Reading Notes: Week 7 Chinese Fairy Tales part A

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 (Panther, Source )
Bibliography: Chinese Folktales, Source

Characters: In these notes I focus on not individual characters, but stereotypes as a whole. So all mother figures and all daughter figures etc. A lot of these characters are represented similarly throughout multiple stories. For example, the king/father in this case is usually angry, unforgiving, and absent often.

Character descriptions
Father/King
  • mad at daughter for marrying a beggar, kicks her out
  • “In the morning the father was very angry with the children and said: “Who wants to go along to grandmother?” But he intended to lead the children into the mountains and let the wolves devour them there.”
  • he wanted to kill his kids but there are no repercussions in the end everyone is friends again?
  • always disappearing for no reason, leaves family
Queen/mother
  • gives children good luck eggs
  • queen gives daughter food and money secretly, a softie
  • would do anything for children
Princess/daughters
  • has to marry someone because her father says so
  • chooses a child of luck, even though he is a beggar she wants good luck too
  • stays loyal to her husband, but dies?
  • smart, trick panther after he eats their mother
  • dumb, says she will marry a horse
son/prince
  • not super apparent in these stories
  • saves his mother, has powers and transformations
  • brave, mighty hero
panther
  • starts eating a woman’s head, schemes by combing her hair but actually eats her, then eats her son
  • disguises himself as the woman
strangers
  • all help the daughters survive, donating items
  • “Then a dealer in turtles came by, and they told him their tale. He gave them a turtle and said: “Put it in the water-barrel in the yard.”
cats
  • smart, but a little mischievous
dogs
  • hardworking, hates cats
horses

  • wants to marry a girl, rides far to find her father
  • engulfs girl in his hide, she becomes a goddess

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