A CBS animation:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEvB6h6lOw4
It's described as the original story from China, true enough for most people, but not quite. The story seems to have originated among the Zhuang people in S.W. China, but at the time that the story may have originated, they were on the edge of the then Chinese empire, but not fully absorbed.
There are other variants also, and the possibility cannot be dismissed, that some of the variants are based on a common human experience and the hopes and dreams of those who were victimised in similar circumstances. But neither can we dismiss the possibility that just as products were traded backwards and forwards over the huge Asian trade network, ideas and stories also moved backwards and forwards across Asia.
There's more, but watch the animated cartoon first.