Chinese Folk Tales

Hou Yi is a very familiar name to the Chinese people and not just because he shot down the extra nine suns. Monsters of various sorts were out there haunting humans. Guess who stood out to tackle the challenge?

Did you know there were once ten suns in the sky? At least according to Chinese mythology. That couldn't have been good. Who saved the day? It was a hero named Hou Yi.

Today's story is about some Chinese fairies, who look nothing like Tinker Bell. What do they look like and what do they do all day?

This story is mainly about the God of Spring and the God of Autumn, but it's much more than that. The God of one thing in ancient China could be the God of so many things.

There is a saying in China that all the major rivers flow to the east. Why is that? Are there magical powers that draw them to the sea? Well, the story has to start with the Chinese God of Water and all the fights that he managed to get into. Click on the play button to listen to his stories.

People everywhere worship the sun, but maybe only the Chinese once had ten suns instead of one. How did that work out? The story starts with their Sun Goddess, the mother of the ten suns.

Every child in China has heard of Yu Gong, the Foolish Old Man. I mean, he was 90 years old when he decided to remove the two mountains in front of his house. Hmm...so how did that go？You might be surprised to hear how that ended.

Today I want to tell you about the Forest Gump of ancient China, a man not really known for his sharp wits but revered for his courage and persistence. Why did he chase the sun? Did he get there? Let me tell you all about it!

Growing up in China, I often heard of the story of a little bird named Jing Wei that tried to fill the ocean, one beakful of rocks and twigs at a time. But not until I was grown did I fully understand the fury and spirit of that legendary bird. Why did she want to fill the ocean? Let's listen and find out.

The difficulty of learning Chinese characters might be frustrating for foreigners, but you got to admit, it's better than drawing everything out in pictures like they used to do during the cave-dwelling days. How were Chinese characters invented? And by whom? We'll find out today. And, if it's of any comfort, they are not easy for Chinese to learn neither.