Corso di Dottorato di ricerca in Studi sull’Asia e sull’Africa ciclo 30 Tesi di Ricerca in cotutela con Universitat Autónoma de Barcelona Ye Xian and her sisters The role of a Tang story in the Cinderella Cycle SSD: L-OR/21 Coordinatore del Dottorato Ca’ Foscari ch. prof. Patrick Heinrich Coordinatore del Dottorato UAB ch. prof. Amelia Saiz Supervisore ch. prof. Marco Ceresa Supervisore cotutela ch. prof. Antonio Paoliello Dottoranda Mila Moioli Matricola 773354 Ye Xian and her sisters The role of a Tang story in the Cinderella Cycle Mila Moioli Doctoral thesis UAB director: Antonio Paoliello Ca’ Foscari director: Marco Ceresa Tutor: Jordi Más Coordinator Uab: Amelia Sáiz Coordinator Ca’ Foscari: Patrick Heinrich Departament de Traducció, d'Interpretació i d'Estudis de l'Àsia Oriental, 2017/2018 To my boyfriend and my mum, who are always there. To my friends and family, who have always been there. To my tutors who were always there. To my dad, who is no longer there. iv Abstract and key words Ye Xian is the protagonist of a story written in the Tang dynasty (618-907 CE) which has been defined as “the Chinese Cinderella” and “the first written Cinderella”. I have carried out an analysis of the tale to demonstrate that the motifs, which have been ascribed to Tang culture are in fact hardly compatible with it. Moreover, the story presents a broken narrative structure and unclear elements which disclose the difficulties of adaptation of foreigner motifs. These data indicate that this text is a combination of previous narratives containing Cinderella motifs, thus making Ye Xian the first version containing all the elements present in the modern Cinderella. In order to complete this analysis I have utilised three methodological perspectives, Classicists’, Sinologists’ and Folklorists’ approaches, according to the three different types of narratives investigated, to study this story and its role in the Cinderella cycle. This tripartite methodology is therefore tailored to the case, combining the epistemological approaches to create a paradigm functional for future research where tales are hardly connectible to a precise literary system and whose genre represents a crucial key to interpretation. Key words: Cinderella; Ye Xian; Tang Literature; Comparative Studies; Folklore; Interdisciplinarity; Zhiguai; Folk tales in the Ancient World; Genre. Abstract and key words [Italian] Ye Xian è la protagonista di una storia scritta durante la dinastia Tang (618-907 DC) che è stata definita “la Cenerentola Cinese” e “la prima scritta versione di Cenerentola”. Ho intrapreso un’analisi del racconto per dimostrare come gli elementi costitutivi, ascritti alla cultura Tang, siano in realtá poco compatibili con essa. La storia, inoltre, presenta una struttura narrativa interrotta ed elementi di dubbia chiarezza,che indicano una difficoltá nell’adattare elementi stranieri. Questo dimostra come questo testo sia la combinazione di narrative precedenti, rendendo Ye Xian la prima versione contenente tutti gli elementi presenti nella Cenerentola moderna. Al fine di eseguire questa analisi mi sono avvalsa di tre prospettive metodologiche, ovvero il punto di vista di classicisti, sinologi e folkloristi, vi secondo i testi trattati,per studiare questo racconto e il suo ruolo nella storia di Cenerentola. Questa metodologia tripartita è quindi studiata specificamente per questo caso, combinando approcci epistemologici per creare un paradigma funzionale alla futura ricerca dove le storie siano difficilmente ascrivibili ad un preciso sistema letterario e il cui genere rappresenti una cruciale chiave di interpretazione. Parole chiave:: Cenerentola; Ye Xian; Letteratura Tang; Studi comparati; Folklore; Interdisciplinarietá; Zhiguai; Fiabe nel mondo antico; Genere letterario. vii Table of contents Acknowledgements________________________________________________________xii Introduction______________________________________________________________xv 1 Ye Xian_________________________________________________________________1 Object of study: aim and rationale___________________________________________1 a) Objective: to prove that Ye Xian is the link between ancient narratives and the modern Cinderella____________________________________________________1 b) Rationale: Ye Xian as a zhiguai. Genre-specific and genre-non specific analysis_3 State of the field_________________________________________________________7 Research hypothesis____________________________________________________37 Assumption: The Tripartite History of the Cinderella tale type___________________46 Methodological framework_______________________________________________73 Structure of the dissertation_______________________________________________78 2 Perspectives____________________________________________________________80 The Classicist’s perspective_______________________________________________80 2.1 Modern literary theory applied to ancient texts___________________________81 2.2 Fairy tales in the ancient world_______________________________________88 The Sinologist’s perspective______________________________________________95 2.1 Literature in China_________________________________________________95 a) Traditional concepts of literature in China and in the West_________________96 b) Ye Xian and its author in the context of ancient Chinese literature__________103 c) International aspects in contemporary Chinese Literary Theory and overcoming national literature___________________________________________________112 2.2 The Genre_______________________________________________________117 2.3 The Religious Discourse___________________________________________142 The Folklorist’s perspective_____________________________________________147 2.1 Why folklore Theories_____________________________________________147 2.2 Folklore: theories on the origins_____________________________________151 a) Historical Geographic Method______________________________________157 b) Structuralism____________________________________________________171 c) Unifying Comparative and Structuralism______________________________175 d) Conclusions_____________________________________________________181 3 The analysis of the constitutive elements_____________________________________187 Terms: motifs and functions_____________________________________________187 a) The protagonist and her (missing) double______________________________194 b) The antagonist: the evil stepmother__________________________________205 c) The helpers_____________________________________________________212 d) The shoe: a tool for recognition_____________________________________228 e) The social gathering and the marriage with the prince: a Yue story__________238 3.2 Controversial elements_____________________________________________248 ix a) Spatial and temporal contextualisation________________________________249 b) Broken narrative_________________________________________________255 c) Stoning________________________________________________________260 d) Lack of success__________________________________________________265 4 Conclusions___________________________________________________________271 Conclusions: foreign elements and indications of origin_______________________271 Recommendations for Future Research_____________________________________279 Bibliography____________________________________________________________286 Glossary________________________________________________________________312 Annex_________________________________________________________________315 x Acknowledgements Firstly, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my advisor Prof. Antonio Paoliello for the continuous support of my Ph.D. study and related research, for his patience, determination, consideration, and scrupulous guidance; it is a pity that only in the last year of my research did he become my advisor, as his help has been exceptional. My advisor Prof. Marco Ceresa helped me with motivation and his immense knowledge in the time of research and writing of this thesis: he has spurred me in my moments of hesitation with his faith in my potential and endurance, and so did my former advisor Prof. Sean Golden, with precious insightful comments and respectful advice. They all have provided encouragement but also questions which have inspired me to widen my research from various perspectives, and at the same time to follow a straight path in my reasoning. Also, I would like to thank doctor Anna Matamala, Natalia Estremera, Michela Siciliano, Stefano Cordella and all the university staff at UAB and Ca' Foscari who have facilitated my work. I want to thank my boyfriend Pol: I owe it all to you. Also, I would love to thank my mother and sisters who have always believed in me, although it is likely that they have never really grasped what it is all about. They do not really know how University works, but they have always helped me to put things in perspective. All my tribe of cousin and aunts, especially my dearest Arianna, have always been there for me. My boyfriend's family, especially Rosa and Antonio, have been so precious in putting up with all my insecurities and self-doubts. xii My late dad is in my heart too. He passed away while I was carrying out his research, and I am sorry he will not be able to see its end, although I know he was happy because I was surrounded by such supportive people. I thank my friend Giuliana for the stimulating discussions, for the sleepless nights we were working together before deadlines, my friend Veronica for being so encouraging