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Chinese mythology is perhaps the largest collection of folklore from any one single culture in the world. Although the first written evidence of Chinese myths appeared in the second century BC oral versions of different mythological tales date back to the 12th century BC. Indeed, so vast and rich is China’s mythological heritage this newsletter will – I hope – give a brief outline of the subject. It's a fascinating subject, and offers a variety of myths and legends that might well serve as the inspiration for your next fantasy story...
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Mythology has been described as a simple and romantic literary format; a real treasure in mankind’s cultural and artistic heritage. China’s long and ancient mythological history is as diverse as the country of its origins. Although China has many different social and cultural groups speak a variety of languages the literate cultural “elite” have, over many centuries, collected many of the stories in a pictorial form. This meant the stories transcended language barriers, and each one became part of the country’s mythology.
Much Chinese mythology is based on animism, which considers the land itself alive. Mystical beings with both animal and human features play an important role in these stories, which also describe the playfulness of the traditional gods. Chinese mythology is full of human feelings which are not restricted to people. Gods, ghosts, foxes and dragons… all these characters are often described as living things with human qualities, feelings and emotions. In some stories there is a tendency to “elevate” the human characters, making many of them proud and determined individuals. This is evident in the style used to tell so many of the stories This is well illustrated by a tale called “The Foolish Old Man Removes the Mountains”, where the title character is approached by The Wise Old Man at the River Bendwho wants to stop him and says mockingly:
“How unwise you are! At your age and with your energy you cannot even remove one hair on the mountain, let alone so much earth and so many rocks!”
The Foolish Old Man of North Mountain heaved a long sigh and said, “You are so conceited that you are blind to reason. Even a widow and a child know better than you. When I die there will be my sons, who will have their sons and grandsons, and so on to infinity. But the mountains will not grow. Why is it impossible to level them?”
The Wise Old Man at River Bend could not answer him.
The Foolish Old Man's words were heard by a god with snakes in his hands. Afraid the old man would really level the two mountains, he reported the incident to the Heavenly God. Moved by the old man's determination, the Heavenly God ordered the two sons of Kua'ershi to carry the two mountains on their backs and put one east of Shuo and the other south of Yong. After this there were no more mountains between Jizhou and the Han River.
It may be a very short story consisting mainly of dialogue, but it is effective. The dialogue says much about the speaker’s personality, and phrases like “heaved a long sigh” add to the character.
Stories about the separation of Heaven and earth, the traditional battle between good and evil, the spiritual wellbeing of mankind and the pursuit of truth/justice/enlightenment are a feature of mythology from all over the world, and Chinese mythology contains its fair share. There are stories illustrating fatalism, reincarnation and many detailing ethics and principles for living an honourable life. The Story of Gun and Yu extols the virtues of perseverance and self-sacrifice:
When Gun steals the “growing earth” from the Heavenly God to try to stop the flood the god has him killed. Out of dead Gun’s belly Yu is born, and he continues Gun’s seemingly impossible quest. He endures countless hardships, finally marrying at age 30. However he leaves his wife four days later to return to fight the floods, finally bringing them under control – a testament to his dedication and self-sacrifice.
The Yu in this story is an actual historical character – many Chinese myths include actual historical characters. Heroes and leaders like Fuxi, Shennong and the Yellow Emperor Huangdi are important characters in mythical tales. The rewards of hard work and the encouragement of good deeds are common themes, as is the warning of sin. The yearning and search for true love is, naturally, another strongly featured subject. Love stories telling of passionate and loyal relationships between men and goddesses and fox fairies and ghost women cross cultural and feudal divisions. At one time it was considered wrong to love a person from a different ethnic background. The fear of outsiders has been an influence upon Chinese mythology, which has also been influenced – sometimes deliberately – by philosophy and religion. The conflicts between the two have featured in many Chinese myths. Here are three important influences upon Chinese mythology:
 Taoism – the search for literal and physical immortality, the interplay between cosmic natural and abstract laws. Taoism looks for balance between the two, and embraces the concept that while change cannot be forced it can be experienced and assimilated.
Confucianism – Confucius lived during the political unrest and feuding of the 6th century BC. He wrote of the virtues of order, structure and correct behaviour under the rigid notion of hierarchy involving strict filial devotion. Indeed Confucius’ notions of hierarch are evident in the bureaucratic pantheon of Chinese myths.
Buddhism – introduced to China in the first century AD this faith has been adapted by the Chinese, intertwining mythologies of both indigenous and imported faiths. Early Buddhism’s mythology gives meaning and basis to its principles and practices. The advent of Buddhism is seen in the tale of Emperor Ming, who dreams of a winged golden man who would lead Ming’s messengers to Afghanistan to retrieve the Buddhist scriptures.
To close I’d like to highlight the Chinese creation myth, which is similar to creation myths from other cultures, claiming the wrld is formed from the body of a primal being:
In the beginning there was darkness everywhere, and Chaos ruled. Within the darkness there formed an egg, and inside the egg the giant Pangu came into being. For aeons, safely inside the egg, Pangu slept and grew. When he had grown to gigantic size he stretched his huge limbs and in so doing broke the egg. The lighter parts of the egg floated upwards to form the heavens and the denser parts sank downwards, to become the earth. And so was formed earth and sky, Yin and Yang.
Pangu saw what had happened and he was pleased. But he feared that Heaven and earth might meld together again, so he placed himself between them, his head holding up the sky and his feet firmly upon the earth. Pangu continued to grow at a rate of ten feet a day for 18,000 years, so increasing the distance between Heaven and earth, until they seemed fixed and secure, 30,000 miles apart. Exhausted, Pangu went back to sleep - and never woke up.
Pangu died, and his body went to make the world and all its elements. The wind and clouds were formed from his breath, his voice was thunder and lightning, his eyes became the sun and moon, his arms and his legs became the four directions of the compass and his trunk became the mountains. His flesh turned into the soil and the trees that grow on it, his blood into the rivers that flow and his veins into paths men travel. His body hair became the grass and herbs, and his skin the same, while precious stones and minerals were formed from his bones and teeth. His sweat became the dew and the hair of his head became the stars that trail throughout heaven. As for the parasites on his body, these became the diverse races of humankind.
The following sites are good resources for information about Chinese myths:
http://www.godchecker.com/pantheon/chinese-mythology.php
http://www.crystalinks.com/chinamythology.html
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JEK 
A note on the Unicorn: In the Bible a creature called the re'em (in hebrew) is mentioned. Jewish folklore says this creature had two horns that were twisted together (hence: they are united as the horns of the re'em). I'm almost certain this had some impact on the development of the creature called the Unicorn.
For the record, Jewish folklore also says that the re'em disapeared after the making of the Tabernacle, which I (being a cynic) take to mean that the Children of Israel hunted it to extinction.
I agree with you. It's the same thinking behind the orynx, an antelope with straight horns. It is thought it was depicted visually from the side... I, however, prefer to focus on the mythology of the unicorn, so I'm delighted you shared this excerpt from Jewish folklore with us.
andromeda
Have you read Circle of Magic? it's a series about four children that each use different element magic. I'm working on a story called Myth and Legend that uses elements, but other things as well.
I have not read it, and have added ti to my ever-increasing list of "Books to Read"! Thank you for the suggestion, and if you give me a link to your story I'll happily highlight it for you in a future newsletter.
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Fantasy: October 24, 2007 Issue [#2017]
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