar)--it always rained on that day, I was sitting at the window, watching swallows gathering in the sky making twittering sounds. Then they disappeared into the dark clouds. Grandma Yu said that the swallow flew to Heaven to build a love-bridge over the Milky Way for the reunion of Cowherd and Weaving Girl. She also told us, if one stood under the grapevines trellis that evening, one could hear the intimate conversation between the couple and the laughter of their young children. That was exactly what we did on that July evening. The soft raindrops tapping on the leaves of grapevines sounded like the lovers' whispers of sorrow and happiness.

"Monkey King..." is a charming character from a great Chinese classical novel Journey to the West written in the late 1500's by the famous scholar Wu Cheng'en. There is a series of episodes about Monkey King accompanying his Master Tangseng, a Buddha, on his way to India to acquire Holy Scriptures. The two stories Yuan told in his book are among the popular ones and they are well loved by the Chinese people. Many of the Monkey King stories have been adapted to children stories. As Winnie the Pooh is adored by children in the United States, so is Monkey King loved by children in China. More than Winnie the Pooh, Monkey King is as naughty as Max (Maurice Sendak) and Peter Rabbit (Beatrix Potter), and as brave and smart as Robin Hood. Monkey King plays a major part in Gene Luen Yang's graphic novel American Born Chinese, which won the 2006 National Book Award for Young People.

The story of "Mulan", which was made into Walt Disney children's animated movie, tells in more detail and touching manner about the heroine's love for her country and her family.

In a nutshell, each story in The Magic Lotus Lantern.... tells a piece of Chinese history and culture, and reading these stories, readers are taken on a tour through a five-thousand-year history of China.

To help readers better understand China's history and culture, the author, in his first two parts of the book, gives brief introduction to the Chinese history and culture, including religion, folk arts, music, crafts and games, traditional food and recipes, holidays and celebrations and more. The Magic Lotus Lantern... is an educational, informative and fun guide for anyone who is interested in Chinese history, culture and literature.

This book is awesome because it can meet the many needs of different readers. I found it useful as a college student who took an elementary Chinese class. I learned so much about Chinese culture not only from the tales retold by the author but also from the thoughtful introduction to each tale's cultural background. A fellow student of mine who majors folklore told me that she benefited a lot from the tale type and motif index attached at the back of the book. She learned how much Chinese tales shared with many of those in other cultures of the world. I strongly recommend it!