1、Chinese Mythology,Sujie Li 2016-9-20,1,Main Contents,1. A General Discussion of Mythology 2. Ancient Chinese Myths 3. A close Look at two myths,2,What is Mythology?,3,Questions humans asked in its nave infancy about the world and the universe: Why is the sky so high? How is it created? Why is the ea

2、rth under our feet so solid? How was it created? How did we come to have a sun, a moon, and twinkling stars in the universe? Where did humans come from? ,4,Mythology,a system of hereditary stories of ancient origin which were once believed to be true by a particular cultural group, and which served

3、to explain (in terms of the intentions and actions of deities and other supernatural beings) why the world is as it is and things happen as they do, to provide a rationale for social customs and observances, and to establish the sanctions for the rules by which people conduct their lives.,5,An easie

4、r one,Mythology can refer to the collected myths of a group of people and their collection of stories they tell to explain nature, history, and customs - or to the study of such myths. As a collection of explanatory stories, mythology is a vital feature of every culture.,6,Terms differentiation,Lege

5、nd: If the protagonist is a human being rather than a supernatural being, the traditional story is usually not called a myth but a legend. Folktale: If the hereditary story concerns supernatural beings who are not gods, and the story is not part of a systematic mythology, it is usually classified as

6、 a folktale. A myth is one story in a mythology.,7,Mythology of the world,Greek mythology Roman mythology Mythology of the Norseman Each culture may create its own mythology in its efforts to understand the world and in its desire to cope with the inexorability of a given reality, when there was no

7、scientific knowledge to assist them.,8,Chinese myths you know of,9,General intro. of Chinese Myths,Ancient Chinese myths were not recorded in a systematic way in any work, and only fragments of them are extant today. Main collections of ancient myths: 莊子Zhuangzi 列子Liezi 淮南子Writings of Prince Huainan

8、 左傳Chronicles by Zuo Qiuming 國(guó)語(yǔ)Conversations from the States 山海經(jīng)Book of Mountains and Seas,10,General features of Chinese ancient myths,1. Mythical stories are entwined with history. Fuxi, Shennong, Huangdi, Yu are both historical figures according to legend and important characters in mythical stor

9、ies. 2. They sing the praises of labor and creation. Suiren producing fire by drilling in wood, Fuxi making nets fro catching fish and animals by imitating the web of spiders, Shennong tasting all kinds of grass and plants, Yu taming the flood ,11,3. They extol perseverance and self-sacrifice. The s

10、tory of Gun and Yu trying to tame the flood “The Foolish Old Man Removes the Mountain” 4. They praise rebellion against oppression. 5. They eulogize the yearning for true love. “The Cowherd and the Girl Weaver” 6. They encourage good deeds and warn against sin.,12,盤(pán)古開(kāi)天辟地,13,天地渾沌如雞子，盤(pán)古生其中。萬(wàn)八千歲，天地開(kāi)辟，陽(yáng)

11、清為天，陰濁為地。盤(pán)古在其中，一日九變，神于天，圣于地。天日高一丈，地日厚一丈，盤(pán)古日長(zhǎng)一丈，如此萬(wàn)八千歲。天數(shù)極高，地?cái)?shù)極深，盤(pán)古極長(zhǎng)，后乃有三皇。數(shù)起于一，立于三，成于五，盛于七，處于九，故天去地九萬(wàn)里。 藝文類(lèi)聚卷一引三五歷記(三國(guó)）,14,Pangu Separates the Sky from the Earth,The sky and the earth were at first one blurred entity like an egg. Pangu was born into it. The separation of the sky and the earth took

12、eighteen thousand years the yang which was light and pure rose to become the sky, and the yin which was heavy and murky sank to form the earth. Between them was Pangu, who went through nine changes every day, his wisdom greater than that of the sky and his ability greater than that of the earth. Eve

13、ry day the sky rose ten feet higher, the earth became ten feet thicker, and Pangu grew ten feet taller. Another eighteen thousand years passed, and there was an extremely high sky, an extremely thick earth, and an extremely tall Pangu. Then came the Three emperors.,15,So these numbers came into exis

14、tence and evolve like this. The number begins with one, becomes established at three, is completed at five, prospers at seven, and ends in nine. So the sky is ninety thousand li from the earth.,16,精衛(wèi)填海 Jingwei determines to fill up the sea,17,精衛(wèi)填海,發(fā)鳩之山，其上多柘（音這）木，有鳥(niǎo)焉，其狀如烏，文首，白喙，赤足，名曰：“精衛(wèi)”，其鳴自詨（音叫）。是炎

15、帝之少女，名曰女娃。女娃游于東海，溺而不返，故為精衛(wèi)，常銜西山之木石，以堙于東海。 山海經(jīng)北次三經(jīng),18,Jingwei Determines to Fill up the Sea,On Fajiu Hill grew a lot of mulberry trees. Among them lived a bird which looked like a crow, but had a colorful head, a white bill and two read claws. Its call sounded like its name: Jingwei. The bird was sai

16、d to be Emperor Yandis youngest daughter, Nwa, who, while playing on the East Sea, had been drowned and never returned. She had turned into Jingwei, and the bird would often carry bits of twigs and stones all the way from the west mountains to the East Sea to fill it up.,19,How is the universe created according to western mythology or religion? Genesis Prometheus and Pandora,20,Mythology, both western and Chinese, may have ceased to be regarded as religion or serious interpretation of the