Reading Notes: Chinese Fairy Tales Part A

 I remember when I was doing the reading overview assignment, fairy tales from different countries and cultures sounded fascinating.  Even though I have decided to focus more on ancient heroes, I am super pumped to see some fairy tales through a whole new lens.  The Cave of Beasts story was one of my favorites.  I really liked the title; even before I started reading the story my imagination was filled with the terrific possibilities.  I have been thinking more about the last story I was writing, and how I finished it off.  It would be interesting to write in a cave of beasts segment for my young hero as he strives to be a Sailor.  That being said, the fairy tale itself wasn't what I expected.  I didn't really think that there would be a happy ending.  Even when the father came back, I'm surprised all was forgiven and everything worked out so smoothly.  It's nice to see the classic fairy tale ending in these brand new stories :) The Panther was a cool twist on the story little red riding hood and the wolf.  This panther seemed even more sly and sinister than I remembered; the way he devoured the widow and the little boy was pretty shocking.  He would be an interesting character to include; particularly as an antagonist.  I was also fascinated by the story Yang Oerlang.  His powers were amazing to read about! That is exactly the sort of stuff that I like to use for inspiration.  It was intriguing that, despite his immense power, Yang was unable to save his mother.  I'm interested in that; am I to infer that some things are inevitable? In the end, I find it best to not worry about the things we cannot control.  The scary thing is, what we can control is just a fraction of what we cannot.  That really means that we just have to work with what we got :) I really like the saying perspective is reality.  It makes me feel as though if you have a good mentality, you can do well in any situation! I think it would be really neat to write about Yang or include him in my hero's quest. I also found it cool that Yang was an elite hunter! 

bibliography: Yang Oerlang by R. Wilhelm and translated by Frederick H. Martens (1921).

An awesome painting of Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf by J.W. Smith.

source: commons