Chinese Folktales

Folktales are interesting. After reading the story The Son of The Turtle Spirit, I think folktales are best in teaching primary school students. I believe that most children like things that are related to magic, spirit, animals, etc. and that kind of interest would allow them to learn the language better if folktales are used as a teaching material.

In most Chinese folktales, TURTLE usually symbolizes wisdom, longevity and loyalty, whereas DRAGON symbolizes royalty, power and nobility. These two animals are common to be in folktales of the Chinese cultural. It is not surprised that spirits of animals are used in the story. Besides that, creatures like snake, rabbit, tiger and monkey are also very famous characters used in Chinese folktales. Each animal represents some kind of element or characteristic in its story. Some stories even used plants such as water lily and bamboo that have spirits as characters. Superstitious and magical are the main attracts because they could encourage all kinds of imaginations, predicting what would happen next, while the reader or listener is half way reading or listening to the story.

I am an English teacher in a Chinese primary school and I think it is very useful to use Chinese folktales as reading text. The students are familiarize with the cultural and they would be keen to read so that they can know more about the texts given. I realized that Chinese folktales

‘taste’ different when they are written in English language instead of the Chinese language. The descriptions show to be slightly simple compare to the ones written in the Chinese language. Probably when a story is translated into another language, the genuine essence of it changes, as well.

What I think about The Son of The Turtle Spirit? I have heard of this story when I was at a young age. I believed that it is true, to have spirits in all living creatures around us. Maybe I watched too much Chinese drama or movies, which caused me think that way. In Chinese folktales, it is very normal to see human married to goddess or spirits of creatures and the ending would usually turn out that one of the party had to live all alone, left with a child who has special power or ability, as for said ‘human and spirit relationship is forbidden’. Just exactly like the Son of the Turtle was described. The thing that really attracted me to finish this story was neither the Turtle nor the Son, but the Dragon. I really love any characters, which come in the form of dragon. To me, dragon is something mysterious and powerful and it always looks grand to me. Chinese usually said men of capability and wealth as Dragons, meanwhile pretty and intelligent women as Phoenix. That is why in marriage, people prepare things that carry the symbol of Dragon and Phoenix, as that symbol represents compatibility of the newly wed couple.