Chinese Mythology - Part 1
|
 Chinese mythology is a collection of cultural history, folktales, and religious traditions that has been passed down for centuries in oral or written form. There are several aspects to Chinese mythology, including creation myths and legends, and myths concerning the founding of Chinese culture and the Chinese state. Chinese mythology generally concerns moral issues and informs people about their culture and values. Like many mythologies, some people believe it to be at least in part a factual recording of history.
Chinese myths are thought to have originated around the twelfth century B.C.E., and were transmitted orally for over one thousand years before being recorded in books such as Shui Jing Zhu and Shan Hai Jing. These early works are the sources for the myths which are extant today. There has been extensive interaction between Chinese mythology and the major belief systems of Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism. Elements of pre-existing mythology were adapted into these belief systems, and some of the teachings and beliefs of these systems also became incorporated into Chinese mythology.
Records of Chinese Mythology
 Shan Hai Jing (Mountain and Sea Scroll) is a Chinese classic text that is at least 2,000 years old and describes the myths, witchcraft, and religion of ancient China in great detail and also has a record of the geography, sea and mountains, history, medicine, customs, and ethnicities of ancient times. Many description are very mundane, and an equal number are fanciful or strange. Each chapter follows roughly the same formula, and the whole book is extremely repetitious in this way. It does contain many short myths, and most rarely exceeds a paragraph. The most famous ancient Chinese myth from this book is that of the ancient Chinese figure, such as Great Yu, who spent years trying to control the deluge. His account is in the last chapter, chapter 18, in the 2 nd to last paragraph (roughly verse 40). This account is a much more fanciful account than the depiction of him in the Classic of History. In Anne Birrell’s translation, Nüwa is not present in the flood story, but another account of her is very briefly touched in chapter 16. Generally, the book is considered classical mythology.
Shui Jing Zhu (Commentaries on the Water Scroll) began as commentaries on the briefer work of the Water Scroll, but became famous in its own rights, because of its extensive record of geography, history, and associated legends, written by Li Daoyuan in the Northern Wei Dynasty(386-534). The book of Shuijing (Waterways Classic) was written by Sang Qin in the Three Kingdoms Period(220-280), and annotated by Li Daoyuan, forming the book of Shui Jing Zhu . The original version consisted of 40 books. Li Daoyuan(469-527) was born in Zhuo County , Fanyang( in today’s Hebei Province).
 With his footprints covering south of the Great Wall, north of the Qinling Mountains and the Huaihe River, Li Daoyuan obtained encyclopedic knowledge. Many of the data in the book came from his field investigations. There were only 127 watercourses in Shui Jing, but his commentary contained 1,252 watercourses, with 300,000 words, 20 times more than the previous level.
 Shui Jing Zhu described hills, lakes, counties, cities, frontier passes, together with showplaces, soil, vegetation, climate, hydrology and economy, custom and tradition, historical stories, etc.,which the watercourses went through. Shui Jing Zhu contributed much to the development of Chinese geography, with a prominent role in the geographical history in China and in the world. The description of the mountains, rivers and sceneries in this book is also considered literary works and has been much appreciated by later generations.
Hei'an Zhuan (Epic of Darkness) is the only collection of legends in epic form preserved by a community of the Han ethnicity of China, the inhabitants of the Shennongjia mountain area in Hubei, and contains accounts from the birth of Pangu until the historical era.
Imperial historical documents and philosophical canons such as Shangshu, Shiji, Liji, Lushi Chunqiu, and others contain information about the foundation of China and the legendary emperors and heroes who established the Chinese nation and culture.
Creation Myths
A unique characteristic of Chinese culture is the relatively late appearance in Chinese literature of creation myths. Those that do exist appeared well after the foundation of Confucianism, Taoism, and folk religions. The stories exist in several, often conflicting, versions, with the creation of the first humans variously ascribed to Shangdi, Heaven, Nuwa, Pangu, and Yu Huang.
Shangdi (上帝)， appeared in literature probably about 700 B.C.E., or earlier (the dating of these occurrences depends on the date of the Shujing ("Book of History"). No specific "creation" narratives were associated Shangdi, although he could be seen as a creator. Shangdi appears to have the attributes of a "person;" detailed references to Shangdi as the creator are not explicitly identified until about the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.E. – 222 C.E.).
Nüwa (女媧), who appeared in literature no earlier than about 350 B.C.E., is said to have recreated, or created the human race. Her companion was Fuxi伏羲), the brother and husband of Nuwa. These two beings are sometimes worshipped as the ultimate ancestor of all humankind. They are often represented as half-snake, half-human creatures. Nüwa was also responsible for repairing the sky after Gong Gong damaged the pillar supporting the heavens.
 It is said that Nüwa existed in the beginning of the world. She felt lonely as there were no animals, so she began the creation of animals and humans. On the first day she created chickens. On the second day she created dogs. On the third day she created sheep. On the fourth day she created pigs. On the fifth day she created cows. On the sixth day she created horses. On the seventh day she began creating men from yellow clay, sculpting each one individually, yet after she had created hundreds of figures in this way she still had more to make but had grown tired of the laborious process. So instead of hand crafting each figure, she dipped a rope in clay and flicked it so blobs of clay landed everywhere; each of these blobs became a common person. Nüwa still laboriously crafted some people out of clay, who became nobles.
 Pangu (盤古), who appeared in literature no earlier than about 200 C.E., was the first sentient being and creator. In the beginning there was nothing but a formless chaos. Out of this chaos there was born an egg, which remained for 18,000 years. When the forces of Yin and Yang balanced, Pangu emerged from the egg, and set about the task of creating the world. With a swing of his great axe, he separated Yin and Yang. The heavy Yin sank to become the Earth, while the light Yang rose to become the Heavens. Pangu stood between them, and pushed up the sky. At the end of eighteen thousand years, Pangu laid to rest. His breath became the wind; his voice the thunder; left eye the sun and right eye the moon; his body became the mountains and extremes of the world; his blood formed rivers; his muscles the fertile lands; his facial hair the stars and milky way; his fur the bushes and forests; his bones the valuable minerals; his bone marrows sacred diamonds; his sweat fell as rain; and the little creatures on his body (in some versions, the fleas), carried by the wind, became human beings all over the world. Although Pangu is dead, some say he is still responsible for the weather, which fluctuates according to his moods.
 Yu Huang (玉皇, or Jade Emperor), including representations of him such as YuanshiTianzun (元始天尊), Huangtian Shangdi (皇天帝), appear in literature well after the establishment of Taoism in China. He is one of the most important gods of the Chinese traditional religion pantheon. According to another version of creation myth, the Jade Emperor fashioned the first humans from clay, but as he left them to harden in the sun, it rained, misshaping some of the figures, thus explaining the origin of sickness and physical abnormalities |
