The Art of Eastern Storytelling

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the public library I found an interesting little 2025 book by Henry Lien titled Spring, Summer, Asteroid, Bird: The Art of Eastern Storytelling. There is a Google Books preview of the first 15 pages. He says although we may be used to seeing the usual:

 

WESTERN STORY STRUCTURE

 

Act One – Setup

Act Two – Confrontation

Act Three – Resolution

 

there also is a different:

 

EAST ASIAN FOUR ACT STRUCTURE

 

Act One – The Introduction of the Main Elements

Act Two – The Development of the Main Elements

Act Three – The Twist/New Element

Act Four – The Harmonizing of All Elements

 

and there also are Circular/Nested Structures. 

 

Sections and Chapters in his book are (with examples in italics):

 

OPENING BOWS

Diversity = Forms, Not just Faces  3

A Game of Lenses  4

Disclaimers and Definitions  7

Hamilton and Different Levels of Diversity  8

Cultural Appropriation  9

‘Spring, Summer, Asteroid, Bird’  11

 

ACT ONE – The East Asian Four-Act Story Structure

Western Story Structures  17

East Asian Four-Act Structure  21

‘The Daughters of Itoya’  25

Parasite  29

Nintendo (Mario and Zelda Games)  39

Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World  46

Your Name  53

Four-Act Structure in Western Stories  61

 

ACT TWO – Circular/Nested Story Structures

Circular/Nested Structures  69

The Story of the Stone  72

Rashomon  75

The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate  81

Everything Everywhere All at Once  88

Metroid Games  94

Circular/Nested Structures in Western Stories  97

 

ACT THREE – People Aren’t People

Introduction – ‘Shakespeare in the Bush’  103

Cultural Arrogance  105

Individualism versus Collectivism  107

Surface Diversity  113

The Opposite of Surface Diversity  115

 

ACT FOUR – Values Dictate Structures

Values Dictate Structures  123

Values Dictating Four-Act Structure  125

My Neighbor Totoro  127

Values Dictating Circular/Nested Structures  134

Hero  139

The Thousand and One Nights  147

 

CLOSING BOWS

 

He has an article at NextBigIdeaClub on March 5, 2025 titled

What Western Creatives Can Learn from Eastern Storytelling.

 

There is also a post at the reedsy blog on November 22, 2023 titled Story Structure: 7 Types All Writers Should Know.

 

An 1842 painting by Marie-Éléonore Godefroid of the Thousand and One Nights came from Wikimedia Commons.