The afterlife of the Brothers Grimm’s fairy tales in China: Translation and reception

The Brothers Grimm’s fairy tales are among the most widely read children’s stories in China. This paper first briefly outlines the journey of these German stories in the Chinese land from three stages represented respectively by early attempts starting with 1902, the first complete version by Wei Yixin published in 1934 and the most authoritative complete version by Yang Wuneng published in 1993. Focus is specially laid on Yang’s version and some specific characteristics of his translations are discussed. This is followed by a brief discussion on the historic influences of Grimms’ tales upon the Chinese Folklore Movement and the early Chinese writers for children. The paper finally shows the current reception of Grimms’ tales in China from such two aspects as the general public and the scholarly community.