Chinese Fables: The Dragon Slayer and Other Timeless Tales of Wisdom

Title

en_US Chinese Fables: The Dragon Slayer and Other Timeless Tales of Wisdom

Description

en_US This is a hardbound book (hard cover)

en_US This book has a dust jacket (book cover)

en_US First printing

en_US Shiho S. Nunes

Creator

en_US Nunes, Shiho S. See all items with this value

Contributor

en_US Tay-Audouard, Lak-Khee

Date

2016-01-25T20:36:29Z

en_US 2013-06

en_US 2013

Date Available

2016-01-25T20:36:29Z

Date Issued

en_US 2013

Abstract

en_US The preface describes the stories here as cautionary tales like fables and parables. The golden age for such tales in China was in the fourth and third centuries BCE. The preface refers to Wilfram Eberhard's Chinese Fables and Parables as a great source; I will need to look for it. This book presents nineteen of these stories. They depict mostly human beings, like the bride that jogs inside her carrying sedan when it breaks down or the man who muffles his ears so that the sound of breaking up a huge bronze bell will not give him away. The King of Beasts (33) is traditional and well known. In it, a captured fox convinces his capturing lion that he is the king of beasts by inviting the lion to walk behind him as he visits all the animals. A typical story among those here is Cooking the Duck (39). Two brothers waiting to hunt ducks get into an argument about their preparation. Their arguing and fighting scare away the ducks. Scaring the Tigers (45) is fun. As mother tiger explains to her cub, I can fight thieves and robbers any day. And bows and arrows are nothing to me. But I cannot fight a monk who asks me for that many donations! (46). The Dragon Slayer (47) is an apt story of an ambitious young man who spurned all other possible livelihoods to study as a dragon-slayer for years. When he came back ready to practice his trade, Chu found no dragons, and he was left with nothing to do (48). No Takers (51) echoes classical Western stories. A saint offers to every creature to change its one ugly feature so that it has a pleasing face. There were no takers (51). The Egg (52) is like MM, only in this case the wife throws the source of all their coming wealth, one egg, against the wall when her husband declares that they will use their future riches to buy a maid. A note at the book's end describes the whimsical illustrations as inspired by Chinese folk art. Elements of traditional Chinese art incorporated include earth, charcoal, ground tea powder, pressed leaves, and sackcloth. The pencil and wash illustrations were done on bamboo rag paper. The illustration for The Practical Bride (6) offers a fine example, as the bride's feet are barely visible under the sedan.

Identifier

en_US 9780804841528 (hbk.)

en_US 9064 (Access ID)

uri

http://hdl.handle.net/10504/84263

Language

en_US eng

Publisher

en_US Tuttle Publishing

en_US Tokyo

Subject

en_US PN989.C5 C45 2013 See all items with this value

en_US Chinese See all items with this value

en_US Title Page Scanned See all items with this value

Type

en_US Book, Whole