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Folklore of Asia

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Folktales include all forms of narrative - - written or oral - - handed down through the years and reflecting the lives and imaginations of the people. According to Aarne-Thompson, the three types of tales are: Animal * Tales, Ordinary * Folktales, and Jokes and * Anecdotes. They categorized the tales using motifs. *.

Folklore of Asia
China | Mongolia | Tibet | Korea | Japan
Arabian Peninsula | United Arab Emirates
Persian Gulf States [Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Yemen] | Saudi Arabia
South Asia [India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal]
Middle East [Turkey, Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Israel, Jordan]
Siberia | Afghanistan
Southeast Asia: Burma, Thailand, Laos, Malaysia, Cambodia, Vietnam
Indonesia [Sumatra, Java, Kalimantan, Celebes, Moluccas, Lesser Sunda Isle]

Overall Asia

Hirsch, Marilyn. How the World Got Its Color. NY: Crown Publishers, 1972. (32 ps.) [ASIA]

China and Adjacent Areas (China, Tibet, Korea, Mongolia)

CHINA

Birdseye, Tom. A Song of Stars. NY: Holiday House, 1990. [CHINA] (on the seventh day of the seventh month, the banished princess weaver and the herdsman reunited each year from opposite sides of the Milky Way)
Greaves, Margaret. Once There Were No Pandas: A Chinese Legend. NY: E.P. Dutton, 1985. (32 ps.) [CHINA] (first pandas after a small girl's sacrifice for a friendly white bear)
Hong, Lily Toy. How the Ox Star Fell from Heaven. Morton Grove, Illinois: A. Whitman, 1991. (unp.) [CHINA] (why the ox was banished from heaven to become the farmer's beast of burden)
Jiang, Ji-li. The Magical Monkey King: Mischief in Heaven: Classic Chinese Tales. NY: HarperCollins, 2002. (122 ps.) [CHINA] (mischievous monkey king tries to achieve immortality and gain god-like powers)
Kraus, Robert. The Making of Monkey King. Union City, CA: Pan Asian Pub., 1988. (unp.) [CHINA] (mischief of the Monkey King)
Louie, Ai-Ling. Yeh-Shen, A Cinderella Tale from China. NY: Philomel Books, 1982. (31 ps.) [CHINA] (Cinderella variant)
Mahy, Margaret. The Seven Chinese Brothers. NY: Scholastic, 1989. (36 ps.) [CHINA] (seven Chinese brothers elude execution by using their extraordinary individual qualities)
San Souci, Robert D. Fa Mulan: The Story of a Woman Warrior. NY: Hyperion Books for Children, 1998. (unp.) [CHINA] (based on the Chinese poem in which a young girl masquerades as a boy and fights the Tartars in the Khan's army)
San Souci, Robert D. The Enchanted Tapestry: A Chinese Folktale. NY: Dial Books for Young Readers, 1987. (32 ps.) [CHINA] (Li Ju seeks his mother's tapestry held by the fairies of Sun Mountain with the help of a sorceress)
Wilson, Barbara. Wishbones: A Folk Tale from China. NY: Bradbury Press, 1993. (unp.) [CHINA] (Cinderella variant with Yeh Hsien using magic fishbones to dress herself in finery for the Cave Festival; losing a slipper while fleeing)
Yolen, Jane. The Emperor and the Kite. NY: Philomel, 1988. [CHINA] (Previously ignored smallest daughter of the emperor, uses her kite to save her father from imprisonment in a high tower)
Young, Ed. Little Plum. NY: Philomel, 1994. [CHINA] (An old Chinese couple has a son who never grows any larger than a plum seed, but his size does not prevent him from saving his village from a cruel lord.)
Young, Ed. Lon Po Po: A Red-Riding Hood Story from China. [CHINA] [1990 Caldecott]
Young, Ed. The Lost Horse. San Diego : Silver Whistle/Harcourt Brace, 1998. [CHINA] (A retelling of the tale about a Chinese man who owned a marvelous horse and who believed that things were not always as bad, or as good, as they might seem.)
Young, Ed. Monkey King. NY: HarperCollins, 2001. (unp.) [CHINA] (A monkey must end his trickery and understand that there is strength in admitting weakness when he journeys to a more enlightened state)
Young, Ed. Mouse Match: A Chinese Folktale. San Diego, Silver Whistle, 1997. [CHINA] (When a father mouse goes to the sun, cloud, wind, and wall in search of the strongest husband for his daughter, he surprisingly finds that a mouse is the best match.)
Young, Ed. Night Visitors. New York : Philomel Books, 1995. [CHINA] (A young scholar learns respect for all forms of life when he becomes part of an ant colony in a dream.)

KOREA

Climo, Shirley. Korean Cinderella. NY: HarperCollins, 1993. (unp.) [KOREA] (Pear Blossom, a stepchild, comes to be chosen by the magistrate to be his wife)
Han, Suzanne Crowder. The Rabbit's Tale: A Story from Korea. NY: Henry Holt, 1998. [KOREA] (Rabbit loses his long tail after trying to convince Tiger that he is wrong about being afraid of being eaten by a dried persimmon)
Hornocker, Maurice. Track of the Tiger: Legend and Lore of the Great Cat. San Francisco: Sierra Club Books, 1997. [KOREA] (
San Souci, Daniel. In the Moonlight Mist: A Korean Tale. Honesdale, PA: Boyds Mills Press, 1999. (unp.) [KOREA] (wishes granted)

Japan

Bodkin, Odds. The Crane Wife. San Diego: Harcourt Brace, 1998. (unp.) [JAPAN] (poor sail maker gains a beautiful but mysterious wife skilled at weaving magical sails)
Cowley, Joy. The Mouse Bridge. NY: Scholastic, 1995. (unp.) (a mouse approaches the sun, a cloud, the wind, and a house before she finds the mightiest husband for herself)
French, Fiona. Little Inchkin. NY: Dial Books for Young Readers, 1994. [JAPAN' (Tom Thumb variant) (Inchkin becomes an honored Samurai swordsman though only inches tall)
Garrison, Christian. The Dream Eater. Scarsdale, NY: Bradbury Press, 1978. (32 ps.) [JAPAN] (Yukio spares the other villagers from recurring nightmares when he rescues a baku)
Hodges, Margaret. The Boy Who Drew Cats. NY: Holiday House, 2002. (32 ps.) [JAPAN] (life of a boy obsessed with drawing cats)
Hooks, William H. Peach Boy. NY: Bantam Books, 1992. (48 ps.) [JAPAN] (demons)
Kimmel, Eric. The Greatest of All: A Japanese Folktale. NY: Holiday House, 1991. [JAPAN] (a mouse father searches for the mightiest husband for his daughter approaching the emperor, the sun, a cloud, the wind, and a wall before finding the unexpected victor)
Levine, Arthur. The Boy Who Drew Cats: A Japanese Folktale. NY: Dial Books for Young Readers, 1994. [JAPAN] (drawing cats gets a young boy into trouble and leads him to a mysterious experience)
Long, Jan Freeman. The Bee and the Dream: A Japanese Tale. NY: Dutton Children's Books, 1996. (unp.) [JAPAN] (Shin buys his friend Tasuke's dream from him and goes in search of the predicted fortune; disappointed and returning home, he receives a wonderful surprise)
Martin, Rafe. Mysterious Tales of Japan. NY: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1996. [JAPAN] (includes Urashima Taro, The Crane Maiden, Green Willow, Snake Husband, Forg Friend, The Boy Who Drew Cats, Black Hair)
McCarthy, Ralph. The Inch-High Samurai. NY: Kodansha International, 1993. [JAPAN] (a young man only one inch high saves a princess from demons and is granted is one greatest wish)
McCoy, Karen Kawamoto. A Tale of Two Tengu. Morton Grove, Ill.: Whitman, 1993. [JAPAN] (two Japanese goblins with long, lovely noses decide to prove once and for all whose proboscis is the most beautiful)
Palazzo-Craig, Janet. The Magic Peach: A Story from Japan. Mahwah, N.J.:Troll, 1996. (32 ps.) [JAPAN] (extraordinary Japanese boy found in a peach when a baby sets out to destroy the ogres terrorizing the village)
Paterson, Katherine. The Tale of the Mandarin Ducks. NY: Lodestar Books, 1990. (34 ps.) [JAPAN] (pair of mandarin ducks are separated by a cruel lord; a compassionate couple, risking their lives to reunite the ducks, are rewarded)
Sakurai, Gail. Peach Boy: A Japanese Legend. Mahwah, N.J.: Troll, 1994. (32 ps.) [JAPAN] (old couple find and raise a baby found floating on the river inside a peach; son grows up to fight the demons terrorizing the village)
San Souci, Robert D. The Samurai's Daughter: A Japanese Legend. NY: Dial Books for Young Readers, 1992. (unp.) [JAPAN] (sea serpent and lifted curse)
San Souci, Robert D. The Silver Charm: A Folktale from Japan. NY: Doubleday Books for Young Readers, 2002. (unp.) [AINU - JAPAN] (ogre, child, rescue)
San Souci, Robert D. The Snow Wife. NY: Dial Books for Young Readers, 1993. [JAPAN] (breaking of a promise)
Say, Allen. Once Under the Cherry Blossom Tree: An Old Japanese Tale.. NY: Dell, 1974. (31 ps.) [JAPAN] (cherry tree growing from the top of the wicked landlord's head)
Schroeder, Alan. Lily and the Wooden Bowl: A Japanese Folktale. NY: Doubleday Book for Young Readers, 1994. [JAPAN] (a young girl who wears a wooden bowl over her face to hide her beauty overcomes a variety of trials and eventually finds love, riches, and happiness)
Shute, Linda. Momotaro, the Peach Boy: A Traditional Japanese Tale. NY: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books, 1986. (34 ps.) [JAPAN] (Momotaro grows up to fight the demons who terrorized the village for years)
Sierra, Judy. Tasty Baby Belly Buttons: A Japanese Folktale. NY: Knopf, 1998. (unp.) [JAPAN] (Urikohime, a girl born from a melon, battles the monstrous oni, who steals babies to eat their tasty belly buttons)
Tompert, Ann. Bamboo Hats and A Rice Cake: A Tale Adapted from Japanese Folklore. NY: Crown, 1993. [JAPAN] (wishing to have good fortune in the new year, an old man tries to trade his wife's kimono for rice cakes)
Uchida, Yoshiko. The Magic Purse. NY: Margaret K. McElerry Books, 1993. (UNP.) [JAPAN] (after facing danger to help a young woman, a poor farmer receives a magic purse that always refills itself with gold)
Uchida, Yoshiko. The Wise Old Woman. NY: M. K. McElderry Books, 1994. [JAPAN] (old woman solves a warlord's three riddles and saves the village from destruction)
Urashima Taro [JAPAN]
Waite, Michael. Jojofu. NY: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard, 1996. [JAPAN] (a young man is saved from death three times by the keen senses of his faithful hunting dog)
Wells, Ruth. The Farmer and the Poor God: A Folktale from Japan. NY: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 1996. [JAPAN] (a poor god living in the attic of an unsuccessful family prepares to move with them and changes their fortune)
Wisniewski, David. The Warrior and the Wise Man. NY: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books, 1989. [JAPAN] (an emperor gives his twin sons, one a warrior and one a wise man, a challenge to see which would rule his kingdom)

Arabian Peninsula

United Arab Emirates

Saudi Arabia

Persian Gulf States [Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Yemen]

IRAN

Balouch, Kristen. The King and Three Thieves: A Persian Tale. NY: Viking, 2000. (unp.) [IRAN] (king cleverly disguises self amongst his people)
Climo, Shirley. The Persian Cinderella. NY: HarperCollins, 1999. (unp.) [IRAN] (Settareh and her stepmother)
De Paola, Tomie. The Legend of the Persian Carpet. NY: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1993. (unp.) [IRAN] (creation of the first Persian carpet for King Balash)
Foley, Bernice Williams. The Gazelle and the Hunter: A Folk Tale From Persia. Elgin, Ill.: Children's Press, 1980. (31 ps.) [IRAN] (hunter not want to kill gazelle)
Hofmeyr, Dianne. The Stone: A Persian Legend of the Magi. NY:Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1998. (unp.) [IRAN] (story told to Marco Polo about the Magi of Saveh, three wise men from a Persian town, who followed a strange star and found a special child)
Manson, Christopher. A Gift for the King: A Persian Tale. NY: Holt, 1989. (32 ps.) [IRAN] (water as a precious gift for King Artaxerxes)
Pale*cek, Libuse. The Magic Grove: A Persian Folktale. Natick, MA: Alphabet Press, 1985. (42 ps.) [IRAN] (rewarding a kind act)
Shepard, Aaron. Forty Fortunes: A Tale of Iran. NY: Clarion Books, 1999. (32 ps.) [IRAN] (cleverness)
Wolkstein, Diane. The Red Lion: A Tale of Ancient Persia. NY: Crowell, 1977. (24 ps.) [IRAN] (Azgid must show his physical strength before being crowned king)

IRAQ

Hickox, Rebecca. The Golden Sandal. NY: Holiday House, 1998. [IRAQ] (Cinderella variant - "Little Red Fish and the Clog of Gold")
Hort, Lenny. The Tale of Caliph Stork. NY: Dial Books for Young Readers, 1989. (32 ps.) [IRAQ] (Caliph transforms)
Schwartz, Howard. The Diamond Tree: Jewish Tales from Around the World. NY: HarperCollins, 1991. (66 ps.) ("Chusham and the Wind") [IRAQ] (right way and wrong way to do things with Chusham as character)
Schwartz, Howard. The Diamond Tree: Jewish Tales from Around the World. NY: HarperCollins, 1991. (66 ps.) ("The Magic Pitcher") [IRAQ] (olive oil; Little Red Riding Hood variant)
Shepard, Aaron. The Enchanted Storks: A Tale of Bagdad. NY: Clarion Books, 1995. (30 ps.)[IRAQ] (Caliph of Baghdad transformed, magic words)

YEMEN

Gold, Sharlya. The Answered Prayer, and Other Yemenite Folktales. Philadelphia: Jewish Pub. Society, 1990. (65 ps.) [YEMEN] [JEWISH FOLKLORE] (folklore and beliefs of Yemenite Jews)

Saudi Arabia

Kherdian, David. The Rose's Smile. NY: Holt, 1997. [ARABIAN] (evil deeds and courage)
Mayer, Marianna. Aladdin and the Enchanted Lamp. NY: Macmillan, 1985. (80 ps.) [ARABS] (genie, sorcerer)
Zeman, Ludmila. Sindbad in the Land of Giants. [ARABIAN]

South Asia

(India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal)

INDIA

Martin, Rafe. The Brave Little Parrot. NY: Putnam's Sons, 1998. [JATAKA TALE] [INDIA] (parrot takes water to a burning fire)
Martin, Rafe. Foolish Rabbit's Big Mistake. NY: Scholastic, 1985. (32 ps.) [JATAKA TALE] [INDIA] (rabbit announces that the earth is breaking up; in comes the lion)
Martin, Rafe. The Monkey Bridge. NY: Knopf, 1997. [JATAKA TALE] [INDIA] (Buddha, in the form of the Monkey King, sacrifices for his people)
Rose, Deborah Lee. The People Who Hugged the Trees: An Environmental Folk Tale. Niwot, Colorado: Roberts Rinehart, 1990. (32 ps.) [INDIA]
Young, Ed. Seven Blind Mice. New York : Philomel Books, 1992. (40 ps.) [INDIA] Verse version of the Indian fable of the blind men discovering different parts of an elephant and arguing about its appearance. The illustrations show the blind arguers as mice.)

Middle East

(Turkey, Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Israel, Jordan)

SUFI [MIDDLE EAST]

Shah, Idries. The Silly Chicken. Boston: Hoopoe Books, 2000. (unp.) [SUFI] (tale of a chicken who learned to speak as people do but spreads an alarming warning around the town panicing them without considering the messenger)
Young, Ed. What About Me?. NY: Philomel Books, 2002. (unp.) [SUFI] (young boy follows the instructions of the Grand Master hoping to gain knowledge)

ISRAEL

Freedman, Florence B. Brothers: A Hebrew Legend. NY: Harper & Row, 1985. (40 ps.) [ISRAEL] (Jerusalem site created)
Gershator, Phillis. Honi's Circle of Trees. Philadelphia: Jewish Pub. Society, 1994. (unp.) [JEWISH FOLKLORE] [ISRAEL] (Circle Maker plants carob seeds)
Ludwig, Warren. Old Noah's Elephants: An Israeli Folktale. NY: Putnam's, 1991. [ISRAEL] (tickle the hyena)

TURKEY

Dewey, Ariane. The Fish Peri: A Turkish Folk Tale. NY: Macmillan, 1979. (40 ps.) [TURKEY] (fisherman completes tasks to marry the Fish Peri)
Schwartz, Howard. The Diamond Tree: Jewish Tales from Around the World. NY: HarperCollins, 1991. (66 ps.) ("The Magic Sandals of Abu Kassim") [TURKEY] (Elijah tale where a poor man is rewarded for his generosity)
Van Woerkom, Dorothy. The Friends of Abu Ali: Three More Tales of the Middle East. NY: Macmillan, 1978. (64 ps.) [TURKEY] (adventures of middle-headed, Abu Ali)
Walker, Barbara. The Ifrit and the Magic Gifts. Chicago, Follet, 1972. (31 ps.) [TURKEY] (3 Turkish wanderers get good luck from the gifts of an imp until they meet a clever princess who wants the gifts for herself)
Walker, Barbara. New Patches for Old: A Turkish Folktale. NY: Parents' Magazine Press, 1974. (41 ps.) [TURKEY] (Hasan needs his new trousers shortened, but at first neither his wife, mother, nor daughter has time to do it)
Walker, Barbara. Teeny-Tiny and the Witch-Woman. NY: Pantheon Books, 1975. (32 ps.) [TURKEY] (3 brothers do not listen to their mother's warnings and go into the forest to play; meet the witch-woman who eats little children)

Siberia

Central Asia (Afghanistan)

Southeast Asia

(Burma, Thailand, Laos, Malaysia, Cambodia, Vietnam)

BURMA

Froese, Deborah. The Wise Washerman: A Folktale from Burma. NY: Hyperion Books for Children, 1996. (unp.) [BURMA] (cleverness; hard work; challenge to wash a gray elephant white)

LAOS

Xiong, Blia. Nine-in-one, Grr! Grr!: A Folktale from the Hmong People of Laos. San Francisco: Children's Book Press, 1989.(30 ps.) [LAOS] (Bird comes up with a way to prevent the land being overrun by tigers after the great god, Shao, promises Tiger nine cubs each year)

VIETNAM

Garland, Sherry. Children of the Dragon: Selected Tales From Vietnam. San Diego: Harcourt, 2001. (58 ps.) [VIETNAM] (6 tales)
Garland, Sherry. Why Ducks Sleep on One Leg. NY: Scholastic, 1993. [VIETNAM] (explanation of why ducks sleep on one leg)
Kha, Dang Manh. In the Land of Small Dragon: A Vietnamese Folk Tale. NY: Viking Press, 1979. (40 ps.) [VIETNAM] (daughter, stepmother, fairy godmother)
Lee, Jeanne. Toad is the Uncle of Heaven: A Vietnamese Folk Tale. NY: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1985. (32 ps.) [VIETNAM] (toad leads an animal group to ask the King of Heaven for rain)
Lum, Darrell. The Golden Slipper: A Vietnamese Legend. Mahwah, NJ: Troll Associates, 1994. (32 ps.) [VIETNAM] (Cinderella variant}
Shepard, Aaron. The Crystal Heart: A Vietnamese Legend. NY: Antheneum Books for Young Readers, 1998. (unp.) [VIETNAM] (a mandarin's daughter speaks cruel words to a fisherman and learns to understand the consequences of her actions)
Vuong, Lynette Dyer. Brocaded Slipper and Other Vietnamese Tales. Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley, 1982. [VIETNAM] (Brocaded Slipper, Master Frog, Little Finger of the Watermelon Patch)
Vuong, Lynette Dyer. Sky Legends of Vietnam. NY: HarperCollins, 1993. (103 ps.) [VIETNAM] (why rooster crows at sunrise, how moon became ivory, banyan tree, weaver fairy and buffalo boy)

Southeast Asia

Indonesia (Sumatra, Java, Kalimantan, Celebes, Moluccas, Lesser Sunda Isles)

INDONESIA

Sierra, Judy. The Dancing Pig. San Diego: Harcourt Brace, 1999. (unp.) [INDONESIA - BALI] (two sisters snatched by ogress who locks them in a trunk; rescued by animals they treated kindly)
Sierra, Judy. The Gift of the Crocodile: A Cinderella Story. NY: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2000. (40 ps.) [INDONESIA] (Cinderella variant - Damura, cruel stepmother and stepsister, handsome prince, Grandmother Crocodile helps)

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For a broadened view of folklore, refer to The Folktale by Stith Thompson for tale types and motifs.

For your reading enjoyment, peruse "Folk Tales of the North American Indians" by Stith Thompson. It includes tales categorized by culture group and motif.