What nationality was Cinderella originally, I bet you didn’t know?

Thanks to cartoons and numerous adaptations, we imagine Cinderella exclusively as a blonde Caucasian girl. So you will probably be surprised when you find out what nationality the heroine of this world-famous fairy tale was originally from!

Turns out Cinderella was Chinese! The fact is that one of the oldest known versions of this tale is precisely the Chinese “E Xian”. According to the plot of this magical story, a girl named Ye Xian (aka Cinderella!) remains an orphan, which is why she is forced to become a servant in her mother’s house.

As in the story we all know, she also has to get along with her spoiled stepsister. Ye Xian receives no support, as her father died of the plague. The unfortunate girl’s only friend is an extraordinarily beautiful fish that lives in the lake near their house.

The spirit of the Chinese Cinderella’s deceased mother is infused into this fish. By the way, she replaces her and the fairy godmother and helps the main character to go to the annual festival in honor of the New Year. There, Ye Xian, according to a familiar pattern, loses the Golden Boot. The king of the neighboring islands finds her, so amazed by the shoe’s miniature size that he immediately thinks of finding its owner.

The ending of the Chinese version of the tale is also slightly different. Ye Xian herself comes to the king for a lost shoe, and through this she gets to know the influential king. In a frank conversation, she tells him all the trials of her life. The king is so steeped in Cinderella’s story that he immediately falls in love with her and asks her to marry him. Here is such a happy ending that we already know!

Photo: ©Cinderella/The Walt Disney Company, ©Depositphotos.com