World Fairy Tale King

Author: Han Jin / Cai Xueyan / Zhang Ziqin
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Publish Date: 2005-03-01
Features: Hans Christian Andersen was a famous Danish fairy tale writer in the 19th century and the founder of world literary fairy tales. He was born into a poor shoemaker family in Odense City. In his early years, he attended a charitable school and worked as an apprentice. Influenced by his father and folk oral literature, he developed a passion for literature from a young age. At the age of 11, his father passed away, and his mother remarried. To pursue his art, he came to the capital, Copenhagen, alone at the age of 14. After 8 years of effort, he finally showed his talent in the poetic drama Alf. As a result, the Royal Danish Theatre sent him to the Slagelse Grammar School and Helsing?r School for free education, which lasted for 5 years. In 1828, he enrolled at the University of Copenhagen. After graduation, he remained jobless and primarily relied on his writing earnings to sustain himself. In 1838, he received the Writers' Prize—the state granted him a non-official allowance of 200 Danish rigsdaler annually. Hans Christian Andersen never married and passed away on August 4, 1875, at the home of his friend, the merchant Michael Joachim.
Hans Christian Andersen's literary career began in 1822. In his early years, he mainly wrote poetry and plays. After entering university, his writing matured. He published travelogues and operettas, as well as poetry collections and poetic dramas. In 1833, he published the novel The Improvisatore, which earned him international acclaim and is considered a masterpiece of his adult literature. "For the sake of future generations," he decided to write fairy tales for children and published Stories for Children. For the following several years, he released a collection of such fairy tales every Christmas. He continued to publish new works until 1872, when he gradually stopped writing due to cancer. Over nearly 40 years, he wrote a total of 168 fairy tales.
Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tales have a unique artistic style: poetic beauty and comic humor. The former is the dominant style, often reflected in celebratory tales, while the latter is more prominent in satirical ones. His creative career can be divided into three periods: early, middle, and late. Early fairy tales are filled with fantastical imagination and an optimistic spirit, embodying a blend of realism and romanticism. Representative works include The Tinderbox, Little Tille, Thumbelina, The Little Mermaid, The Wild Swans, and The Ugly Duckling. Middle-period fairy tales reduce the fantastical elements and increase the realistic ones. They express a persistent pursuit of a better life while revealing a melancholic sense of disillusionment. Notable works include The Little Match Girl, The Snow Queen, The Shadow, A Drop of Water, The Mother's Tale, and The Puppet Master. Late-period fairy tales confront reality more directly, focusing on the suffering of the lower classes and exposing the coldness, darkness, and injustice of society. The tone of these works is somber. Representative works include Dream Under the Willow Tree, She Is a Waste, The Bachelor's Nightcap, and Lucky Bell.
The author of this biography has made every effort to recreate a true fairy tale life of Hans Christian Andersen, showcasing how he transformed from a "ugly duckling" into a "swan." The author strives to describe the circumstances under which Hans Christian Andersen established his "fairy tale kingdom" and rose to the throne of the "King of Fairy Tales," exploring the artistic qualities that make his fairy tales timeless. The author endeavors to immerse himself in Hans Christian Andersen's era and emotional world, writing a life story with vivid plots and well-developed characters. By reading Hans Christian Andersen's works and engaging in a spiritual dialogue with him, readers hope to gain insights into our own lives today: How should one live? How do wonderful fairy tales emerge from life? For young readers, they should also learn many excellent qualities from Hans Christian Andersen, such as his unwavering belief, indomitable will, tolerant nature, kind disposition, patriotic sentiments, and humanitarian spirit.