Yeh-Shen: A Cinderella Story from China

In this variant of Cinderella, Yeh-Shen’s best friend is a fish she had coughed and raised. (Her and mother both died and she was being raised by her father’s other wife, who was very cruel) The step-mother discovers Yeh Shen’s fish friend and kills it and eats it, but Yeh Shen rescues the

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bones because a mysterious sage told her they would help her in times of need. She calls upon the fish bones when she needs food and wants to go to the spring festival, where the prince falls in love with her. The story is in paneled illustrations to mimic the original vertical block-printed Chinese Version from the T’ang dynasty.

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This Cinderella story is from China. It is about a girl whose step-mother treats her badly. Her fairy godmother is actually an old man. She escapes the terrible treatment of her mother by talking to her fish friend. In the end she marries a king and her step-mother and step-sister meet an untimely

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end.
This book was a nice read. I enjoyed hearing the story I have heard over and over again from a different perspective. I was surprised by the inclusion of the terrible death of the step-mother and step-sister. Most children's books stray away from such details.
Extension ideas would include doing a unit on Cinderella stories around the world or a unit about princess from around the world and having the students compare/contrast the stories.

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Considered one of the first Cinderella stories. Yen Shen is the daughter of a Chinese Cave chieftain.

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Louie, A. (1982). Yeh-Shen: a Cinderella story from China. New York: Puffin Books.

This tale is a version of the well-known Cinderella story. Yeh-Shen’s father had two wives and each one had a daughter. Yeh-Shen’s mother dies and her stepmother forces her to do chores and takes things

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away from her. Her only comfort is her pet fish in the pond. When her stepmother discovers this, she kills it. Even though it is dead, an old man brings her a gift. The bones of her fish are filled with a powerful spirit and she can ask them for anything. She ends up marrying the king and the stepmother and stepsister are left to live in a cave and are crushed by stones. The unique feature of this book is that the text and illustrations are in columns on each page as opposed to taking up the entire space of the page.

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A Cinderella story with a twist the fish bones made the story interesting becasue it differed from other Cinderella stories. I thought it was a little brutal that the fish was stabbed and then cooked for dinner. I would share this story with middle readers, who were studying a unit on fairy tales

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and folklores.

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Chinese version of Cinderella; virtuous girl wins in the end. (Somewhat uncomfortable, because stepmother & sisters die.)

This book was too focused on beauty for me, but interesting pictures.

I enjoyed this book. It is the Chinese take on Cinderella. The main point or theme of this book is to show a different cultural perspective. It also has the theme of the book is that some wishes have consequences.

This book is a different variant of the Cinderella. It has some of the traditional

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qualities, but is different enough to stand on its own. I like the pictures of this story. For example, the colors are simple. Ed Young primarily uses blues, greens, and reds. This keeps the focus on the details. The pastel quality to the images, for example, really help with detail, especially with the fish.

I like the story and the text of the book as well. For example, I like how the story has three wishes granted to Yeh-Shen. I feel like that this takes the focus off the clothes and concrete items.

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Cinderella stories are very numerous and run across cultures. This version takes place in China follows the pattern just like so many of the rest. Orphan girl is raised by an evil stepmother and gets discovered by the king, able to fit into the shoe, gets married and lives happily ever after. A bit

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surprised of how dark this story is, one how the stepmother kills Yeh-Shen's fish with a dagger, cooks it and eats it and secondly in the end how Yeh-Shen stepmother and her daughter are crushed to death by flying stones. A bit intense, gruesome, and heavy. Before the story begins there is an exert mentioning the original source for this tale which dates back from the T'ang dynasty (618 - 907 A.D.) and the author was one Tuan Chh'eng-Shih. The plot is very simple just like most other Cinderella stories. The illustrations are beautiful, with pastels and watercolor, the illustrations and story work well together. The way the story reads and the panel illustrations do represent a Chinese expression. I do believe the story does represent its cultural norms and is not written to conform to Western mores.
Ages 1st/2nd grade and up.

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This week we read three versions of Cinderella. Cinderella is a very common story that has been retold in many different ways. We read the original, a Middle Eastern version, and a Chinese version.
Obviously, all of the settings were different. Each book was set in a different part of the world, but

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they also lived in different kinds of homes. The original Cinderella is European, set in a kingdom. In the Middle Eastern version, Maha lives in the fishermen’s part of the city in a hut. In the Chinese version, Yeh-Shen lives in a cave home. Although, Cinderella and Yeh-Shen each marry a prince and live in a palace at the end of their books.
The general plot in each story is the same: a girl’s father marries and she gains a step mother and sister(s), they make her clean like a servant, someone with magical qualities helps transform the girl in beautiful clothes so she can go out, she loses a shoe, a man searches for her after finding the shoe, and they marry, living happily ever after. Some specifics of the plot are different in each story though.
In Cinderella, her fairy Godmother transforms her so she can go to the ball. The magic in the other two versions comes from a fish. In The Golden Sandal, Maha helps save a little fish and in return, he promises to help her with whatever she wishes. The little fish provides Maha with clothes so she can go to the bride’s Henna and be noticed by mothers of single men. In Yeh-Shen, the bones of her pet fish have magical qualities that allow her to make wishes on them. She wishes to be able to go to the festival so she can meet someone to marry.
Each of the girls has small feet and loses a shoe on her way home. Cinderella loses a glass slipper; the prince finds it and has his men try the slipper on every eligible young woman in the kingdom. Maha loses her golden sandal on the way home from the Henna, the bride’s brother, Tariq, finds it and has his mother search for the girl it belongs to. Yeh-Shen loses her golden slipper on the way home from the festival and when the king acquires it, he sets it out for the owner to claim.
In every version, the girl finds a man to marry, but in a different way. Cinderella meets the prince at a ball; when the prince’s men find that the glass slipper fits her foot she marries the prince. The bride’s mother finds Maha and she becomes engaged to her son; they meet face-to-face at their wedding. After Yeh-Shen claims the slipper and takes it home, the king follows her and this is where they first meet. Yeh-Shen puts her golden slippers on and is transformed once again, and the king knows this is the woman he must marry.
The ending is different in each book. Cinderella marries the prince, moves to the palace, and allows her two stepsisters to move in with her, where they also meet someone to marry. Maha marries the Tariq and they have seven children; Tariq’s brother disgracefully rejects her stepsister. Yeh-Shen marries the king and they live in the palace; her stepmother and sister are not allowed to move with her and are forced to stay in their cave home. Yeh-Shen’s stepmother and sister are crushed to death when stones fall on their cave. Yeh-Shen’s story had the most negative outcome for the stepfamily, while Cinderella’s had the most positive.

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Yes Shen is the Chinese version of Cinderella the illustrations are nice. I like the creative twist in this story to make where children that live in China can relate to some of the culture values in this book.

This is a beautifully illustrated story that is the Chinese version of Cinderella. After a young girl is orphaned and grows up with her step mother she is overworked and her step mother is the reason for much of her sorrow, but after a magic man shows up her dreams might come true.

Very similar to the traditional tale of Cinderella however, her only friend is a fish. The fish gives her beautiful gold slippers and a gown. As one might guess, she attends the festival, looses the slipper and through a series of events the slipper ends up in the King's hands. He eventually finds

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her, marries her and takes her away from her evil step family.

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An interesting take on American tale Cinderella in Chinese tale. A magical fish who grants the young girl wishes with some consequences.

earliest known story of Cinderella originates in China 900 A.D.

This is one of the oldest dated versions of Cinderella. Set in China, it is slightly different from the Cinderella we are used to because instead of receiving clothes, she is granted three wishes. It is a very interesting book and has wonderful illustrations. A great piece of history!

A Cinderella story from ancient China. Its roots can be traced back to the seventh century. It is thought that this is the original Cinderella story; it is strikingly similar to the European tale that we know, but it maintains some definite differences. Author also wrote Vera Wang Queen of Fashion;

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Amazing Chinese American, published in 2007.

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Cinderella stories are practically a dime a dozen...they can be found in practically every culture known to man and are amoung the most frequently read to young children. So what makes Yeh-Shen worth reading...well, it's retold by Louie with it's origins in China and is probably based on the oldest

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known version of Cinderella in existence. Louie writes with few words, but manages to tell the story eloquently and in a way that is appealing to both children and adults. Additionally, Young's illustrations are exquisite and really evoke a feeling of ancient China. This story includes all of the classic elements that we Westerners are familiar with...the evil step mother, an unattractive step-sister, an emperor looking for a bride, the wayward slipper (though this one is golden, not glass)...but it also has its differences. In place of the fairy god-mother we are used to, there is a kindly old man who offers sage advice to Yeh-Shen (and he appears once about midway thought the story) and of course, there is the magical fish who makes Yeh-Shen's life bearable and makes her dreams come true in the end. I love that the author didn't sanitize the ending and that the reader is told the fate of the cruel and mean-spirited step-mother and sister. It was done in such a way that I don't think the young children this books is geared toward would be at all disturbed...plus it is in keeping with what is considered the traditional ending for most fairy tales (before they were sanitized for modern times)...the evil and unjust get what they deserve and I think that's the perfect ending! I give Yeh-Shen 5 stars, it's a lovely tale that is beautifully illustrated, it would make a lovely addition to any library.

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I enjoyed both the story and illustrations in this book. A twist on the traditional Cinderella story we have always heard, but excellent for Chinese students. Since the fish was such a significant piece of the story being her only friend and then the bones being magic, on every page an illustration

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of a fish was apparent which I liked because it tied it all together on the main focus. I like how it kept certain Chinese traits as well, like small feet being something admired, because the king wanted to find whoever owned the very tiny shoe. The author who retold this story used an excellent voice for the young readers. The main message in this story was about not wasting wants on selfish desires but of true desires of the heart. Also I like how it showed through hard work and persevering kindness one can have a happy ending after all. One thing I did not like about this book is the gruesome ending it had for the step mother and step sister dying in the cave. While many could consider this a happy ending because they "got what they deserved" I do not believe that that type of ending should be viewed as positive to children. Overall, excellent book and apparently the first true story of Cinderella made it extra intriguing relating it to what most other people think is the traditional story.

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This story could be used for any age group. I would use this story to compare and contrast different Cinderella stories that have been shared over the world. Depending on the grade level would determine the difficulty of what the students would be doing in the lesson plan. This book though shows

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culturally different aspects from other versions of the story.

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Yeh-Shen, the main character, is raised by her stepmother and ugly stepsister who have her do the hardest chores. Her only friend is a fish. When her stepmother finds out, she kills it and eats it for dinner. An elderly spirit told Yeh-Shen that the remains of the fish have magical powers. During

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the springtime, the village holds a festival for all the young people to meet and possibly get married. Yeh-Shen is not permitted to go. The fish gives her beautiful gold slippers and a gown. As one might guess, she attends the festival, looses the slipper and through a series of events the slipper ends up in the King's hands. He eventually finds her, marries her and takes her away from her evil stepfamily.

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Read Aloud

Genre: Fairy Tales

Common Core: "RL.2.9: Compare and contrast two or more versions of the same story (e.g., Cinderella stories) by different authors or from different cultures."

Cinderella from Chinese Culture. Shows how things are done in that culture and uses animals from that are so like

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instead of mice or a fairy god mother, it is a fish

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this was a Chinese version of Cinderella. it was interesting to read the same story in a different culture.

earliest known story of Cinderella orginiates in China 900 A.D. .