World of Tales
Stories for children, folktales, fairy tales and fables from around the world

Welcome to the Chinese folktales page!


China
China
With 1.3 billion people, China is the most populous country in the world. The ancient Chinese civilization was one of the world's earliest states.
The collection of folktales from China consists of three books with 104 folktales.


Interesting places in China


The Forbidden City
is the former Chinese imperial palace located in the middle of Beijing, China. Built with precious wood and marble and an incredible 980 buildings large, the palace was a city it its own right. The City took one million workers 15 years to construct. The Forbidden City is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.
The Great Wall of China is a wall built mainly with stone, brick and wood. The wall was built along the northern borders of China to protect the Chinese Empire against raids by different nomadic groups from the North. The first part of the wall was built by the first Chinese Emperor more than 2000 years ago. The Great Wall of China is a part of the UNESCO World Heritage List.
The Terracotta Army is a collection of terracotta statues of the armies of Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China. The army was created during 3rd century BC to be buried with the emperor in order to protect him and give him people to rule over. Every sculpture in the army has its own unique facial features. The total number of statues is still a mystery, but should be around 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots with 520 horses and 150 cavalry horses plus other terracotta non-military figures like state officials, acrobats, strongmen and musicians. The Terracotta Army is protected by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.

A Chinese Wonder Book

Notes: Read 15 Chinese folktales

Author: Norman Hinsdale Pitman
Editor: Andrew Lang
Published: 1919
Publisher: E. P. Dutton & Co., 681 Fifth Avenue, New York


1.The Golden Beetle or Why the Dog Hates the Cat

2.The Great Bell

3.The Strange Tale of Doctor Dog

4.How Footbinding Started

5.The Talking Fish

6.Bamboo and the Turtle

7.The Mad Goose and the Tiger Forest

8.The Nodding Tiger

9.The Princess Kwan-Yin

10.The Two Jugglers

11.The Phantom Vessel

12.The Wooden Tablet

13.The Golden Nugget

14.The Man Who Would Not Scold

15.Lu-San, Daughter of Heaven

The Chinese Fairy Book

Notes: The Chinese Fairy Book contains 74 Chinese folktales, sorted into several categories.

Author: Various
Editor: Dr. R. Wilhelm
Published: 1921
Publisher: Frederick A. Stokes Company, New York

Nursery fairy tales

0.Preface

1.Women's Words Part Flesh and Blood

2.The Three Rhymsters

3.How Greed for a Trifling Thing Led a Man to Lose a Great One

4.Who Was the Sinner?

5.The Magic Cask

6.The Favorite of Fortune and the Child of Ill Luck

7.The Bird with Nine Heads

8.The Cave of the Beasts

9.The Panther

10.The Great Flood

11.The Fox and the Tiger

12.The Tiger's Decoy

13.The Fox and the Raven

14.Why Dog and Cat are Enemies

Legends of the Gods

15.How the Five Ancients Became Men

16.The Herd Boy and the Weaving Maiden

17.Yang Oerlang

18.Notscha

19.The Lady of the Moon

20.The Morning and the Evening Star

21.The Girl with the Horse's Head or the Silkworm Goddess

22.The Queen of Heaven

23.The Fire-God

24.The Three Ruling Gods

25.A Legend of Confucius

26.The God of War

Tales of saints and magicians

27.The Halos of the Saints

28.Laotsze

29.The Ancient Man

30.The Eight Immortals (I)

31.The Eight Immortals (II)

32.The Two Scholars

33.The Miserly Farmer

34.Sky O'Dawn

35.King Mu of Dschou

36.The King of Huai Nan

37.Old Dschang

38.The Kindly Magician

Nature and animal tales

39.The Flower-Elves

40.The Spirit of the Wu-Lian Mountain

41.The King of the Ants

42.The Little Hunting Dog

43.The Dragon After His Winter Sleep

44.The Spirits of the Yellow River

45.The Dragon-Princess

46.Help in Need

47.The Disowned Princess

48.Fox-Fire

Ghost stories

49.The Talking Silver Foxes

50.The Constable

51.The Dangerous Reward

52.Retribution

53.The Ghost Who Was Foiled

54.The Punishment of Greed

55.The Night on the Battlefield

56.The Kingdom of the Ogres

57.The Maiden Who Was Stolen Away

58.The Flying Ogre

59.Black Arts

Historic legends

60.The Sorcerer of the White Lotus Lodge

61.The Three Evils

62.How Three Heroes Came By Their Deaths Because of Two Peaches

63.How the River God's Wedding Was Broken Off

64.Dschang Liang

65.Old Dragonbeard

66.How Molo Stole the Lovely Rose-Red

67.The Golden Canister

68.Yang Gui Fe

69.The Monk of the Yangtze-Kiang

Literary fairy tales

70.The Heartless Husband

71.Giauna the Beautiful

72.The Frog Princess

73.Rose of Evening

74.The Ape Sun Wu Kung

Chinese Folk-lore Tales

Notes: Features 11 Chinese folktales

Author: Rev. J. Macgowan, D.D.
Editor: Andrew Lang
Published: 1910
Publisher: Macmillan And Co., Limited, London


1.The widow Ho

2.Kwang-Jui And The God Of The River

3.The Beautiful Daughter Of Liu-Kung

4.The Fairy Bonz

5.The Mysterious Buddhist Robe

6.The Vengence Of The Goddess

7.The Wonderful Man

8.The God Of The City

9.The Tragedy Of The Yin Family

10.Sam-Chung And The Water Demon

11.The Reward Of A Benevolent Life



Book Spotlight
Bechstein book cover
The Book of German Folk- and Fairy Tales