Cinderella was from Asia

Explorations of Yexian as the original Cinderella

Everyone is familiar with the 17th Century Charles Perrault version of Cinderella, it has saturated our world for decades now, particularly after Disney’s 1950 version set Cinderella’s physical appearance for all time. However, Perrault’s tale was not the first time this story was written down. I decided to do a deep study into Yexian because I find modern interpretations of the Cinderella tale have lost all of the soul and essence of the story itself. Modern Cinderella herself is vapid and uninteresting and the happily ever after is an unrealistic representation of love and life, not to mention it’s been done to death. I suggest we need to go back to its roots to find its essence again, hence, my Yexian book/s.

Beautiful cover art by: Erin-Claire Barrow

Some academics believe that an Ancient Egyptian text by Strabo which mentions a shoe being taken by an impoverished slave girl and dropped into the pharaoh’s lap is the first evidence of it, however, this is merely a fragment of a story, an episode, not a full story in itself. An article about that is here. It was later written as a story by an American (found online). Other academics argue that it is Greek in origin and I believe academics will be arguing about this for many years to come. However, after spending the past six months with the story of Yexian, a Cinderella story written in the 9th Century in China, I believe it originates in Asia and travelled to the West via traders on land and sea. Like all stories, it changed and morphed and adopted the cultures that it inhabited. Today, Cinderella stories exist in most cultures around the world.

The story of Yexian was written down by a Chinese collector Duan Chengshi in about 850-860 from an indigenous community in Northern Vietnam/Southern China. An article by Beauchamp suggests its origins are further into Asia and have influences from Buddhism and links to Hindu mythology. It’s a fascinating article and I highly recommend it.

I don’t want to get too deep into this origin argument, that’s not my intention or my passion, but I will say that there are three academic translations in English of this original tale that I used to base my book and upcoming storytelling performance on. I’ve explored the translations and re-interpreted them for modern audiences. This has been an incredible journey and to say I love this story is an understatement.

For me, Yexian is a terribly sad story about an abandoned child who finds hope in her fish friend and the magic it provides. It is the magic that makes it a fairy tale and at the end of all the translations we learn that Yexian marries the king, however, none of them tell us how happy she is with this arrangement or how her life ends. My version explores the possibilities of this. It is not a story for young children in this format.

However, I am working on a child-friendly version of it, hopefully for a 2024 release. My full research and exploration are available in my book, pre-orders are open now for a late September delivery.