Six Crimson Cranes

A work that blends fantasy, adventure, and romance, Six Crimson Cranes heavily draws upon many fairy tales, reimagining familiar stories. The most prominent fairy tale that Elizabeth Lim alludes to is “The Wild Swans,” a Hans Christian Andersen story about an evil woman who marries a widowed king and curses his children. In the original fairy tale, the queen transforms the 11 brothers into swans but also banishes the princess, makes her unrecognizable, and forces her into silence under the threat of killing her brothers. Lim also alludes to other European fairy tales. Drawing upon “Cinderella,” Takkan finds Shiori’s slipper, the only clue he has in his search for her. Shiori and her brothers’ quest for Raikama’s true name and Zairena’s spinning of golden thread echo “Rumpelstiltskin.” Shiori’s approach to marriage and eventual connection to Takkan as her betrothed echo the conflict in Thumbelina, another Andersen story.

Like her chosen setting, Lim weaves European fairy tales with those from Japan and China. “The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter,” also known as “The Tale of Princess Kaguya,” is a Heian Period Japanese tale about the immortal princess of the moon, who rebuffs many suitors until she falls in love with an emperor, but ultimately returns to the heavens. The moon goddess in Lim’s universe, Imurinya, parallels this story as well as the Chinese legend of Chang’e, the Moon Lady, who chooses to live out her immortality on the moon to be closer to her mortal husband. Raikama has a history that mirrors some of this mythology, but Lim has also incorporated elements of one of China’s Four Great Folktales, “The Legend of the White Snake.” In this legend, a white snake becomes immortal, transforms herself into a human, and falls in love with a mortal man, keeping her true identity a secret for many years—just as Raikama does. Shiori’s curse is based on the Japanese folktale of “Hachikazuki,” that of a beautiful girl whose face is concealed by a walnut bowl and who suffers under a cruel stepmother. The girl finds menial work in another lord’s home, and the lord’s son falls in love with her, a storyline which Lim incorporates as Shiori’s stay at Castle Bushian.

By incorporating many fairy tales in her work, Lim demonstrates that stories from different cultures are indeed compatible and even complementary. Additionally, by incorporating universal elements from these stories, such as the tropes of a cursed princess and evil stepmother, Lim adapts the familiar to create nuanced storytelling that explores more complicated arcs and relationships.