The Origins of the 'Cinderella' story.

By Alice Grey

Cinderella is arguably one of the most popular of all the Classic Fairy Tale narratives. In fact, one would be hard-pressed to find a young woman who has not at some point in their girlhood dreamed of being the ‘Cinderella’ figure - the Belle-of-the ball that is swept off her feet by a 'Handsome Stranger' and ferreted off to his ‘Castle’ to live ‘happily ever after’.

As rooted in our childhood memories and cultural make-up as the ‘Cinderella’ narrative is, we do not hold the copyright to the tale. Multiple variations of the tale exist; the earliest recorded version dating as far back as the C9th AD. Transcribed in China by Tuan Ch'eng Shih, this C9th version records the story of a young girl named Yeh-Hsien. She is described as being intelligent, clever and hardworking but after loosing both her parents she finds herself alone in the care of her father’s co-wife who not only mistreats her but also denies her food, drink and warmth. Yeh-Hsien befriends a magical fish that appears to her in the household pond. Enraged that Yeh-Hsien has found a source of comfort and companionship her Step-mother kills the fish. Yeh-Hsien secretly retrieves the bones from the magical fish and hides them in her room. Even in death the fish continues to help Yeh-Hsien and when she is forced to stay at home on a festival day the magical bones provide her with a cloak made from Kingfisher feathers and a set of tiny golden slippers – it is important to remember at this point that tiny feet were highly sought after in China right up until the practice of foot binding was abolished in the early C20th as a sign of nobility.

On leaving the festival Yeh-Hsien loses one of her golden shoes that is subsequently picked up and sold to a warlord. A massive search begins to find the girl to whom the shoe belongs. Yeh-Hsien makes it known that the shoe belongs to her. She ultimately becomes the chief’s wife while her Step-mother and sister are stoned to death.