When Ye Xian appeared wearing both her shoes with the fish motif and her beautiful sea-green-and-blue gown, the King realized that it was her that he was looking for. He asked her to come with him to his kingdom and to be his wife and queen, and she happily accepted. Watanabe, Kôji (2000). "Ye-xian. Une Cendrillon chinoise du IXe siècle". Iris (in French). 19: 151–155. Maeth Ch., Russell, and Devalle, Susana B. C. "Yexian: La Cenicienta China Del Siglo IX". In: Estudios De Asia Y Africa 22, no. 3 (73) (1987): 386-410. Accessed July 1, 2020. www.jstor.org/stable/40313105.

A constant source of patience and rationality in the tumultuous world of this novel, her separation from Adeline furthers the latter's loneliness and forces her to become more self-reliant. Indeed, the dynamics between Aunt Baba and Adeline and Aunt Baba and Niang serve as the driving factors of the story. Big Sister (Lydia) Zhang, Juwen. "Rediscovering the Brothers Grimm of China: Lin Lan." The Journal of American Folklore 133, no. 529 (2020): 285-306. Accessed July 24, 2020. doi:10.5406/jamerfolk.133.529.0285. Third Brother is the youngest son of Father’s first marriage, he is the stepson of Niang, and the second youngest of the stepchildren. Third Brother is the only sibling that Adeline has a… Mah, Adeline Yen (2015). Chinese Cinderella. London: Puffin Books. pp.1–2. ISBN 978-0-14-135941-0. OCLC 914452896. The eldest daughter of Ye Ye and Nai Nai, Aunt Baba is described as "meek, shy and unmarried," wholly dependent on her younger brother--Adeline's father--financially. Tasked with taking care of Adeline, the two develop a close bond due to their position as the unwanted and powerless members of the family. Aunt Baba provides encouragement for Adeline to pursue her dreams, a decision that causes her to lose favor in the eyes of Niang.

The Beginning of Ye Xian's Story

She was the youngest of five children; her mother died giving birth to her, and then her father married a very young wife. This stepmother took over the house, and I really wish I could strangle this woman. Qiu, Xiaoqing (2017). "Cinderella in Chinatown: Seeking Identity and Cultural Values in Year of the Fish". Marvels & Tales. 31 (2): 370–85. doi: 10.13110/marvelstales.31.2.0370. Accessed May 9, 2020. For those who were neglected and unloved as children, I have a particular message. In spite of what your abusers would have had you believe, please be convinced that each of you has within you something precious and unique. Chinese Cinderella is dedicated to you with the fervent wish that you will persist in trying to do your best in the face of hopelessness; to have faith in the end your spirit will prevail; to transcend your abuse and transform it into a source of courage, creativity and compassion. A couple days later, Adeline is democratically elected class president and student leader of the school. She is thrilled, having forgotten the horrors of the past few days to some degree. However, Adeline’s school friends secretly follow her home to throw her a surprise party, unaware of Adeline’s bad home environment. Niang is enraged by this, screaming and beating Adeline within earshot of her friends, leaving visible marks and causing her to bleed. After Adeline tells her friends they must go home, Father and Niang force her to throw the congratulatory gifts her friends had given her in the trash. Father and Niang decide that they will no longer care for Adeline and tell her she will be given to an orphanage. That’s just the way it is!” Niang exclaimed sharply. “You either get in now and come with us, or you can stay home with her. Suit yourself!”

most complicated fairy tail ever written was Cinderella, nobody had the idea who the hell first wrote it. Is it the Egyptians, Russians or Chinese? Anyway, at least the gore picture tells the other side of Cinderella, why she have small feet that only the glass slippers (originally a fur) fits to her. Victor is the only person to see the injustices heaped on Adeline for what they are and then take an active role in protesting them. By refusing to get in the car with Niang and the others, Victor vocalized his opposition, something that Ye Ye and Aunt Baba never did. The gift offered by young Adeline can be seen as a means to highlight this distinction; while Aunt Baba and Ye Ye earned a level of loyalty, Victor deserved a higher distinction. The book was the only possession of any value that Adeline had, yet she understood the actions of Victor to be worthy of such high praise. In this exchange, Yen Mah relays the message that, while empathy is valuable, embodying the change is deserving of greater praise. Mair, Victor H. "The First Recorded Cinderella Story". In: Hawai‘i Reader in Traditional Chinese Culture. Edited by Victor H. Mair, Nancy Shatzman Steinhardt and Paul R. Goldin. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2005. pp. 363-367. https://doi.org/10.1515/9780824852351-061Within this quote, there is usage of descriptive adjectives. However, most significantly is the use of different sentence types to create the emotion. It hurt so badly I couldn’t sleep. I screamed in pain and begged my mother to free my feet, but she wouldn’t. In fact, the pain has never gone away. My feet have hurt every day since they were bound and continue to hurt today. I had a pair of perfectly normal feet when I was born, but they maimed me on purpose and gave me lifelong arthritis so I would be attractive.” Chinese Cinderella, p.8 The story of Yen Mah's life from 1937 to 1952 is recorded in her autobiography, Chinese Cinderella. Find sources: "Ye Xian"– news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR ( May 2010) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) My heart gave a giant lurch as it dawned on me that he was agreeing to let me go. How marvellous it was simply to be alive! Study? I thought. Going to England is like entering heaven. Does it matter what you do after you get to heaven?’

In 1942, Yen Mah's father (Joseph) and stepmother (Jeanne) moved from Tianjin to Shanghai to a house along Avenue Joffre. This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.Mah, Adeline Yen (1998). Falling leaves: the true story of an unwanted Chinese daughter. New York: Wiley. p.42. ISBN 978-0-585-36179-6. OCLC 47011622.

Two months after Yen Mah arrived in Shanghai, her grandfather, her Aunt Baba, Franklin and Susan arrived (they delayed moving to observe the hundred days' mourning period for Nai Nai). When Susan arrived, she was too young and too close to Aunt Baba to recognise and approach her mother, Niang, who thus beat her loudly in frustration and anger. Yen Mah intervened, leading Niang to declare that she would never forgive her. [15] Beauchamp, Fay (2010). "Asian Origins of Cinderella: The Zhuang Storyteller of Guangxi" (PDF). Oral Tradition. 25 (2): 447–496.Ye Ye is the father of Adeline’s Father and Aunt Baba, husband of Grandmother Nai Nai, and thus the grandfather of all of the children. He lives with the family and is dependent… Unfortunately, Ye Xian's father dies from a local plague, and a new chieftain is appointed to take his place, as Wu had no sons. With her family reduced to poverty, Ye Xian is forced to become a lowly servant and work for her unloving and cruel stepmother, Jin, and spoiled and lazy younger half-sister Jun-Li. Despite living a life burdened with chores and housework, and suffering endless abuse at her stepmother's hands, she finds solace when she ends up befriending a beautiful, 10 foot (3.0m) fish in the lake near her home, with golden eyes and scales. The fish was really a guardian spirit sent to her by her own mother, who never forgot her daughter even beyond the grave. Ye Ye expresses a level of insight that has been apparent within him for the entirety of the novel but never outwardly expressed until this instance. The quote expresses finality: regardless of all the effort or sweat that Adeline pours onto her goals, there are some inescapable truths that come with her birth. Perseverance is an admirable trait that Adeline exhibits throughout the novel, leading the reader to believe that anything can be overcome with faith and hard work. Ye Ye shows us that diligence doesn't destroy all barriers but rather that some must be first accepted to be overcome.