Comments on: Trivia: Aladdin was Chinese

By: Rodger

Rodger — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 10:48:14 +0000

In the earliest known origin of the story, Aladdin is from a land in the east, which geographicaly makes it china, however as a folk tale, it more than likely does not refer to any geographical land at all.

Folk tales which tell of a land in the east are not uncommon, as all cultures are aware that the sun rises in the east, and that is the basis of Mystical lands in the east (see Celtic, Indian even Chinese)

if Aladdin is indeed an original folk tale and not a more modern creation, then China is a modern addition to a tale that most likely does not even acknowledge china existing when the story was created..

By: ted

ted — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 02:32:59 +0000

But Cruella de Vil still wanted his dogs for a fur coat, right?

By: tom

tom — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 23:12:36 +0000

damn chinese think they invented everything

By: Sid Morrison

Sid Morrison — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 20:56:49 +0000

So was his real name "Arradin"?

By: K

Mon, 01 Oct 2007 19:09:47 +0000

Jesus was a Black man.

By: Nick Gisburne

Nick Gisburne — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 16:19:35 +0000

Ah. Disney. Gotcha. Sad how a cartoon version of an ancient story comes out, and we have to be re-educated in the original form. In my defence, I haven't seen the movie, but I have seen the pantomime and read the story. I'll get my coat...

By: Nick Gisburne

Nick Gisburne — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 16:11:20 +0000

In all the British Christmas pantomime versions of Aladdin, I've never seen Aladdin portrayed as anything other than Chinese. So I'm a little curious to know why 'Aladdin was Chinese' would be worthy of a story here. It's in 1001 Nights, but regardless of the Middle Eastern origin of the collection as a whole, the Aladdin story is clearly set in China. Where is the confusion here? Or have I missed a modern re-interpretation of Aladdin in Baghdad?!

By: hc

hc — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 15:45:34 +0000

How could they forget "Or My Mom Will Shoot"?! Classic Stallone/Getty. Classic!

By: Kimota

Kimota — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 13:27:16 +0000

Anyway, if I remember correctly, Aladdin wasn't even the name of the protagonist, but the name of the city where he lived (usually, the character from the story is named "ne'er-do-well" or similar.)

By: lucas

lucas — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 06:07:51 +0000

This fact is a little misleading, since there is no "original text" of the thousand and one nights. The tales come from a rich oral tradition, and were only occasionally written down. Western scholars became fascinated by these tales and, finding that most storytellers had versions of the same few hundred tales, set out to collect all 1001 of them. Unsurprisingly, storytellers were happy to oblige and new tales were added. In the oldest manuscripts we have, Aladdin's tale is not part of the main grouping of stories that are told directly by the character Shahrazade, so it is likely that it comes from a different story tradition.