For the Slavs, the ancient myths of China are something complicated and incomprehensible. Their idea of the world, spirits and deities is very different from ours, which leads to some dissonance when reading them. However, if you delve a little into their structure, realize everything that is happening, then a completely new picture of the universe will open before your eyes, filled with amazing stories and discoveries.
Features of Chinese myology
Let's start with the fact that all Chinese legends were born as songs. In the old days, they were played at the emperor's palace, in taverns, at home by the hearth and even on the streets. Over the years, the Chinese sages began to transfer myths to paper in order to preserve their beauty for posterity. At the same time, the largest number of ancient tests were included in the collections "Book of Songs" and "Book of Stories".
In addition, many Chinese legends have real roots. That is, the heroes of these myths really lived in certain time periods. Naturally, their abilities and skills were clearly exaggerated in order tomake the story more epic. However, this does not negate the fact that the ancient myths of China are of great importance for historians, as they allow you to see the past of this people.
The Emergence of the Universe: The Myth of Chaos
In Chinese mythology, there are several versions of how the world came into being. The most famous says that initially only two great spirits lived in the formless chaos - Yin and Yang. One fine "day" they got tired of emptiness, and they wanted to create something new. Yang absorbed the masculine, becoming the sky and light, and Yin the feminine, turning into the earth.
Thus, two great spirits created the universe. In addition, everything living and inanimate in it obeys the original will of Yin and Yang. Any violation of this harmony will inevitably lead to troubles and disasters. That is why most Chinese philosophical schools are built on the observance of universal order and harmony.
Great Progenitor
There is another myth about the appearance of the world. It says that in the beginning there was nothing but a huge egg filled with primordial darkness. Also inside the egg was the giant Pan Gu - the progenitor of all living things. He spent 18,000 years in deep sleep, but one day his eyes were opened.
The first thing Pan Gu saw was pitch darkness. She weighed heavily on him, and he wanted to drive her away. But the shell did not allow to do this, and therefore the angry giant broke it with his huge ax. At the same moment, the entire contents of the egg scattered in different directions: darkness descendeddown, becoming the earth, and the light rose up, turning into the sky.
But he didn't enjoy Pan Gu's freedom for long. Soon he began to be haunted by the idea that the sky could fall to the ground, thereby destroying the world around him. Therefore, the progenitor decided to hold the sky on his shoulders, until it was finally fixed. As a result, Pan Gu held the firmament for another 18 thousand years.
At the end, he realized that he had achieved his goal and fell to the ground dead. But his feat was not in vain. The giant's body turned into great gifts: blood became rivers, veins became roads, muscles became fertile lands, hair became grass and trees, and eyes became heavenly bodies.
Fundamentals of the World
The Chinese believed that the entire universe is divided into three parts: heaven, earth and the underworld. At the same time, the land itself rests on eight pillars, which do not allow it to drown in the depths of the sea. The sky is supported on the same supports, which in turn is divided into nine separate zones. Eight of them are needed for the movement of heavenly bodies, and the ninth serves as a place of concentration of higher powers.
Besides this, all land is divided into four cardinal directions or four heavenly kingdoms. They are ruled by four gods, personifying the main elements: water, fire, air and earth. The Chinese themselves live in the middle, and their country is the center of the whole world.
The appearance of the great gods
Ancient Chinese myths say that the gods appeared in heaven. Shang-di became the first supreme god, since it was in him that the great spirit Yan was reborn. With his strength and wisdom, hereceived the throne of the emperor of heaven and began to rule the whole world. Two brothers helped him in this: the water god Xia-yuan and the earth god Zhong-yuan. The rest of the deities and spirits were also born through the energy of Yin and Yang, but at the same time they had much less power than the Supreme Lord.
The very same palace of the celestials was located on Mount Kun-lun. The Chinese believed that this is an amazingly beautiful place. Spring reigns there all year round, thanks to which the gods can always admire the flowering of the Fusan tree. All good spirits also live in the heavenly abode: fairies, dragons and even a fiery phoenix.
Goddess Nuwa - mother of humanity
Ancient Chinese myths tell that humanity was born thanks to the efforts of the goddess Nuwa. The young celestial possessed an amazing talent to revive everything that her hand touches. And then one day, walking by the lake, she thought that, despite all the beauty, the world is clearly missing something. In her eyes, it was too languid and sad place, and therefore the goddess decided to diversify it.
To do this, she molded a figure out of clay, the outlines similar to a girl. Then Nuwa breathed life into her, and she immediately turned into a living person for an hour. Delighted with her creation, the celestial made another figurine, but this time it was a boy, and again breathed life into it. Thus, the first mythical emperors of China were born, who founded the Shang Dynasty.
But Nuwa did not stop at these two. Soon she blinded about a hundred more figures, which dispersed at lightning speed throughout the district. New life delighted Nuwa,but she understood that she could not blind many people with her snow-white hands. Therefore, the celestial took the vine and plunged it into the thick mud. Then she pulled out a branch, and shook off pieces of the swamp from it straight to the ground. People rose up from the drops of mud one after another.
Later, Chinese aristocrats will say that all the rich and successful people came from those ancestors that were molded by Nuwa by hand. And the poor and slaves are just the descendants of those drops of dirt that were thrown from the branch of the liana.
Wisdom of God Fuxi
All this time, Nuwa's deeds were watched with curiosity by her husband, god Fuxi. He loved people with all his heart, and therefore it was painful for him to see that they live like wild animals. Fuxi decided to give humanity wisdom - to teach them how to get food and build cities.
First, he showed people how to fish with nets. Indeed, thanks to this discovery, they were finally able to settle in one place, forgetting about gathering and hunting. He then told the people how to build houses, erect protective walls, and work metal. Thus, it was Fuxi who brought people to civilization, finally separating them from the beasts.
Tamers of the waters Gun and Yu
Alas, life near the water was too dangerous. Spills and floods constantly destroyed all food supplies, which greatly burdened people. Gong volunteered to solve this problem. To do this, he decided to build the world's first dam, which would block the path of the great river. In order to create such a shelter, he needed to getthe magic stone "Xizhan", the power of which made it possible to instantly erect stone walls.
The artifact was kept by the heavenly emperor. Gun knew about this, and therefore tearfully asked the lord to give him the treasure. But the celestial did not want to reciprocate, and therefore our hero stole a stone from him. Indeed, the power of "Xiran" helped build the dam, but the angry emperor took the treasure back, causing Gong to be unable to complete his work.
Yu volunteered to help his father and save people from the flood. Instead of building a dam, he decided to change the course of the river, diverting the current from the village to the sea. Enlisting the support of the celestial turtle, Yu did it. In gratitude for the rescue, the villagers chose Yuya as their new ruler.
Hou-ji - the lord of millet
The young man Hou-ji helped finally conquer the earth. Legends say that his father was the thunder giant Lei Shen, and his mother was a simple girl from the Yutai clan. Their union produced an incredibly intelligent boy who loved to play with the earth since childhood.
Subsequently, his fun led him to learn how to cultivate the land, plant grains and harvest from them. He gave his knowledge to people, thanks to which they forever forgot about hunger and gathering.
