Khmer dance of the Suvannamaccha in Cambodia.
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Mermaids in South East AsiaHowever, the legends of mermaids are told very differently in the Eastern world. Countries such as Cambodia, Thailand and China included and depicted Mermaids or Mermen in their fine art. Examples of this are from the Khmer/Thai story of Suvannamaccha meaning the 'Golden Fish'. The legend foretold that a princess (from the Aquatic Kingdom) tries to spoil Hanuman's (a ruler of the animal kingdom, who depicted as a monkey) plan to build a bridge to a place called Lanka (an inescapable prison) to release his friend. The princess tried to destroy his plan, but failed instead because she fell in love with Hanuman. This story is depicted in many popular artworks by both countries. |
Mermaid in ChinaIn the ancient fairytales of China, mermaids are special creatures whose tears could turn into priceless pearls. Mermaids could weave an extremely valuable material or priceless beautiful artifacts. Due to this, fishermen longed to catch them, but the mermaids' beautiful singing could simply drag them down into a coma.
The legend also included mermaids were born with purple tails that smelled of happiness. If sadness or death occurred during the mermaids' lifetime, their tails would turn dark red. It would also smell like sadness too. That is why fishermen longed to catch mermaids in order to sniff their purple or red tails. |