China is an ancient country with a rich and varied mythology. The history and culture of the country spans several millennia. The most advanced civilization of antiquity managed to preserve its heritage. Unique legends that tell about the creation of the world, life and people have survived to our times. There are a huge number of ancient legends, but we will talk about the most significant and interesting myths of Ancient China.
The legend of Pan-gu - the creator of the world
The first myths of China tell about the creation of the world. It is believed that it was created by the great deity Pan-gu. Primordial chaos reigned in space, there was no sky, no earth, no bright sun. It was impossible to determine which was up and which was down. There were no sides of the world. The cosmos was a large and strong egg, inside of which there was only darkness. Pan-gu lived in this egg. He spent many thousands of years there, tormented by heat and lack of air. Tired of such a life, Pan-gu took a huge ax and hit the shell with it. It shattered on impact, splitting in two. One of them, pure and transparent, turned into the sky, and the dark and heavy part became the earth.
However Pan-guhe was afraid that heaven and earth would close together again, so he began to hold the firmament, lifting it up more and more every day.
For 18 thousand years, Pan-gu held the vault of heaven until it solidified. Having made sure that earth and sky would never touch again, the giant let go of the vault and decided to rest. But while holding him, Pan-gu lost all his strength, so he immediately fell and died. Before his death, his body transformed: his eyes became the sun and moon, his last breath became the wind, blood flowed over the earth in the form of rivers, and his last cry became thunder. This is how the myths of ancient China describe the creation of the world.
The myth of Nuwa, the goddess who created people
After the creation of the world, the myths of China tell of the creation of the first people. The goddess Nuwa, who lives in heaven, decided that there was not enough life on earth. Walking near the river, she saw her reflection in the water, took some clay and began to sculpt a little girl. Having finished the product, the goddess doused her with her breath, and the girl came to life. Following her, Nuwa blinded and revived the boy. This is how the first man and woman appeared.
The goddess continued to sculpt people, wanting to fill the whole world with them. But the process was long and tedious. Then she took a lotus stem, dipped it in clay and shook it. Small clay lumps flew to the ground, turning into people. Fearing that she would have to sculpt them again, she ordered the creatures to create their own offspring. Such a story is told by China's origin myths.
The myth of the god Fuxi, who taught people to catchfish
Humanity, created by the goddess Nuwa, lived, but did not develop. People didn’t know how to do anything, they just picked fruits from trees and hunted. Then the heavenly god Fuxi decided to help people.
Myths of China say that he wandered along the shore for a long time in thought, but suddenly a fat carp jumped out of the water. Fuxi caught it with his bare hands, cooked it and ate it. He liked the fish, and he decided to teach people how to catch it. Yes, only the dragon god Lun-wang opposed this, fearing that they would eat all the fish on earth.
The Dragon King proposed to ban people from fishing with their bare hands, and Fuxi, after thinking, agreed. For many days he thought about how to catch fish. Finally, while walking through the forest, Fuxi saw a spider spinning a web. And God decided to create networks of vines in her likeness. Having learned to fish, the wise Fuxi immediately told people about his discovery.
Gun and Yu fight the flood
In Asia, the myths of Ancient China about the heroes Gun and Yuya, who helped people, are still very popular. There has been a disaster on earth. For many decades, the rivers overflowed violently, destroying the fields. Many people died, and they decided to somehow escape from the misfortune.
Gun had to figure out how to protect himself from the water. He decided to build dams on the river, but he did not have enough stones. Then Gong turned to the heavenly emperor with a request to give him the magic stone "Xizhan", which could erect dams in an instant. But the emperor refused him. Then Gong stole a stone, built dams and restoredorder on earth.
But the ruler found out about the theft and took the stone back. Once again, rivers flooded the world, and angry people executed Gun. Now his son Yu had to fix everything. He again asked for "Sizhan", and the emperor did not refuse him. Yu began to build dams, but they did not help. Then, with the help of a celestial turtle, he decided to fly around the whole earth and correct the course of the rivers, directing them to the sea. His efforts were crowned with success, and he defeated the elements. As a reward, the people of China made him their ruler.
Great Shun - Emperor of China
The myths of China tell not only about deities and ordinary people, but also about the first emperors. One of them was Shun - a wise ruler, to whom other emperors should be equal. He was born into a simple family. His mother died early, and his father remarried. The stepmother could not love Shun and wanted to kill him. So he left home and went to the capital of the country. He was engaged in agriculture, fishing, pottery. Rumors about the pious youth reached Emperor Yao, and he invited him into his service.
Yao immediately wanted to make Shun his heir, but before that he decided to test him. For this, he gave him two daughters as his wife at once. By order of Yao, he also subdued the mythical villains who attacked people. Shun ordered them to protect the borders of the state from ghosts and demons. Then Yao gave him his throne. According to legend, Shun wisely ruled the country for almost 40 years and was revered by the people.
Interesting Chinese myths tell us about how ancient people saw the world. Not knowing scientificlaws, they believed that all natural phenomena are the acts of the old gods. These myths also formed the basis of ancient religions that still exist.
