![Nine-Dragons1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3e/Nine-Dragons1.jpg)
Chinese mythology () is
mythology
Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narra ...
that has been passed down in oral form or recorded in literature in the geographic area now known as
Greater China
Greater China is an informal geographical area that shares commercial and cultural ties with the Han Chinese people. The notion of "Greater China" refers to the area that usually encompasses Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan in East ...
. Chinese mythology includes many varied myths from regional and cultural traditions.
Much of the mythology involves exciting stories full of fantastic people and beings, the use of magical powers, often taking place in an exotic mythological place or time. Like many mythologies, Chinese mythology has in the past been believed to be, at least in part, a factual recording of history. Along with
Chinese folklore
Chinese folklore encompasses the folklore of China, and includes songs, poetry, dances, puppetry, and tales. It often tells stories of human nature, historical or legendary events, love, and the supernatural. The stories often explain natural phe ...
, Chinese mythology forms an important part of
Chinese folk religion
Chinese folk religion, also known as Chinese popular religion comprehends a range of traditional religious practices of Han Chinese, including the Chinese diaspora. Vivienne Wee described it as "an empty bowl, which can variously be filled ...
. Many stories regarding characters and events of the distant past have a double tradition: ones which present a more historicized or euhemerized version and ones which present a more mythological version.
Many myths involve the creation and cosmology of the universe and its deities and inhabitants. Some mythology involves creation myths, the origin of things, people and culture. Some involve the origin of the Chinese state. Some myths present a chronology of prehistoric times, many of these involve a
culture hero who taught people how to build houses, or cook, or write, or was the ancestor of an ethnic group or dynastic family. Mythology is intimately related to ritual. Many myths are oral associations with ritual acts, such as dances, ceremonies, and sacrifices.
Mythology and religion
There has been extensive interaction between Chinese mythology and
Confucianism
Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, a way of governing, or a ...
,
Taoism
Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of philosophical thought (道家; ''daojia'') or to a religion (道教; ''daojiao''), both of which share ideas and concepts of Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmony with the '' Ta ...
, and
Buddhism
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religions, Indian religion or Indian philosophy#Buddhist philosophy, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha. ...
. Elements of pre-
Han dynasty
The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...
mythology such as those in
Classic of Mountains and Seas
The ''Classic of Mountains and Seas'', also known as ''Shan Hai Jing'', formerly romanized as the ''Shan-hai Ching'', is a Chinese classic text and a compilation of mythic geography and beasts. Early versions of the text may have existed sin ...
were adapted into these belief systems as they developed (in the case of Taoism), or were assimilated into Chinese culture (in the case of Buddhism). Elements from the teachings and beliefs of these systems became incorporated into Chinese mythology. For example, the Taoist belief of a spiritual
Paradise
In religion, paradise is a place of exceptional happiness and delight. Paradisiacal notions are often laden with pastoral imagery, and may be cosmogonical or eschatological or both, often compared to the miseries of human civilization: in parad ...
became incorporated into mythology as the place where immortals and deities used to dwell. Sometimes mythological and religious ideas have become widespread across China's many regions and diverse ethnic societies. In other cases, beliefs are more limited to certain social groups, for example, the veneration of white stones by the
Qiang. One mythological theme that has a long history and many variations involves a
shamanic
Shamanism is a religious practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with what they believe to be a spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiri ...
world view, for example in the cases of
Mongolian shamanism
Mongolian shamanism ( mn, Бөө мөргөл — ''Böö mörgöl''), more broadly called the Mongolian folk religion, or occasionally Tengerism, refers to the animistic and shamanic ethnic religion that has been practiced in Mongolia and i ...
among the Mongols,
Hmong shamanism among the
Miao people, and the
shamanic beliefs of the Qing dynasty from 1643 to 1912, derived from the
Manchus
The Manchus (; ) are a Tungusic East Asian ethnic group native to Manchuria in Northeast Asia. They are an officially recognized ethnic minority in China and the people from whom Manchuria derives its name. The Later Jin (1616–1636) and ...
. Politically, mythology was often used to legitimize the dynasties of China, with the founding house of a dynasty claiming a divine descent.
Mythology and philosophy
Elaborations on the
Wu Xing Wuxing may refer to:
Places in China Counties and districts
*Huzhou, formerly Wuxing County, Zhejiang, China
*Wuxing District (吴兴区), central district of Huzhou
Subdistricts (五星街道)
*Wuxing Subdistrict, Mudanjiang, in Dong'an District ...
are not really part of mythology, although belief in five elements could appear. The
Hundred Schools of Thought
The Hundred Schools of Thought () were philosophies and schools that flourished from the 6th century BC to 221 BC during the Spring and Autumn period and the Warring States period of ancient China.
An era of substantial discrimination in China ...
is a phrase suggesting the diversity of philosophical thought that developed during the
Warring States
The Warring States period () was an era in ancient Chinese history characterized by warfare, as well as bureaucratic and military reforms and consolidation. It followed the Spring and Autumn period and concluded with the Qin wars of conquest ...
of China. Then, and subsequently, philosophical movements had a complicated relationship with mythology. However, as far as they influence or are influenced by mythology, divides the philosophical camps into two rough halves, a Liberal group and a Conservative group. The liberal group being associated with the idea of individuality and change, for example as seen in the mythology of divination in China, such as the mythology of the dragon horse that delivered the eight ''bagua'' diagrams to Fu Xi, and methods of individual empowerment as seen in the ''Yi Jing'' (''Book of Changes''). The Liberal tendency is towards individual freedom, Daoism, and Nature. The relationship of the Conservative philosophies to mythology is seen in the legendary
Nine Tripod Cauldrons
The Nine Tripod Cauldrons () were a collection of ding cast by the legendary Yu the Great of the Xia dynasty of ancient China. They were viewed as symbols of the authority given to the ruler by the mandate of heaven.
At the time of the Shang dyna ...
, mythology about the emperors and central bureaucratic governance, Confucianism, written histories, ceremonial observances, subordination of the individual to the social groups of family and state, and a fixation on stability and enduring institutions. The distinction between the Liberal and Conservative is very general, but important in Chinese thought. Contradictions can be found in the details, however these are often traditional, such as the embrace by Confucius of the philosophical aspects of the ''Yi Jing'', and the back-and-forth about the
Mandate of Heaven wherein one dynasty ends and another begins based according to accounts (some of heavily mythological) where the Way of Heaven results in change, but then a new ethical stable dynasty becomes established. Examples of this include the stories of
Yi Yin
Yi Yin (, born Yī Zhì ( 伊 挚), also known as A Heng ( 阿 衡)), was a Chinese politician who served as a minister of the early Shang dynasty, and one of the honoured officials of the era. He helped Tang of Shang, the founder of the Shang dyna ...
,
Tang of Shang
Cheng Tang (), personal name Zi Lü (), recorded on oracle bones as Da Yi (大乙), was the first king of the Shang dynasty in Chinese history. Traditionally considered a virtuous ruler, he overthrew Jie, the last ruler of the Xia dynasty.
Ris ...
and
Jie of Xia or the similar fantastic stories around
Duke of Zhou
Dan, Duke Wen of Zhou (), commonly known as the Duke of Zhou (), was a member of the royal family of the early Zhou dynasty who played a major role in consolidating the kingdom established by his elder brother King Wu. He was renowned for acting ...
and
King Zhou of Shang
King Zhou (; ) was the pejorative posthumous name given to Di Xin of Shang () or King Shou of Shang (), the last king of the Shang dynasty of ancient China. He is also called Zhou Xin (). In Chinese, his name Zhòu ( 紂) also refers to a horse cr ...
Mythology and ritual
Mythology exists in relationship with other aspects of society and culture, such as ritual. Various rituals are explained by mythology. For example, the ritual burning of
mortuary banknotes (Hell Money), lighting
fireworks
Fireworks are a class of low explosive pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. They are most commonly used in fireworks displays (also called a fireworks show or pyrotechnics), combining a large number of devices ...
, and so on.
Yubu
A good example of the relationship of Chinese mythology and ritual is the Yubu, also known as the Steps or Paces of
Yu. During the course of his activities in controlling the Great Flood, Yu was supposed to have so fatigued himself that he lost all the hair from his legs and developed a serious limp. Daoist practitioners sometimes incorporate a curiously choreographed pedal locomotion into various rituals. Mythology and practice, one explains the other: in these rituals, the sacred time of Yu merges with the sacral practice of the present.
Cosmology
Various ideas about the nature of the earth, the universe, and their relationship to each other have historically existed as either a background or a focus of mythologies. One typical view is of a square earth separated from a round sky by sky pillars (mountains, trees, or undefined). Above the sky is the realm of Heaven, often viewed of as a vast area, with many inhabitants. Often the heavenly inhabitants are thought to be of an "as above so below" nature, their lives and social arrangements being parallel to those on earth, with a hierarchical government run by a supreme emperor, many palaces and lesser dwellings, a vast bureaucracy of many functions, clerks, guards, and servants. Below was a vast under ground land, also known as
Diyu
Diyu () is the realm of the dead or "hell" in Chinese mythology. It is loosely based on a combination of the Buddhist concept of Naraka, traditional Chinese beliefs about the afterlife, and a variety of popular expansions and reinterpretations o ...
, Yellow Springs, Hell, and other terms. As time progressed, the idea of an underground land in which the souls of the departed were punished for their misdeeds during life became explicit, related to developments in Daoism and Buddhism. The underground world also came to be conceived of as inhabited by a vast bureaucracy, with kings, judges, torturers, conductors of souls, minor bureaucrats, recording secretaries, similar to the structure of society in the Middle Kingdom (earthly China).
Mythological places and concepts
The mythology of China includes a mythological geography describing individual mythological descriptions of places and the features; sometimes, this reaches to the level of a cosmological conception. Various features of mythological terrain are described in myth, including a Heavenly world above the earth, a land of the dead beneath the earth, palaces beneath the sea, and various fantastic areas or features of the earth, located beyond the limits of the known earth. Such mythological features include mountains, rivers, forests or fantastic trees, and caves or grottoes. These then serve as the location for the actions of various beings and creatures. One concept encountered in some myths is the idea of travel between Earth and Heaven by means of climbing up or down the pillars separating the two, there usually being four or
Eight Pillars
The Eight Pillars also known as Eight Pillars of the Sky are a concept from Chinese mythology. Located in the eight cardinal directions, they are a group of eight mountains or pillars which have been thought to hold up the sky. They are symbolicall ...
or an unspecified number of these Sky Ladders.
Directional
The
Four Symbols of Chinese cosmology were the
Azure Dragon of the East, the
Black Tortoise
The Black Tortoise () is one of the Four Symbols of the Chinese constellations. Despite its English name, it is usually depicted as a tortoise entwined together with a snake. The name used in East Asian languages does not mention either anima ...
of the North, the
White Tiger
The white tiger or bleached tiger is a leucistic pigmentation variant of the Mainland tiger. It is reported in the wild from time to time in the Indian states of Madhya Pradesh, Assam, West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, in the Sunderbans region and ...
of the West, and the
Vermillion Bird
The Vermilion Bird ( zh, c=朱雀, p=Zhūquè) is one of the Four Symbols of the Chinese constellations. According to Wu Xing, the Taoist five elemental system, it represents the Fire element, the direction south, and the season summer correspo ...
of the South. These totem animals represented the four cardinal directions, with a lot of associated symbolism and beliefs. A fifth cardinal direction was also postulated: the center, represented by the emperor of China, located in the middle of his Middle Kingdom (Zhong Guo, or China). The real or mythological inhabitants making their dwellings at these cardinal points were numerous, as is associated mythology.
Heavenly realm
![Guo Xu album dated 1503 (11)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bc/Guo_Xu_album_dated_1503_%2811%29.jpg)
The Heavenly realm could be known as Tian,
Heaven, or the sky. Sometimes this was personified into a deity (sky god). In some descriptions, this was an elaborate place ruled over by a supreme deity, or a group of supreme deities. Jade Emperor being associated with Daoism and Buddhas with Buddhism. Many astronomically observable features were subjects of mythology or the mythological locations and settings for mythic scenes these include the sun, stars, moon, planets, Milky Way (sometimes referred to as the
River of Heaven), clouds, and other features. These were often the home or destination of various deities, divinities, shamans, and many more. Another concept of the Heavenly realm is that of the Cords of the Sky. Travel between Heaven and Earth was usually described as achieved by flying or climbing. The Queqiao () was a bridge formed by birds flying across the Milky Way, as seen in
The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl
"The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl" are characters found in Chinese mythology and characters appearing eponymously in a romantic Chinese folk tale. The story tells of the romance between Zhinü (; the weaver girl, symbolizing the star Vega) and N ...
mythology surrounding the
Qixi Festival
The Qixi Festival ( zh, 七夕), also known as the Qiqiao Festival ( zh, 七巧, links=no), is a Chinese festival celebrating the annual meeting of Zhinü and Niulang in Chinese mythology... The festival is celebrated on the seventh day of the ...
. The
hazy band of stars of the
Milky Way
The Milky Way is the galaxy that includes our Solar System, with the name describing the galaxy's appearance from Earth: a hazy band of light seen in the night sky formed from stars that cannot be individually distinguished by the naked eye. ...
was referred to as the "Silvery River" or the "River of Heaven".
Subterranean realm
![Tainan Madou Dai Tian Temple Eighteen Levels of Hell](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9f/Tainan_Madou_Dai_Tian_Temple_Eighteen_Levels_of_Hell.jpg)
According to mythology, beneath the Earth is another realm—-an underground world generally said to be inhabited by the souls of dead humans and various supernatural beings (see
hun and po
''Hun'' () and ''po'' () are types of souls in Chinese philosophy and traditional religion. Within this ancient soul dualism tradition, every living human has both a spiritual, ethereal, yang soul which leaves the body after death, and also a c ...
). This
hell is known by various names, including
Diyu
Diyu () is the realm of the dead or "hell" in Chinese mythology. It is loosely based on a combination of the Buddhist concept of Naraka, traditional Chinese beliefs about the afterlife, and a variety of popular expansions and reinterpretations o ...
or the Yellow Springs. In more recent mythology, the underground inhabitation of the dead is generally described as somewhat similar to the land above: it possesses a hierarchical government bureaucracy, centered in the capital city of
Youdu
Youdu () in Chinese mythology is the capital of Hell, or Diyu. Among the various other geographic features believed of Diyu, the capital city has been thought to be named Youdu. It is generally conceived as being similar to a typical Chinese capit ...
. The rulers of the underground realm are various kings, whose duties include parsing the souls of the dead according to the merits of their life on earth, and maintaining adequate records regarding that process. (An example of one such ruler is
Yánluó wáng ("King Yanluo")). Souls are parsed and adjudicated for torturous punishment by balancing ones’ crimes in life against any merits earned through good deeds. Various other functions within Diyu are performed by minor officials and minions, examples of whom are
Ox-Head and Horse-Face
Ox-Head () and Horse-Face () are two guardians or types of guardians of the underworld in Chinese mythology. As indicated by their names, both have the bodies of men, but Ox-Head has the head of an ox while Horse-Face has the face of a horse. Th ...
, humanoid devils with animal features. In some versions of mythology or Chinese folk religion, souls are returned from Diyu and reincarnated after being given the Drink of Forgetfulness by
Meng Po
Meng Po () is the goddess of forgetfulness in Chinese mythology, who serves Meng Po Soup on the Bridge of Forgetfulness or Naihe Bridge (). This soup wipes the memory of the person so they can reincarnate into the next life without the burdens o ...
.
Earthly realm
Much mythology involves remote, exotic, or hard-to-get-to places. All sorts of mythological geography is said to exist at the extremes of the cardinal directions of earth. Much of the earthly terrain has been said to be inhabited by local spirits (sometimes called fairies or genii loci), especially mountains and bodies of water. There are
Grotto Heavens, and also earthly paradises.
=Seas, rivers, and islands
=
Various bodies of water appear in Chinese mythology. This includes oceans, rivers, streams, ponds. Often they are part of a mythological geography, and may have notable features, such as mythological islands, or other mythological features. There are mythological versions of all the major rivers that have existed in China in between ancient and modern China (most of these rivers are the same, but not all). Sometimes these rivers are said to originate from the Milky Way or Kunlun. Anyway, they are said to flow west to east because
Gonggong
Gonggong () is a Chinese water god who is depicted in Chinese mythology and folktales as having a copper human head with an iron forehead, red hair, and the body of a serpent, or sometimes the head and torso are human, with the tail of a serpe ...
wrecked the world pillar at Buzhou, tilting Earth and Heaven away from each other at that sector. Examples of these mythologized rivers include the
Yangzi
The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest river in Asia, the third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains (Tibetan Plateau) and flows ...
(including various stretches under different names), the
Yellow River
The Yellow River or Huang He (Chinese: , Mandarin: ''Huáng hé'' ) is the second-longest river in China, after the Yangtze River, and the sixth-longest river system in the world at the estimated length of . Originating in the Bayan Ha ...
, the mythological
Red River in the west, near Kunlun, and the
Weak River
Weak may refer to:
Songs
* "Weak" (AJR song), 2016
* "Weak" (Melanie C song), 2011
* "Weak" (SWV song), 1993
* "Weak" (Skunk Anansie song), 1995
* "Weak", a song by Seether from '' Seether: 2002-2013''
Television episodes
* "Weak" (''Fear t ...
, a mythological river in "the west", near "Kunlun", which flowed with a liquid too light in specific gravity for floating or swimming (but unbreathable). Examples of features along mythological rivers include the Dragon Gates (
Longmen Longmen () may refer to:
*Longmen (mythology), The Dragon Gate in Chinese mythology, located at the top of a waterfall cascading from a legendary mountain
*Longmen Grottoes, collection of Buddhist cave art in Luoyang
*Longmen Mountains, mountain ra ...
) which were rapid waterfalls where select carp can transform into dragons, by swimming upstream and leaping up over the falls. Examples of islands include
Mount Penglai
Penglai () is a legendary land of Chinese mythology. It is known in Japanese mythology as Hōrai. McCullough, Helen. ''Classical Japanese Prose'', p. 570. Stanford Univ. Press, 1990. .
Location
According to the ''Classic of Mountains and Seas ...
, a paradisaical isle in the sea, vaguely east of China but sometimes conflated with
Japan.
=Mountains and in-between places
=
Various other mythological locales include what are known as fairylands or paradises, pillars separating Earth and Sky, ruined or otherwise. The Earth has many extreme and exotic locales – they are separated by
pillars between Earth and Heaven, supporting the sky, usually four or eight. Generally, Chinese mythology regarded people as living in the middle regions of the world and conceived the exotic earthly places to exist in the directional extremes to the north, east, south, or west. Eventually, the idea of an eastern and western paradise seems to have arisen. In the west according to certain myths there was Kunlun. On the eastern seacoast was
Feather Mountain
Feather Mountain () is one of many important mythological mountains in Chinese mythology, particularly associated with the Great Flood. According to the mythological studies of Lihui Yang, Gun was executed on the "outskirts" of Feather Mountain b ...
, the place of exile of Gun and other events during or just after the
world flood. Further east was
Fusang
Fusang () refers to various entities, most frequently a mythical tree or location east of China, described in ancient Chinese literature.
In the ''Classic of Mountains and Seas'' and several contemporary texts, the term refers to a mythological ...
, a mythical tree, or else an island (sometimes interpreted as Japan). The geography of China, in which the land seems to be higher in the west and tilt down toward the east and with the rivers tending to flow west-to-east was explained by the damage Gonggong did to the world pillar
Mount Buzhou
Mount Buzhou (不周山 lit. "Unrevolving Mountain") was an ancient Chinese mythological mountain which, according to old texts, lay to the northwest of the Kunlun Mountains, in a location today referred to as the Pamir Mountains. It is the mountai ...
, mountain pillars separating the sky from the world (China), which also displaced the Celestial Pole, so that the sky rotates off-center.
=Kunlun
=
In the west was Kunlun (although also sometimes said to be towards the south seas). Kunlun was pictured as having a mountain or mountain range,
Kunlun Mountain where dwelt various divinities, grew fabulous plants, home to exotic animals, and various deities and immortals (today there is a real mountain or range named Kunlun, as there has in the past, however the identity has shifted further west over time). The
Qing Niao bird was a mythical bird, and messenger of
Xi Wangmu
The Queen Mother of the West, known by various local names, is a mother goddess in Chinese religion and mythology, also worshipped in neighbouring Asian countries, and attested from ancient times. From her name alone some of her most importan ...
to the rest of the world. Nearby to Kunlun, it was sometimes said or written and forming a sort of protective barrier to the western paradise or "fairyland" named Xuánpǔ () where also was to be found the jade pool Yáochí (), eventually thought to exist on mount Kunlun (which itself was thought to possess cliffs insurmountable to normal mortals was the
Moving Sands, a semi-mythological place also to the west of China (the real Taklamakan Desert to the west of or in China is known for its shifting sands). There were other locations of mythological geography around the area of Kunlun such as
Jade Mountain and the various colored rivers which flew out of Kunlun. For example, the Red, or
Scarlet River was supposed to flow to the south of Kunlun.
Mythological and semi-mythological chronology
Mythological and semi-mythological chronology includes mythic representations of the creation of the world, population (and sometimes re-populations) by humans, sometimes floods, and various cultural developments, such as the development of ruling dynasties. Many myths and stories have been recounted about the early dynasties, however, more purely historical literature tends to begin with the
Qin dynasty
The Qin dynasty ( ; zh, c=秦朝, p=Qín cháo, w=), or Ch'in dynasty in Wade–Giles romanization ( zh, c=, p=, w=Ch'in ch'ao), was the first dynasty of Imperial China. Named for its heartland in Qin state (modern Gansu and Shaanxi), ...
(for example, see Paladin 1998). On the other hand, accounts of the Shang, Xia, and early Zhou dynasties tend to mythologize. By a historical process of
euhemerism many of these myths evolved over time into variant versions with an emphasis on moral parables and rationalization of some of the more fantastic ideas.
Mythology of time and calendar
![Guardians of Day and Night, Han Dynasty](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e8/Guardians_of_Day_and_Night%2C_Han_Dynasty.jpg)
Mythology of time and the calendar includes the twelve zodiacal animals and various divine or spiritual genii regulating or appointed as guardians for years, days, or hours.
Twelve zodiacal animals
In China and surrounding areas, a calendrical system consisting of measuring time in cycles of twelve represented by twelve has an ancient historical past. The exact line-up of animals is sometimes slightly different, but the basic principle is that each animal takes a turn as the emblematic or totem animal for a year or other unit of time in a cycle of one dozen. This is explained by various myths.
The zodiacs in order are: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig
Correlation of mythological and real time
Some Chinese mythology becomes specific about chronological time, based on the ''
ganzhi
The sexagenary cycle, also known as the Stems-and-Branches or ganzhi ( zh, 干支, gānzhī), is a cycle of sixty terms, each corresponding to one year, thus a total of sixty years for one cycle, historically used for recording time in China and t ...
'' system, numbers of human generations, or other details suggesting synchronization between the mythological chronology and the ideas of modern historians. However, real correlation begins in the Year of the Metal Monkey, Zhou dynasty, 841 BCE, a since validated claim by
Sima Qian. However, although historians take note of this, subsequent mythology has not tended to reflect this quest for rational, historical timelining.
Creation myths
Various ideas about the creation of the universe, the earth, the sky, various deities and creatures, and the origin of various clans or ethnic groups of humans have circulated in the area of China for millennia. These creation myths may include the origins of the universe and everything, the origins of humans, or the origins of specific groups, such as a Han Chinese in descent from Yandi and Huangdi (as , "Descendants of the Flame and Yellow Emperors"). Various myths contain explanations of various origins and the progress of cultural development.
Pangu
One common story involves
Pangu
Pangu (, ) is a primordial being and creation figure in Chinese mythology who separated heaven and earth and became geographic features such as mountains and rivers.
Legends
The first writer to record the myth of Pangu was Xu Zheng during t ...
. Among other sources, he was written about by Taoist author
Xu Zheng c. 200 CE, as claimed to be the first sentient being and creator, "making the heavens and the earth".
Age of heroes
Various culture heroes have been said to have helped or saved humanity in many ways, such as stopping floods, teaching the use of fire, and so on. As mythic chronology is inherently nonlinear, with time being telescopically expanded or contracted, there are various contradictions. The earliest culture heroes were sometimes considered deities and other times heroic humans, but often little distinction was made. Examples of early culture heroes include
Youchao
Youchao (, lit. "Nest-Owner") is the inventor of houses and buildings, according to China's ancient mythology. He is said to have been one of The Three August Ones in ancient China. He is an obscure figure, also known as Da Chao (). Tradition hold ...
("Have Nest") who taught people how to make wooden shelters,.) and
Suiren
Suiren ( zh, , ''Suìrén'', lit. "Flint Man") appears in Chinese mythology and some works which draw upon it. He is credited as a culture hero who introduced humans to the production of fire and its use for cooking. He was included on some ...
("Fire Maker") who taught people the use of
fire
Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material (the fuel) in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction products.
At a certain point in the combustion reaction, called the ignition point, flames a ...
and cooking thus saving them from much food-poisoning, in addition to developing
cuisine. Another example of a mythological hero who provided beneficial knowledge to humanity involves
sericulture
Sericulture, or silk farming, is the cultivation of silkworms to produce silk. Although there are several commercial species of silkworms, '' Bombyx mori'' (the caterpillar of the domestic silkmoth) is the most widely used and intensively stud ...
, the production of
silk
Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from the ...
: an invention credited to
Leizu, for one. An example of a non-Han ethnicity culture hero is
Panhu. Because of their self-identification as descendants from these original ancestors, Panhu has been worshiped by the
Yao people
The Yao people (its majority branch is also known as Mien; ; vi, người Dao) is a government classification for various minorities in China and Vietnam. They are one of the 55 officially recognised ethnic minorities in China and reside in t ...
and the
She people, often as King Pan, and the eating of dog meat was tabooed. This ancestral myth has also been found among the
Miao people and
Li people. Some of the first culture heroes are the legendary emperors who succeeded the times of the part-human, part-serpent deities Nuwa and Fuxi; these emperors tend to be portrayed as more explicitly human, although Huangdi, the Yellow Emperor, is often portrayed as part-dragon during life.
Mythological emperors
Historicity
Some historicized versions of semi-historical and undeniably mythologized accounts of ancient times were used by those who have attempted to apply actual BCE dates to the mythological chronology. Traditional Chinese accounts of the early emperors chronologically locate the Yellow Emperor as having lived in the Northern Chinese plain around 2698 to 2599 BCE, about seventeen generations after the time of Shennong. A major difference between the possible historicity of material embedded in mythological accounts is that through the time of the last Flame Emperor (Yandi) information was recorded using knotted ropes, whereas the introduction of writing is associated with the reign of Huang Di (although the historical continuity of written tradition beginning at that time is a matter of discussion by experts). The most prominent of the first emperors include, in chronological order, Huangdi, Gaoyang (Zhuanxu), Gaoxin (Di Ku), Yao, and Shun. These emperors were said to be morally upright and benevolent, and examples to be emulated by latter-day kings and emperors. Sometimes approximate calculations of times have been made based on the claimed number of generations from one significant mythological figure to the next, as in the case of the legendary founder of the Ji family,
Hou Ji
Hou Ji (or Houji; ) was a legendary Chinese culture hero credited with introducing millet to humanity during the time of the Xia dynasty.. Millet was the original staple grain of northern China, prior to the introduction of wheat. His name translat ...
, whose descendants would rule generations after his mythological appearance as the historical
Zhou dynasty
The Zhou dynasty ( ; Old Chinese ( B&S): *''tiw'') was a royal dynasty of China that followed the Shang dynasty. Having lasted 789 years, the Zhou dynasty was the longest dynastic regime in Chinese history. The military control of China by ...
, beginning around 1046 BCE. Despite various assignments of dates to the accounts of these Emperors, fantastic claims about the length of their reigns are common. The average reign-lengths that these numbers imply are improbable, and there is a lack of consensus regarding these dates by modern historians. Their historical use may be limited to establishing a relative chronology.
Houji
Houji was a cultural hero, of the agricultural type.
Chiyou
![Chi You](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2c/Chi_You.gif)
Chiyou (also known as Ch'ih Yu) was a metallurgical engineer, specializing in weaponry.
Three Primeval Emperors, Five Premier Emperors, and Three Dynasties
The mythological history of people (or at least the Han Chinese people) begins with two groups, one of three and one of five. The numbers are symbolically significant, however, the actual membership of the two groups is not explicated. There are different lists. The older group is the Three Primeval Emperors, who were followed by the Five Premier Emperors. After that came the Three Dynasties: these were the
Xia dynasty
The Xia dynasty () is the first dynasty in traditional Chinese historiography. According to tradition, the Xia dynasty was established by the legendary Yu the Great, after Shun, the last of the Five Emperors, gave the throne to him. In tradit ...
,
Shang dynasty
The Shang dynasty (), also known as the Yin dynasty (), was a Chinese royal dynasty founded by Tang of Shang (Cheng Tang) that ruled in the Yellow River valley in the second millennium BC, traditionally succeeding the Xia dynasty and ...
, and the
Zhou dynasty
The Zhou dynasty ( ; Old Chinese ( B&S): *''tiw'') was a royal dynasty of China that followed the Shang dynasty. Having lasted 789 years, the Zhou dynasty was the longest dynastic regime in Chinese history. The military control of China by ...
. These three are all historically attested to, but separating the myth from the history is not always clear; nevertheless, there is a lot of mythology around the Three Primeval Emperors, Five Premier Emperors, and Three Dynasties. An age of Three Primeval Emperors followed by the age of the Five Premier Emperors (''Sānhuáng-Wǔdì'') contrasts with the subsequent treatment of chronology by dynasties, up to recent times. Since the time the
Qin emperor titled himself ''huangdi'' by combining two previous titles into one, ''huangdi'' was the title for Chinese emperors for ages.
Three Primeval Emperors
=Title
=
The title of the Three Primeval Emperors is ''huang'', in Chinese. The original connotation of this title is unknown, and it is variously translated into English. Translations include "Sovereign", "Emperor", and "August".
=Names
=
The names of the Three Primeval Emperors include Youchao ("Have Nest"), Suiren ("Fire Maker"), Paoxi/Fuxi ("Animal Domesticator"), and Shennong ("Divine Husbandman"). Sometimes Huangdi is included.
Five Premier Emperors
=Title
=
The title of the Five Premier Emperors is ''di'', in Chinese. The original connotation of this title is unknown, or how it compares or contrasts with the term ''huang'', and it is variously translated into English. Translations include "Sovereign", "Emperor", and "Lord".
=Names
=
Names of the Five Premier Emperors include Huangdi, Shaohao, Zhuanxu, Di Ku, Yao, and Shun.
Nuwa and Fuxi
![Anonymous-Fuxi and Nüwa](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4a/Anonymous-Fuxi_and_N%C3%BCwa.jpg)
Nuwa and Fuxi (also known as Paoxi) are sometimes worshiped as the ultimate ancestor of all humankind and are often represented as half-snake, half-humans. Nuwa's companion, Fuxi, was her brother and husband.
Nuwa saves the world
After
Gong-Gong was said to have damaged the world pillar holding the earth and sky apart, the sky was rent causing fires, floods (the
Flood of Nuwa) and other devastating events which were only remedied when Nüwa repaired the sky with five colored stones. The figure of Nüwa, also referred to as Nü Kwa, appeared in literature no earlier than c. 350 BCE. It is sometimes believed that Nüwa molded humans from clay to populate or re-populate the world, thus creating modern humans.
Fuxi and the Yellow River map
The production of the
Yellow River Map
The Yellow River Map, Scheme, or Diagram, also known by its Chinese name as the Hetu, is an ancient Chinese diagram that appears in myths concerning the invention of writing by Cangjie and other culture heroes. It is usually paired with the ...
is associated mythologically with Fuxi but is also sometimes placed in subsequent eras.
Shennong and the Flame Emperors
Shennong
Shennong (), variously translated as "Divine Farmer" or "Divine Husbandman", born Jiang Shinian (), was a mythological Chinese ruler known as the first Yan Emperor who has become a deity in Chinese and Vietnamese folk religion. He is vene ...
is variously translated as "Divine Farmer" or "Divine Peasant", or "Agriculture God", and also known as the Wugushen (Spirit of the Five Grains) and Wuguxiandi "First Deity of the Five Grains". Shennong is a mythological Chinese
deity in
Chinese folk religion
Chinese folk religion, also known as Chinese popular religion comprehends a range of traditional religious practices of Han Chinese, including the Chinese diaspora. Vivienne Wee described it as "an empty bowl, which can variously be filled ...
and venerated as a
mythical sage ruler of prehistoric China. Shennong's descendants began to style themselves as Flame Emperors, or ''Yandi''. Yandi was sometimes considered an important mythological emperor, but better considered as series of emperors bearing the same title, the "Flame Emperor(s)". ''Yan'' literally means "flame", implying that Yan Emperor's people possibly uphold a symbol of fire as their tribal
totem
A totem (from oj, ᑑᑌᒼ, italics=no or '' doodem'') is a spirit being, sacred object, or symbol that serves as an emblem of a group of people, such as a family, clan, lineage, or tribe, such as in the Anishinaabe clan system.
While ''the ...
s.
K. C. Wu
K. C. Wu () (October 21, 1903 – June 6, 1984) was a Chinese political figure and historian. Among other offices, he served as Mayor of Shanghai and as Chairman of the Taiwan Provincial Government.
Early life
Wu was born in Central China and ...
speculates that this appellation may be connected with the use of fire to clear the fields in
slash and burn
Slash-and-burn agriculture is a farming method that involves the cutting and burning of plants in a forest or woodland to create a field called a swidden. The method begins by cutting down the trees and woody plants in an area. The downed veget ...
agriculture. And, Yandi is also a Red Emperor.
Huangdi, the "Yellow Emperor", and Leizu
One of the more important figures in Chinese mythology is Huang Di, sometimes translated into English as Yellow Emperor. His original name was Yellow Soil or Huangdi where di was the Chinese word for soil or ground. He was named after the Yellow Soil in the Yellow River Basin area where Chinese civilization was thought to have originated. Future generations later changed it to di or emperor in order to give Huangdi a more sovereign-sounding name. He also appears as Xuanyuan. Huang Di is also referred to as one of the Five August ones, and one of the few consistent members of the list. There were also other colored emperors, such as Black, Green, Red, and White. According to some mythology, Huang Di was the son of Shaodian, who was the half-brother of Yan Di. Huang Di's mother was said to be
Fubao Fubao (), a woman from the Youjiao clan, was, according to Chinese mythology sources, the mother-in-law of the inventor of silk, Leizu; mother of Huang Di the Yellow Emperor; and, wife of Shaodian. However, the mythological genealogy varies. Fubao i ...
. Huang Di's wife Leizu is supposed to have invented sericulture. In some versions
Cangjie
Cangjie () is a legendary ancient Chinese figure said to have been an official historian of the Yellow Emperor and the inventor of Chinese characters.
Legend has it that he had four eyes, and that when he invented the characters, the deities an ...
invented writing during the reign of Huang Di. The Yellow Emperor is said to have fought a great battle against
Chiyou
Chiyou (蚩尤, ) is a mythological being that appears in East Asian mythology.
Individual
According to the Song dynasty history book '' Lushi'', Chiyou's surname was Jiang (), and he was a descendant of flame.
According to legend, Chiyou had a ...
. Huangdi had various wives and many descendants, including
Shaohao
Shaohao or Shao Hao ( "Lesser Brightness"), also known Jin Tian (金天), was a legendary Chinese sovereign. Shaohao is usually identified as a son of the Yellow Emperor. According to some traditions (for example the '' Book of Documents''), he i ...
(leader of the
Dongyi
The Dongyi or Eastern Yi () was a collective term for ancient peoples found in Chinese records. The definition of Dongyi varied across the ages, but in most cases referred to inhabitants of eastern China, then later, the Korean peninsula, and Ja ...
).
Di Ku
Ku, Di Ku, Ti K'u, or Diku, is also known as Kao Hsin or Gāoxīn. Diku is an important mythological figure, as signified by his title ''Di'' (), basically signifying possession of some sort of imperial divinity, as in the sense of the Roman title ''
wikt:divus''; something sometimes translated as "emperor". Diku is sometimes considered to descend from Huangdi and to be ancestral to the ruling family of the
Shang dynasty
The Shang dynasty (), also known as the Yin dynasty (), was a Chinese royal dynasty founded by Tang of Shang (Cheng Tang) that ruled in the Yellow River valley in the second millennium BC, traditionally succeeding the Xia dynasty and ...
of the second millennium BCE. Diku is credited with the invention of various musical instruments along with musical pieces for them to accompany. Diku is said to have consorted with the semi-divine females
Jiang Yuan Jiang Yuan () is an important figure in Chinese mythology and history. She is recorded as having lived during ancient Chinese history. Jiang Yuan was the mother of Houji, who is a culture hero and revered as the god of millet.
Clan name and title
J ...
and
Jiandi
Jiandi (), also with variants 簡易/简易 and 簡逷/简逷, is an important figure in Chinese history and Chinese mythology. She was the second wife of Emperor Ku, who was a descendant of the Yellow Emperor. Jiandi was the mother of Xie (偰), ...
.
Yao and Shun
Yao and Shun were important mythological rulers, exemplars of propriety in rulership. The Great Flood began during the reign of Yao and continued through the time of
Shun
Shun may refer to one of the following:
*To shun, which means avoiding association with an individual or group
* Shun (given name), a masculine Japanese given name
*Seasonality in Japanese cuisine (''shun'', 旬)
Emperor Shun
* Emperor Shun ( ...
(the successor of Yao, who had passed over his own son and made Shun his successor because of Shun's ability and morality). Historically, when
Qin Shi Huang
Qin Shi Huang (, ; 259–210 BC) was the founder of the Qin dynasty and the first emperor of a unified China. Rather than maintain the title of " king" ( ''wáng'') borne by the previous Shang and Zhou rulers, he ruled as the First Empero ...
united China in 221 BCE, he used propaganda to acclaim his achievements as surpassing those of mythological rulers who had gone before him. He combined the ancient titles of ''Huáng'' () and ''Dì'' () to create a new title, ''Huángdì'' (); thus, the Qin emperor used mythology to bolster his claims to be the legitimate and absolute ruler of the whole earth. This reflected what was to become a longstanding belief that all civilized people should have one government, and that it should be Chinese.
Gun, Yu, and the Great Flood
Shun passed on his place as emperor to
Yu the Great
Yu the Great (大禹) was a legendary king in ancient China who was famed for his introduction of flood control, his establishment of the Xia dynasty which inaugurated dynastic rule in China, and his upright moral character. He figures promine ...
. The
Yellow River
The Yellow River or Huang He (Chinese: , Mandarin: ''Huáng hé'' ) is the second-longest river in China, after the Yangtze River, and the sixth-longest river system in the world at the estimated length of . Originating in the Bayan Ha ...
, prone to flooding, erupted in a huge flood in the time of Yao. The flood disrupted society and endangered human existence, as agricultural fields drowned, hunting game disappeared, and the people were dislocated to hills and mountains. Yu's father,
Gun
A gun is a ranged weapon designed to use a shooting tube (gun barrel) to launch projectiles. The projectiles are typically solid, but can also be pressurized liquid (e.g. in water guns/cannons, spray guns for painting or pressure washing, p ...
, was put in charge of flood control by Yao, but failed to alleviate the problem after nine years. In some versions Gun was executed by Shun's minister
Zhurong
Zhurong (), also known as Chongli (), is an important personage in Chinese mythology and Chinese folk religion. According to the '' Huainanzi'' and the philosophical texts of Mozi and his followers, Zhurong is a god of fire and of the south.
Th ...
for this failure, but according to others Gun was merely exiled for opposing the elevation of Shun as co-emperor. In more purely mythological versions, the story is more along the lines that Gun transformed into an animal shape to escape the wrath of Heaven (for having dared to go to Heaven and steal the flood-fighting expanding earth ''xirang''). He fled to
Feather Mountain
Feather Mountain () is one of many important mythological mountains in Chinese mythology, particularly associated with the Great Flood. According to the mythological studies of Lihui Yang, Gun was executed on the "outskirts" of Feather Mountain b ...
and was struck dead by the fire god
Zhurong
Zhurong (), also known as Chongli (), is an important personage in Chinese mythology and Chinese folk religion. According to the '' Huainanzi'' and the philosophical texts of Mozi and his followers, Zhurong is a god of fire and of the south.
Th ...
on behalf of Heaven. After three years, his son Yu appeared out of his belly, usually said to be in the form of some fantastic animal. Yu took his father's place fighting the flood, leading the people to build canals and levees, often said to be with the help of
Xirang
''Xirang'' (), also known as ''hsi-jang'', Swelling Earth, self-renewing soil, breathing earth, and living earth is a magical substance in Chinese mythology that had a self-expanding ability to continuously grow – which made it particularly effec ...
. After thirteen years of toil, Yu abated the flood. Why the Xirang failed to work when Gun used it and he was punished by Heaven, but when Yu used it he was able to stop the flood and was rewarded by Heaven, is a question frequently made in the myths. The mythology of Yu and his associates during their work in controlling the flood and simultaneously saving the people can be seen in various ways to symbolize different societal and cultural developments, such as innovations in hunting, agriculture, well-digging, astronomy, social and political organizing, and other cultural innovations that occur during the course of the mythology around the flood stories. For example, a historicized version of ''xirang'' explains this soil may represent an innovative type of raised garden, made up of soil, brushwood, and similar materials. Thus, Yu and his work in controlling the flood with ''xirang'' would symbolize a societal development allowing a large scale approach to transforming wetlands into arable fields. Yu was said to be the founder of the
Xia dynasty
The Xia dynasty () is the first dynasty in traditional Chinese historiography. According to tradition, the Xia dynasty was established by the legendary Yu the Great, after Shun, the last of the Five Emperors, gave the throne to him. In tradit ...
.
First dynasties
The first three dynasties have especial significance in mythology.
Xia dynasty
The Xia dynasty is a real, historical dynasty known through archeology and literary accounts. However, many of these accounts contain elements of a clearly semi-mythological, and in some versions completely mythological or fanciful. The founding mythology of the early dynasties tends to have certain common general features, including the divine assistance obtained in the founding and the reasons for it. The fighter of the Great Flood,
Yu "the Great" had served Yao and Shun and they enfeoffed him as the Prince of Xia, an area of land. Upon Yu's death questions arose regarding the method of imperial succession, which would be a key factor as an example for Chinese culture for millennia. The question was who would succeed Yu upon his death. It could be his son,
Qi of Xia
Qi () was a Chinese king, the son of Yu the Great and the second sovereign of the Xia dynasty. He ruled for roughly nine to ten years.戴逸, 龔書鐸. 002(2003) 中國通史. 史前 夏 商 西周. Intelligence press. . p. 40.
Biography ...
, also known as Kai, or the deputy that competently and diligently helped in the work against the great flood, a mighty hunter who helped feed the people during a time when agriculture had been rendered impossible,
Bo Yi. The mythological variants are much concerned with the relative merits between the two. Qi's succession broke the previous convention of
meritorious succession in favor of hereditary succession, thus initiating a dynastic tradition. The new dynasty was called "Xia" after Yu's centre of power.
Shang dynasty
Again, as in common with the founding of Xia, there is mythological material regarding how the previous dynasty turned to evil and unworthy ways, and the founder (of miraculous birth or ancestry) overthrew it. The mythology of the Shang dynasty is distinct from philosophical and historical accounts. Significant mythology includes the origin of its founders, the miraculous birth by
Jiandi
Jiandi (), also with variants 簡易/简易 and 簡逷/简逷, is an important figure in Chinese history and Chinese mythology. She was the second wife of Emperor Ku, who was a descendant of the Yellow Emperor. Jiandi was the mother of Xie (偰), ...
of Shang founder Qi, also known as
Xie of Shang
Xie () also appearing as Qi or Xie () was an ancient Chinese nobleman, an ancestor of the kings of the Shang dynasty. He is the first known Shang ancestor.
His consort is unknown, but it is known he was a father of Zhao Ming of Shang and grandfat ...
, after she became pregnant upon swallowing or holding in her bosom a bird's egg. After several generations, Xie (or Qi)'s descendant Tang became king of Shang by overthrowing
Jie, the last king of the Xia dynasty, said to be a very drunken and bloodthirsty tyrant. The fifth book of the philosopher
Mozi describes the end of the Xia dynasty and the beginning of the Shang:
After discussing the end of Xia and the beginning of Shang, Mozi describes the end of Shang and the beginning of the succeeding Zhou dynasty:
The mythological events surrounding the end of the Shang dynasty and the establishment of the Zhou greatly influenced the subject and story told in the popular novel ''
Investiture of the Gods
''The Investiture of the Gods'', also known by its Chinese names () and is a 16th-century Chinese novel and one of the major vernacular Chinese works in the gods and demons (''shenmo'') genre written during the Ming dynasty (1368–1644). Cons ...
''.
Founding of the Zhōu dynasty
The origins of the Ji dynastic founding family of the
Zhōu dynasty is replete with mythological material, going back to its legendary founder
Houji
Hou Ji (or Houji; ) was a legendary Chinese culture hero credited with introducing millet to humanity during the time of the Xia dynasty.. Millet was the original staple grain of northern China, prior to the introduction of wheat. His name translat ...
(who was originally named Qi, but a different Qi than the Shang founder known as Xie or Qi). Myths about Houji include those of his mythical origins, of which there are two main myths. The end of the Shang overlaps the rise of the Zhōu, so there is shared material. Once established, the Zhōu were characterized by their volume of literature, in the beginning much of it justifying their overthrow of the Shang. However, it was not long before much historical material appeared, of a rational, rationalized, philosophical, or otherwise non-mythological nature.
=Bagua
=
One of the main legacies of the rise of Zhou was the insemination of the classic book ''
I Ching'', however the eight trigrams must be from a far earlier period than
Wengong, and even more than the editing and commentary by Confucius – mythology references the
culture hero sometimes named
Fuxi
Fuxi or Fu Hsi (伏羲 ~ 伏犧 ~ 伏戲) is a culture hero in Chinese legend and mythology, credited along with his sister and wife Nüwa with creating humanity and the invention of music, hunting, fishing, domestication, and cooking as wel ...
.
Subsequent dynasties
Dynasties succeeding Zhou had notable mythological material, such as the accumulation of legend around the Jian'an transition between
Han dynasty
The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...
and the
Three Kingdoms
The Three Kingdoms () from 220 to 280 AD was the tripartite division of China among the dynastic states of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu. The Three Kingdoms period was preceded by the Eastern Han dynasty and was followed by the West ...
contention, reflected in the ''
Romance of the Three Kingdoms
''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'' () is a 14th-century historical novel attributed to Luo Guanzhong. It is set in the turbulent years towards the end of the Han dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period in Chinese history, starting in 184 AD ...
''. From the
Tang dynasty
The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdom ...
on, legends occur around the monk
Xuanzang
Xuanzang (, ; 602–664), born Chen Hui / Chen Yi (), also known as Hiuen Tsang, was a 7th-century Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveler, and translator. He is known for the epoch-making contributions to Chinese Buddhism, the travelogue of ...
's quest for Buddhist scriptures (sutras) from the area more-or-less corresponding to modern India, which influenced the
Ming dynasty
The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han peo ...
novel ''
Journey to the West
''Journey to the West'' () is a Chinese novel published in the 16th century during the Ming dynasty and attributed to Wu Cheng'en. It is regarded as one of the greatest Classic Chinese Novels, and has been described as arguably the most popul ...
''.
Important deities, spirits, and mythological people
![WenChang-MingDynasty-ROM-May8-08](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4d/WenChang-MingDynasty-ROM-May8-08.png)
There are various important deities, spirits, and mythological people in Chinese mythology and folk religion. Some are clearly divine, such as the Jade Emperor (and even he is sometimes said to have begun life as a mortal). However, in Chinese language many beings are referred to as ''
shen''. (Sometimes Chinese mythology is called –
Mandarin Chinese
Mandarin (; ) is a group of Chinese (Sinitic) dialects that are natively spoken across most of northern and southwestern China. The group includes the Beijing dialect, the basis of the phonology of Standard Chinese, the official language ...
: ''Zhōngguó Shénhuà''). Due to the ambiguity of this word when translated into English, it is not always clear how to classify in English the entities described ''shen'' (not to be confused with the mythological clam). The category ''shen'' is rather comprehensive and generic in Chinese myth and religion, ''shen'' may be ''spirits'', ''goddesses'' or ''gods'', ''ghosts'', or other. Another important concept is the classification of immortals (''
xian
Xi'an ( , ; ; Chinese: ), frequently spelled as Xian and also known by other names, is the capital of Shaanxi Province. A sub-provincial city on the Guanzhong Plain, the city is the third most populous city in Western China, after Chongqin ...
''). Immortals are more a category of quality than a description of an actual type. Immortals are defined by living for a long time (maybe forever). However, this is not a static quality, since Daoist adepts, shamans, or others are said to become immortals through right effort and various practices. Another example is the immortality sometimes obtained by the
lohans,
Bodhisattva
In Buddhism, a bodhisattva ( ; sa, 𑀩𑁄𑀥𑀺𑀲𑀢𑁆𑀢𑁆𑀯 (Brahmī), translit=bodhisattva, label=Sanskrit) or bodhisatva is a person who is on the path towards bodhi ('awakening') or Buddhahood.
In the Early Buddhist schools ...
s, and
Buddha
Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism.
According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in L ...
s of Buddhist religion and mythology (this contrasts with indefinitely prolonged series of unenlightened re-births). Chinese mythology often tends to not make a clear differentiation between Buddhist and Daoist types. Various deities, spirits, and immortals (''xian'') are encountered in various myths. Some of these are particularly associated with Daoism. Some immortals or others became incorporated into Daoism as it developed as a phenomenon, deriving from ancient shamanic cults or other sources. The line between Daoism and folk religion is not clear. Other mythological beings are clearly derived through the process of the introduction of Buddhism into China.
Major deities
The concept of a principal or presiding deity has fluctuated over time in Chinese mythology.
Shangdi
Shangdi, also sometimes ''Huángtiān Dàdì'' (), appeared as early as the
Shang dynasty
The Shang dynasty (), also known as the Yin dynasty (), was a Chinese royal dynasty founded by Tang of Shang (Cheng Tang) that ruled in the Yellow River valley in the second millennium BC, traditionally succeeding the Xia dynasty and ...
. In later eras, he was more commonly referred to as ''Huángtiān Shàngdì'' (). The use of ''Huángtiān Dàdì'' refers to the
Jade Emperor and ''
Tian
''Tiān'' () is one of the oldest Chinese terms for heaven and a key concept in Chinese mythology, philosophy, and religion. During the Shang dynasty (17th―11th century BCE), the Chinese referred to their supreme god as '' Shàngdì'' (, "Lor ...
''.
Jade Emperor
Chinese mythology holds that the Jade Emperor was charged with running of the three realms: heaven, hell, and the realm of the living. The Jade Emperor adjudicated and meted out rewards and remedies to saints, the living, and the deceased according to a merit system loosely called the Jade Principles Golden Script (, ''Yù lǜ jīn piān''). When proposed judgments were objected to, usually by other saints, the administration would occasionally resort to the counsels of advisory elders. The Jade Emperor appeared in literature after the establishment of
Taoism
Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of philosophical thought (道家; ''daojia'') or to a religion (道教; ''daojiao''), both of which share ideas and concepts of Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmony with the '' Ta ...
in China; his appearance as ''Yu Huang'' dates back to beyond the times of
Yellow Emperor
The Yellow Emperor, also known as the Yellow Thearch or by his Chinese name Huangdi (), is a deity ('' shen'') in Chinese religion, one of the legendary Chinese sovereigns and culture heroes included among the mytho-historical Three Soverei ...
,
Nüwa
Nüwa, also read Nügua, is the mother goddess of Chinese mythology. She is credited with creating humanity and repairing the Pillar of Heaven.
As creator of mankind, she molded humans individually by hand with yellow clay.
In the Huainanzi ...
, or
Fuxi
Fuxi or Fu Hsi (伏羲 ~ 伏犧 ~ 伏戲) is a culture hero in Chinese legend and mythology, credited along with his sister and wife Nüwa with creating humanity and the invention of music, hunting, fishing, domestication, and cooking as wel ...
.
Tian
Tian can be either a sky deity by that name or
Heaven – the Sky itself. Tian appeared in literature c. 700 BCE, possibly earlier as dating depends on the date of the
Shujing
The ''Book of Documents'' (''Shūjīng'', earlier ''Shu King'') or ''Classic of History'', also known as the ''Shangshu'' (“Venerated Documents”), is one of the Five Classics of ancient Chinese literature. It is a collection of rhetorica ...
(''Book of Documents''). There are no creation-oriented narratives for Tian. The qualities of Tian and Shangdi appear to have merged in later literature and are now worshiped as one entity ("", Huángtiān Shàngdì) in, for example, the Beijing's
Temple of Heaven
The Temple of Heaven () is a complex of imperial religious buildings situated in the southeastern part of central Beijing. The complex was visited by the Emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties for annual ceremonies of prayer to Heaven for ...
. The extent of the distinction between Tian and Shangdi is debated. The sinologist
Herrlee Creel claims that an analysis of the
Shang oracle bones reveals Shangdi to have preceded Tian as a deity, and that Zhou dynasty authors replaced the term "Shangdi" with "Tian" to cement the claims of their influence.
Nüwa
Nüwa (or Nügua) is considered a mother goddess of Chinese mythology. She was involved in the creation of humanity and repairing the Pillars of Heaven. Nüwa is often depicted as half snake, half human, and is sometimes considered one of the Three Sovereigns, along with her brother and husband
Fuxi
Fuxi or Fu Hsi (伏羲 ~ 伏犧 ~ 伏戲) is a culture hero in Chinese legend and mythology, credited along with his sister and wife Nüwa with creating humanity and the invention of music, hunting, fishing, domestication, and cooking as wel ...
.
Fuxi
Fuxi is the first of the
Three Sovereigns
The Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors were two groups of mythological rulers in ancient north China. The Three Sovereigns supposedly lived long before The Five Emperors, who have been assigned dates in a period from 3162 BC to 2070 BC. Today ...
. He created humanity alongside his sister and wife
Nüwa
Nüwa, also read Nügua, is the mother goddess of Chinese mythology. She is credited with creating humanity and repairing the Pillar of Heaven.
As creator of mankind, she molded humans individually by hand with yellow clay.
In the Huainanzi ...
, and like her, is depicted as half snake, half human. Fuxi is closely associated with the
I Ching.
Daoism and Chinese mythology
Over time certain aspects of folk religion and belief coalesced and were refined into a group of formal religious beliefs, practices, and philosophy known as
Daoism
Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of philosophical thought (道家; ''daojia'') or to a religion (道教; ''daojiao''), both of which share ideas and concepts of Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmony with the ''Tao'' ...
. One of the founders of Daoism was Old Man
Laozi, who himself entered into legend or mythology. There is much overlap between religion and mythology, and between Chinese folk religion and Daoism. However, certain beings or concepts of Chinese mythology have a particularly strong association with religious or philosophical Daoism. For example, the Jade Emperor, Yùhuáng, is a major actor in many myths. In Daoist-related mythology there is often a strong presence of sorcery and magic, such as spells, charms, magical abilities, and elixirs. The development of Daoism as it came to be called was a lengthy one, with various strands including both rationalist ethical philosophy and a magico-religious stand informed by mythology. As Daoism developed as a concept from its traditional roots in Chinese folk religion and mythology, its legitimacy was bolstered by claims of originating with Huangdi, the
Yellow Emperor
The Yellow Emperor, also known as the Yellow Thearch or by his Chinese name Huangdi (), is a deity ('' shen'') in Chinese religion, one of the legendary Chinese sovereigns and culture heroes included among the mytho-historical Three Soverei ...
. For example, the some of the ''
Huangdi Sijing material'', the ''
Huangdi Yinfujing
The ''Huangdi Yinfujing'' (), or ''Yinfujing'', is a circa 8th century CE Taoist scripture associated with Chinese astrology and ''Neidan''-style Internal alchemy. In addition, ''Huangdi Yinfujing'' is also the name of a Chinese Fengshui text on ...
'', and the ''
Huangdi Neijing
''Huangdi Neijing'' (), literally the ''Inner Canon of the Yellow Emperor'' or ''Esoteric Scripture of the Yellow Emperor'', is an ancient Chinese medical text or group of texts that has been treated as a fundamental doctrinal source for Chines ...
'' are Daoist classics with claims to a scriptural legacy going back to Huangdi.
Buddhist influences
![Boxwood statue of Avalokiteshvara (Guan-Yin)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0a/Boxwood_statue_of_Avalokiteshvara_%28Guan-Yin%29.jpg)
Buddhism was historically introduced to China, probably in the first century CE, accompanied by the import of various ideas about deities and supernatural beings including Kṣitigarbha who was renamed
Dizang. the
Four Heavenly Kings
The Four Heavenly Kings are four Buddhist gods, each of whom is believed to watch over one cardinal direction of the world. In Chinese mythology, they are known collectively as the "Fēng Tiáo Yǔ Shùn" () or "Sìdà Tiānwáng" (). In the ...
, the main Buddha himself
Shakyamuni Buddha
Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism.
According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in Lu ...
(, Shìjiāmóunífó), Avalokiteśvara who after a few centuries metamorphosized into
Guanyin
Guanyin () is a Bodhisattva associated with compassion. She is the East Asian representation of Avalokiteśvara ( sa, अवलोकितेश्वर) and has been adopted by other Eastern religions, including Chinese folk religion. She ...
(also Kuanyin) a
bodhisattva
In Buddhism, a bodhisattva ( ; sa, 𑀩𑁄𑀥𑀺𑀲𑀢𑁆𑀢𑁆𑀯 (Brahmī), translit=bodhisattva, label=Sanskrit) or bodhisatva is a person who is on the path towards bodhi ('awakening') or Buddhahood.
In the Early Buddhist schools ...
of compassion, and Hotei the
Laughing Buddha. New Buddhist material continued to enter China, with a big spike in the Tang dynasty, when the monk
Xuanzang
Xuanzang (, ; 602–664), born Chen Hui / Chen Yi (), also known as Hiuen Tsang, was a 7th-century Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveler, and translator. He is known for the epoch-making contributions to Chinese Buddhism, the travelogue of ...
brought over 600 texts from India. Over time, Guanyin also became a Daoist immortal and was the subject of much mythology.
Guanyin
![WLA haa Song wood Guanyin](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/72/WLA_haa_Song_wood_Guanyin.jpg)
Guanyin is also known as Kwan Yin, Guanshiyin, the Goddess of Mercy and many other names. The mythology around Guanyin is two-fold, one based on the
Avalokitasvara/Avalokiteśvara tradition from India and one based on an alleged Chinese young woman's life, as appears in the
legend of Miaoshan. Guanyin is worshiped as a goddess, yet has a most impressive mythological résumé. Many myths and legends exist about Guan Yin. In all of them she is exceptionally compassionate.
Kṣitigarbha
Kṣitigarbha was a Buddhist deity from the area of India who was renamed
Dizang, In China. He usually appears as Usually depicted as a monk with a
halo
Halo, halos or haloes usually refer to:
* Halo (optical phenomenon)
* Halo (religious iconography), a ring of light around the image of a head
HALO, halo, halos or haloes may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Video games
* ''Halo'' (franch ...
around his shaved head, he carries a
staff to force open the gates of hell and a
wish-fulfilling jewel to light up the darkness.
Four Heavenly Kings
There are a group known as the Four Heavenly Kings, one for each cardinal direction. Statues of them can be encountered in the Hall of the Heavenly Kings of many Buddhist temples.
Laughing Buddha
![Laughing Buddha statue](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c6/Laughing_Buddha_statue.jpg)
The depiction of a fat, laughing Buddha developed in China.
Confucian influence
A major factor in Chinese mythology is shown in the development of the tradition known as
Confucianism
Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, a way of governing, or a ...
, named after a writer and school master who lived around 551–479 BCE. Confucius embraced the traditions of
ancestor veneration. He came to be a major figure of worship in Daoism, which had its genesis in traditional Chinese religion. The legitimacy of the Confucian movement was bolstered by the claim that its origins could be found in the mythology (often claimed to be history) of
Yao and
Shun
Shun may refer to one of the following:
*To shun, which means avoiding association with an individual or group
* Shun (given name), a masculine Japanese given name
*Seasonality in Japanese cuisine (''shun'', 旬)
Emperor Shun
* Emperor Shun ( ...
.
Sharing between folk religion and mythology
![Altar to Guandi in a restaurant of Beijing](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/54/Altar_to_Guandi_in_a_restaurant_of_Beijing.png)
Modern and ancient Chinese culture had plenty of room for both religion and mythology. Certain deities or spirits receive special attention. These include divinities of wealth, longevity, fertility. Mythologically, it is possible to attain many desires through ritual activity involved with mythological themes. For example, many stores and restaurants in China or of the Chinese diaspora have shrines to
Guan Yu
Guan Yu (; ), courtesy name Yunchang, was a Chinese military general serving under the warlord Liu Bei during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. Along with Zhang Fei, he shared a brotherly relationship with Liu Bei and accompanied him on ...
, also known as Guandi.
Guandi
Guandi began as a
Three Kingdoms
The Three Kingdoms () from 220 to 280 AD was the tripartite division of China among the dynastic states of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu. The Three Kingdoms period was preceded by the Eastern Han dynasty and was followed by the West ...
general,
Guan Yu
Guan Yu (; ), courtesy name Yunchang, was a Chinese military general serving under the warlord Liu Bei during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. Along with Zhang Fei, he shared a brotherly relationship with Liu Bei and accompanied him on ...
. Over the subsequent centuries, Guan Yu became promoted by official decree to be the god Guandi. He is a god primarily of brotherhood and social organizations such as businesses, although this is sometimes seen in connection with martial power and war. According to mythology, Guan Yu made a famous covenant of brotherhood in a peach orchard.
Three Star deities
=Star God of Longevity
=
An example of Sharing between folk religion and mythology is the Star God of Longevity.
Afterlife and family
Much Chinese mythology concerns the afterlife, explaining what happens people after they die. This is related to
ancestor veneration, the mythological geography of heaven and hell, the rituals at family tombs, and so on.
Immortals (''xiān'')
Sometimes, in mythology, certain humans develop the ability to live indefinitely, avoiding death, and becoming divine ''
xiān''. Such humans generally also are said to develop special powers. Generally, these abilities are said to develop through such practices of
Chinese alchemy
Chinese alchemy is an ancient Chinese scientific and technological approach to alchemy, a part of the larger tradition of Taoist / Daoist body-spirit cultivation developed from the traditional Chinese understanding of medicine and the body. Acc ...
, obtaining an
Elixir of life
The elixir of life, also known as elixir of immortality, is a potion that supposedly grants the drinker eternal life and/or eternal youth. This elixir was also said to cure all diseases. Alchemists in various ages and cultures sought the means ...
,
[Obed Simon Johnson, A Study of Chinese Alchemy, page Shanghai, Commercial, 1928. rpt. New York: Arno P, 1974.] and/or various austerities of diet or sexuality. Symbolic associations with immortality include a spotted deer, cranes, the
Lingzhi mushroom
Lingzhi, ''Ganoderma lingzhi'', also known as reishi, is a polypore fungus ("bracket fungus") native to East Asia belonging to the genus ''Ganoderma''.
Its reddish brown varnished kidney-shaped cap with bands and peripherally inserted stem giv ...
, and a gourd and bat. often Immortals are mythologically located in Mountain Paradises, such as Kunlun. Various common English translations of ''xiān'' exist, such as Immortal, Fairy, and Sage. An example of a Daoist immortal is
Wong Tai Sin
Wong Tai Sin or Huang Daxian () is a Chinese Taoist Deity popular in Jinhua, Zhejiang, and Hong Kong with the power of healing. The name, meaning the "Great Immortal Wong (Huang)", is the divine form of Huang Chuping or Wong Cho Ping (; c. 32 ...
, who began as a fourth century CE hermit and developed into a divine healer.
=Magu
=
Magu is a legendary
Taoist
Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of philosophical thought (道家; ''daojia'') or to a religion (道教; ''daojiao''), both of which share ideas and concepts of Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmony with the '' Tao ...
''xian'' (transcendent"), still currently worshiped. Magu is associated with the
elixir of life
The elixir of life, also known as elixir of immortality, is a potion that supposedly grants the drinker eternal life and/or eternal youth. This elixir was also said to cure all diseases. Alchemists in various ages and cultures sought the means ...
, and is a symbolic protector of females in Chinese mythology. Stories in
Chinese literature describe Magu as a beautiful young woman with long birdlike fingernails, while early myths associate her with caves. Magu's name literally compounds two common
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...
words: ''ma'' "cannabis; hemp" and ''gu'' "aunt; maid".
Ghosts or spirits of the deceased
Common beliefs and stories in Chinese mythology involve a soul or spirit that survives after the death of someone's body. There are many types.
Living dead
Jiangshi
A jiāngshī, also known as a Chinese hopping vampire, is a type of reanimated corpse in Chinese legends and folklore. The characters for "jiāngshī" are read goeng-si in Cantonese, cương thi in Vietnamese, kyonshī in Japanese, and gangsi ...
are a type of re-animated corpse.
=Zhong Kui
=
In the mythological folklore,
Zhong Kui
Zhong Kui (; ko, 종규, Jonggyu; ja, 鍾馗, Shōki; vi, Chung Quỳ) is a deity in Chinese mythology, traditionally regarded as a vanquisher of ghosts and evil beings. He is depicted as a large man with a big black beard, bulging eyes, and ...
is regarded as a vanquisher of ghosts and evil beings. He committed suicide upon being unfairly stripped of his title of "''
Zhuangyuan
''Zhuangyuan'', or ''trạng nguyên'' in Vietnamese, variously translated into English as principal graduate, primus, or optimus, was the title given to the scholar who achieved the highest score on highest level of the Imperial examination, (i ...
''" (top-scorer) of the
Imperial Examinations by the emperor, due to his disfigured and ugly appearance. His spirit was condemned to
Hell because suicide was considered a grave sin, but
Yama
Yama (Devanagari: यम) or Yamarāja (यमराज), is a deity of death, dharma, the south direction, and the underworld who predominantly features in Hindu and Buddhist religion, belonging to an early stratum of Rigvedic Hindu deities. ...
(the Chinese Hell King) judged him worthy of the title "King of Ghosts" in Diyu (Hell). Yama tasked him to hunt, capture, take charge of, and maintain discipline and order of all ghosts. On
Chinese New Year's eve, Zhong Kui returned to his hometown to repay the kindness of his friend Du Ping ().
Holidays and festival rituals
Abundant mythology is associated with religious holidays and folk festivals.
=Qingming Festival
=
The Qingming festival is a good example of a Chinese holiday that involves family activities associated with a seasonally-recurring annual event; and, also, ancestor veneration.
=Qixi Festival
=
The seasonally-recurring annual holiday of
Qixi
The Qixi Festival ( zh, 七夕), also known as the Qiqiao Festival ( zh, 七巧, links=no), is a Chinese festival celebrating the annual meeting of Zhinü and Niulang in Chinese mythology... The festival is celebrated on the seventh day of th ...
involves love and romance. A main mythological tale is "
The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl
"The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl" are characters found in Chinese mythology and characters appearing eponymously in a romantic Chinese folk tale. The story tells of the romance between Zhinü (; the weaver girl, symbolizing the star Vega) and N ...
".
Weather deities
Various deities or spirits are associated with weather phenomena, such as drought or thunder. Dragons are often associated with rain. Examples include the deity or mythological person Ba, also known as
Hànbá or Nuba. Ba is the daughter of the
Yellow Emperor
The Yellow Emperor, also known as the Yellow Thearch or by his Chinese name Huangdi (), is a deity ('' shen'') in Chinese religion, one of the legendary Chinese sovereigns and culture heroes included among the mytho-historical Three Soverei ...
(Huangdi) whom she aided during his
Battle at Zhuolu against
Chiyou
Chiyou (蚩尤, ) is a mythological being that appears in East Asian mythology.
Individual
According to the Song dynasty history book '' Lushi'', Chiyou's surname was Jiang (), and he was a descendant of flame.
According to legend, Chiyou had a ...
: after Chiyou had fielded a wind god (
Feng Bo) and a rain god (
Yu Shi
Yu Shi () is a Chinese spirit or god of rain, also known as or conflated with Red Pine (Chisong, 赤松, or Chisongzi – Master Red Pine), among other names. Translations of ''Yu Shi'' into English include "Lord of Rain" and "Leader of Rain".
As ...
), Ba descended from heaven to use her drought power to defeat their wind and rain powers. She is one of the first goddesses attested to in Chinese literature, appearing in the early collection of poetry, the ''
Shijing
The ''Classic of Poetry'', also ''Shijing'' or ''Shih-ching'', translated variously as the ''Book of Songs'', ''Book of Odes'', or simply known as the ''Odes'' or ''Poetry'' (; ''Shī''), is the oldest existing collection of Chinese poetry, co ...
'', as well as in the later ''
Shanhaijing
The ''Classic of Mountains and Seas'', also known as ''Shan Hai Jing'', formerly romanized as the ''Shan-hai Ching'', is a Chinese classic text and a compilation of mythic geography and beasts. Early versions of the text may have existed sin ...
''. At least up through the middle of the twentieth century, ceremonies to produce rain were held in many regions of China. The basic idea of these ceremonies, which could last several hours, was to drive Ba out of the region. Another example, is
Lei Gong
Leigong () or Leishen (), is the god of thunder in Chinese folk religion, Chinese mythology and Taoism. In Taoism, when so ordered by heaven, Leigong punishes both earthly mortals guilty of secret crimes and evil spirits who have used their know ...
, god of thunder.
Astronomical deities
Various goddesses, gods, or spirits are especially associated with certain astronomical objects.
Sun (and Suns)
Various mythology involves the sun. One solar deity is
Xihe, goddess of the sun. There is a myth of
Kua Fu
Kuafu () is a giant in Chinese mythology who wished to capture the Sun. He was a grandson of Houtu.
Story
One day, Kuafu decided to chase and catch the Sun. He followed the Sun from the East to the West, draining the Yellow River and the Wei R ...
, a giant who followed the sun, during the course of his chase he drained all of the waters dry including the Yellow River, and after he died of thirst was transformed into a mountain range or a forest. Known as
sānzúwū are three-legged raven or ravens associated with the sun, or the ten suns, of which
Houyi
Hou Yi () is a mythological Chinese archer. He was also known as Shen Yi and simply as Yi (). He is also typically given the title of "Lord Archer". He is sometimes portrayed as a god of archery descended from heaven to aid mankind. Other times ...
shot down nine. Sometimes mythology portrays there being more than one sun.
=Houyi and the Ten Suns
=
It was said that there were ten suns, each one taking a turn on its allotted day to cross the sky (this has been thought evidence of a ten-day week used at one time). There is a mythological account of how at one on a certain morning ten suns all rose into the sky together. The oppressive heat lead to drought, the plants began to wither, and humans and animals were all on the verge of death. A mighty archer Yi, or Houyi, shot down all but one of them, saving humanity.
Moon
Chang'e (or in older versions Chang'O) is goddess of the moon. Another lunar deity is
Changxi
Changxi () or Changyi () is a Chinese lunar goddess worshiped in the traditional Chinese mythology, Chinese pantheon. Known from ancient times, the earliest historical information on Changxi can be traced back to the ''Classic of Mountains and Sea ...
, probably an older version of Chang'e with the name changed due to a naming taboo. Chang'e is modern.
=Chang'e
=
In mythology it was said that Chang'e had been married to the heroic archer
Houyi
Hou Yi () is a mythological Chinese archer. He was also known as Shen Yi and simply as Yi (). He is also typically given the title of "Lord Archer". He is sometimes portrayed as a god of archery descended from heaven to aid mankind. Other times ...
, but one day she swallowed a Pill of Immortality and floated up to the moon. Now it is said Chang'e lives in a cold crystal palace on the moon. Every year during a full moon toward harvest time, Chang'e is worshiped. This is the
Mid-Autumn Festival, families gather under the moonlight and celebrate in honour of the moon. Although somewhat lonely, Chang'e is not alone on the moon.
=Wu Gang and the Magic Tree
=
A magical tree grows on the moon. It is possibly an osmanthus tree (''Osmanthus fragrans''), some type of laurel (
Lauraceae), such as a cassia such as (''Cinnamomum cassia''), but more likely a unique specimen of a magical tree. Every month the
Immortal
Immortality is the ability to live forever, or eternal life.
Immortal or Immortality may also refer to:
Film
* ''The Immortals'' (1995 film), an American crime film
* ''Immortality'', an alternate title for the 1998 British film ''The Wisdom of ...
Wu Gang
Wu Gang (), formerly romanized as Wu Kang and also known as Wu Zhi in some sources,Eberhard, Wolfram. ''Dictionary of Chinese Symbols: Hidden Symbols in Chinese Life and Thought''pp. 76 ff Routledge & Kegan Paul (London), 2013. Accessed 12 Novem ...
cuts away at the tree, chopping it smaller and smaller. Then, just when he just has it chopped completely down, it magically grows back. Once it has grown back Wu Gang returns to his chopping, in an endless monthly cycle.
=Rabbit in the Moon
=
An
alchemical
Alchemy (from Arabic: ''al-kīmiyā''; from Ancient Greek: χυμεία, ''khumeía'') is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced in China, India, the Muslim world, ...
hare or rabbit lives on the moon. The lunar rabbit can be seen when the moon is full, busy with mortar and pestle, preparing the Elixir of Immortality.
=Three-legged toad
=
![Good-fortune three-legged toad vermilion ink pad](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5e/Good-fortune_three-legged_toad_vermilion_ink_pad.jpg)
(See
Liu Haichan
Liu Haichan was a ( 10th century) Daoist '' xian'' ("transcendent; immortal") who was a patriarch of the Quanzhen School, and a master of ''neidan'' "internal alchemy" techniques. Liu Haichan is associated with other Daoist transcendents, especia ...
for Chinese characters)
A three-legged toad lives on the moon. During full moons the three-legged Golden Toad
Jin Chan
The Jin Chan (), also called Chan Chuy () or "Zhaocai Chan Chu" (), is most commonly translated as "Money Toad" or "Money Frog". It represents a popular feng shui charm for prosperity.
This mythical creature is said to appear during the full moon ...
frequents near houses or businesses that will soon receive good news generally in the form of wealth. Also known as a Money Toad, statuettes of this toad are used as a charm in
Fengshui. The mythology of the Immortal
Liu Haichan
Liu Haichan was a ( 10th century) Daoist '' xian'' ("transcendent; immortal") who was a patriarch of the Quanzhen School, and a master of ''neidan'' "internal alchemy" techniques. Liu Haichan is associated with other Daoist transcendents, especia ...
(who seems to be a form of
Caishen
Caishen () is the mythological figure worshipped in the Chinese folk religion and Taoism. He has been identified with many historical figures, viewed as his embodied forms, among whom Zhao Gongming (, Wade–Giles: ''Chao Kung-ming''; also known a ...
/Zhao Gong, God of Wealth) is associated with this tripedal toad.
Deities of places
Various goddesses, gods, spirits, fairies, or monsters are associated with specific places, such as particular rivers, mountains, or the ocean. Some of these locations are associated with real geography, others are known only through mythological imagination.
Xi Wangmu
Xi Wangmu, meaning Queen Mother of the West, predates organized Daoism, yet is now strongly identified with Daoism. Xi Wangmu is generally mythologically located in a western wonderland "to the west", now identified with the
Kunlun
The Kunlun Mountains ( zh, s=昆仑山, t=崑崙山, p=Kūnlún Shān, ; ug, كۇئېنلۇن تاغ تىزمىسى / قۇرۇم تاغ تىزمىسى ) constitute one of the longest mountain chains in Asia, extending for more than . In the bro ...
of mythology. Thus, she is the ruler of a passageway between Earth and Heaven.
=Mazu
=
Mazu is a major goddess. She is a goddess of the sea. Mazu worship is credited with leading to miraculous salvations at sea, protecting sailors and travelers from drowning. She is a tutelary deity of seafarers, including fishermen and sailors, especially along coastal China and areas of the Chinese diaspora.
Xiang River goddesses
The two
Xiang River goddesses
The Xiangshuishen or Xiang River Goddesses are goddesses (or spirits and sometimes gods) of the Xiang River in Chinese folk religion. The Xiang flowed into Dongting Lake through the ancient kingdom of Chu, whose songs in their worship have been re ...
are ancient in mythology. They are associated with the
Xiang River
The Xiang River is the chief river of the Dongting Lake, Lake Dongting Drainage basin, drainage system of the middle Yangtze, the largest river in Hunan, Hunan Province, China. It is the 2nd largest tributary (after Min River (Sichuan), Min River ...
in the former
Chu area of China. They are also mythologically credited with causing a
certain type of bamboo to develop a mottled appearance said to resemble tear-drops (''lacrima'' ''deae''). The two Xiang River goddesses (Xiangfei) are named Éhuáng and Nǚyīng.
Deities or spirits of human activities
Various deities or spirits are associated with certain human activities. Various deities or spirits are associated with the households in general or with cities. Some provide tutelary help to persons pursuing certain occupations or seeking to have children.
Household deities and spirits
The Chinese household was often the subject of mythology and related ritual. The welfare of the family was mythologically-related to the perceived help of helpful deities and spirits, and avoiding the baneful effects of malicious ones. Of these household deities the most important was the kitchen god
Zao Jun
The Kitchen deity – also known as the Stove God, named Zao Jun, Zao Shen, Zao kimjah, Cokimjah or Zhang Lang – is the most important of a plethora of Chinese domestic gods that protect the hearth and family. The Kitchen God is recognized in C ...
. The Kitchen God was viewed as a sort of intermediary between the household and the supreme god, who would judge, then reward or punish a household based on the Kitchen God's report. Zao Jun was propitiated at appropriate times by offerings of food and incense, and various mythological stories about him exist. Lesser deities or spirits were also thought to help out the household through their intervention. For example, the guardians of the doors, the
Menshen
Menshen or door gods are divine guardians of doors and gates in Chinese folk religions, used to protect against evil influences or to encourage the entrance of positive ones. They began as the divine pair Shenshu ( ) and Yulü () under the ...
pair and others.
Territories administrators
Various deities and spirits have been mythologically associated with the welfare of areas of land and with cities. Some were good, tutelary guardians: others were malicious ghosts or evil hauntings.
=Houtu
=
Houtu
Hòutǔ () or Hòutǔshén (), also Hòutǔ Niángniáng (in Chinese either or ), otherwise called Dimǔ () or Dimǔ Niángniáng (), is the deity of deep earth and soil in Chinese religion and mythology. Houtu is the overlord of all the Tu Di ...
is a guardian deity of the earth.
=Tudi
=
The Tudi or
Tudigong
Tudigong ( "Lord of the Soil and the Ground") or Tudishen ( "God of the Soil and the Ground"), also known simply as Tudi ( "Soil-Ground") is a tutelary deity of a locality and the human communities who inhabit it in Chinese folk religion and Tao ...
were the spiritual dukes or gods in charge of protecting particular parcels of land, acting as the local gods of individual villages.
=City gods
=
In old China, the city was almost synonymous with the city wall. Most cities also had a moat, made to further protect the perimeter of the city and as an artifact of building the ramparts. A
City god
A tutelary () (also tutelar) is a deity or a Nature spirit, spirit who is a guardian, patron, or protector of a particular place, geographic feature, person, lineage, nation, culture, or occupation. The etymology of "tutelary" expresses the concep ...
guarded an individual city. There were many cities and many city gods.
Occupational tutelaries
The life of a scholar has long been pursued in China, in part due to rewarding those who study hard and do well in
standardized tests. There is a whole area of myth around the
Imperial examination in Chinese mythology
The imperial examination was a civil service examination system in Imperial China designed to select the best potential candidates to serve as administrative officials, for the purpose of recruiting them for the state's bureaucracy. With the avo ...
. For example, in the area of literature, success in standardized tests, and other culture there are associated pair
Kui Xing
Kui Xing (), originally called 奎星 (also ''kuí xīng''), also known as 大魁夫子 "Great Master Kui" or 大魁星君 "Great Kui the Star Lord", is a character in Chinese folk religion, Chinese religion, the Shen (Chinese religion), Deity of ...
and
Wenchang Wang
Wenchang Wang (), also known as Wenchang Dijun (), is a Taoist deity in Chinese mythology, known as the God of Culture and Literature. He is also at times referred to simply as Wen Qu, or Wen. The literal translation of his name would be King () ...
.
Life and social association
There are deities mythologically associated with various intimate aspects of human life, including motherhood, general sodality and formal syndicals, lifespan and fate, and war and death. Many are currently worshiped in Buddhism, Daoism, or Chinese folk religion.
Guandi
Guan Yu (; ), courtesy name Yunchang, was a Chinese military general serving under the warlord Liu Bei during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. Along with Zhang Fei, he shared a brotherly relationship with Liu Bei and accompanied him on ...
is a prominent example, but there are many others.
=Promoters of health
=
A good example of a medicine deity is
Sun Simiao, who became Yaowang. Another is
Baosheng Dadi
Baosheng Dadi is a Deity of Medicine worshiped in Chinese folk religion and Taoism. The deity is very popular in Fujian, Taiwan and the Chinese communities in Southeast Asia.
Historical Personage
Wu Tao or Wu Ben () was born in the villag ...
.
=Bixia
=
Bixia
Chinese traditional religion is polytheistic; many deities are worshipped in a pantheistic view where divinity is inherent in the world. The gods are energies or principles revealing, imitating and propagating the way of Heaven (''Tian'' ), whic ...
is mythologically connected with motherhood and fertility. She is currently a popular goddess.
=Siming
=
The
Siming is a god of lifespan and fate.
=Male sexuality
=
Tu'er Shen
Tu'er Shen (, The Leveret Spirit) or Tu Shen (, The Rabbit God), is a Chinese deity who manages love and sex between men. His name literally means "rabbit deity". His adherents refer to him as Ta Yeh (, The Master).
In a folk tale from 17th cent ...
is a
leveret or
rabbit gay deity, patron of gay men who engage in same gender love and sexual activities.
Miscellaneous mythological beings
Various deities, spirits, or other mythological beings are encountered in Chinese mythology, some of them related to the religious beliefs of China. Some of them are currently worshiped, some of them now only appear as characters in myths, and some both ways.
*
Fangfeng
Fangfeng () is a character from Chinese mythology as well as a god in Chinese popular religion. As a mythological figure, Fangfeng is mostly known for arriving late for an assembly called by Yu the Great after the end of the Great Flood (China), G ...
: the giant who helped fight flood, executed by Yu the Great
*
Feng Meng Feng Meng/Beng Meng (Peng Meng), or Fengmeng, () was a figure from Chinese mythology closely associated with the divine archer Houyi. He was the apprentice of the divine archer and was envious of his skill with the bow and arrow. In a fit of envy a ...
: apprentice to Hou Yi, and his eventual murderer
*
Gao Yao
*
Nezha
Nezha ( 哪吒) is a protection deity in Chinese folk religion. His official Taoist name is "Marshal of the Central Altar" (). He was then given the title "Third Lotus Prince" () after he became a deity.
Origins
According to Meir Shahar, Nez ...
: Taoist protection deity
*
Tam Kung
Tam Kung () or Tam Tai Sin () is a sea deity worshiped in Hong Kong and Macau.
In Chinese folk legends, Tam Kung was one of gods who could forecast the weather. He was born in Huizhou Prefecture. It was said that he could cure patients in hi ...
: sea deity with the ability to forecast weather
*
Yuqiang: Yellow Emperor's descendant, god of north sea and wind
*
Daoji: compassionate folk hero known for wild and eccentric behaviour
*
Erlang Shen
Erlang Shen () or Erlang, also known as the Lord of Sichuan (), is a Chinese god with a third truth-seeing eye in the middle of his forehead.
Erlang Shen may be a deified version of several semi-mythical folk heroes who helped regulate China ...
: possessed a third eye in the middle of his forehead that saw the truth
Heroes
=Xingtian
=
Xingtian
Xingtian (, also Hsing T'ien) is a Chinese deity who fights against the Supreme Divinity, not giving up even after the event of his decapitation. Losing the fight for supremacy, he was beheaded and his head buried in Changyang Mountain. Neverthele ...
is a headless giant decapitated by the Yellow Emperor as punishment for challenging him; his face is on his torso as he has no head
Mythological creatures
Non-divine mythological beings are sometimes divided into several parts each ruled over by a particular type of being—humans ruled over by the Emperor, winged creatures ruled over by the phoenix, and scaly, finned, or crawly creatures ruled over by the dragon. However, whatever the approach, mythological taxonomy is not a rigorous discipline, not even as clear as
folk taxonomy
A folk taxonomy is a vernacular naming system, as distinct from scientific taxonomy. Folk biological classification is the way people traditionally describe and organize their natural surroundings/the world around them, typically making generou ...
, much less the scientific efforts which result in modern
biological taxonomy
In biology, taxonomy () is the scientific study of naming, defining ( circumscribing) and classifying groups of biological organisms based on shared characteristics. Organisms are grouped into taxa (singular: taxon) and these groups are given ...
. Often, mythological creatures inhabit the furthest reaches of the exotic imagination.
The Four Symbols
The Four Symbols were four species of animals of particular intelligence (not considering humans). Each one represented and ruled over a class of animals. They are the Azure Dragon of the East, the Vermilion Bird of the South, the White Tiger of the West, and the Black Tortoise (also called "Black Warrior") of the North.
Dragons, dragon-like and related creatures
The
Chinese dragon
The Chinese dragon, also known as ''loong'', ''long'' or ''lung'', is a legendary creature in Chinese mythology, Chinese folklore, and Chinese culture at large. Chinese dragons have many animal-like forms such as turtles and fish, but are most ...
is one of the most important mythical creatures in Chinese mythology, considered to be the most powerful and divine creature and the controller of all waters who could create clouds with their breath. The dragon symbolized great power and was very supportive of heroes and gods. The conventional dragon has a certain description, however there are other dragons or dragon-like beings that vary from this description. For example, the
Chi
Chi or CHI may refer to:
Greek
*Chi (letter), the Greek letter (uppercase Χ, lowercase χ);
Chinese
*Chi (length), ''Chi'' (length) (尺), a traditional unit of length, about ⅓ meter
*Chi (mythology) (螭), a dragon
*Chi (surname) (池, pin ...
of mythology lacks horns. Dragons often chase or play with a mystical or flaming pearl. A dragon-
fenghuang
''Fènghuáng'' (, ) are mythological birds found in Sinospheric mythology that reign over all other birds. The males were originally called ''fèng'' and the females ''huáng'', but such a distinction of gender is often no longer made and ...
pairing is a common motif in art, the fenghuang often being called a "phoenix".
One of the most famous dragons in Chinese mythology is
Yinglong
Yinglong () is a winged Chinese dragon, dragon and rain deity in ancient Chinese mythology.
Name
This legendary creature's name combines ''yìng'' "respond; correspond; answer; reply; agree; comply; consent; promise; adapt; apply" and ''lóng'' ...
, the god of rain. Many people in different places pray to Yinglong to receive rain.
Chinese people use the term ("Descendants of the Dragon") as a sign of their ethnic identity.
Shenlong
Shenlong, (, literally "god dragon" or "divine dragon", Japanese: 神竜 Shinryū) is a spiritual dragon from Chinese mythology who is the master of storms and also a bringer of rain. He is of equal significance to other creatures such as Tianlon ...
is a master of storms and bringer of rain.
Zhulong the Torch Dragon is a giant red solar deity. Sometimes he appears in composite snake-like, human-dragon form. There were various
dragon king
The Dragon King, also known as the Dragon God, is a Chinese water and weather god. He is regarded as the dispenser of rain, commanding over all bodies of water. He is the collective personification of the ancient concept of the '' lóng'' in C ...
s. They mostly lived undersea and were of the
Ao family, such as
Ao Guang.
Various mythology accounting human-dragon relationships exist, such as the story of
Longmu
In Chinese mythology, Longmu (), transliterated as Lung Mo in Cantonese, was a Chinese woman who was deified as a goddess after raising five infant dragons. Longmu and her dragons developed a strong bond for each other and have thus become an e ...
, a woman who raise dragons.
Specific dragons, or types of dragon, include:
Dilong
''Dilong'' (; lit. "earth dragon") is a Chinese dragon name that is also used to mean "earthworm" in traditional Chinese medicine and '' Geosaurus'' in zoological nomenclature.
Dragon
In Chinese mythology, ''dilong'' "earth dragon" is one of ...
, the earth dragon;
Fucanglong, the treasure dragon;
Jiaolong
''Jiaolong'' () or ''jiao'' (''chiao'', ''kiao'') is a dragon in Chinese mythology, often defined as a "scaled dragon"; it is hornless according to certain scholars and said to be aquatic or river-dwelling. It may have referred to a species of c ...
, dragon of floods and sea;
Teng Teng may refer to:
*Teng (surname) (滕), a Chinese surname
*Teng (state), an ancient Chinese state
*Teng (mythology), a flying dragon in Chinese mythology
*Teng County
Teng County or Tengxian (; za, Dwngz Yen) is a county of eastern Guangxi, C ...
, a flying creature, sometimes considered a type of snake or dragon-snake;
Tianlong
Tianlong (; lit. "heavenly dragon") is a flying dragon in Chinese mythology, a star in Chinese astrology, and a proper name.
Word
The term ''tianlong'' combines ''tian'' "heaven" and ''long'' "dragon". Since ''tian'' literally means "heaven; t ...
, the celestial dragon, sometimes associated with centipede qualities;
Yinglong
Yinglong () is a winged Chinese dragon, dragon and rain deity in ancient Chinese mythology.
Name
This legendary creature's name combines ''yìng'' "respond; correspond; answer; reply; agree; comply; consent; promise; adapt; apply" and ''lóng'' ...
, the water dragon, a powerful servant of the
Yellow Emperor
The Yellow Emperor, also known as the Yellow Thearch or by his Chinese name Huangdi (), is a deity ('' shen'') in Chinese religion, one of the legendary Chinese sovereigns and culture heroes included among the mytho-historical Three Soverei ...
.
The fourteenth monarch of the
Xia dynasty
The Xia dynasty () is the first dynasty in traditional Chinese historiography. According to tradition, the Xia dynasty was established by the legendary Yu the Great, after Shun, the last of the Five Emperors, gave the throne to him. In tradit ...
is said to be Kong Jia, who, according to mythology, raised dragons.
Fish and fish-like
Various mythology of China involves fish or fish-like beings. Part human, part sea creatures of the
Mermaid
In folklore, a mermaid is an aquatic creature with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish. Mermaids appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide, including Europe, Asia, and Africa.
Mermaids are sometimes ass ...
() type appear. The
Kun (or Peng) was a giant monstrous fish transformation of the Peng bird. Carp that leapt the dragon gate falls of the Yellow River were said to transform into dragons. This was used as a symbol for a scholar's successful graduation in the
Imperial examination
The imperial examination (; lit. "subject recommendation") refers to a civil-service examination system in Imperial China, administered for the purpose of selecting candidates for the state bureaucracy. The concept of choosing bureaucrats by ...
system.
Snakelike and reptilian
![海外北經-相柳](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fc/%E6%B5%B7%E5%A4%96%E5%8C%97%E7%B6%93-%E7%9B%B8%E6%9F%B3.svg)
Various snakes and reptilians appear in Chinese mythology, folklore, and religion. These range from divine or semi-divine to merely fantastic types of the bestiary sort. Sometimes the dragon is considered part of this category, related to it, or the ruler of all the swimming and crawling folk. This may include the giant marine turtle or tortoise
Ao, the
Bashe
Bashe () was a python-like Chinese mythological giant snake that ate elephants.
Name
The term ''bashe'' compounds ''ba'' "a proper name; tip, tail; crust; greatly desire; cling to; be near" and ''she'' "snake; serpent".
The Chinese charac ...
snake reputed to swallow elephants, a nine-headed snake monster reminiscent of the hydra known as
Xiangliu
Xiangliu (), known in the ''Classic of Mountains and Seas'' as Xiangyao (), is a venomous nine-headed snake monster that brings floods and destruction in Chinese mythology.
Xiangliu may be depicted with his body coiled on itself. The nine heads ...
, and the White Serpent from the novel ''
Legend of the White Snake
The Legend of the White Snake is a Chinese legend. It has since been presented in a number of major Chinese operas, films, and television series.
The earliest attempt to fictionalize the story in printed form appears to be ''The White Maiden ...
''.
Birds
Various birds are found in Chinese mythology, some of them obviously based on real birds, other ones obviously not, and some in-between. The
Crane is an example of a real type of bird with mythological enhancements. Cranes are linked with immortality, and may be transformed ''xian'' immortals, or ferry an immortal upon their back. The
Vermilion Bird
The Vermilion Bird ( zh, c=朱雀, p=Zhūquè) is one of the Four Symbols of the Chinese constellations
Traditional Chinese astronomy has a system of dividing the celestial sphere into asterisms or constellations, known as "officials" ( C ...
is iconic of the south. Sometimes confused with the
Fenghuang
''Fènghuáng'' (, ) are mythological birds found in Sinospheric mythology that reign over all other birds. The males were originally called ''fèng'' and the females ''huáng'', but such a distinction of gender is often no longer made and ...
, the vermilion bird of the south is associated with fire. The
Peng
Peng may refer to:
* Peng (surname) (彭), a Chinese name
* Peng (state) (大彭), a state during the late Shang dynasty
* Peng (mythology) (鵬), a legendary Chinese creature
* ''Peng!'', 1992 album by Stereolab
* ''PENG!'', a 2005 comic
* P.Eng. ...
was a gigantic bird phase of the gigantic Kun fish. The
Jingwei
Jingwei () is a bird in Chinese mythology, who was transformed from Yandi's daughter Nüwa.Yang & An (2005), 154–155. She is also a goddess in Chinese mythology. After she drowned when playing in the Eastern Sea, she metamorphosed into a bird ...
is a mythical bird which tries to fill up the ocean with twigs and pebbles symbolizing indefatigable determination. The
Qingniao
The Qingniao () were blue or green birds which appear in Chinese mythology, popular stories, poetry, and religion (the Chinese are somewhat ambiguous in regard to English color vocabulary, and the word ''qing'' may and has been translated as Blue ...
was the messenger or servant of
Xi Wangmu
The Queen Mother of the West, known by various local names, is a mother goddess in Chinese religion and mythology, also worshipped in neighbouring Asian countries, and attested from ancient times. From her name alone some of her most importan ...
.
Other birds include the
Bi Fang bird
The Bi Fang () is a mythological bird, encountered in Chinese mythology. The Bi Fang is thought to have one leg. However, sources vary in terms of its description.
''Hanfeizi''
Han Fei dates back to the third century BCE.The Bi Fang bird is desc ...
, a one-legged bird. ''Bi'' is also number nineteen of the
Twenty-Eight Mansions of traditional
Chinese astronomy
Astronomy in China has a long history stretching from the Shang dynasty, being refined over a period of more than 3,000 years. The ancient Chinese people have identified stars from 1300 BCE, as Chinese star names later categorized in the twe ...
, the Net (
Bi). There are supposed to be the Jiān (; jian
1): the mythical one-eyed bird with one wing; Jianjian (): a pair of such birds dependent on each other, inseparable, hence representing husband and wife. There was a
Shang-Yang rainbird. The
Jiufeng is a nine-headed bird used to scare children. The Sù Shuāng (; su
4shuang
3) sometimes appears as a goose-like bird. The
Zhen is a poisonous bird. There may be a Jiguang (; ''jíguāng'').
Mythological humanoid
Mythological humanoids include the former human, the part-human and the human-like, although these sometimes merge into other categories. Examples include
Kui: one-legged mountain demon or dragon who invented music and dance; also
Shun
Shun may refer to one of the following:
*To shun, which means avoiding association with an individual or group
* Shun (given name), a masculine Japanese given name
*Seasonality in Japanese cuisine (''shun'', 旬)
Emperor Shun
* Emperor Shun ( ...
's or
Yao's Music Master, Xiāo (; xiao
1) mountain spirit(s) or demon(s), and
Yaoguai
Yaoguai (妖怪 pinyin yāoguài) is a term for monsters or strange creatures. Yaogui (妖鬼 yāoguǐ, lit. "strange ghost"), yaomo (妖魔 yāomó, lit. " daemon") or yaojing (妖精 yāojīng, often translated as " sprite" or " faerie") are l ...
demons.
Mythological mammalians
Various mythological mammals exist in Chinese mythology. Some of these form the totem animals of the
Chinese zodiac
The Chinese zodiac is a traditional classification scheme based on the lunar calendar that assigns an animal and its reputed attributes to each year in a repeating twelve-year cycle. Originating from China, the zodiac and its variations remain ...
. The Chinese language of mythology tends not to mark words for gender or number, so English language translations can be problematic. Also, species or even genera are not always distinguished, with the named animal often being seen as the local version of that type, such is as the case with sheep and goats, or the versatile term sometimes translated as ''ox''.
Fox spirits
Fox spirit
Huli jing () are Chinese mythological creatures usually capable of shapeshifting, who may either be benevolent or malevolent spirits. In Chinese mythology and folklore, the fox spirit takes variant forms with different meanings, powers, charac ...
s feature prominently in mythology throughout the mythology of East Asia. In China, these are generally known as
Huli jing
Huli jing () are Chinese mythological creatures usually capable of shapeshifting, who may either be benevolent or malevolent spirits. In Chinese mythology and folklore, the fox spirit takes variant forms with different meanings, powers, charact ...
. There are various types, such as the nine-tailed fox.
Dogs
Various dogs appear in the mythology of China, featuring more prominently in some ethnic cultures more than others. The
zodiacal dog is featured in the Chinese zodiac.
Bovidae
The Bovidae appearing in the mythologies of China include oxen (including the common cow,
buffalo, and the yak), sheep and goats, and perhaps antelopes (some times "unicorns" are thought to be types of antelopes).
=Ox
=
References to oxen may include those to the common cow, the
buffalo, and the yak. The
zodiacal ox is one of the twelve zodiacal signs in the twelve-year calendar cycle. Yak tails are mentioned as magical whisks used by Daoist sorcerers. The ox appears in various
agricultural myths.
=Sheep and goats
=
Sheep (and/or goats) appear in various myths and stories. The
zodiacal sheep is one of the twelve zodiacal signs in the twelve-year calendar cycle. A semi-mythical, semi-historical story involves the adventures of the Han diplomat
Su Wu held captive among the
Xiongnu
The Xiongnu (, ) were a tribal confederation of nomadic peoples who, according to ancient Chinese sources, inhabited the eastern Eurasian Steppe from the 3rd century BC to the late 1st century AD. Modu Chanyu, the supreme leader after 20 ...
for nineteen years and forced to herd sheep and/or goats.
Horses
Horses frequently gallop through Chinese mythology. Sometimes the poets say that they are related to dragons. The
zodiacal horse is one of the twelve zodiacal signs in the twelve-year calendar cycle.
Unicorns
Various types of "unicorns" can be found in the myths, designated by the term ''lin'', which is often translated as "unicorn". They possess many similarities to the European unicorn, although not necessarily having only one horn. There are six types of ''lin''. One type of ''lin'' is the
Qilin
The qilin (; ) is a legendary hooved chimerical creature that appears in Chinese mythology, and is said to appear with the imminent arrival or passing of a sage or illustrious ruler. Qilin are a specific type of the mythological family of ...
, a chimeric or composite animal with several variations.
Xu Shen
Xu Shen ( CE) was a Chinese calligrapher, philologist, politician, and writer of the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-189). He was born in the Zhaoling district of Run'an prefecture (today known as Luohe in Henan Province). During his own lifetime, ...
in his early 2nd century CE) dictionary ''
Shuowen Jiezi
''Shuowen Jiezi'' () is an ancient Chinese dictionary from the Han dynasty. Although not the first comprehensive Chinese character dictionary (the ''Erya'' predates it), it was the first to analyze the structure of the characters and to give t ...
'' defines what is represented by this particular ''lin'' as "an animal of benevolence, having the body of an antelope, the tail of an ox, and a single horn." Also, according to the ''
Shuowen Jiezi
''Shuowen Jiezi'' () is an ancient Chinese dictionary from the Han dynasty. Although not the first comprehensive Chinese character dictionary (the ''Erya'' predates it), it was the first to analyze the structure of the characters and to give t ...
'', the horn was sometimes said to have been frightening in appearance to scare off would be attackers, but really flesh-tipped so as to cause no harm. ''Lin'', or unicorns appear only during the reign of benevolent rulers. In 451 BCE,
Confucius
Confucius ( ; zh, s=, p=Kǒng Fūzǐ, "Master Kǒng"; or commonly zh, s=, p=Kǒngzǐ, labels=no; – ) was a Chinese philosopher and politician of the Spring and Autumn period who is traditionally considered the paragon of Chinese sages. C ...
recorded that a unicorn had appeared, but was slain in a ducal hunt. Confucius was so upset upon reporting this that he set aside his brush and wrote no more. The giraffe was not well known in China and poorly described: about 1200 CE the ''lin'' and the giraffe began to trade characteristics in their mythological conceptions. It is possible that the unicorns resulted from different descriptions of animals which later became extinct, or they no longer ranged in the area of China.
Cats
Various cats appear in Chinese mythology, many of them large. Examples are
Pixiu
Pixiu (; Old Chinese ( ZS) *''bi-qʰu'') is a Chinese mythical hybrid creature. Pixiu are considered powerful protectors of feng shui practitioners, and resemble strong, winged lions. A Pixiu is an earth and sea variation, particularly an inf ...
, resembled a winged lion, and
Rui Shi (, ''Ruì Shī''), guardian lions. Sometimes they are found pulling the chariot of Xiwangmu. The cat is one of the twelve annual zodiacal animals in Vietnamese and related cultural calendars, having the place of the rabbit found in the Chinese system.
Non-bovid ungulates
Various non-bovid ungulates are encountered. Xīniú: a
rhinoceros
A rhinoceros (; ; ), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. (It can also refer to a member of any of the extinct species ...
, became mythologized when rhinoceroses became extinct in China. Depictions later changed to a more
bovine
Bovines (subfamily Bovinae) comprise a diverse group of 10 genera of medium to large-sized ungulates, including cattle, bison, African buffalo, water buffalos, and the four-horned and spiral-horned antelopes. The evolutionary relationship betwe ...
appearance, with a short, curved horn on its head used to communicate with the sky.
Simian
Various beings with simian characteristics appear in Chinese mythology and religion. The Monkey King was a warder of evil spirits, respected and loved, an ancient deity at least influenced by the Hindu deity
Hanuman
Hanuman (; sa, हनुमान, ), also called Anjaneya (), is a Hindu god and a divine '' vanara'' companion of the god Rama. Hanuman is one of the central characters of the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. He is an ardent devotee of Rama and on ...
. The Monkey god is still worshiped by some people in modern China. Some of the mythology associated with the Monkey King influenced the novel ''
Journey to the West
''Journey to the West'' () is a Chinese novel published in the 16th century during the Ming dynasty and attributed to Wu Cheng'en. It is regarded as one of the greatest Classic Chinese Novels, and has been described as arguably the most popul ...
''. The
xiao of mythology appears as a long-armed ape or a four-winged bird, making it hard to categorize exactly; but this is true of various composite beings of mythology.
Draconid mammalian
The
Longma
The ''longma'' is a fabled winged horse with dragon scales in Chinese mythology. Seeing a ''longma'' was an omen of a legendary sage-ruler, particularly one of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors.
Name
The Chinese word ''longma'' combin ...
is a composite beast, like a winged horse similar to the Qilin, with scales of a dragon.
Four Fiends
![Masque Shang Musée Guimet 1107](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/86/Masque_Shang_Mus%C3%A9e_Guimet_1107.jpg)
The
Four Fiends:
*
Hundun: chaos
*
Taotie
The ''Taotie'' () is an ancient Chinese mythological creature that was commonly emblazoned on bronze and other artifacts during the 1st millennium BC. ''Taotie'' are one of the " four evil creatures of the world". In Chinese classical texts such a ...
: gluttony
*Táowù (): ignorance; provided confusion and apathy and made mortals free of the curiosity and reason needed to reach enlightenment
*Qióngqí (): deviousness
Miscellaneous or other
*
Nian: lives under the sea or in mountains; attacks children
*
Luduan: can detect the truth
*
Xiezhi
The ''xiezhi'' () is a mythical ancient creature of Chinese origin impact to throughout East Asian legends. It resembles an ox or goat, with thick dark fur covering its body, bright eyes, and a single long horn on its forehead. It has great intel ...
(also Xie Cai): the creature of justice said to be able to distinguish lies from truths; it had a long, straight horn used to gore liars
*
Bai Ze: legendary creature said to have been encountered by the Yellow Emperor and to have given him a
compendium
A compendium (plural: compendia or compendiums) is a comprehensive collection of information and analysis pertaining to a body of knowledge. A compendium may concisely summarize a larger work. In most cases, the body of knowledge will concern a sp ...
listing all the demons in the world
Mythological plants
Various mythological plants appear in Chinese mythology. Some of these in Heaven or Earthly Paradises, some of them in particularly inaccessible or hard-to-find areas of the Earth; examples include the
Fusang
Fusang () refers to various entities, most frequently a mythical tree or location east of China, described in ancient Chinese literature.
In the ''Classic of Mountains and Seas'' and several contemporary texts, the term refers to a mythological ...
world tree habitation of sun(s), the
Lingzhi mushroom
Lingzhi, ''Ganoderma lingzhi'', also known as reishi, is a polypore fungus ("bracket fungus") native to East Asia belonging to the genus ''Ganoderma''.
Its reddish brown varnished kidney-shaped cap with bands and peripherally inserted stem giv ...
s of immortality, the
Peaches of Immortality
In Chinese mythology, Peaches of Immortality ( or ) are consumed by the immortals due to their mystic virtue of conferring longevity on all who eat them. Peaches symbolizing immortality (or the wish for a long and healthy life) are a common symbo ...
, and the magical
Yao Grass Yao Grass (瑶草) is a type of mythical plant which appears in Chinese mythology, of which there were two types. It is one of various mythical plants encountered in Chinese myths. Two types of Yao Grass are attested to in the ''Shanhaijing''.
Guya ...
. Also encountered are various plants of jasper and jade growing in the gardens of the Paradises.
Mythological objects
Various mythological objects form a part of Chinese mythology, including gems, pearls, magical
bronzes, and weapons. Examples include a
wish-fulfilling jewel; various
luminous gemstones
Folktales about luminous gemstones are an almost worldwide motif in mythology and history among Asian, European, African, and American cultures. Some stories about light-emitting gems may have been based on luminescent and phosphorescent mineral ...
, the
Marquis of Sui's pearl, auspicious pearls associated with dragon imagery; and, the
Nine Tripod Cauldrons
The Nine Tripod Cauldrons () were a collection of ding cast by the legendary Yu the Great of the Xia dynasty of ancient China. They were viewed as symbols of the authority given to the ruler by the mandate of heaven.
At the time of the Shang dyna ...
which conferred legitimacy to the dynastic ruler of the Nine Provinces of China. The weaponry motif is common in Chinese mythology, for example, the heroic archer
Yi is supposed to have shot down nine problematic suns with a magical bow and arrows given to him by
Di Jun Di Jun () also known as Emperor Jun is one of the ancient supreme deities of China, now known primarily through five chapters of the ''Shanhaijing'' (Yang 2005, 97). Di Jun had two wives, or consorts: Xihe and Changxi, and Di Jun figures in several ...
.
Jewels
Jewels include a
wish-fulfilling jewel; various
luminous gemstones
Folktales about luminous gemstones are an almost worldwide motif in mythology and history among Asian, European, African, and American cultures. Some stories about light-emitting gems may have been based on luminescent and phosphorescent mineral ...
, the
Marquis of Sui's pearl, auspicious pearls associated with dragon imagery.
Weapons
Weapons include
Guanyu's pole weapon, sometimes known as the
Green Dragon Crescent Blade
The Green Dragon Crescent Blade () is a legendary weapon wielded by the Chinese general Guan Yu in the 14th-century historical novel ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms''. It is a guandao, a type of traditional Chinese weapon.
It is also sometimes ...
. Also: the shield and battleaxe of
Xingtian
Xingtian (, also Hsing T'ien) is a Chinese deity who fights against the Supreme Divinity, not giving up even after the event of his decapitation. Losing the fight for supremacy, he was beheaded and his head buried in Changyang Mountain. Neverthele ...
,
Yi's bow and arrows, given him by
Di Jun Di Jun () also known as Emperor Jun is one of the ancient supreme deities of China, now known primarily through five chapters of the ''Shanhaijing'' (Yang 2005, 97). Di Jun had two wives, or consorts: Xihe and Changxi, and Di Jun figures in several ...
, and the many weapons and armor of
Chiyou
Chiyou (蚩尤, ) is a mythological being that appears in East Asian mythology.
Individual
According to the Song dynasty history book '' Lushi'', Chiyou's surname was Jiang (), and he was a descendant of flame.
According to legend, Chiyou had a ...
.
Major sources
Some myths survive in theatrical or literary formats as plays or novels, others are still collected from the oral traditions of China and surrounding areas. Other material can be gleaned from examining various other artifacts such as
Chinese ritual bronzes
Sets and individual examples of ritual bronzes survive from when they were made mainly during the Chinese Bronze Age. Ritual bronzes create quite an impression both due to their sophistication of design and manufacturing process, but also beca ...
, ceramics, paintings, silk tapestries and elements of
Chinese architecture
Chinese architecture ( Chinese:中國建築) is the embodiment of an architectural style that has developed over millennia in China and it has influenced architecture throughout Eastern Asia. Since its emergence during the early ancient era, ...
. The oldest written sources of Chinese mythology are short inscriptions, rather than literature as such. The earliest written evidence is found in the
Oracle bone script
Oracle bone script () is an ancient form of Chinese characters that were engraved on oracle bonesanimal bones or Turtle shell#Plastron, turtle plastrons used in pyromancy, pyromantic divination. Oracle bone script was used in the late 2nd millen ...
, written on scapulae or tortoise plastrons, in the process of the divination practices
Shang dynasty
The Shang dynasty (), also known as the Yin dynasty (), was a Chinese royal dynasty founded by Tang of Shang (Cheng Tang) that ruled in the Yellow River valley in the second millennium BC, traditionally succeeding the Xia dynasty and ...
(ended approximately 1046 BCE). A copious and eclectic source of information on Chinese mythology is the written materials recovered from the
Dunhuang manuscripts
Dunhuang manuscripts refer to a wide variety of religious and secular documents (mostly manuscripts, but also including some woodblock-printed texts) in Chinese and other languages that were discovered at the Mogao Caves of Dunhuang, China, duri ...
library, now scattered in libraries around the world.
Shells and bones
The earliest known written inscriptions of Chinese mythology are found on the shells and bones from about 3000 years before present. These shells and bones were inscribed with records of divinatory processes during the late
Shang dynasty
The Shang dynasty (), also known as the Yin dynasty (), was a Chinese royal dynasty founded by Tang of Shang (Cheng Tang) that ruled in the Yellow River valley in the second millennium BC, traditionally succeeding the Xia dynasty and ...
, also known as the Yin dynasty after its capital at
Yin
Yin may refer to:
*the dark force in the yin and yang from traditional Chinese philosophy and medicine
*Yīn (surname) (), a Chinese surname
*Yǐn (surname) (), a Chinese surname
*Shang dynasty, also known as the Yin dynasty
**Yinxu or Yin, the S ...
, near modern
Anyang, in
Hebei
Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, and 0 ...
province. The use of these artifacts in the study of mythology is limited to fragmentary references, such as names, at best. No actual mythological narrative is known from the Shang oracle bones and shells.
Bronzes
![Zhou ritual vessel, British Museum](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/14/Zhou_ritual_vessel%2C_British_Museum.jpg)
Very ancient bronze pieces have also been found, especially beginning in the
Zhou dynasty
The Zhou dynasty ( ; Old Chinese ( B&S): *''tiw'') was a royal dynasty of China that followed the Shang dynasty. Having lasted 789 years, the Zhou dynasty was the longest dynastic regime in Chinese history. The military control of China by ...
(founded about 3,000 years before present), with allusions or short descriptions adding to modern knowledge of Ancient Chinese mythology. The sacred or magical attitude towards some of these cast inscriptions is shown in that they sometimes appear in places almost inaccessible to being read, such as the inside of a vessel (often quite large and heavy, often covered with a lid, and perhaps meant to store food). However, there was a widespread belief that such writings were read by gods or spirits. One such vessel (a ''xu'' (), with the characters appearing on the inside-bottom) is a Zhou bronze with a 98-character description of the deeds of Yu draining the flood.
Literary sources
Various Chinese literature addresses the subject area of Chinese mythology. In some cases, some preservation of mythology occurs, either deliberately or incidentally. In other cases, the mythology inspires literary works which are not strictly of a mythological nature, for example works of fiction, didactic works of philosophy, or, more modernly, computer games and the names associated with Chinese explorations into outer space, the deep ocean, or the north and south polar regions. Approaching a rough organization of the topic of literature relating to Chinese mythology may be chronologic. The early textual materials mainly survive from the later
Zhou dynasty
The Zhou dynasty ( ; Old Chinese ( B&S): *''tiw'') was a royal dynasty of China that followed the Shang dynasty. Having lasted 789 years, the Zhou dynasty was the longest dynastic regime in Chinese history. The military control of China by ...
; that is, Eastern Zhou, from about 450 to 221 BCE. Although these texts are relatively less editorial treated than some later texts, they are not the same as the original pre-literary myths. The next major period of textual sources for Chinese mythology dates from the start of the
Qin dynasty
The Qin dynasty ( ; zh, c=秦朝, p=Qín cháo, w=), or Ch'in dynasty in Wade–Giles romanization ( zh, c=, p=, w=Ch'in ch'ao), was the first dynasty of Imperial China. Named for its heartland in Qin state (modern Gansu and Shaanxi), ...
(221 BCE), through the end of the
Han dynasty
The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...
(220 CE), and continuing through the end of the subsequent periods of disunity (581 CE). The surviving texts from this era often reflect evolution of the mythological substratum. Beginning with the establishment of the
Sui dynasty and continuing through the subsequent
Tang dynasty
The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdom ...
,
Sung dynasty
The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...
, and
Ming dynasty
The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han peo ...
(ended 1644). During this period Chinese mythology developed into what now may be considered to be its traditional form. The Sung literature is particularly valuable for the often verbatim transcriptions of mythological material from otherwise unpreserved earlier sources. In modern times, Chinese mythology has both become the subject of global study and inspiration, including popular culture.
''Chuci'' and poetry sources
Some information on Chinese mythology is found in the verse poetry associated with the ancient state of
Chu such as "
Lisao", "
Jiu Ge
''Jiu Ge'', or ''Nine Songs'', () is an ancient set of poems. Together, these poems constitute one of the 17 sections of the poetry anthology which was published under the title of the '' Chuci'' (also known as the ''Songs of Chu'' or as the '' ...
", and "
Heavenly Questions
The ''Heavenly Questions'' or ''Questions to Heaven'' () is a piece contained in the Classical Chinese poetry collection of ''Chu Ci'', which is noted both in terms of poetry and as a source for information on the ancient culture of China, espec ...
", contained in the ''
Chuci
The ''Chu ci'', variously translated as ''Verses of Chu,'' ''Songs of Chu'', or ''Elegies of Chu'', is an ancient anthology of Chinese poetry including works traditionally attributed mainly to Qu Yuan and Song Yu from the Warring States period ...
'' anthology, traditionally attributed to the authorship of
Qu Yuan
Qu Yuan ( – 278 BCE) was a Chinese poet and politician in the State of Chu during the Warring States period. He is known for his patriotism and contributions to classical poetry and verses, especially through the poems of the '' ...
of
Chu. The ''Chuci'' (together with some of its commentaries) in the form known today was compiled during Han, but contains some older material, dating back at least to the waning days of the
Zhou dynasty
The Zhou dynasty ( ; Old Chinese ( B&S): *''tiw'') was a royal dynasty of China that followed the Shang dynasty. Having lasted 789 years, the Zhou dynasty was the longest dynastic regime in Chinese history. The military control of China by ...
(the
Warring States period
The Warring States period () was an era in ancient Chinese history characterized by warfare, as well as bureaucratic and military reforms and consolidation. It followed the Spring and Autumn period and concluded with the Qin wars of conquest ...
), prior to the 221 BCE defeat of
Chu (state) during the rise of the
Qin dynasty
The Qin dynasty ( ; zh, c=秦朝, p=Qín cháo, w=), or Ch'in dynasty in Wade–Giles romanization ( zh, c=, p=, w=Ch'in ch'ao), was the first dynasty of Imperial China. Named for its heartland in Qin state (modern Gansu and Shaanxi), ...
. Later poetic sources also address this mythology as a continuation of this poetic tradition, for example,
Tang poetry
Tang poetry () refers to poetry written in or around the time of or in the characteristic style of China's Tang dynasty, (June 18, 618 – June 4, 907, including the 690–705 reign of Wu Zetian) and/or follows a certain style, often considered ...
.
Zhou dynasty literature
Some information can be found in the Confucian Classics, such as the ''
Shijing
The ''Classic of Poetry'', also ''Shijing'' or ''Shih-ching'', translated variously as the ''Book of Songs'', ''Book of Odes'', or simply known as the ''Odes'' or ''Poetry'' (; ''Shī''), is the oldest existing collection of Chinese poetry, co ...
'' and ''
Yijing
The ''I Ching'' or ''Yi Jing'' (, ), usually translated ''Book of Changes'' or ''Classic of Changes'', is an ancient Chinese divination text that is among the oldest of the Chinese classics. Originally a divination manual in the Western Zho ...
'', and other Zhou dynasty era material, especially ''
Book of Rites
The ''Book of Rites'', also known as the ''Liji'', is a collection of texts describing the social forms, administration, and ceremonial rites of the Zhou dynasty as they were understood in the Warring States and the early Han periods. The ''Book ...
'', but also the ''
Lüshi Chunqiu
The ''Lüshi Chunqiu'', also known in English as ''Master Lü's Spring and Autumn Annals'', is an encyclopedic Chinese classic text compiled around 239 BC under the patronage of the Qin Dynasty Chancellor Lü Buwei. In the evaluation of Micha ...
''. The ''
Book of Documents'' contains some Chinese myths.
Literature of Qin-Han to Sui
=Han dynasty
=
The
Han dynasty
The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...
existed from 206 BCE – 220 CE (with a brief intermission separating it into two halves). Han was preceded by the short-lived
Qin dynasty
The Qin dynasty ( ; zh, c=秦朝, p=Qín cháo, w=), or Ch'in dynasty in Wade–Giles romanization ( zh, c=, p=, w=Ch'in ch'ao), was the first dynasty of Imperial China. Named for its heartland in Qin state (modern Gansu and Shaanxi), ...
, 221 to 206 BC, which has some important surviving literature. In the Qin and Han periods, besides the ''Chuci'', useful historical documents include the ''
Records of the Grand Historian
''Records of the Grand Historian'', also known by its Chinese name ''Shiji'', is a monumental history of China that is the first of China's 24 dynastic histories. The ''Records'' was written in the early 1st century by the ancient Chinese his ...
'', completed by Han historian
Sima Qian before his death in about 220 CE. Legends were passed down for over a thousand years before being written in books such as ''
Classic of Mountains and Seas
The ''Classic of Mountains and Seas'', also known as ''Shan Hai Jing'', formerly romanized as the ''Shan-hai Ching'', is a Chinese classic text and a compilation of mythic geography and beasts. Early versions of the text may have existed sin ...
'' (''Shanhaijing''), basically a
gazetteer
A gazetteer is a geographical index or directory used in conjunction with a map or atlas.Aurousseau, 61. It typically contains information concerning the geographical makeup, social statistics and physical features of a country, region, or con ...
mixing known and mythological geography. Another major Han source on mythology is the ''
Huainanzi
The ''Huainanzi'' is an ancient Chinese text that consists of a collection of essays that resulted from a series of scholarly debates held at the court of Liu An, Prince of Huainan, sometime before 139. The ''Huainanzi'' blends Daoist, Confuci ...
''.
=Post-Han, pre-Sui disunity period
=
The mythologically relevant book ''
Soushen Ji
The ''Soushen Ji'', variously translated as ''In Search of the Sacred'', ''In Search of the Supernatural'', and ''Anecdotes about Spirits and Immortals'', is a Chinese compilation of legends, short stories, and hearsay concerning Chinese gods, ...
'' dates to the
Jin dynasty (266–420)
The Jin dynasty (; ) or the Jin Empire, sometimes distinguished as the (司馬晉) or the (兩晉), was an imperial dynasty of China that existed from 266 to 420. It was founded by Sima Yan (Emperor Wu), eldest son of Sima Zhao, who had pr ...
, during the
Sixteen Kingdoms era. Also known as ''
In Search of the Supernatural
The ''Soushen Ji'', variously translated as ''In Search of the Sacred'', ''In Search of the Supernatural'', and ''Anecdotes about Spirits and Immortals'', is a Chinese compilation of legends, short stories, and hearsay concerning Chinese gods, ...
'' and ''A Record of Researches into Spirits'', it is a 4th-century compilation of stories and hearsay concerning spirits, ghosts, and supernatural phenomena, some of which being of mythological importance, including a "great deal" of pre-Han mythological narrative.
Sui, Tang, and Ming
=Tang dynasty
=
The
Tang dynasty
The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdom ...
had a flourishing literature, including prose and poetry involving mythological content. One important, partially-surviving work is ''
Duyizhi
''Duyizhi'' (, also known as ''Tu yi chih''), a book in the genre of "transmissions of strange tales" (''chuanqi''), is now known only in partial form. The author has been identified as Li Rong. The book is a very important source for the modern st ...
'' by Li Rong.
=Song dynasty
=
Surviving
Song dynasty
The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...
literature informative on Chinese mythology includes the
encyclopedic work known as ''
Taiping Yulan
The ''Taiping Yulan'', translated as the ''Imperial Reader'' or ''Readings of the Taiping Era'', is a massive Chinese ''leishu'' encyclopedia compiled by a team of scholars from 977 to 983. It was commissioned by the imperial court of the Son ...
''.
Vernacular novels and new media
![Long Corridor-通天河](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0d/Long_Corridor-%E9%80%9A%E5%A4%A9%E6%B2%B3.jpg)
Some myths were passed down through oral traditions literature, and art, such as theater and song before being recorded as novels. One example is ''
Epic of Darkness
The Epic of Darkness () is a collection of tales and legends of primeval China in epic poetry, preserved by the inhabitants of the Shennongjia mountain area in Hubei. It is composed of numerous Chinese myths relating to the creation of the world, ...
''. Books in the ''
shenmo
Gods and demons fiction () is a subgenre of fantasy fiction that revolves around the deities, immortals, and monsters of Chinese mythology. The term ''shenmo xiaoshuo'', coined in the early 20th century by the writer and literary historian Lu ...
'' genre of
vernacular fiction revolve around gods and monsters. Important
mythological fiction which allude to these myths, include ''
Fengshen Bang'' (''Investiture of the Gods''), a mythological fiction dealing with the founding of the
Zhou dynasty
The Zhou dynasty ( ; Old Chinese ( B&S): *''tiw'') was a royal dynasty of China that followed the Shang dynasty. Having lasted 789 years, the Zhou dynasty was the longest dynastic regime in Chinese history. The military control of China by ...
; ''
Journey to the West
''Journey to the West'' () is a Chinese novel published in the 16th century during the Ming dynasty and attributed to Wu Cheng'en. It is regarded as one of the greatest Classic Chinese Novels, and has been described as arguably the most popul ...
'' attributed to
Wu Cheng'en
Wu Cheng'en (, c. 1500–1582Shi Changyu (1999). "Introduction." in trans. W.J.F. Jenner, ''Journey to the West'', volume 1. Seventh Edition. Beijing: Foreign Languages Press. pp. 1–22. or 1505–1580), courtesy name Ruzhong (), was a Chines ...
, published in the 1590s, a fictionalized account of the pilgrimage of
Xuanzang
Xuanzang (, ; 602–664), born Chen Hui / Chen Yi (), also known as Hiuen Tsang, was a 7th-century Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveler, and translator. He is known for the epoch-making contributions to Chinese Buddhism, the travelogue of ...
to
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
to obtain
Buddhist
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
religious texts in which the main character and his companions such as
Sun Wukong encounter ghosts, monsters, and demons, as well as the
Flaming Mountains
The Flaming Mountains () or Huoyan Mountains, are barren, eroded, red sandstone hills in the Tian Shan of Xinjiang. They lie near the northern rim of the Taklamakan Desert and east of the city of Turpan. Their striking gullies and trenches caused b ...
; and, ''
Baishe Zhuan
The Legend of the White Snake is a Chinese legend. It has since been presented in a number of major Chinese operas, films, and television series.
The earliest attempt to fictionalize the story in printed form appears to be ''The White Maiden L ...
'' (''Madame White Snake''), a romantic tale set in
Hangzhou
Hangzhou ( or , ; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), also romanized as Hangchow, is the capital and most populous city of Zhejiang, China. It is located in the northwestern part of the province, sitting at the head of Hangzhou Bay, whic ...
involving a female snake who attained human form and fell in love with a man. ''
Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio'', by
Pu Songling
Pu Songling (, 5 June 1640 – 25 February 1715) was a Chinese writer during the Qing dynasty, best known as the author of ''Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio'' (''Liaozhai zhiyi'').
Biography
Pu was born into a poor merchant family from ...
contains many stories of
fox spirits
Huli jing () are Chinese mythology, Chinese mythological creatures usually capable of shapeshifting, who may either be benevolent or malevolent spirits. In Chinese mythology and folklore, the fox spirit takes variant forms with different meaning ...
, and other phenomena. Another example is ''
Zi Bu Yu
''What the Master Would Not Discuss'' (, alternatively known as Xin Qixie ) is a collection of supernatural stories compiled by Qing Dynasty scholar and writer Yuan Mei.
The work has also been called ''What the Master Does not Speak of'' and ot ...
'', a collection of supernatural stories compiled during the Qing dynasty.
Literary genres
Certain genres of literature are notable for dealing with themes from mythology or tales of the supernatural; for example, the
Zhiguai
''Zhiguai xiaoshuo'', translated as "tales of the miraculous", "tales of the strange", or "records of anomalies", is a type of Chinese literature which appeared in the Han dynasty and developed after the fall of the dynasty in 220 CE and in the T ...
() literary genre that deals with strange (mostly supernatural) events and stories.
India
The literature of India contains material about Chinese mythology, due to the influence of textual sources imported into China, and translated into Chinese and the ideas widely adopted by Chinese people. This was primarily in regard to Buddhist texts, containing
Buddhist mythology from the area in and around the area now known as India. Some Hindu material may have been more directly imported.
Comparative mythology
Many insights have developed through the examination of Chinese mythology as part of the field of
comparative mythology
Comparative mythology is the comparison of myths from different cultures in an attempt to identify shared themes and characteristics.Littleton, p. 32 Comparative mythology has served a variety of academic purposes. For example, scholars have used ...
, which is the comparison of myths from different cultures in order to identify shared themes, motifs, or other features. Early exponents of comparative mythology which are informative to the study of Chinese mythology include
Georges Dumézil and
James Frazer
Sir James George Frazer (; 1 January 1854 – 7 May 1941) was a Scottish social anthropologist and folklorist influential in the early stages of the modern studies of mythology and comparative religion.
Personal life
He was born on 1 Janua ...
.
In popular culture
Thousands of years of the development of Chinese mythology has resulted in Chinese mythology in popular culture, in the sense of popular culture affected or inspired by this tradition. This includes television shows, cinema, and video games. Also, many of the vehicles associated with the modern Chinese space program are named after mythology, such as the lunar explorer
Chang'e 4
Chang'e 4 (; ) is a robotic spacecraft mission, part of the second phase of the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program. China achieved humanity's first soft landing on the far side of the Moon, on 3 January 2019.
A communication relay satellit ...
that achieved the first
soft landing Soft landing may refer to:
*Soft landing (aeronautics)
A soft landing is any type of aircraft, rocket or spacecraft landing that does not result in significant damage to or destruction of the vehicle or its payload, as opposed to a hard la ...
on the
far side of the Moon
The far side of the Moon is the lunar hemisphere that always faces away from Earth, opposite to the near side, because of synchronous rotation in the Moon's orbit. Compared to the near side, the far side's terrain is rugged, with a multitu ...
, on 3 January 2019,
and named after the lunar goddess Chang'e associated and with a communications relay satellite
Queqiao, named after the lovers bridge over the Milky Way formed by magpies.
See also
References
Sources
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*
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*
External links
Encyclopedia of Chinese Gods and Goddesses">Ferguson, John C. 1928. "China" in Volume VIII of ''Mythology of All Races''. Archaeological Institute of America.
Guide to Chinese gods
{{Authority control
Sino-Tibetan mythology