''The Five Chinese Brothers'' is an American

children's book Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader. Children's ...

written by

Claire Huchet Bishop Claire Huchet Bishop (30 December 1898 – 13 March 1993) was a Swiss children's writer and librarian. She wrote two Newbery Medal runners-up, ''Pancakes-Paris'' (1947) and ''All Alone (Claire Huchet Bishop novel), All Alone'' (1953), and she w ...

and illustrated by

Kurt Wiese Kurt Wiese (April 22, 1887 – May 27, 1974) was a German-born book illustrator, who wrote and illustrated 20 children's books and illustrated another 300 for other authors. Background Kurt Wiese was born on April 22, 1887, in Minden, Germ ...

. It was originally published in 1938 by

Coward-McCann G. P. Putnam's Sons is an American book publisher based in New York City, New York. Since 1996, it has been an imprint of the Penguin Group. History The company began as Wiley & Putnam with the 1838 partnership between George Palmer Putnam and J ...

. The book is a retelling of a Chinese folk tale, '' Ten Brothers''.

Plot

In the Imperial China of the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

, there are five brothers who "all looked exactly alike." They each possess a special talent: the first brother can swallow the sea, the second has an unbreakable iron neck, the third can stretch his legs to incredible lengths, the fourth is immune to burning, and the fifth can hold his breath forever. The five live with their mother by the sea. The first brother, a fisherman, is able to catch rare fish that sell at the market quite well, allowing the family to live comfortably. One day, he agrees to let a young boy accompany him on his fishing trip. He holds the entire sea in his mouth so that the boy can retrieve fish and other sea treasures from the seabed. When he can no longer hold in the sea, he frantically signals for the boy to return to shore. The boy ignores him, and then drowns in the sea when the man is forced to expel the water. The first brother returns alone, and is accused of murder and sentenced to death. However, one by one, his four brothers assume his place before four attempts at execution. They are each able to carry forth this deception, by convincing the judge to let them return home briefly to bid their mother goodbye, before each method of execution is attempted. The second brother, with his iron neck, cannot be beheaded; the third brother, with his ability to stretch his legs all the way to the bottom of the ocean, cannot be drowned; the fourth brother, with his immunity to burning, is unharmed at the stake, and the fifth brother, with his ability to hold his breath, survives overnight in an oven full of whipped cream. Finally, the judge decrees that since the man could not be executed, he must have been innocent. The man is released, and all five brothers live happily ever after with their mother.

Reception and controversy

Though often considered a classic of children's literature, ''The Five Chinese Brothers'' has been accused of promoting

ethnic stereotypes An ethnic stereotype, racial stereotype or cultural stereotype involves part of a system of beliefs about typical characteristics of members of a given ethnic group, their status, societal and cultural norms. A national stereotype, or nation ...

about the Chinese, particularly through its illustrations, and many teachers have removed the book from their classrooms. However, the book has had some defenders. In a 1977 ''

School Library Journal ''School Library Journal'' (''SLJ'') is an American monthly magazine containing reviews and other articles for school librarians, media specialists, and public librarians who work with young people. Articles cover a wide variety of topics, with ...

'' article, Selma G. Lanes described the illustrations as "cheerful and highly appealing", characterizing Wiese's "broad cartoon style" as "well suited to the folk-tale, a genre which deals in broad truths". Republished as: Based on a 2007 online poll, the

National Education Association The National Education Association (NEA) is the largest labor union in the United States. It represents public school teachers and other support personnel, faculty and staffers at colleges and universities, retired educators, and college stude ...

listed the book as one of its "Teachers' Top 100 Books for Children."

Plot

Reception and controversy

References

Further reading