Week 7: Storytelling

  The Tale of Chen Zihan

Gather around, children. Let me tell you the story of why we dogs have an innate dislike of all felines. It all began in the lands of China with one of your greatest ancestors called Chen Zihan. He was one of the emperor’s most loyal companions of the most noble pug breed. His face was as flat as stone, his fur as black and sleek as shined metal, and you knew he was of royalty when you saw the excess weight he had accumulated from a life of riches. Chen Zihan watched over the kingdom’s dog and cat population for many years alongside Emperor Wu. However, the emperor’s wife had a pet cat, named Lanying, that envied everything that Chen Zihan had dominion over.

(Pug & Kitten)

One day, Lanying went into the emperor's treasure room while Chen Zihan was walking throughout the city to see how his people were. Now, nothing was more important and held more power throughout the entire kingdom than the emperor’s crown. This was the most beautiful crown made throughout all the ages. It was embellished with every type of precious stone and gem, crafted of the finest gold, and with this crown came the luck of every previous Chinese emperor. Now, security measures had been taken to ensure that if the crown ever were stolen, the suspect found an irremovable gold residue fell and covered the thief. Lanying knew this would happen, but her hair was so fine that when she grabbed the crown the gold residue simply fell to the ground. Lanying collected all of the gold dust in a bag and took the crown. She gave the crown to her henchman, the squirrel Gen, and he took the crown far from the empire and hid it within a tree.

(Crown)

That day the emperor discovered the crown had been stolen and a search began for it. Chen Zihan was making his way back to the palace when he saw Lanying lying on a windowsill outside of the palace gates crying. He stood beneath her and asked her what was wrong. She told him that a horrible thief had stolen the crown and when Chen Zihan looked at the ground to process the information he felt something fall upon his back like snow. He looked up saw gold dust falling from the sky and then saw that his entire body was covered in gold. He immediately realized that Lanying had deceived him and was framing him for the theft. He attempted to rub off the gold powder, but his thicker hair would not allow the dust to be removed. At that moment, the emperor walked out of the palace grieving his loss and saw Chen Zihan covered in gold powder. The emperor was furious and called to his guards to capture the traitorous Chen Zihan, and he knew he had no other choice but to run for his life.

(Stealing Squirrel)

Luckily, he was able to escape the city without being captured, but he knew that he had no hope of ever returning to the palace unless he could find the crown. Chen Zihan had lost hope and felt he could never find such a small object without any direction. While lying next to a stream he met a Labrador, known as Biyu. She told him that she had seen a squirrel dragging a large object in a bag into the woods to the north. Chen Zihan knew that this was none other than Gen and he immediately began to head to the north woods. Biyu volunteered to help Chen Zihan in his quest for the crown and used her powerful sense of smell to track the exact route of Gen through the woods. They made their way to a large oak tree and could see that Gen was polishing the crown high in the tree. They immediately began calling him and told him to give the crown back to its rightful owner. It took a lot of convincing and many threats, but Gen finally realized that dogs were more loyal and useful allies than the cats.

(Barking Pug)

With the crown they made their way back to the palace and the emperor’s army captured them and brought them to the palace. In the presence of the emperor, Chen Zihan walked forward and removed the crown from the bag he was carrying. The emperor was in shock and realized that no thief would be foolish enough to steal his crown, be covered in gold dust, and then return the gold crown to him knowing the consequences of such treachery. The emperor asked Chen Zihan whom had framed him for such a heinous crime and he pointed to Linyang whom was lying in the empress’ lap. The emperor seized Linyang and executed her instantly. Chen Zihan earned back his position alongside the emperor, now shining as bright as all the treasures of the emperor. 

(Emperor & Pugs)

Children, we can never forget the treachery of Linyang and as a result we will never be friends with felines again. This is also the reason we constantly talk with the squirrels in the trees for an excessive period of time so that they may be reminded who their true allies are.

(Gold Pug)

Author's Note: This story was based off of the tale Why Dogs and Cats are Enemies from the Chinese Fairytale unit. The original story revolves around a family in China that is wealthy due to a lucky ring, but the humans do not know that is the source of their success. One day they sell the ring and they immediately begin to lose their wealth until they have nothing left. The dog and cat of the story work together to go to the jeweler's store and the cat threatens a mouse to make a tunnel through the jewelry box and to retrieve the ring. They make their way back to their owners and the dog carries the cat across a stream. However, when they are close to the house the cat uses the buildings as shortcuts and makes it to the house much quicker than the dog can. The cat presents the ring to the family and their luck is returned. The family praises the cat for bringing back their good fortune, but they beat the dog for not helping aide the cat in her journey. Ever since then the dog and cat have lost their friendship. I took this tale and made it into a tale of my own. I kept the overall theme of the cat and dog with this power struggle, but instead I made it so that the dogs were shown as the loyal companions. I also included a little extra bit that explains why dogs always bark at squirrels. 

Bibliography: The Chinese Fairybook, ed. by R. Wilhelm and Frederick H. Martens (1921).