Goodbye and thank you, Tita Cory.


I am not a Cory-ista, nor politically inclined. But yesterday's farewell to Former President Corazon Aquino had me tearing up and I felt I need to thank her wholeheartedly. Yes, thank you, ma'am, coz I wouldn't be able to live a free life and enjoy it as much as I am doing right now if you were not brave enough to oust the dictator and revised our constitution.

I really don't want to write anything about her demise but I was touched by her life and her sacrifices. Yesterday the whole nation cried and bid goodbye to a great person. Along with the tears and goodbyes, I was able to see the life she had led and how much simple she looked from the time she became public till her last breath. I am amazed as to how a housewife turned the lives of millions of Filipinos. I was further surprised at how great and insurmountable her trials were but she kept her cool and her faith that everything that happened to her have reasons and she faced them all bravely with God as her greatest support and her family as her allies.

I only knew her as Kris Aquino's mom. Yes, no matter how much I have studied about her during my college days, it was the popularity of her daughter and their relationship that made a real mark on me. As said, I am not politically inclined so I really didn't bother much about the things she and her family have done. It was only till yesterday when my family and I watched the televised requiem mass and the funeral procession and all other documentary programs that featured Cory's life that I truly have understood and appreciated her.

I don't have anymore to say than thank you. Thank you, Pres. Cory, for sharing your life with us. Thank you for making the Filipinos proud. Thank you for raising your children with the same values as you have. I am looking forward to seeing the Philippines grow as you have dreamed it to grow. I, in my own little way, will try to live up to your expectation and would value now more than ever the freedom and rights I am granted for being a Filipino.

Wu Yeh Hsien
Chinese Cinderella.

So Cinderella is of Chinese descent. I rarely watch Discovery Channel for the simple reason that facts and documentaries aren't fun for me and they make me sleepy. Hahaha! But last Saturday I was glued to the TV watching a Chinese documentary, re-tracing the origins of the Cinderella story. One Chinese girl did the documentary and went to the far provinces of China to interview tribe leaders, storytellers and historians. Apparently, Cinderella isn't Caucasian and that there was no fairy godmother. Instead, she has a magical fishbone that granted her wishes.

According to the docu, the story of Cinderella was first written in a book during the Tang Dynasty (which was earlier than the one written in the European version). It was included in a journal and story book entitled You Yang Za Zu.

The story was about an orphan girl named Wu Yeh Hsien and like Cinderella she had an evil stepmother and an ugly and equally evil stepsister. Her only happiness was her pet fish, which her stepmom took away from her and ate. (Murderer!)

Saddened, Yeh Hsien took the bones of her pet and gave it a proper burial. Unknown to her, it wasn't the bones of her pet but of a magical fish. In return to Yeh Hsien's kindness, the fish answered her prayers.

Then instead of the prince's ball, Yeh Hsien wished to attend the annual mating festival of their tribe. (One of the tribes in South China holds an annual mating festival to let the single and unmarried members of their community mingle and get to know potential partners.) Anyway, so the magical fish bone gave her a black skirt embroidered with golden patterns, a blue blouse with feather ornaments and a golden pair of shoes made of silk that fit perfectly to Yeh Hsien's small feet.

Yeh Hsien enjoyed the festival. But to avoid being discovered by her stepsister, she fled away from the party and ran towards home. In haste, she lost one of her golden shoes, which a prince from a neighboring tribe found and had devoted his days to finding the owner then marry her. The prince thought that only a fair maiden with a good character could wear and own such a delicate pair of shoes.

The documentary enumerated the following as proofs that the Cinderella story was indeed a Chinese tale:

01. The elaborate description of Yeh Hsien's dress is the same as one of the dresses of a tribeswoman in South China.

02. The magical fish instead of a fairy godmother is another proof that she is Chinese (in Chinese culture, fish brings good luck).

03. Moreover, the small shoes that could only fit the protagonist's feet indicated that she is Chinese. Where in the world can you see a grown woman with small feet other than in old China, where bound feet were signs of beauty and high social status.

04. Furthermore, an expert in Asian history was interviewed whether it is possible that the documented story of Wu Yeh Hsien could have gone out of China and went to its neighboring countries and as far reaching as the European countries. The expert replied a resounding yes. According to her the written story might have gone through the silk road (the trading path from China to India, South East Asia and to Europe).

The expert showed an evidence of how might the story gone from China to Europe. As we all know, paper originated in China. Apparently, China was also the first to recycle paper in the olden days. They recycled used papers and used them as shoe soles. The expert showed a photograph of an old and used paper that were used as shoe soles in the old days. The paper have scripts and the language used were from old China. They have concluded that this might be one of the ways that the story had gone out of China. Another is by word of the mouth, of course. But the first evidence was more convincing, right? Otherwise, they wouldn't have shown it. Hihihi ^^,

Upon reaching the western countries, the people there adapted the story and created their own version of Yeh Hsien and called her Cinderella with a head full of golden brown hair, doe eyes, orphaned by her noble father and was left to the aide of her evil stepmother and ugly stepsisters. Then, to make it more westernized, instead of a magical fish, they used a fairy to grant her wish to attend a prince's ball. And instead of a golden pair of shoes made of silk, the fairy provided her a pair of glass slippers that only Cinderella's feet can wear. Then to make the fairy tale more grandiose, the western storytellers added a coach made of pumpkin, horses that were once mice and other fantastical things. The midnight time limit added more excitement to a simple story that concerns only good values and that every good deed gets tremendous rewards.

So what did I learn from watching the documentary? Well, plagiarism existed already in the olden days. Hahaha! I really don't know if I learned something. One thing is for sure though, I might start watching more programs from the Discovery Channel. I didn't know that it's entertaining. ^_^