FAIRYTALES: An origin story.

​I have always been a massive fan of fairytales, and all the old and creepy ones have fascinated me for years.

I recently came across an article that I found very interesting, which was talking about the first recorded instance of the earliest form of a wedding dress. Wedding dresses and wedding ceremonies are so embedded in the world's culture these days that I had to stop and realise that of course it hasn't always been that way. 

In fact, the wedding dress is a fairly new invention, as this article points out. 

But the thing that interested me, was the earliest recorded text of a wedding dress (acording to this article) was a Chinese fairytale... which I have outlined below the break if you are interested.

​First up, if you are keen, here is a link to the article, which I found quite interesting to read, if you are into that kind of thing.

And here is a fairytale:


Once upon a time, in a green and misty country at the center of the world, there lived a clever dog who was also a dragon. Naturally, he was unmarried. This dragon-dog, named Panhu, was the servant of an emperor, who was at war with a fractious general. One day, the emperor proclaimed that any man who could bring him the head of his enemy would be given the hand of his daughter in marriage.
Panhu was not a man, but being loyal and courageous he promised to become one upon vanquishing the enemy so he could marry the princess. He succeeded, changed into human form, and was engaged to the emperor’s daughter. To make sure that the union was a lucky one, the empress dressed the princess in a beautiful phoenix dress and phoenix crown, and Panhu carried his bride off to live in the southern mountains. They were happy and had many children. When it came time for their own daughter to marry, a real phoenix flew out of a mountain and presented the girl with a colorful phoenix dress all her own.


​Fairytales are so interesting to me, and I collect a lot of old books full of them.

Do you like them? 
I'd love to hear from you!
:)