Chinese Myths & Legends: The beginnings of the Chinese people are shrouded in myths & legends.According to Chinese tradition,the history began some 5000 years ago in the Hwang Ho Valley.Findings also show that the early Chinese possessed a culture that had undergone several centuries of development.
Origin of Myths & Legends: In prehistoric times,before there were written records,the literary rate of the people was low,thus the people failed to understand the laws of nature.In their encounters with these transcedental & mighty forces,they were reminded of their own smallness as they feel awe,a sensation akin to terror.They believed that the gods were responsible for such phenomenon,& personified them according to their ideal hero image,thus creating myths & legends that explain this.These stories were later passed through generations even till now via story-telling.They remain very important in Chinese tradition,culture & religions.
Examples of Myths & Legends: --Origins of the Universe & Mankind 1.The Chinese have stories that account for the existence of the universe & mankind,their origin & culture.P'an Ku is said to have separated the earth,underworld and heavens & created the sun,moon,plants,rivers & animals.(P'an Ku Creates the Universe) 2.An ancient goddess Nu-Wa is said to have created man out of clay & hence is heralded as the creator.(Nu-Wa Creates Man)She later mended a broken spot in the sky so prevented the breaking of the heaven,using colored rocks,hence explaining the different colors of the sky.(Nu-Wa Mends the Filament) --The Ancient Rulers 3.Yu Ch'ao,Sui Jen & Shen Nung are the 3 Divine Kings.Yu Ch'ao taught men to build houses.Sui Jen discovered a way of producing fire by rubbing 2 pieces of wood together.Shen Nung is the father of medicine & taught the men agriculture.(The 3 Divine Kings) 4.Huang Ti,Fu Hsi,Yao,Shun & Yu are the 5 Sovereigns.Huang Ti is also known as the Yellow Emperor,believed to be the ancestor of the Chinese,revered as the primal ancestor ever since the Chou period.Yao,the first model emperor was concerned with the welfare of his people.Shun's greatness is due to his important reforms & his great piety,forgiving his father, his evil stepmother & stepbrother despite their attempts to destroy him.Yu is credited with creating the first Chinese dynasty,the Hsia dynasty because he made the crown hereditary in his family.Yao,Shun & Yu are also known as the 3 Sages.(The 5 Sovereigns & 3 Sages) 5.Yao & Shun were troubled by the great floods.Gun,the father of Yu started several water control projects but he failed & was executed on Shun's orders.Yu,before becoming the ruler,was called to continue Kun's work.For more than a decade,he travelled widely.On 3 occassions,he chose not to pause even to greet his weeping wife & children because he was so single-minded on his job.Yu finally successfully dredged channels to drain the floodwaters out to the sea,& brought joy to the people.Arable land was created thus.He was later named Shun's successor.(Kun & Yu Stop the Floods)After his death,the people turned to his son for guidance & hence the Hsia dynasty was created.(The Origin of the Hsia Dynasty) --The 10 Suns 6.In the Hsia period,there was once 10 suns in the sky.A hunter named Hou-yi shot down 9 suns with arrows,hence relieving people of the misery.Thus there is only 1 sun left.(Hou-yi Shoots the Suns)He then became the ruler,but he soon became a tyrant obssessed with immortality.His wife Chang-Er,out of concern of for the people, ate the elixir of everlasting life,to prevent him from doing so..because she knew an immortal Hou-yi would mean hardship for the people, After taking it, she flew to the moon & stayed there to become the moon fairy goddess-princess & this is a folk myth which praises her kindness & virtues.It is the origin of the Mid-Autumm Festival,that includes the worshipping of the moon & eating mooncakes.(Chang-Er Flies to the Moon)
It's also believed that she had a jade rabbit as companion & later fell in love with the woodcutter god Wu Gang who was sent to the moon & made to cut trees which can never be chopped off forever.They lived happily ever after. --Mid-Autumm Festival Mid-Autumm Festival (Full Moon Festival,known as 'Zhongqiu Jie' in Mandarin) is now a time of auspicious moments,goodwill, for recounting & sharing stories of Chang-E,who can be seen in the animated version of her on this page.All expressions of this wonderful spirit of the festival depicts all that is loving & good in family unity,nostalgia,warm friendship & quality of life of the new generation born into yesterday's dreams & living today's traditions,highlighting the elements of the season's timeless traditions,all admist sharing of poems,songs,children playing with laterns,gazing at the full moon ,family reunions.
But the custom of eating mooncakes started only during the end years of the Yuan dynasty,the Mongolian rule of china from 13th-15th century AD.Yuan rule was despostic & ill-treated the Chinese,& so it made the Chinese people decide to rise up to rebel.They hid messages of the movement in cakes of lotus paste(mooncakes) & passed it around. The rebellion that took place on the moon-worship day was successful & thus we eat mooncakes to remember this bravery.that represents the unity of the Chinese people. --The Fall of Hsia Dynasty 7.But the dynasty came to an end through the inefficiency of its last ruler Chieh when his people under Cheng T'ang rebelled.Cheng Tang created the Shang/Yin dynasty ,believed to be the second dynasty of China by the Chinese.But no evidence about the Hsia dynasty has been found,hence most historians viewed Shang officially as the first dynasty since archaeological evidence of the Shang period has been found.Nonetheless,Hsia is still seen as the first dynasty & recorded in history books as so.(The Origin of the Shang dynasty)
Significance of Myths & Legends: The myths & legends have been firmly entrenched in Chinese culture,and religions.It laid the background for the beginning of Romanticism in literature & the arts,influencing Romantic poets like
Ch'u-Yuan & Li-Po.It also served as the source for many other legends,the supernatural,weird, ghostly
& uncanny tales of the Wei-T'sin-6Dynasties,the Tang-Sung & the Ming-Ching periods. ~(Index of Site)~
