The series Graded Readers for Chinese Language Learners is composed of 50 books, divided into three subseries, namely folktales, literary stories and historical stories, corresponding to Levels 1-3 respectively. The rich and fun content and easy-to-understand language makes it easy for everyone, whether they are foreigners learning Chinese, children with parents of Chinese origin, ethnic minority students of the Chinese language, or even primary school students in China, to read this series. It enables the readers to gradually improve their Chinese reading skills and enhance their understanding of Chinese culture by reading and enjoying stories.

The “Folktales” subseries includes 10 stories, hence 10 books, adapted from folk legends, each book written in 20,000-30,000 Chinese characters. The titles of the 10 books are Hua Mulan, Lady White Snake, The Cow Herder and the Weaver Girl, A Golden Millet Dream, Chang’e Flying to the Moon, The Old Man under the Moon, The Butterfly Lovers, Nie Xiaoqian, Chen Shimei, and Beauty from the Painting.

In the book The Cow Herder and the Weaver Girl, Niulang, the Cower Herder, whose parents died when he was young, was mistreated by his sister-in-law so much so that he could only left home, with nobody but a cow by his side. The fairy maiden Zhinu, the Weaver Girl, came to play in the human world and encountered the Cow Herder by chance. The two fell in love, got married and had two children, a son and a daughter. However, the Jade Emperor and the Queen Mother in the heaven, after hearing about this, ordered heavenly soldiers to take the Weaver Girl away. The Cow Herder, carrying the children in baskets, chased after them but was stopped by the Milky Way. He and his wife gazed at each other day after day from the two sides of the Milky Way. Finally the Jade Emperor approved of them meeting once a year on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month. Now they are stars in the sky. 

Ms. Chen Xianchun is a professor at Beijing Language and Culture University who has engaged in the teaching of Chinese as a foreign language since 1975, equipped with rich Chinese teaching experience. Professor Chen has made profound research into the teaching of Chinese reading and has published, in addition to more than 20 academic papers, many monographs and textbooks such as Teaching Reading and Psychology, Typical Characters and Events in Chinese Culture, A Primer on Modern Chinese Reading, An Intensive Chinese Course, and Read This Way.