Ancient myths of China: Creation of the world and people. Chinese mythology - the oldest culture of the Celestial Empire Creation of the world with China

Good afternoon, dear readers – seekers of knowledge and truth!

Chinese culture is perhaps one of the oldest in the world, and myths and legends are where it began. ABOUT folk heroes legends were formed and passed on from mouth to mouth, they also became the characters of the first written works, masterpieces visual arts, are reflected in religion.

So, the topic of our conversation today is Chinese mythology. In the article below we will examine in detail its basics, mythical heroes - both people and animals, spirits, demons. You will also learn how the mythology of the Celestial Empire developed and how it was reflected in art. And, of course, a lot of interesting Chinese myths await you.

The material turned out to be so extensive that it simply did not fit into the framework of one article, so there will be two of them - don’t miss the continuation.

Well, let's begin our immersion into the atmosphere of Ancient China, filled with myths and legends!

Basics of Mythology

Mythology is an entire branch of science that studies various legends, myths, stories that tell about folk heroes, gods, spirits, that explain the vision of the world, the creation of the Universe and the appearance of many phenomena. The Chinese originated in the 3-2 millennium BC, when civilization appeared in the territory between the famous Yellow and Yangtze rivers.

China remained isolated for a long time, lived in some isolation from the rest of the world, and therefore managed to preserve its originality and color. So, for example, if we know the ancient Greek or ancient Roman gods as incredibly handsome, then the ancient Chinese are hardly similar to them: they are bright, colorful, diverse and often do not look like people at all, but they have remarkable strength, supernatural abilities and powerful energy.

In general, the mythology of the Celestial Empire is heterogeneous; it has a certain syncretism: the myths of antiquity, Taoism, Buddhism, Confucianism, and later folklore are combined here. In addition to religious movements, its formation was influenced by real historical figures, totemic representations of local residents, as well as numerous philosophical treatises.

The latter, preserved in the form of fragments, make it possible to piece together various myths and compose general idea. These include the following works (all dates are indicated BC):

• "Shu Jing", or "Historical Book", period from the 14th to the 11th centuries.
• “I Ching”, also known as the “Book of Changes”, the turn of the 8th and 7th centuries.
• "Zhuang Tzu", 4th century.
• "Le Zi", the interval between the 4th century BC and the 4th century AD.
• "Shan Hai Jing", which translates as "Book of Mountains and Seas", from the 4th to the 2nd centuries.
• Numerous works and poems of the poet Qu Yuan, 4th century.
• "Huainanzi", dating back to the 2nd century.
• Treatise by the philosopher Wang Chong entitled "Critical Judgments", 1st century.

One of the main distinguishing features of local mythology is the so-called euhemerization. In other words, often the characters of myths were real people who died and went down in history as certain deities, their stories were distorted and acquired mythical features.

Fusi is the mythical first emperor of the Celestial Empire, a deity - the ruler of the East. According to the accepted Confucian model of chronology, Fuxi ruled from 2852 to 2737. BC.

Most often this happened to rulers, kings, emperors, as well as high-ranking officials and valiant warriors. In this case, the deities took on the form of a person. Because of this, it is often difficult to draw the line between real historical events and fictitious.

Often divine beings took the form of various animals. Also, according to Chinese beliefs, many natural phenomena, as well as hills, rivers, and mountains, had their own spirits.

Creation of the Universe

One of the basic myths tells about the emergence of the world. It is known as the "myth of chaos", or in Chinese - "hun dun".

This legend claims that before there was nothing but emptiness, absolute darkness and chaos, where vague images wandered, like fused paintings. There was no heaven, earth, or water. This is also evidenced by the treatise “Huainanzi”.

Then water arose, or rather, water chaos, from which later two creatures of divine nature appeared, two ancient gods - Pan-gu and Nyu-wa. This event marked the beginning of the world, it was then that the earth and sky were divided.

Many researchers argue that initially Pan-gu and Nyu-wa were heroes of legends of different nationalities - Pan-gu originated in the southern lands, and Nyu-wa - in the southeast of Ancient China or in the southwest of modern Sichuan province.

Pan-gu was a powerful being and the ancestor of everything on earth. As he himself grew, heaven and earth became more and more separated from each other, and also appeared natural phenomena and objects.

Image of the deity Pangu

And if Pan-gu was not a direct creator, because the world changed along with its growth, unconsciously, then another creature, the goddess Nu-wa, was a demiurge - a creator. She was endowed with the face of a woman, but the lower part of the body was depicted as a snake or dragon.

It is believed that it was Nuwa who created everything around, and later saved the world from the flood. She created people from rocks and clay. And when, as a result of a fierce battle of the gods, the sky partially collapsed, she independently repaired it: she tore off all four legs of a giant turtle and propped up the sky with them.

Another character ancient Chinese myth- Fusi. He has the appearance of both a bird and a man. Fusi taught the ancient tribes important activities: hunting, preparing meat, fishing, making nets and other fishing gear.

One of the legends brings Nyu-wu and Fusi together, as a result of which they create a strong family. Since then, among other things, Nyu-wa has become the patroness of family, marriage and marriage.

Fusi and Nuiva

Main mythical animals

The main character of the legends of the Celestial Empire is, of course, a dragon. Archaeologists are recovering from the ground a mass of ancient artifacts on which this mythical beast can be seen. However, his images are still found everywhere today: on the facades of houses, in the form of bas-reliefs on temples, as small household figurines, in paintings by famous Chinese artists, and even on imperial attire.

Ancient Chinese seal with dragon

Folklore also contains many sayings about dragons. Such love for these animals is not surprising - they carry within themselves great amount symbols, personifying:

• the power of the elements;
• virtue;
• prosperous and rich life;
• harmony, peace;
• imperial power;
• heaven.

The ancient Chinese believed that dragons were endowed with special magic and absorbed all the qualities of other animals. According to legends, they could descend to the ground, but they preferred to soar into the sky and plunge into rivers, lakes and the sea. Knowing how to maneuver between heaven and earth, they were guides between two worlds - human and divine.

Lantern Festival in China

What is even more surprising is that imperial power was considered to be given by heaven, bestowed precisely by the dragon envoys. Therefore, the rulers were relatives of dragons.

In modern China, a whole festival with processions and dances is dedicated to the dragon. It is usually celebrated every year on May 5th.

By the way, if you are interested in learning more about the Chinese dragon, then we have a special article for you here.

The Myth of the Dragon Mother

The legend tells the story of the mother of dragons, or in Chinese - Long Mu (“long” translates as “dragon”, “mu” means “mother”). Once upon a time there lived an ordinary earthly woman. One day she noticed a large white stone near the river bank.

Looking closer, she realized that there was an egg in front of her. She took it home with her, where the egg warmed and five small lizard-like snakes hatched. The woman decided that she would raise these creatures herself.

Mother of Dragons Long Mu

Time passed, the lizards grew into large dragons, and she still took care of them, fed them, gave her best, although she herself lived in poverty. When the dragons grew up, they also began to take care of their earthly mother and help her in every possible way. Thus, dragons became the personification of filial love and respect, and the woman - maternal care.

Her five sons turned out to be water spirits who knew how to rebuke the elements and change the weather. One very dry year, all the peasants suffered from crop failure, and at the request of their mother, the sons sent rain from heaven. Exactly then local residents They named the woman Long Mu.

When she died, the animals turned into people and buried her. Today, you can often find temples built in honor of Long Mu in the Celestial Empire.

Types of moons

Dragons are so revered in the Celestial Empire that there are more than a hundred species of them. In addition, there are several classifications.

The first divides them by color, with dragons of a certain color responsible for a specific part of the world:

• Qinglong is azure, responsible for the eastern sector, and has compassion.
• Zhulong is red, protects the southern side, patronizes bodies of water, as well as family ties and the birth of children.
• Bailong – snow-white, is responsible for western direction and endowed with honesty and virtue.
• Huanglong is golden; requests for forgiveness can be addressed to him, prayers that he will convey to the gods.
• Xuanlong is black, the guardian of the northern part, who lives in magical reservoirs.

White Dragon Bailong

In addition, there are four main moons:

• Shanlong - controls the elements, winds, thunderstorms, lightning and thunder. Appears in the form of a creature with human face, the body of a dragon and a huge belly. And although Shanlong almost does not fly, it can ascend to the heavens and float through them, often merging due to its similar color. Peasants and ordinary people they try not to anger him, since he is capable of sending prolonged downpours or, conversely, drought.
• Tianlong is the guardian of the sky and the peace of the gods, has a white or azure body, and is rarely depicted with wings. His main distinguishing feature- five toes on the paws, while the rest of the dragon representatives have three or four.
• Fitzanlun is the keeper of treasures hidden underground. He lives in underground caves and has special wisdom, as evidenced by the pearl decoration on the lower part of his face.
• Dilong - is responsible for the water element, all reservoirs and deep rivers, as well as for productivity. He himself lives underwater, at depth, in incredibly beautiful palace complexes. According to legend, when someone gets there, he receives gifts from Dilong and returns home.

Green Dragon Qinglong

Conclusion

This was the first part of our material, which introduces readers to the mythology of the Celestial Empire. Don’t miss the continuation of this article - it will tell you about other, no less interesting myths, introduce you to other mythical animals of China, negative characters, and will also tell about the further history of legends and traditions.

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Miao legends about the creation of the world

The Heimiao, or Black Miao (so named because of the dark color of their skin), do not have a written language, but have a developed epic tradition. From generation to generation they pass on poetic legends about the creation of the world and the Flood. During holidays, they are performed by storytellers accompanied by a choir consisting of one or two groups of performers. The story is interspersed with poetic inserts consisting of one or more five-line lines. They ask questions and answer them themselves:

Who created the sky and land?

Who created insects?

Who created people?

Created men and women?

I don't know.

The Heavenly Lord created the Sky and the land,

He created insects

He created people and spirits,

Created men and women.

Do you know how?

How did Heaven and Earth come into being?

How did insects appear?

How did people and spirits appear?

How did men and women come into being?

I don't know.

Heavenly Lord wise

He spat on his palm,

He clapped his hands loudly -

Heaven and land appeared,

Made insects from tall grass,

Created people and spirits

Men and women.

The legend of the World River is interesting because it mentions the Great Flood:

Sent fire and set the mountains on fire?

Who came to cleanse the world?

Did you release water to wash the earth?

I, who sing to you, do not know.

Ze cleansed the world.

He summoned fire and set the mountains on fire.

The god of thunder has cleansed the world,

He washed the earth with water.

Do you know, why?

The legend goes on to say that after the flood, only Ze and his sister remained on earth. When the water subsided, the brother wanted to marry his sister, but she did not agree. Finally, they decided to take a millstone each and climb two mountains, and then let the millstones roll down. If they collide and fall on each other, then she will become Ze’s wife, but if not, then there will be no marriage. Fearing that the wheels would roll, the brother prepared two similar stones in the valley in advance. When the millstones they had thrown were lost in the tall grass, Ze brought his sister and showed her the stones he had hidden. However, she did not agree and suggested placing double sheaths below and throwing a knife into them. If they fall into the sheath, the marriage will take place. The brother deceived his sister again, and she finally became his wife. They had a child without arms and legs. Seeing him, Ze became angry and chopped him into pieces, and then threw him off the mountain. Having touched the ground, the pieces of meat turned into men and women - this is how people appeared on the earth again.

The period from the 8th to the 10th centuries was the heyday of Chinese literature. After the unification of the empire and the establishment of strong centralized power in Beijing, representatives of all states of South Asia appeared. It was at this time that Indian Buddhist texts began to be translated, and the achievements of Chinese culture became known in Central Asia, Iran and Byzantium. Chinese translators reinterpret borrowed texts and introduce into them the motives of their own beliefs and surrounding realities.

Literary tradition reaches highest point during the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD). In the history of Chinese literature, the Tang era is rightly considered the “golden age”. Thanks to the examination system, representatives of all classes gained access to knowledge. Art and literature flourished, a galaxy of masters appeared short story– Li Chaowei, Sheng Jiji, Niu Senzhu, and Li Gongzuo. Below we present one of his short stories.

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China is a country shrouded in myths and legends. Middle Kingdom - ancient state, full of secrets and paradoxes. The hardworking Chinese people have always had a corner filled with poetry in their souls.

Only The Chinese were able to mix sublime philosophy and strange, sometimes meaningless beliefs .

The legends and myths of ancient China have changed over time. Primitive folk religion, the common sense of Confucius, the rituals and magic of Taoism, the sublime spirituality of Buddhism - a melting pot, a combination of gods for all occasions.

Some Chinese myths have something in common with legends of other cultures. For example, the myth of the creation of the world is reminiscent of many similar stories in which the world is formed from the body of a primordial being.

In the beginning there was darkness everywhere and chaos ruled.

An egg formed in the darkness, and inside it a giant was born.

When it grew to gigantic size, it extended its huge limbs and thereby destroyed the shell. The lighter parts of the egg floated to the top and formed the heavens, while the dense parts sank down to become the earth.

This is how earth and sky appeared - Yin and Yang.

Pangu was pleased with his deed. But he was afraid that heaven and earth would merge again, so he stood between them . His head holds up the sky and his feet are firmly planted on the ground. Pangu grew at a rate of three meters per day over an 18,000-year period, increasing the space between sky and earth until they were fixed at a safe distance from each other. Having completed your mission, Pangu died with a clear conscience, and his body was used to create the world and all its elements .

Wind and clouds were formed from his breath , his voice became thunder and lightning, his eyes shone with the sun and the moon, his arms and legs appeared in the four directions of the world, his teeth and bones glittered with precious stones, and his phallus rose like mountains. His flesh turned into soil and plants, his blood into rivers, and so on.

According to myths, the entire history of China was divided into ten periods, and in each of them people made new improvements and gradually improved their lives. In China, the most important cosmic forces were not the elements, but the masculine and feminine principles, which are the main active forces in the world. Famous chinese sign Yin and Yang is the most common symbol in China. One of the most famous myths about the creation of the world was recorded in the 2nd century BC. e. It follows from it that in ancient times there was only dark chaos, in which two principles gradually formed by themselves - Yin (dark) and Yang (light), which established the eight main directions of world space. After these directions were established, the Yang spirit began to rule the heavens, and the Yin spirit began to rule the earth. The earliest written texts in China were fortune-telling inscriptions. The concept of literature - wen (drawing, ornament) was initially designated as an image of a person with a tattoo (hieroglyph). By the 6th century BC e. the concept wen acquired the meaning of a word. The books of the Confucian canon appeared first: the Book of Changes - I Ching, the Book of History - Shu Jing, the Book of Songs - Shi Jing XI-VII centuries. BC e. Ritual books also appeared: Book of Ritual - Li Ji, Records of Music - Yue Ji; chronicles of the kingdom of Lu: Spring and Autumn - Chun Qiu, Conversations and judgments - Lun Yu. A list of these and many other books was compiled by Ban Gu (32-92 AD). In the book History of the Han Dynasty, he recorded all the literature of the past and his time. In the I-II centuries. n. e. One of the brightest collections was Izbornik - Nineteen Ancient Poems. These verses are subordinated to one main idea- the transience of a short moment of life. In ritual books there is the following legend about the creation of the world: Heaven and earth lived in a mixture - chaos, like the contents chicken egg: Pan-gu lived in the middle (this can be compared with the Slavic idea of ​​the beginning of the world, when Rod was in the egg). It is one of the most ancient myths. For a long time, chaos reigned in the world, the Chinese said, nothing could be discerned in it. Then, in this chaos, two forces emerged: Light and Darkness, and from them heaven and earth were formed. And at that time the first person appeared - Pangu. He was huge and lived for a very long time. When he died, nature and man were formed from his body. His breath became wind and clouds, his voice became thunder, his left eye became the sun, his right eye became the moon. The earth was formed from Pangu's body. His arms, legs and torso turned into the four cardinal points and five major mountains, and the sweat on his body became rain. Blood flowed across the ground in rivers, muscles became the earth's soil, hair turned into grass and trees. From his teeth and bones simple stones and metals were formed, from his brain - pearls and gems. And the worms on his body became people. There is another legend about the appearance of man. It tells that a woman named Nuiva fashioned people from yellow earth. Nuiva also participated in the universe. One day, a cruel and ambitious man named Gungun rebelled and began to flood her possessions with water. Nuiva sent an army against him, and the rebel was killed. But before his death, Gungun hit his head on the mountain, and from this impact one of the corners of the earth collapsed, and the pillars holding up the sky collapsed. Everything on earth fell into confusion, and Nuiva set about restoring order. She cut off the legs of a giant turtle and propped them up on the ground to restore its balance. She collected a lot of multi-colored stones, lit a huge fire and, when the stones melted, filled a gaping hole in the hole with this alloy. firmament. When the fire went out, she collected the ashes and built dams from them that stopped the flood of water. As a result of her enormous labors, peace and prosperity reigned on earth again. However, since then all rivers have flowed in one direction - to the east; This is how the ancient Chinese explained this feature of rivers in China. In the myths about Pangu and Nuwa we find the most ancient Chinese ideas about the origin of the world and people. The story of how Nyuwa built dams and stopped river floods reflected the struggle of people against floods, which people had to wage already in ancient times.

The history of the ancient civilization of China or the birth of the Universe

The ancient myths of China describe the history of the ancient civilization of China since the birth of the universe. One could say that from the moment big bang, but this is part of modern scientific mythology, and in the ancient myths of China the Universe is described as a kind of egg that was broken from the inside. Perhaps, if there had been some external observer at that moment, it would have looked like an explosion to him. After all, the egg was filled with Chaos.

From this Chaos, with the help of the forces of the Yin and Yang Universe, Pangu was born. This part of the ancient myths of China is quite compatible with the modern scientific myth about how from chaos chemical elements A DNA molecule was created on Earth by accident. So, according to the theory about the origin of life accepted in ancient Chinese civilization, it all started with the first ancestor Pangu, who broke an egg. According to one version of this ancient myth In China, Pangu used an axe, with which he was often depicted on antiques. It can be assumed that this weapon was created from the surrounding chaos, thereby becoming the first material object.

Pangu separates Heaven and Earth Chaos escaped from the egg, dividing into light and heavy elements. More precisely, the light elements rose up and formed the Sky - a bright beginning, white (yang), and the heavy ones sank down and created the Earth - cloudy, yolk (yin). It’s hard not to notice a certain relationship between the ancient myths of China and the scientific explanation of the creation solar system. According to which our planetary system was formed from a rotating chaotic cloud of gases and heavy elements. Under the influence of rotation, heavy elements accumulated closer to the center, around the Sun, which appeared as a result of natural causes (which we will not discuss here). They formed rocky planets, and the light elements that accumulated closer to the edge became gas giants (Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune...)

Life on Earth in ancient Chinese myths

But let’s return to the theory of the origin of life accepted in the ancient civilization of China, to what our self-confident science calls mythology. So, the ancient myths of China tell how Pangu, being the first and only inhabitant of the new universe, rested his feet on the ground, his head in the sky and began to grow.

For 18,000 years, the distance between heaven and earth increased by 3 meters every day until it reached today's scale. Finally, seeing that the earth and sky would no longer unite, his body was reincarnated into the whole world. According to the ancient myths of China, Pangu's breath became the wind and clouds, the body with arms and legs became huge mountains and the four cardinal directions, blood became rivers, flesh became soil, skin became grass and trees... The ancient civilization of China thereby confirms the myths of other peoples, in in which our planet plays the role of a living being or organism.

According to the ancient myths of China, when the Earth had already separated from the sky, majestic mountains rose high, rivers flowed to the seas, full of fish, the forests and steppes were overflowing with wild animals, the world still remained incomplete without the human race. And then begins the story of the creation of humanity. As in other religious versions, the religions of the ancient civilization of China believed that people were created from clay. In a treatise from the 2nd century " General meaning customs" the creator of people was Nuiva - the great feminine spirit. In the ancient myths of China, Nüwu was seen as a beautifier of the world, and therefore she was depicted with a measuring square in her hand or, as the personification of the feminine principle Yin, with the disk of the Moon in her hands. Nüwa was depicted with a human body, bird legs and a snake tail. She took a handful of clay and began to sculpt figures, they came to life and became people. Nuiva understood that she did not have enough strength or time to blind all the people who could populate the earth.

And then Nuiva pulled a rope through the liquid clay. When the goddess shook the rope, pieces of clay flew in all directions. Falling to the ground, they turned into people. But either because they were not molded by hand, or because the swamp clay still differed in composition from that from which the first people were molded, but the ancient myths of China claim that people are more fast way manufacturing differed significantly from those created by hand. That is why the rich and noble are people made by the gods with their own hands from the yellow earth, while the poor and insignificant people are made with the help of a rope.

Further, Nuiva gave her creatures the opportunity to reproduce independently. True, before that she passed on to them the law on the responsibilities of both parties in marriage, which was strictly observed in the ancient civilization of China. Since then, for the Chinese who revere the ancient myths of China, Nuwa is considered the patroness of marriages, who has the power to save a woman from infertility. Nuiva's divinity was so strong that even from her insides 10 deities were born. But Nuiva’s merits do not end there.

Ancestress Nuiva protects humanity

People then lived happily ever after - this is how fairy tales usually end. European tradition, but this is not a fairy tale, but the ancient myths of China, so they lived happily for the time being. Until the first war of the gods began. Between the fire spirit Zhuzhong and the water spirit Gonggun.

Nuiva lived calmly for some time, without worries. But the land, which was already inhabited by the people she had created, was engulfed by great disasters. In some places the sky collapsed, and huge black holes appeared there. The spirit of fire Zhuzhong gave birth to the spirit of water Gungun, the fight against which took, great place in ancient mythology. Ancient myths of China describe incredible fire and heat that seeped through them, as well as a fire that engulfed forests on Earth. Depressions formed in the Earth, through which groundwater flowed. Two opposites that characterize ancient civilization China, two elements hostile to each other, Water and Fire, have joined forces to destroy people.

Seeing how they suffer human creatures, Nuiva, as a true beautifier of the world, set to work to “patch up” the leaky firmament. She collected multi-colored stones and, melting them over the fire, filled the heavenly holes with the resulting mass. To strengthen the sky, Nüwa cut off four legs of a giant turtle and placed them on four parts of the earth as supports supporting the sky. The firmament strengthened, but did not return to its previous state. According to the ancient myths of China, it is somewhat askew, but in reality this can be seen by the movement of the sun, moon and stars. In addition, a huge depression formed to the southeast of the Celestial Empire, which became the Ocean.