Reinventing fairy tales
The 1980s was a flourishing time for fairy tales. King of the Fairy Tale was the first popular fairy tale magazine published monthly in China. Established in 1985, it was recognized by the General Administration of the Press and Publication of China as a successful children's publication with both economical and social effects. In its prime, circulation reached almost 1 million copies per month.
Fairy tales in China have been developing much earlier. A Man of Straw, by Ye Shengtao, was one of the first fairy tales published in the early 1920s. In the 1980s, author Zhao Bingbo and his fairy tale, Red Dragonfly reigned. In the 1990s, fairy tale began focusing mainly on what children enjoyed reading.
Zheng Yuanjie, the author and publisher of the magazine, wrote classical children's stories about Shu Ke and Bei Ta, two adventurous rats, and Pipi Lu and Lu Xixi, two iconic twins. The magazine has been popular with children and their parents for years. Even today, most bookstores reserve a special section for Zheng's old and new fairy tales, though the magazine itself has stopped publication.
Youth Reading
Zhai Li, an employee at the Xinhua Bookstore in Xiaozhuang, Chaoyang district, Beijing, told the Global Times that the selection of children's fairy tales is very diverse.
"We put them in the Youth Reading section. Children of all ages can read these," she said.
"Currently, the most popular authors are Yang Hongying with her fairy tales set around school; Sheng Shixi and his series of animal fairy tales; Cao Wenxuan and his elegant collections, and Zheng Yuanjie's classical stories. The international selection also attracts children, for its adventure aspects. Some children prefer Warriors by Erin Hunter and Youth Adventures by Willard DeMille Priceha," Zhai said.
Compared with the prosperous development of fairy tales in China in the 1980s, there doesn't seem to be any influential fairy tales like Zheng's in the current domestic market.
Zhao Bingbo, a prolific children's fairy tales writer, thinks this will change.
"After the popularity of King of the Fairy Tale, there was a down time for fairy tales. It's not easy to draw a clear definition of fairy tales, because they cross genres and come in different forms, as literature, essay and plays," said Zhao.
Zhao, a respected fairy tale author for over 30 years, said there are still many requirements publishing houses impose. But as an author, he has space and flexibility to offer creative stories instead of simply meeting the market demand.
"I think a reader chooses whatever fairy tale to read purely on its originality. We need different styles to feed the appetites of our readers. Original ideas appeal to publishing houses and readers," Zhao said.
Wang Yimei, a fairy tale writer born in the 1970s, agrees. "I find fairy tales are quite popular now. Teachers advocate quality work, and this can often be found in fairy tales."
Wang refers to her traveling experiences in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, where she saw fairy tales extend their reach into daily activites.
She was pleased to find a group of mothers that referred to themselves as "story mothers." These mothers would read fairy tales with their children and then run a play, based on the tales.
"Story mothers came first, and then story fathers," Wang said.
Online platforms
Both of these authors are positive about the future of the genre. In July, Wang will release her first fairy tales collection, titled Corner of the Spider, through Sina Weibo. The Corner of the Spider is a fairy tale about loneliness.
"When I wrote this story initially, I put segments of it on Sina Weibo to share. After each part was published, I would get feedback. So I put all the parts together into a book to publish this July. It is an experiment for me. If people like it; that is even better," said Wang
"It would be helpful to use Sina Weibo to bring fairy tales to a broader audience. Some people debate the value Sina Weibo could bring to fairy tale creation. As long as authors continue writing, it is enough," said Wang.
"For children, the reading culture has shifted back to print. Children need to improve their reading speed. To hold their interest, they also require original and interesting stories. Content is the key for the future development of fairy tales," said Zhao.