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 such topics as medicinal herbs and tattoos.

Youyang refers to the south slope of Mount You, a small hill located in what is now Huaihua, Hunan. The book was written by Duan Chengshi in the 9th century, and is divided in to 30 volumes, containing unusually varied content in over thirteen hundred entries that describe the world that Duan Chengshi heard about, read of, or personally observed. It contains a version of the classic fairy tale Cinderella, under the name Ye Xian in Chapter 21. The story was allegedly told by Duan's servant Li Shiyuan, a native from what is now Nanning. It is set during the late 3rd century BC. The exact location is unknown, but the most likely candidate is Guangxi, where the shoe eventually found its way to a king from an island.

References

• Ding Naitong (1974). The Cinderella cycle in China and Indo-China. Helsinki: Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia. ISBN 951-41-0121-9. 
• Duan Chengshi (2001). Youyang Zazu. Beijing: Xueyuan Chubanshe. ISBN 7-5077-1467-5.