Si Tanggang and the Ungrateful Son
Si Tanggang and the Ungrateful Son is the story of an impoverished young boy who became a successful and wealthy merchant, but forgot the sacrifices that his parents made to raise him. At the end, his ship and everyone on board it were turned to stone as punishment for his ungratefulness. The moral of the story is that we must be grateful to our parents (even though sometimes we think that they are out to ruin our life!) and others who have been kind to us.
The Real Story of Mulan
Many people have seen the Disney movie Mulan and do not realize that it is actually telling the story of an ancient Chinese poem titled the Ballad of Mulan. Because it is a legend, it is unknown when Mulan may have lived although she was believed to have survived through the Northern Wei dynasty which lasted from 386CE to 534CE. In the movie, Mulan is depicted as being unskilled with weapons. The “real” Mulan, on the other hand, was said to have practiced with many different weapons. The area in which she was believed to have lived was known for practicing martial arts such as Kung Fu and being skilled with the sword. The book was written and released during the late Ming Dynasty which lasted from 1368CE to 1644CE. This expanded version became quite popular and the story became a folk legend as well. One of the main reasons for this popularity was that it mentioned gender equity, something which few pieces of literature included at the time.