“Aladdin, which most people today associate with Persia and the Middle East thanks to films such as The Thief of Bagdad (1924) and Disney’s Aladdin (1992), was one of the more popular nineteenth-century productions set in China because of its romantic and moralistic storyline and its potential as a spectacle.Composers and librettists sometimes chose Persia as the setting for the tale because One Thousand and One Nights was from that region of the world and, like China, was a popular imaginative space for Americans and Europeans.” Moon explains in Yellowface: Creating the Chinese in American Popular Music and Performance, 1850s-1920s: While Chinese Muslims did exist - the Hui being the most famous, dating back to the beginnings of the Silk Road - Galland’s version of the story is indicative of the Orientalist tradition of Western storytellers that sees the conflation of diverse Eastern cultures into one. The Sultan is referred to as such and not in Chinese terms as “the Emperor,” and other characters are clearly also Muslim, not Buddhist or Confucians, as their dialogue is filled with devout Muslim remarks and platitudes. The assumption of a Middle Eastern origin comes mainly from the character names, like Princess Badroulbadour, which means “full moon of full moons” in Arabic. Galland’s tale isn’t even set in the Middle East - it’s actually set in a Chinese city, and Aladdin is not an orphan but a poor Chinese boy living with his mother, with the only other location mentioned in the story being Maghreb, North Africa, where the sorcerer is from. According to Galland’s diaries, he had heard the story from a Syrian scholar in Aleppo - but no one has actually been able to find an original Arabic source for it. The story of “Aladdin’s Wonderful Lamp” didn’t even appear in the collection until French translator Antoine Galland added it in 1710. The stories are not just Arabic tales, but also have roots in Persian, Mesopotamian, Indian, Jewish and Egyptian folklore and literature. See full ranking most popular tags Garden Moon Africa River Dog Cat Greece Island Archipelago Egypt Spain Sea Turkey Bridge witcher Lego Swimming pool Pyramid Monument Castle Hamster Horse Ice cream Painting Paris Windmill Planet Bicycle Sun Bird Ocean Architecture Waterfall Warsaw Turtle Living room Tourism Vacation Château Skyscraper Dawn Basilica Synagogue Happiness Hotel Vegetable Universe Horse tack Balloon Mosque Jewellery Photography Travel Sailboat Cathedral Carving Bedroom Sculpture Dragon New York City Lighthouse Dining room lobby Cave Caving Glacier Hound London Viaduct Tortoise Atoll Snake Asia Shrine Board game Overpass Boyfriend salon Pączki Luck South America Miłość Parlour Lock and key bight Kitten Puppy Wilderness Underwater environment Safari Kurilian Bobtail Foal Sea turtle Hummingbird Capybara Siberian tiger City Town Pavement (architecture) Fountain Property Kitchen Interior design Colosseum Ancient Rome DreamWorks Pictures Star Stable Five Nights at Freddy's Angry Birds Minecraft Roblox jeff the killer freecell solitaire Among Us Mountain Lake Forest Summer Ukraine Holiday Cove Valley Spring (season) Autumn Sunset Volcano Villa Palace Bay Historic site outdoor structure Water transportation Metropolitan area Lighting Town square Ecosystem Plant community Prairie Branch Courtyard Barrel Sunrise Resort town setting Child Eyelash Portrait Suit Hand K-pop Harry Potter Hermione Granger Joint Stranger Things Millie Bobby Brown Finn Wolfhard Noah Schnapp Europe Man Paul Wesley Tom Felton Madelaine Petsch Camila Mendes Hero Fiennes Tiffin dominika skoczylas Screenshot product Symmetry Electronics Visual arts Gadget Rose Meadow bouquet Wildflower Petal Tulip Botany Nymphaea alba Flower Basket Easter Bunny Easter egg Winter Christmas tree Snow ornament Christmas decoration Christmas ornament Christmas lights Christmas Eve Train Car Ship Airplane Love Smile Heart Fruit Dessert dish Superfood Natural food Japanese cuisine Fast food Soup Drink Water Volleyball Recreation Equestrianism Sports equipment Tournament player Football Rugby league Running Ski Vincent van Gogh Mona Lisa Still life Fractal art Cubism Michelangelo Abstraction (art) Pablo Picasso Stanisław Wyspiański Frida Kahlo Levi Shoto Todoroki Katsuki Bakugo jw.Aladdin first appeared in One Thousand and One Nights, a famous collection of Middle Eastern folk tales from the Islamic Golden Age (between the 8th and 13th Century) which was first translated into English, and renamed the Arabian Nights, over 400 years later.
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