Ashima

The Echo of the Stone Forest

Sani girl Ashima defies a forced marriage and is swept away, living on as the echo of the stones.

Ashima is the heroine of the Sani people of Yunnan, a girl whose beauty and courage are sung in a long oral poem. When the rich man Rebubabala tries to force her into marriage, her brother Ahei answers his challenges — plowing, singing, and recovering the treasure the suitor hides. The tyrant finally releases the river to drown her, and Ashima becomes the echo that lives in the Stone Forest, calling to her people forever.