Duan Chengshi () (died 863) was a Chinese poet and writer of the
Tang Dynasty
The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...
. He was born to a wealthy family in present-day
Zibo, Shandong. A descendant of the early Tang official Duan Zhixuan (, ''Duàn Zhìxuán'') (-642), and the son of Duan Wenchang (, ''Duàn Wénchāng''), a high official under
Tang Xuanzong, his family background enabled him to obtain office without taking the Imperial exams. As a poet, he was associated with
Li Shangyin
Li Shangyin (, 813858), courtesy name Yishan (), was a Chinese poet and politician of the late Tang dynasty, born in the Henei Commandery (now Qinyang, Henan). He is noted for the imagist quality of his poems and his "no title" () style of ...
and
Wen Tingyun.
Duan is best known outside of China for being the author of an early version of
Cinderella, called ''
Ye Xian
"Ye Xian" (; ) is a Chinese fairy tale that is similar to the European Cinderella story, the Malay-Indonesian Bawang Putih Bawang Merah tale, the Vietnamese Tấm Cám story, and stories from other ethnic groups including the Tibetans and the ...
''. In 853, the story first appeared in ''
Miscellaneous Morsels from Youyang'', which was published shortly after he returned to
Chang'an
Chang'an (; ) is the traditional name of Xi'an. The site had been settled since Neolithic times, during which the Yangshao culture was established in Banpo, in the city's suburbs. Furthermore, in the northern vicinity of modern Xi'an, Qin ...
after his term of acting Governor of
Jizhou (now known as
Ji'an
Ji'an () is a prefecture-level city situated in the central region of Jiangxi province of the People's Republic of China while bordering Hunan province to the west. It has an area of and as of the 2020 census, had a population of 4,469,176, of ...
in
Jiangsu
Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with it ...
). It is believed that it was a
folktale
A folktale or folk tale is a folklore genre that typically consists of a story passed down from generation to generation orally.
Folktale may also refer to:
Categories of stories
* Folkloric tale from oral tradition
* Fable (written form of the a ...
told by
peasants before it was recorded on paper. Some people even believe that the French author
Charles Perrault copied Duan's version, only he renamed it and slightly altered it.
Duan is also known for describing in his written work of 863 AD the
slave trade
Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
,
ivory trade, and
ambergris trade of Bobali, which believed to be what is now
Berbera
Berbera (; so, Barbara, ar, بربرة) is the capital of the Sahil region of Somaliland and is the main sea port of the country. Berbera is a coastal city and was the former capital of the British Somaliland protectorate before Hargeisa. I ...
in
Somaliland,
East Africa
East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territories make up Eastern Africa:
Due to the historica ...
.
[Levathes, 38.]
Notes
References
*
External links
Cinderella Around The World*Professor Derk Bodde
Chinese ideas in the West
Year of birth missing
863 deaths
9th-century Chinese writers
Collectors of fairy tales
Tang dynasty poets
{{China-writer-stub