TextreadingTasks

Mini-pedia(UsedasaGeneralIntroduction)ReadingA1/25AGeneralIntroductiontoChineseMythologyYangLihui,AnDemingPara.1ByChinesemythology,wemeanthebodyofmythshistoricallyrecordedandcurrentlytransmittedwithinthepresentgeographicboundariesofChina.ItshouldincludenotonlymythstransmittedbypeopleoftheHanethnicgroupbutalsothosebytheotherfifty-fiveethnicgroupslivinginthisbroadarea.Sincealmosteveryethnicgrouphasitsownmythicalgodsandstoriesabouttheircreativeactions,thereisnotasystematic,integrated,andhomogeneous“Chinesemythology”heldandtransmittedbyalltheChinesepeople.EvenamongHanpeople,thereisnotanintegratedsystemofmyths.ReadingA2/25Para.2aTheearliestwrittenrecordsofancientmythscanbetracedbacktoabout3,000yearsago,thoughotherformsofdesignsandpaintingsonshells,bones,andbronzesprobablyrelatingtomythappearedearlierthanthis.Recently,researchersfoundabronzevesselnamed“Suigongxu”(SuigongwasadukeoftheSuiState,nowbelongingtomodernShandongProvince;“Xu”isanancientbronzevesselthathasacoverandtwoears;itfunctionsasafoodcontainer),whichcandatebacktothe9thor8thcenturyBC,themiddleoftheWesternZhouDynasty.Theinscriptionontheinsidebottomofthevesselconsistsof98Chinesecharacters,praisingtheachievementsofthemythicheroYu.遂公盨盨底98個漢字3/25Para.2b

IttellsthestorythatheavenorderedYutoscatterearth,soYuwentaroundallthemountains,cuttingdownthetreesintheforestsanddeepeningtheseasandriverstodrainallthewateronearthintothesea.ThisinscriptionshowsthatthetechniqueofrecordingmythinChinesecharactershadbecomerelativelymaturenearly3,000yearsago.Additionally,itillustratesthatatleastaslateasthemiddleoftheWesternZhouDynasty,themythaboutYucontrollingthefloodhadalreadybeenspread,andithadbeenhistoricizedintoalegendaboutagreatherooragreatkingintheupperclassofsociety.4/25Para.3Buttheseinscriptionsrecordedmythsverysimply.Sometimesthemythologicalstoriestheyillustratearehardtounderstand.Therefore,ChinesescholarsrelyprimarilyonaccountsofmythsrecordedinlaterancientwritingsaftertheWesternZhouDynastytostudythesemyths.Para.4a

InChina,thereisnosacredcanonrecordingmyths,beliefs,orsacredhistoryliketheBibleortheKoran,norwerethereanyliterati,troubadours,orshamans(sorcererorsorceress)whocollectedmythsfromoraltraditionandcompiledthemintoasystematicandintegratedmythology,liketheGreekcollectionsattributedtoHomerandHesiod.Rather,mythsinancientChinawereusuallyspreadinscatteredandfragmentedformsinvariouswrittenmaterial.5/25Para.4bThesesourcescontaininformationaboutarchaeology,literature,philosophy,geography,history,witchcraft,ethnography,religion,folklore,andsoon.Manyofthempreserveonlyafewmyths,butsomeofthemholdacomparativelylargenumberofmythsandthusbecometreasuresofancientChinesemyths.Amongthem,Shanhaijing(TheClassicofMountainsandSeas),Chuci(TheSongsofChu)andHuainanziarethoughttobethemajorrepositoriesofChineseancientmyths.Para5

Mythsareneitherstaticnorseparatefromsociety.Rather,theirexistenceandtransmissionaredeeplyinfluencedbytheirsocialandculturalcontexts.Ontheotherside,thosemythsthathavebeenhandeddownforthousandsofyearsandcontainChinesepeople’sphilosophy,art,beliefs,customs,andvaluesystemsalsohavehadagreatinfluenceonChinesesocietyandculture.6/25homogeneous

adj.consistingofthingsorpeoplethatareallthesameorallofthesametype由同種族人組成；由同類組成e.g.Thepeopleofthiscountryarehomogeneous.

這個國家人同屬一個種族。[WordFormation]

homo-+geneous(variationof“genus”)→homogeneous“homo-”,isaprefixwiththemeaningof“same”;“hetero-”,isaprefixwiththeoppositemeaning.

e.g.heterogeneousadj.不一樣類

7/25canon

n.alistofthebooksorotherworksthataregenerallyacceptedasthegenuineworkofaparticularwriterorasbeingimportant真作集；經(jīng)典著作

e.g.WutheringHeightsisacentralbookinthecanonofEnglishliterature.《咆哮山莊》是英國文學

經(jīng)典中一部主要作品。8/25static

adj.notmoving,changingordeveloping靜止；靜態(tài)；停滯e.g.astaticpopulationlevel

穩(wěn)定人口水平[Synonym]unchanging;motionless[Antonym]dynamic

9/25

YutheGreatorDaYu,thelegendarygod-emperor,isknowntotheChinesefortamingthelong-termdestructivefloodingthatswampedChinaabout4,000yearsago.ThismythconsistedtheopeningchapterinthehistoryofhydraulicengineeringinChina.DaYuisalsocreditedwithfoundingtheXiaDynasty,China’searliestrulingfamily.Accordingtothelegend,thespreadofthewatersofthedelugewassodevastatingthatpeoplewagedanunrelentingstrugglewiththisoverwhelmingflood.ItisDaYuwhoadoptedthetacticofchannelingthefloodwatersandeventuallytriumphedinthebattlewithfloodsafter13yearsofstrenuouslabor.Duringallthoseyearsheputallhismindonbattlingthefloodandneversawhisfamily.Asarewardforhisfeat,therulergaveupthethronetoYu,whobecamethefirstemperoroftheXiaDynasty.Yucontrollingtheflood10/25TheBibleisacollectionoftextssacredinJudaismandChristianity.Itisacollectionofscriptureswrittenatdifferenttimesbydifferentauthorsindifferentlocations.JewsandChristiansconsiderthebooksoftheBibletobeaproductofdivineinspirationoranauthoritativerecordoftherelationshipbetweenGodandhumans.Bible11/25KoranisthecentralreligioustextofIslam,whichMuslimsbelievetobearevelationfromGod.ItiswidelyregardedasthefinestpieceofliteratureintheArabiclanguage.12/25Atroubadour(/tru?b?d??r/)wasacomposerandperformeroflyricpoetryduringtheHighMiddleAges(1100–1350).

Thetextsoftroubadoursongsdealmainlywiththemesofchivalryandcourtlylove.Mostweremetaphysical,intellectual,andformulaic.Manywerehumorousorvulgarsatires.13/25Shamanism(/?ɑ?m?niz?m/)isapracticethatinvolvesapractitionerreachingalteredstatesofconsciousnessinordertoperceiveandinteractwithaspiritworldandchannelthesetranscendentalenergiesintothisworld.Ashamanisapersonregardedashavingaccessto,andinfluencein,theworldofbenevolentandmalevolentspirits,whotypicallyentersintoatrancestateduringaritual,andpracticesdivinationandhealing.14/25HomerisbestknownastheauthoroftheIliadandtheOdyssey.HewasbelievedbytheancientGreekstohavebeenthefirstandgreatestoftheepicpoets.AuthorofthefirstknownliteratureofEurope,heiscentraltotheWesterncanon.TheIliadisanancientGreekepicpoemindactylichexameter,traditionallyattributedtoHomer.SetduringtheTrojanWar,theten-yearsiegeofthecityofTroybyacoalitionofGreekstates,ittellsofthebattlesandeventsduringtheweeksofaquarrelbetweenKingAgamemnonandthewarriorAchilles.15/25HesiodwasaGreekpoetgenerallythoughtbyscholarstohavebeenactivebetween750and650BC,aroundthesametimeasHomer.HeisgenerallyregardedasthefirstwrittenpoetintheWesterntraditiontoregardhimselfasindividualpersonawithanactiveroletoplayinhissubject.AncientauthorscreditedHesiodandHomerwithestablishingGreekreligiouscustoms.ModernscholarsrefertohimasamajorsourceonGreekmythology,farmingtechniques,earlyeconomicthought,archaicGreekastronomyandancienttime-keeping.16/25TheSongsofChu(Chuci)isaverse-styleworkcreatedbyQuYuan,agreatpoetintheWarringStatesPeriod(ca.300BC)inancientChina.Itdepictsthelandscapes,characters,historicalevents,aswellasmythsandlegendsoftheChuKingdom(presentHunanandHubeiProvinces)usingtheliterarystyleanddialectphonologyofthearea,thusendowedwithanintensiveflavoroftheregionalculture.17/25HuainanziisacollectionofvariousphilosophicaltreatisescompiledunderthementorshipofLiuAn(劉安)(179-122),PrinceofHuainan,duringthemid-FormerHanperiod.TheHuainanzicontainsalotofstoriesofmythologicalcontentandisthereforearichsourceforancientfolkbeliefs.Someofthemareveryfamous,likeNüwarepairingtheheavens(女媧補天),Houyishootingdownsuperfluoussunsendangeringtheearth(后羿射日),Chang’e’sascensiontothemoon(嫦娥奔月),orhowYutheGreattamedthefloods(大禹治水).18/25

Tasks

1.Eachofthefollowingsixstatementscontainsinformationgiveninoneoftheparagraphs(1-5)inthetext.Identifytheparagraphfromwhichtheinformationisderived.Youmaychooseaparagraphmorethanonce.19/25StatementParagraphTherecentlyuncovered“Suigongxu”isanancientvesselwhichrecordsthehistoricalmythsofthegreatheroDaYuwhocontrolledtheflood.2)ChinesemythsareavitalpartofChineseculture.UnlikeWesternmyths,mythsinancientChinawereusuallyspreadinscatteredformsinvariouswrittenmaterials.Chinesemythologyreferstomythstransmittedbypeopleofallfifty-sixethnicgroupslivinginChina.5)Shanhaijing,Chuci,andHuainanziareimportantsources

ofancientChinesemyths.ThesystemofChinesemythologyisnotintegratedandhomogeneous.25414120/252.CompareWesternandChinesemythologiesbycompletingthefollowingchartbasedonyourunderstandingofthetext.Movethetagsontheleftintothecorrespondingcategoryandsupplementwithexamples.Thefirstonehasbeendoneforyou.21/25ChinesemythologysacredcanontagsWesternmythologypeoplewhocollectedandcompiledmythologybookswithmiscellaneoussubjectsbutcontainingmanymythssacredcanone.g.:theBible,theKoranpeoplewhocollectedandcompiledmythologye.g.:thegreatGreekwritersHomerandHesiodbookswithmiscellaneoussubjectsbutcontainingmanymythse.g.:Shanhaijing(TheClassicofMountainsandSeas),Chuci(TheSongsofChu),andHuainanzi22/25

Mini-pedia:

Shanhaijing(TheClassicofMountainsandSeas):aGemofancientChineseMythsTheClassicofMountainsandSeasisanancientbookofpre-QinDynasty,featuringlotsofancientChinesemythologies.Thebookisanessentialsourceforresearchintohistory,folkcustoms,ancientgeographyandscienceandtechnologies.Duetoitsage,theauthor,editorandcomposingdateofthebookarehardtoestablish.23/25TheClassicofMountainsandSeasisdividedinto18sections,including5sectionsofMountainClassics,8sectionsofSeaClassics,4sectionsofClassicsoftheGreatWildernessand1sectionofClassicsofReligionswithintheSeas.Thebookis31,000

wordslong.Itdocumentedlandscapes,mythologicalstories,specialproducts,witchcraft,religiousbeliefs,folkmedicineandcustoms,etc.inmorethan100small