Duan Chengshi

Duan Chengshi (Chinese: 段成式; Wade–Giles: Tuan Ch'engshih) (died 863) was an author and scholar of the Tang Dynasty in China. He was born to a wealthy family in present day Zibo, Shandong. A descendant of the early Tang official Duan Zhixuan 段志玄 (-642), and the son of Duan Wenchang 段文昌, a high official under Tang Xuanzong, his family background enabled him to obtain office without taking the Imperial exams. ^[1] As a poet, he was associated with Li Shangyin and Wen Tingyun.

Duan is best known outside of China for being the author of an early version of Cinderella, called Ye Xian. In 853, the story first appeared in Miscellaneous Morsels from Youyang, which was published shortly after he returned to Chang'an after his term of acting Governor of Jizhou (now known as Ji'an in Jiangsu). It is believed that it was a folktale told by peasants before it was recorded on paper. Some people even believe that the French author Charles Perrault copied Duan's version, only he renamed it and slightly altered it.

Duan is also known for describing in his written work of 863 AD the slave trade, ivory trade, and ambergris trade of Bobali, which is now Berbera in Somalia, East Africa (see Maritime section of Tang Dynasty for more).^[2][3]

Notes

1. ^ http://baike.baidu.com/view/56814.htm
2. ^ Levathes, 38.
3. ^ H. Neville Chittick, Robert I. Rotberg, Harvard University. Center for International Affairs, British Institute in Eastern Africa, University of Nairobi (1975). East Africa and the Orient: cultural syntheses in pre-colonial times. Africana Pub. Co.. p. 109. ISBN 0841901422. http://books.google.com/books?id=p41yAAAAMAAJ&q=As+early+as+the+ninth+century+Tuan+Ch'eng-shih+recorded+that+the+inhabitants+of+the+Bilad+al-Barbara+were+in+the+habit+of+selling+their+own+womenfolk+to+foreign+traders.+Possibly+this+human+merchandise+consisted+of+members+of+either&dq=As+early+as+the+ninth+century+Tuan+Ch'eng-shih+recorded+that+the+inhabitants+of+the+Bilad+al-Barbara+were+in+the+habit+of+selling+their+own+womenfolk+to+foreign+traders.+Possibly+this+human+merchandise+consisted+of+members+of+either&hl=en&ei=Mec8TYaBL8GqlAf059iCBw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCMQ6AEwAA. Retrieved 23 January 2011. 

References

• Levathes, Louise (1994). When China Ruled the Seas. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-671-70158-4. 

External links

• Cinderella Around The World
• Professor Derk Bodde. Chinese ideas in the West
• A Chinese Cinderella^{[dead link]}

Persondata
Name	Duan, Chengshi
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth
Place of birth
Date of death	863
Place of death

This article about a Chinese writer or poet is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.v · Categories: 863 deaths Collectors of fairy tales Chinese writer stubs Wikimedia Foundation. 2010. Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую Aaron Hicklin Relative Values Look at other dictionaries: Tang Dynasty — For the band, see Tang Dynasty (band). Tang 唐 ← …   Wikipedia Miscellaneous Morsels from Youyang — The Miscellaneous Morsels from Youyang (Chinese: 酉阳杂俎; pinyin: Yǒuyáng Zázǔ) is a miscellany of Chinese and foreign legends and hearsay, reports on natural phenomena, short anecdotes, and tales of the wondrous and mundane, as well as notes on… …   Wikipedia 863 — NOTOC EventsBy PlaceEurope* Constantine I succeeds as king of Scotland (or 862). * After the death of Charles, Lothair takes part of the Jura and Louis II takes the Provence. * Carloman revolts against his father Louis the German a second time. * …   Wikipedia Timeline of Chinese history — History of China ANCIENT …   Wikipedia List of Chinese writers — Contents 1 Chronological list 1.1 Antiquity and Qin Dynasty 1.2 Han Dynasty and following 1.3 Tang Dynasty and following …   Wikipedia Youyang zazu — Das Buch Youyang zazu (chinesisch 酉阳杂俎 Yǒuyáng zázǔ; „Ein bunter Teller von Geschichten von der Südseite des You Hügels wurde von dem chinesischen Gelehrten Duan Chengshi 段成式 (803 863) aus Zibo, Shandong in der Zeit der Tang Dynastie verfasst.[1] …   Deutsch Wikipedia Chinese classic texts — or Chinese canonical texts (zh cp|c=典籍|p=diǎnjí) refer to the pre Qin Chinese texts, especially the Confucian Four Books and Five Classics (四書五經). All of these pre Qin text were written in classical Chinese. They can be referred to as jing (經).… …   Wikipedia 9th century — Millennium: 1st millennium Centuries: 8th century · 9th century · 10th century Decades: 800s 810s 820s 830s 840s 850s 8 …   Wikipedia Camera obscura — This article is about an optical device. For other uses, see Camera obscura (disambiguation) …   Wikipedia Pinhole camera — A pinhole camera is a very simple camera with no lens and a single very small aperture. Simply explained it is a light proof box with a single hole in one side. Light from a scene passes through this single point and projects an inverted image on …   Wikipedia 18+ © Academic, 2000-2024 Contact us: Technical Support, Advertising Dictionaries export, created on PHP, Joomla, Drupal, WordPress, MODx. Mark and share Search through all dictionaries Translate… Search Internet Share the article and excerpts Direct link … Do a right-click on the link above and select “Copy Link”