ChineseAncient Mythology 中国远古神话

 

Chinesemythology is a collection of history, folktales(民间传说) and cultures that have been passed down by generations in oral orwritten form. Within the Chinese society, there are many stories aboutcreation. Back in the beginning, China was not a single country, but ascattering of different groups (tribes) across Asia. Because of this there aremany different stories of how the world came to be. Some people believe thesestories are factual recordings of the Chinese history. Historians have foundthat Chinese mythology began in 12th century B.C. These myths have been passeddown over thousands of years, before being written down in early books such as Commentary on the Waterways Classic (Shui Jing Zhu^①)and Classic of Mountains and Seas (Shan Hai Jing^②).

A strikingfeature of Chinese mythical stories, either those created by the primitivepeople or those written by later scholars, are full of human feelings. Chineseinventors of myths describe gods the way they describe man, or treat them as ifthey were human, and endow them with human nature. There are also stories thattry to illustrate fatalism (宿命论), reincarnation (转世说), and all sorts of feudal ethical principles. This is only natural,because literary works inevitably reflect the beliefs of the age in which theyare produced. Chinese myths are greatly influenced by religious beliefs,particularly Taoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism. The following are twogenerally accepted Chinese creation stories.

Pangu and the Creation of the World

In the beginningthere was darkness everywhere, and chaos ruled. Within the darkness thereformed an egg, and inside the egg the giant Pangu came into being. For manyyears, safely inside the egg, Pangu slept and grew. When he had grown togigantic size he stretched his huge limbs and in so doing broke the egg. Thelighter parts of the egg floated upwards to form the heavens and the denserparts sank downwards, to become the earth. And so was formed earth (yin) and sky(yang).

Pangu saw whathad happened and he was pleased. But he feared that heaven and earth might jointogether again, so he placed himself between them, his head holding up the skyand his feet firmly upon the earth. Pangu continued to grow at a rate of tenfeet (3 meters) a day for 18,000 years, so increasing the distance betweenheaven and earth, until they seemed fixed and secure. Now exhausted, Pangu wentback to sleep and never woke up.

 Pangu died, and his body went to make theworld and all its elements. The wind and clouds were formed from his breath,his voice was thunder and lightning, his eyes became the sun and moon, his armsand his legs became the four directions of the compass and his trunk became themountains. His flesh turned into the soil and the trees that grow on it, his bloodinto the rivers that flow and his veins into paths men travel. His body hairbecame the grass and herbs, while precious stones and minerals were formed fromhis bones and teeth. His sweat became the dew and the hair of his head becamethe stars that trail throughout heaven. As for the parasites on his body, thesebecame the diverse races of humankind. Although Pangu is dead, some say he isstill responsible for the weather, which changes according to his moods.

Nuwa Makes Men and Mends the Sky

It is said thatthere were no men when the sky and the earth were separated. It was Nuwa whomade men by molding yellow clay. The work was so taxing (费力) that her strength was not equal to it. So she dipped a rope intothe mud and then lifted it. The mud that dripped from the rope also became men.Those made by molding yellow clay were rich and noble, while those made bylifting the rope were poor and low.

In ancienttimes, the four corners of the sky collapsed and the world with its nineregions split open. The sky could not cover all the things under it, nor couldthe earth carry all the things on it. A great fire raged and would not die out;a fierce flood raced about and could not be controlled. Violent beasts devoured(吞食) innocent people; vicious (恶毒的) birds preyed on theweak and old.

 Then Nuwa melted rocks of five colors and usedthem to mend the cracks in the sky. She supported the four corners of the skywith the legs she had cut off from a giant turtle. She killed the black dragonto save the people of Jiuzhou^③,and blocked the flood with the ashes of reeds(芦苇).

Thus the sky wasmended, its four corners lifted, the flood tamed, Jiuzhou pacified, and harmfulbirds and beasts killed, and the innocent people were able to live on thesquare earth under the dome of the sky. It was a time when birds, beasts,insects and snakes no longer used their claws or teeth or poisonous stings, forthey did not want to catch or eat weaker things.

 Nuwa’s deeds benefited the heavens above andthe earth below. Her name was remembered by later generations and her lightshone on every creation. Now she was traveling on a thunder-chariot drawn by atwo-winged dragon and two green hornless dragons, with auspicious objects (吉祥物) in her hands and a specialmattress underneath, surrounded by golden clouds, a white dragon leading theway and a flying snake following behind. She never boasted of her achievements,nor did she try to win any fame; she wanted to conceal her virtues, in linewith the ways of the universe.

 

Abridgedand revised from

http://www.chinavoc.com/history/ancient/myth_nw.htm

Notes:

① Shui Jing Zhu: 《水经注》, 南北朝时期北魏郦道元的著作, 全书30多万字，详细介绍了中国境内千余条河流以及与这些河流相关的郡县、城市、物产、风俗、传说、历史等。

② Shan Hai Jing：《山海经》, 中国先秦重要古籍，也是一部荒诞不经的奇书, 作者不详,《山海经》传世版本共计18卷，包括《山经》5卷，《海经》13卷。

③ Jiuzhou：九州，传说古代分中国为九州，对于九州的具体分布说法不一，比较常见的九州划分为：兖、冀、青、徐、扬、荆、 豫、梁、雍九州。现常用“九州”泛指天下，全中国。