The Little Glass Slipper| Origin of Cinderella's Slippers

 Disney's Cinderella| glass slipper

The glass slippers are unique to Perrault. Some have hypothesized the verre (glass) of the title was a mistake for vair (fur). The Encylopaedia Brittanica printed this and many have quoted it since. However, most scholars believe that glass was really intended. It is important that the slippers be rigid and unstretchable, and fur could stretch to fit other feet. Glass would also allow the fit of the shoe to be seen. At the time of Perrault, glass was very rare and valuable, worth even more than gold.

This shoe come from 1600s, left 1660 right 1650, if hypothesized about vair and verre is correct, may be Cinderella's slipper would be like this or squirell fur version.

The Grimm version uses gold slippers, equally inflexible but equally unsuitable for dancing or even walking because of their weight.

Ye Xien tales from China told that slipper made of gold thread and solid gold soles. Ye Xien tales come from Tang Dynasty, and based on the fact that foot binding come from Tang dynasty....may be Ye Xien use this shoes...^^

Scottish Cinderella story use rushes slipper, Egyptian Cinderella( Rosy Rhodopis) has gold slippers. In the German version they’re embroidered with silk and gold thread. In India, it's her nose-ring.

Original Cinderella of the World

Cinderella is one of the most well known stories in the world.

There are more than 1500 versions of the story and almost every culture has one. The earliest recorded tale comes from China in the middle of the ninth century. The story appeared in Miscellaneous Morsels from Youyang, a book dating from the Tang dynasty (618-907 A.D.). The author was Tuan Cheng-Shih. Yeh-shen is the heroine and, she doesn't have a fairy godmother, there is a magical fish to help her and a golden slippers identifies her to the prince. Some reference call Chinese Cinderella with Yeh Hsien or Ye Xien.

Perrault's Cinderella (1697) is the popular version. The popularity of his tale was due to his additions to the story including the pumpkin, the fairy-godmother and the introduction of glass slippers. It was widely believed that in Perrault's version, Cinderella wore fur boots ("pantoufle en vair"), and that when the story was translated into English, vair was mistaken for verre (glass), resulting in glass slippers and that the story has remained this way ever since.However, the "fur theory" has since been disproven.

Disney's Cinderella based on Perrault's Cinderella story.

The Brothers Grimm's german version, Ashenputtel or Aschenbrödel(1812), does not have a fairy godmother. The girl plants a tree on the grave of her mother and magical help comes in the form of a dove.

Ashenputtel by Arthur Rackham

The Scottish Cinderella known as Critheanach with het step sister Geal and Donn.

In Korea, Cinderella known as Kongji, who was mistreated by her stepmother and sister. She goes to a feast prepared by the town's "mayor," and meets his son, with predictable results.

Another early story of the Cinderella type came from Japan, involving Chūjō-hime, who runs away from her evil stepmother with the help of Buddhist nuns, and she joins their convent.

There is also Anne de Fernandez, a tale of the medieval Philippines. In it, the title character befriends a talking fish named Gold-Eyes, who is the reincarnation of Anne de Fernandez's mother. Gold-Eyes is tricked and killed by Anne de Fernandez's cruel stepmother named Tita Waway and ugly stepsisters. They eat Gold-Eyes for supper after sending Anne de Fernandez on an errand across the forest, then show Anne Gold-Eyes' bones when she returns. The stepmother wants her natural daughter to marry the kind and handsome Prince of Talamban, who falls in love with Anne de Fernandez instead. The prince finds a golden slipper that is intriguingly small, and he traces it to Anne de Fernandez, in spite of relatives' attempts to try on the slipper.

Italian version is La gatta cenerentola (The Cat Cinderella) with real name Zenzolla.

Egyptian Cinderella version is Rhodopis(the rosy-cheeked), she had been kidnapped by pirates as a child from her home in the north of Greece and sold into slavery. Her rich employer had many slaves, and one of her fellow slaves was a little old man called Aesop, who was kind and told her stories and fables about birds, animals and humans. But her master wished to make more money so he sent her to the rich Naucratis to be sold. for complete story read here.

Shakuntala, is Cinderella from India. Shakuntala based on Sanskrit epic poem the Mahabarata.

And the perfect ending surely lived happily ever after....

Different version from different culture make different attribute fo Cinderella, especially the little glass slipper, the main attribute of Cinderella.