Transcript Heroes in Chinese Mythology

Heroes in Chinese Mythology
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The largest category of Chinese myths
concerns hero myths, describe by Derk
Bodde as “those of the culture heroes
who enjoy supernatural birth, are
sometimes aided by protective animals,
become sage rulers or otherwise
perform great deeds for mankind.”
Bodde, “Myths of Ancient China,” p. 370
Derk Bodde, a famed sinologist
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Derk Bodde (9 March 1909 – 3 November
2003) was a prominent 20th century
American Sinologist and historian of
China. He authored pioneering work in the
history of the Chinese legal system.
Bodde was an emeritus Professor of
Chinese Studies at the University of
Pennsylvania and former president of the
American Oriental Society (1968-69).
Bodde received his undergraduate degree
from Harvard University in 1930. He spent
six years (1931-1937) studying in China on
a fellowship. He earned a doctorate in
Chinese Studies from the University of
Leiden in Amsterdam in 1938. When the
Fulbright scholarship program was
initiated in 1948, Bodde was the first
American recipient of a one-year
fellowship, which he spent studying in
Beijing (formerly Peking).
盘古【pángǔ】 Pan Gu, creator of
the universe in Chinese mythology
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Scholars used to the
mythology of the Ju’deoChristian tradition observe
that China lacks myths in
general and creation myths
in particular. However in
pri’mordial antiquity there
were a small number of
supernatural creatures who
were involved in a
transformation process of a
cata’clysmic nature.
盘古【pángǔ】 Pan Gu, creator of
the universe in Chinese mythology
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According to Xu Zheng 徐整 of the Thee Kingdoms period (early 3rd
century A. D.), Pan Gu transformed the world in two ways. One of
these myths says that the world was opaque like the inside of an egg,
and Pan Gu was born inside it.
In 18,000 years, Heaven and Earth split open; the Yang, which was
clear, became Heaven, and the Yin, which was murky, became Earth.
Pan Gu was in the middle, transforming himself nine times every
single day [and he performed] like a god in Heaven and like a sage on
Earth. Heaven rose by one Zhang (a unit of length =3.333 meters)
every day, Earth thickened by one zhang every day, and Pan Gu grew
by one zhang every day. It was like this for 18,000 years. Heaven
was exceedingly hight, Earth exceedingly deep, and Pan Gu
exceedingly tall…Thus, heaven’s distance from Earth was 90,000 li (a
Chinese unit of length (=0.5 kilometer).
Ancient Heroes and Their Inventions
The Cambridge History of Ancient China, 69
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Sui Ren 燧人, Chinese Prometheus--first use of fire;
Fu Xi 伏羲--the Eight Trigrams, Wedding rituals, se-zither 瑟;
hunting and fishing nets;
Shen Nong 神农, also known as Yan Di 炎帝—Qin 琴 -zither,
medical plants;
Huang Di 黄帝--Cooked meals, crown;
--Xihe 羲和--Divination by the sun;
--Changyi 常儀--Divination by the moon;
--Qu 區--Divination by the stars;
--Linglun 伶倫--Musical notes;
--Darao 大橈 --Calendar by Jiazi;
--Lishou 隶首--Arithmetic; 算盤【suànpan】 abacus.
--Quyong 沮誦 and Cangjie 倉頡—Writing, 象形文字 Hiero’glyphic
--Shi Huang 史皇--Graphics
Ancient Heroes and Their Inventions
The Cambridge History of Ancient China, 69
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Yong Fu 雍父--Stone and wooden mortars, pestles;
Hai 胲--Domesticated cattle;
Xiangtu 相土--Horse carriage;
Nǚ Wa 女媧--The Jew’s harp;
Hui 揮--Bow;
Yimou 夷牟--Arrow;
Chiyou蚩尤 --The five weapons;
Zhurong 祝融 --The market;
Hou Ji 后稷 --Plant cultivation;
Wu 巫 /Peng彭 --Medicine;
Wu Xian 巫咸 --Yarrow divination; drum, 蓍属（Achillea）植物；尤指：
the common 蓍（Achillea millefolium）
Shun 舜 --Pottery;
Chui垂--Wooden digging sticks; bell;
Gun 鲧 --The town wall;
Yao 堯--The Palace;
龙的传人【lóngde chuánrén】
Descendant of the Dragon
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In the beginning there was as yet
no moral or social order. Men
knew their mothers only, not their
fathers. When hungry, they
searched for food; when satisfied,
they threw away the remnants.
They devoured their food hide and
hair, drank the blood, and clad
themselves in skins and rushes.
Then came Fu Xi and looked
upward and contemplated the
images in the heavens, and looked
downward and contemplated the
occurrences on earth. He united
man and wife, regulated the five
stages of change, and laid down
the laws of humanity. He devised
the eight trigrams, in order to gain
mastery over the world.
– Ban Gu, Baihu tongyi
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Fu Xi on a mural in Peterborough
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Shen Nong/Flame Emperor
Shennong ploughing the fields.
Mural painting from Han dynasty
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Shennong counterattacked the
Busui/Fusui over resources to
protect his people. This is the
earliest military battle indirectly
inferred from Sun Bin’s Treatise
on the art of war.
神农/ 神戎伐补遂/斧遂
这次战争见于银雀山汉墓竹简《
孙膑兵法．见威王》和《战国策
．秦策》。据记载：孙膑为了说
服齐威王用兵，列举了许多古代
战例，首先就谈及“神戎战斧遂”
。苏秦说秦惠王连横，同样以“
神农伐斧遂”作为最古老的战争
讲述
炎黄子孙【yánhuáng zǐsūn】
Yandi and Huangdi's children and
grandchildren; descendants of Flame the
Emperor and Yellow Emperor
Emperor Huang (Huang Di)
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Huang-di, 黃帝or the Yellow
Emperor, is a legendary
Chinese sovereign and cultural
hero who is considered in
Chinese mythology to be the
ancestor of all Han Chinese.
Tradition holds that he reigned
from 2697 BC to 2597 BC. His
personal name was said to be
Gōngsūn Xuānyuán (公孙轩辕).
He emerged as a chief deity of
Taoism during the Han Dynasty
(202 BCE-220 CE).
The South Pointing Chariot
Reconstruction of a South Pointing Chariot
A Vehicle/Chariot
a non-magnetic compass
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The South Pointing Chariot is widely regarded as one of
the most complex geared mechanisms of the ancient
Chinese civilization, and was continually used throughout
the medieval period as well. It was supposedly invented
sometime around 2600 BC in China by the Yellow
Emperor, yet the first valid historical version was created
by Ma Jun 馬鈞 (c. 200–265 AD) of Cao Wei during the
Three Kingdoms. The chariot is a two-wheeled vehicle
upon which is a pointing figure connected to the wheels
by means of differential gearing. Through careful
selection of wheel size, track and gear ratios, the figure
atop the chariot will always point in the same direction,
hence acting as a non-magnetic compass vehicle.
According to Records of the Grand Historian, the Yellow
Emperor defeated Chi You during the Battle of Zhuolu
(~2500 BC) with the help of this invention on a foggy
day—fog created by Chi You.
Chinese Mythology Studies
山海经【shānhǎijīng】 the Classic of
Mountains and Rivers
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The Shanhai jing has been variously classified as a
geographical treatise and as a work of fiction. It is a rich
collection of myths and legends, some of which may be of
early date. Many of the entries are of supernatural and
fabulous occurrences. The present edition is divided into
eighteen sections, each of which is named by the general
geographical area purportedly described in the section.
The Shanhai jing traditionally has been attributed to the
sage emperor Yu 禹 or his assistant Boyi. The work now
is considered to be a composite text of materials from
different periods, the earliest of which may have been put
together around the fourth century. B. C. The existence
of Han time place names indicates that material was still
being added to the text in the Han period.
Kua Fu chasing the sun (夸父追日)
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One day out of the blue, Kua Fu (literally means a
bragging father) was perplexed by the Sun's whereabouts
at night and decided to chase and catch the Sun. He
followed the Sun from the East to the West, draining all
rivers and lakes crossing his path as sources of water to
quench his burning thirst.
However, he wasn't able to finish his quest because he
died of the extreme thirst and exhaustion.
The wooden club/staff he was carrying grew into a vast
forest…(peach trees)
Two Interpretations
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In modern day
Chinese usage, the
story of Kua Fu
chasing the sun (夸父
追日) is used to
describe a person who
fails to obtain his goal
because he greatly
overestimates himself.
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In its positive
sense, the story
praises someone
for his grand
aspiration/ambition
/ideal.
Nüwa and Fuxi as depicted from murals of
the Han Dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD)
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Nüwa 女媧 is a goddess in ancient
Chinese mythology, best known
for creating mankind and repairing
the roof of heaven. Later traditions
attribute mankind's creation to
either Pangu or Yu Huang.
龙的传人 Descendants of the
Dragon;
“Foot” in Chinese culture
the original measurement of the
English foot was from King
Henry I (c. 1068/1069 – 1
December 1135) , who had a
foot 12 inches long; he wished
to standardize the unit of
measurement in England.
Houyi Shot Down Nine Suns
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Houyi (Chinese: 后羿), also simply called Yi, was
a mythological Chinese archer and the leader of
Dongyi 東夷 . He is sometimes portrayed as a god
of archery descended from heaven to aid mankind,
and sometimes as the chief of the Youqiong Tribe (
有窮國) during the reign of King Xiang of Xia
Dynasty. His wife, Chang'e, was a lunar deity.
In Chinese mythology, the sun is sometimes
symbolized as a three-legged bird, called a Sunbird.
Three-legged Sun Birds
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Mural from the Han Dynasty
period found in Henan
province depicting a threelegged bird.
According to folklore, there
were originally ten sun birds
who perched on a red
mulberry tree called the
Fusang (Chinese: 扶桑
; pinyin: fúsāng) in the East
at the foot of the Valley of
the Sun.
淮南子【Huáinánzǐ】, literally means
"The Masters/Philosophers of Huainan"
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The Huainanzi is a 2nd century BCE Chinese
philosophical classic from the Han dynasty that blends
Daoist, Confucianist, and Legalist concepts, including
theories such as Yin-Yang and the Five Phases/Elements.
It was written under the patronage of Liu An, Prince of
Huainan, a legendarily prodigious author. 刘安（前179前122），汉高祖刘邦的孙子，袭封淮南王。
The text, also known as the Huainan honglie 淮南鸿烈
("The Great Brilliance of Huainan"), is a collection of
essays presented as resulting from literary and
philosophical debates between Liu and guests at his court,
in particular the scholars known as the Eight Immortals of
Huainan 淮南八仙 .
The Eight Immortals of Huainan (淮南八仙
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The Eight Immortals of Huainan (淮南八仙; Huáinán bāxiān), also known
as the Eight Gentlemen (八公 bāgōng), were the eight scholars under the
patronage of Liu An (劉安 Liú Ān), the prince of Huainan during the Western
Han Dynasty. They are not deified in any religions and the xian "immortal" is
used metaphorically to describe their talent. Together, they wrote the
philosophical collection Huainanzi (淮南子, Huáinánzǐ, literally "The
Masters of Huainan").
They are:
Jin Chang (晉昌 jǐn chāng),
Lei Bei (雷被 leí beì),
Li Shang (李尚 lǐ shàng),
Mao Bei (毛被 máo beì),
Su Fei (蘇非 sū feì),
Tian You (田由 tián yoú),
Wu Bei (伍被 wǔ beì), and
Zuo Wu (左吳 zǔo wú).
The "Bagong Mountain" ("Eight Gentlemen Mountain") in China is named
after them.
塞翁失马
A blessing in disguise
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塞翁失马,焉知非福
【sāiwēngshīmǎ,
• yānzhīfēifú】
• Misfortune may be an
actual blessing.
《淮南子· 人间训》
The parable goes that one day
an old man lost his horse.
When his folks remarked,
“That’s too bad,” he replied,
“How do you know whether
it’s not a blessing?” When his
horse was retrieved, the old
man commented, “How do you
know if it is not a curse?”
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【塞】边塞，指长城一带；
【翁】老翁；
【失】丢失；
【马】马匹；
When the horse was returned,
his son broke his leg from
horse riding. “That’s too bad,”
his folks shook their heads.
The old man responded, “How
do you know if it is not a
blessing?” Before long, a war
broke out. His son did not get
drafted due to his disability.
Ancient Sage Kings
http://ctext.org/shang-shu
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Often extolled as the
morally perfect sageking, Emperor Yao 's
benevolence and
diligence served as a
model to future Chinese
monarchs and
emperors.
Consult “The Canon of
Yao”
“Canon of Yao”
尧典【Yáodiǎn】
Source: The Classic of Documents
 尚书【shàngshū】, a compilation
of documentary records related to
events in ancient history of China.
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http://ctext.org/shang-shu/zhou-shu
五经【wǔjīng】 the Five Classics
the core/canonical Confucian Texts
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1. The Book of Songs—gentleness and generosity,
2. the Book of Documents/History—knowledge and
flexibility, able to mediate between two parties;
3. the Book of Changes—wisdom and
resourcefulness,
4. the Book of Rites—respect/no transgression of
social stations;
5. The Spring and Autumn Annal—
parallelism/juxtaposition of historical events.
Associations & Correlatives
Five elements/Directions/Virtues
Five Confucian Classics &
Their Associations
五经
五常
五行
五方
五兵器
易
智
水
北
盾
书
义
金
西
刀
诗
信
土
中
弓
礼
礼
火
南
戟
春秋
仁
木
东
剑
九族 [jiǔzú]
Nine Branches of the Family
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Nine generations of direct kin. Besides
oneself, it includes father, grandfather, greatgrandfather, great great-grandfather, son,
grandson, great-grandson and great greatgrandson
(it is said that it includes relatives of different
kin, which are four generations of father,
three generations of mother. Two
generations of wife, which constitute nine
generations.
Emperor Shun
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Consult “The Canon of Yao” regarding
how he was chosen;
http://ctext.org/shang-shu/canon-of-yao
Consult The Canon of Shun regarding
his accomplishments
http://ctext.org/shang-shu/canon-of-shun
Yu the Great
Taming the Yellow River
http://ctext.org/shang-shu/tribute-of-yu 禹貢
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Yu the Great (大禹 DàYǔ), was the legendary
founder of the Xia
Dynasty that began in
2205 BCE. He is best
remembered for
teaching the people
techniques to tame
rivers and lakes during
an epic flood.
The interest of the people first
Family second
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While trying to tame
the Yellow River, Yu
the Great passed
his own house three
times;
He could hear his
son crying, but he
did not stop;
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Chiense Aeneas?
Aeneas vs. Dido
Aeneid, a Latin epic
poem, written by Virgil
between 29 and 19 BC,
that tells the legendary
story of Aeneas, a
Trojan who travelled to
Italy, where he became
the ancestor of the
Romans.
The Fall of Troy
Aeneas Flees Burning Troy
The suicide of Queen Dido
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The suicide of
Queen Dido (book
4), sculpture by
Augustin Cayot
(1667-1772)
Rule by Virtue
How to Pass the Power
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Three Ancient Sage
Kings--Rule by Virtue
Yao/Shun/Yu
What is the limit of this
model?
This practice was
terminated when Yu’s
son, Qi, took over the
throne and established
the first dynasty in
China, the Xia Dynasty.
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How to pass the
throne to the next
generation?
Moral strengths vs.
blood line