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Legendary Feminism: the Story of Ashima
Time and fate can rob a people of their possessions, but not their souls. Before merchants became kings, the Yi of southwest China were anything but a coddled minority. Fierce and proud, they knew nothing of the petty strategems by which modern nations increase their status.
The Sani, a subgroup of the Yi, led lives as colorful as their clothing, treasuring song and dance above gold and silver. Thus, they have little to show by way of written history. But they do have the legend of Ashima, an inspiration to independent women everywhere, as well as those who know that wealth and power is never worth the price of love and freedom.
Ashima’s birth brought abundance to the humble farm of her parents, who had performed a costly sacred ritual for her, as years of seeding in both the earth and Ashima’s mother had failed to bring forth fruit.
But Ashima was worth the expense, and the wait. Even her infant cries were melodious, although she laughed much more often than she wept, and at seven years old could tend the large hearth that is the heart of the Sani home. Moreover, so close to nature’s bosom did she keep that the speech of animals was manifest to her, which drew worship rather than cuckoo signs from her deeply animistic neighbors.
To top it off, Ashima’s beauty defied the attempts of the most talented bards to do it justice, although they sung of it far and wide, even down in the valley below the mountains where Ashima and her folk abided.
At last Azhi, the spoiled scion of the valley’s richest family, heard her praises sung, heard of the face that glowed like the moon, and the feet that were whiter than turnips. Who could resist such charms? He dispatched a go-between to press Ashima’s family for her hand.
Ashima and her family listened to the go-between’s inventory of Azhi’s earthly goods, the fatted beeves, the golden grain, the door hinges made of silver. When the question of her bride price at last was broached, Ashima piped up before her parents could respond, uncharacteristic of one so filial.
A girl is not to be taken
As an animal to barter;
A girl is not just so much grain
To sell for monetary gain.
The go-between prevailed upon the family to reconsider, hinting of dire consequences should Azhi be refused. But this only confirmed Ashima’s scorn for rich suitors who would claim a wife by proxy, and the go-between was sent packing. Indeed Azhi was as unworthy of Ashima as she had feared, and upon learning of his failed suit sent a band of spear-wielding thugs to force the matter.
Summarily refused, the thugs kidnapped Ashima. Bitter and unceasing were the wailing lamentations of her mother and all the villagers, who loved her as an angel fallen to earth. In other cultures, this would be the point at which her true love, poor but noble, would have seized the chance to play the hero. Instead, it was her brother Ahei who pursued his sister’s kidnappers, perhaps a tribute to the chastity of Sani women. After all, Ashima was but fifteen years old.
Ahei did not catch up with his quarry until they had delivered her to Azhi’s opulent estate. Whereas villains in other cultures’ legends might have dealt with Ahei through further chicanery, the Sani abhor the stench of subterfuge. There was nothing for it but that Aheiand Azhi vie with one another in the manly arts, which in the case of the Sani, involved tree chopping, grass burning, and archery. One might predict, and correctly at that, Ahei’s victory over Azhi, which culminated in the former firing an arrow so deeply into Azhi’s family shrine that the latter could not pull it out.
Unmanned, Azhi released his reluctant bride, who sang mockingly, as she rode away behind her brother,
Your front hall, however awesome,
I do not admire at all;
However vast your herds of sheep,
Strong your oxen, as made of stone,
Who cares? Keep them; they’re all your own.
You have plenty of grain to mill,
The reserves stacked high as a hill;
The impression on me is nil!”
What a woman, to spurn a life of luxury and ease, so that she might return to tend her parents’ humble hearth! But not lightly could Azhi cast off his humiliation, and he vowed that if Ashima and her turnip-white tootsies could not be his, they could not be anybody’s.
He arranged for a trio of starved man-eating tigers to be unleashed upon Ahei and his rescued sister, as they journeyed up the forest path to their mountain home. Of course, Azhi had not reckoned on Ashima’s extra-natural powers, and would no doubt have stared in astonishment, as did his hired malefactors, when they saw her speak to the tigers and sing them to sleep before they could bare a fang.
Dirty deeds are even more unseemly in the otherwise honorable. Thus there can be little doubt that Ahei’s subsequent actions did much to precipitate Ashima’s tragic end. Tigers are totemic to the Nasi, yet Ahei slew them as they lay sleeping. That night, Ashima sought repose at the base of a cliff in a narrow canyon. Alas, such was her beauty that it could awaken lust in stone, and the cliff held her fast.
Nature’s own Ashima at once divined the source of her predicament, and knew that only a sacrifice might appease the stony desire of the spirit who dwelt in the cliff. She sent Ahei to fetch a pigeon, a sheep, and a pig, with the proviso that they all be white. The first two were easily found, but try as he might, Ahei could not avail himself of an albino porker.
Perhaps desperation led him to his second subterfuge. Regardless, it did his sister in. Snatching a black pig, and daubing it with white clay, he made his way back to the cliff that still held his sister fast, and slaughtered the animals by Sani rite.
But spirits are far less easily fooled than mortals. The cliff drew in passing rain clouds, which unburdened themselves on all below, the clay soon dripping off to reveal Ahei’s trick.
Ashima knew she was done for, more by deceit than by the cliff’s lust or the rising waters. Still, she had the courage to call out to her disconsolate brother, who at last slogged away lest he too be drowned,
Ah dear elder brother Ahei,
when you miss me and long for me,
stand on the hill-top near a tree,
and call me – just give a loud shout;
your sister Ashima
will answer you from the canyon.
A loud shout from brother
will bring a prompt answering call.
Those who disbelieve this tale have double reason to visit Kunming’s fabled stone forest, for there can be found not only the most amazing sedimentary formations on earth, but also the rock where Ashima met her doom. Her song can still be heard, borne on the wind, by those who know, like the Sani, the worth of a woman. Especially such a woman as Ashima, whose name literally means “more precious than gold”.
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I have some questions about the ashima story. when was the story first written and who has written the story, also as much information you have about how this story was found and similar information. thank you very much, I will be very pleased for any kind of answers you can send it to my e-mail mattias_181@hotmail.com
Feminism is a cause that is slowly dying not because of a lack of followers, but rather from a lack of reality and ethics. Feminists try to keep out the reality of husbands, children and of being feminine, which is very important to a woman. Like communism which tries to keep out the reality of God, feminism coerces women to be stereotypes, something they are not.
Once upon a time, a girl was born in a poor Yi family. Yi people were one of 56 of the nationalities in China. The parents hoped the girl would be as beautiful as flowers and as shiny as gold. They named her Ashima. to be continued..
The Namesake offers motherhood as a site of agency for negotiating a transnational identity for the postcolonial female subject in diaspora. Lahiri shows how traditional gender roles – often considered subordinate in the postcolonial context in their appropriation by nationalist agendas – can be read as a source of empowerment when translated into the context of middle class immigrant life in America.
I have just finished wading through “The Namesake” written by Jhumpa Lahiri. “Wading” is the word I use because, though Lahiri is an engaging writer, she fills her novel with too many details, over which I stumble, ponder, wonder (hmm, now why would she have had to say that?), genuflect, and then straighten myself. Her paragraphs are uniformly half a page and in that, too, these inconsequential details of everyday life, some cultural vestiges lie around like stumbling blocks.
Feminist movement pioneer Betty Friedan, author of The Feminine Mystique and a founder of the National Organization for Women, will present the lecture “Feminism: Past, Present and Future” during her two-day visit to the University as a Marjorie Kovler Visiting Fellow.
Ashoke and Ashima are always aliens in their adopted country, their traditions don’t fit in. And looking at it, you can certainly see how most of our traditions didn’t fit in at one point, and how the first generation born here struggled with a foot in each world.
There’s a fascinating anti-feminist feminist component about The Namesake. I realize that sounds contradictory, so hang in there.
The Yi.Nationalty can be divided into. seveal brbranches,one of which is called “Sani”the YiNationality in Lunan is mainly the Sani peple Like the other nationalities the Sani people are very good at singing and dancing and they also like bult fighting and wrestling the Sani peoples ,just like theother branches of the Yi Nationalty, on the,24th of June on the lunar calendar cele brate one, of there most important festivals–the Torch Festival.
Ashima is a folk heroine of the Sani people, a sub-group of the Yi nationality living in Shilin County, Yunnan
Ashima is spread in the Yi Autonomous County in ,Shilin of Yunnan Province. It is a long narrative poem of the Sani people who are a tributary of the Yi ethnic group. Generations after generations of the Sani people narrate or sing the story of Ashima with oral poem language.
Ashima is spread in the Yi Autonomous County in ,Shilin of Yunnan Province. It is a long narrative poem of the Sani people who are a tributary of the Yi ethnic group. Generations after generations of the Sani people narrate or sing the story of Ashima with oral poem language.
There is no doubt in saying that the grubby activities are extra inappropriate in the otherwise respectable. So there is slightly disbelief that Ahei’s consequent procedures did a great deal of impulsive Ashima’s sad finishing.
Nearly seven million Yi people live in Southwest China, but most educated people outside China have never heard of them.
Among all the scenic spots in the Stone Forest, the rock of Ashima in the Small Stone Forest is the most famous. The rock of Ashima resembles a girl of the Sani people, a branch of the Yi ethnic group, with a kerchief on her head, and a bamboo basket on her back.
Once upon a time, a girl was born in a poor Yi family. Yi people were one of 56 of the nationalities in China. The parents hoped the girl would be as beautiful as flowers and as shiny as gold. They named her Ashima.
Among all the scenic spots in the Stone Forest, the rock of Ashima in the Small Stone Forest is the most famous. The rock of Ashima resembles a girl of the Sani people, a branch of the Yi ethnic group, with a kerchief on her head, and a bamboo basket on her back.
Ashima became one of the select images representing ethnic minority cultures disseminated internationally through the vehicle of translation in both written and film versions.
Ashima is a symbol of the hope for freedom to choose who to marry, and a happy life for the Sani people. This story was first written down in the 1940s and performed in Kunming.
The story begins when Ashima gives birth to their firstborn, a son, during the summer of 1968 in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
The tale of Ashima is both beautiful and sad. Most would have cursed fate or blamed their brother, but Ashima did neither. She was very courageous and a powerful soul.
A girl is not to be taken
As an animal to barter;
A girl is not just so much grain
To sell for monetary gain.
very good saying ,, and true
things said about ladies are true and we shouls follow them, rather taking them for granted i think we should start respecting the.
but i wonder how they traded women in ancient times.
The story of Ashima, just like what the other say, tells us that women should marry whom they would want to marry due to love and not due to worldly treasures.
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Women are strong, as they should be, because this world will fall apart without them. The civilizations that acknowledge this fact are better off for it.
Sani peple Like the other nationalities the Sani people are very good at singing and dancing and they also like built fighting and wrestling the Sani peoples ,just like theother branches of the Yi Nationalty.
There have been documentaries made on them too , by some channels like National Geographic , and Discovery too.their culture and customs have been shown in avery good way in those films.
The story of Ashima is really good and thought provoking. People should learn from their culture and heritage.
One day, when Ashima was on the market, she met the son (Azhi) of the village leader. Azhi thought Ashima was very pretty. He wanted Ashima to marry him instead of Ahei. Azhi was very rich, and Ahei was very poor. Still, Ashima loved only Ahei and wanted to marry him.
According to popular legend, a beautiful maiden named Ashima was kidnapped by the son of an evil landlord and forced to marry him. Her name means “as precious and bright as gold” in language of the Yi people. Her love, Ahei, went to save her with his magic bows and arrows.
Ashima became one of the select images representing ethnic minority cultures disseminated internationally through the vehicle of translation in both written and film versions.
Ashima, a clever, kind, beautiful and diligent farmhouse girl falls in love with a brave and good-natured sheepherder who is called Ahei. Azhi, the son of a headman also admires Ashima, but was resolutely refused by the latter.
This is really nice story to read. A must read to get information about Chinese culture.
When Ashima grew up, she was very beautiful. Many young Chinese men were attracted by her singing and dancing. But Ashima was in love with Ahei, who was a brave and wise young man. They were engaged to each other at one of the torch festivals for Yi people.
I really enjoy reading it.I want to know all about this.
Ashima became one of the select images representing ethnic minority cultures disseminated internationally through the vehicle of translation in both written and film versions.
Kunming, the capital of Yunnan Province, enjoys great fame among tourists not only because the region features a consistently warm climate, but also thanks to its wonderful vistas and landscapes
The national dance drama “Ashima” is on the list of the top Chinese dances in the 20th century. Since then “Ashima” has been translated into eight languages including English, German, French, and Russian and has shed its beauty throughout the international community.
Ashima is a symbol of the hope for freedom to choose who to marry, and a happy life for the Sani people. This story was first written down in the 1940s and performed in Kunming. It has been published several times, and was filmed in the 1960s. The national dance drama “Ashima” is on the list of the top Chinese dances in the 20th century. Since then “Ashima” has been translated into eight languages including English, German, French, and Russian and has shed its beauty throughout the international community.
Ashima is a symbol of the hope for freedom to choose who to marry, and a happy life for the Sani people.
According to popular legend, a beautiful maiden named Ashima was kidnapped by the son of an evil landlord and forced to marry him. Her name means “as precious and bright as gold” in language of the Yi people. Her love, Ahei, went to save her with his magic bows and arrows.
Ashima is a symbol of the hope for freedom to choose who to marry, and a happy life for the Sani people.
Then, Azhi sent someone to compel Ashima into marriage with him, however, again refused firmly. So Azhi sent some people to rob Ashima when Ahei was away from home. Later, Ahei heard of the news and rushed home and saved Ashima.
Yi people were one of 56 of the nationalities in China. The parents hoped the girl would be as beautiful as flowers and as shiny as gold. They named her Ashima
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Instead, it was her brother Ahei who pursued his sister’s kidnappers, perhaps a tribute to the chastity of Sani women. After all, Ashima was but fifteen years old.
Thanks for bringing this glorious place infront of us.It ruly Touched my heart.
regards,
sam – Tax relief
Ashima became one of the select images representing ethnic minority cultures disseminated internationally through the vehicle of translation in both written and film versions. Also the right to marry, and be happy.
To top it off, Ashima’s beauty defied the attempts of the most talented bards to do it justice, although they sung of it far and wide, even down in the valley below the mountains where Ashima and her folk abided.
I never any thing like this before,it makes me feel that people like Ashima comes just once in our life and sends message of pure love.
regards,
Salon – Loan modification
This very nice article,very well described about the things.
regards,
Dave – Los Angeles DUI Lawyer
The post is very nice with informative,thanks for sharing with us….
We have something to learn from this,these things are priceless.