Chinese mythology (), is mythology that has been passed down in oral form or recorded in literature throughout the area now known as Greater China. Chinese mythology encompasses a diverse array of myths derived from regional and cultural traditions. Populated with engaging narratives featuring extraordinary individuals and beings endowed with magical powers, these stories often unfold in fantastical mythological realms or historical epochs. Similar to numerous other mythologies, Chinese mythology has historically been regarded, at least partially, as a factual record of the past.
Along with Chinese folklore, Chinese mythology forms an important part of Chinese folk religion and of religious Taoism. Many narratives recounting characters and events from ancient times exhibit a dual tradition: one that presents a more historicized or euhemerized interpretation, and another that offers a more mythological perspective.
Numerous myths delve into the creation and cosmology of the universe, exploring the origins of deities and heavenly inhabitants. Some narratives specifically address the topic of creation, unraveling the beginnings of things, people, and culture. Additionally, certain myths are dedicated to the genesis of the Chinese state. A subset of myths provides a chronology of prehistoric times, often featuring a culture hero who taught people essential skills ranging from building houses and cooking to the basics of writing. In some cases, they were revered as the ancestor of an ethnic group or dynastic families. Chinese mythology is intimately connected to the traditional Chinese concepts of li and qi. These two foundational concepts are deeply entwined with socially oriented ritual acts, including communication, greetings, dances, ceremonies, and sacrifices.
Classification
Ancient myths: Pangu creating the world with his body, Nuwa mending the sky and creating human beings, Jingwei filling the sea, Kuafu chasing the sun, Dayu controlling the flood, Gonggong hitting Mount Buzhou in anger, the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, Shennong tasting hundreds of herbs, Cangjie creating characters, Xingtian dancing with Ganqi, Suiren drilling wood to make fire, Yugong moving the mountains, and many other famous myths.
Folk myths and legends: The Legend of the White Snake, The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, Chang'e Flying to the Moon, Houyi Shooting the Sun, Wu Gang Cutting the Cassia Tree, Meng Jiangnu, Weeping Down the Great Wall, Drilling Two Woods to Make Fire, Black Dog Eating the Moon, The Butterfly Lovers, Foolish Old Man Moving Mountains, Goddess of Luo River and Mi Fei, King Mu's Journey to the West, Magu Offering Longevity, Danzhu Turning into a Bird, The Slaying of the Unicorn, Lark Exterminating the Dragon, King Wang's Crying Cuckoo, The Acacia Tree, Jigong, The Legend of New Year's Eve, The Twelve Chinese Zodiac Signs, The Carp Leaping over the Dragon Gate, The Money Tree and the Treasure Bowl, The Seven Brothers of the Yang Family, The Five Brothers, The Book from Heaven, The Legend of the Dragon Boat Festival, The Legend of Sun Moon Lake and other famous myths and legends. Literary myths and legends: Nezha Conquers the Dragon King, Havoc in Heaven, Journey to the West, Investiture of the Gods, Splitting the Mountain to Save the Mother, The Precious Lotus Lantern and other famous myths and legends.
Mythology and religion
Significant interplay exists between Chinese mythology and the philosophical traditions of Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism. Elements of pre-Han dynasty mythology such as those in Classic of Mountains and Seas were adapted into these belief systems as they developed (in the case of Taoism), or were assimilated into Chinese culture (in the case of Buddhism). Conversely, teachings and beliefs from Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism have, in turn, become integral components of Chinese mythology. For example, the Taoist belief of a spiritual paradise became incorporated into mythology as the place where immortals and deities dwell. Sometimes mythological and religious ideas have become widespread across China's many regions and diverse ethnic societies. In other cases, beliefs are more limited to certain social groups, for example, the veneration of white stones by the Qiang. One mythological theme that has a long history and many variations involves a shamanic world view, for example in the cases of Mongolian shamanism among the Mongols, Hmong shamanism among the Miao people, and the shamanic beliefs of the Qing dynasty from 1643 to 1912, derived from the Manchus. Politically, mythology was often used to legitimize the dynasties of China, with the founding house of a dynasty claiming a divine descent.
Mythology and philosophy
Elaborations on the wuxing are not really part of mythology, although belief in five elements could appear. The Hundred Schools of Thought is a phrase suggesting the diversity of philosophical thought that developed during the Warring States of China. Then, and subsequently, philosophical movements had a complicated relationship with mythology. However, as far as they influence or are influenced by mythology, divides the philosophical camps into two rough halves, a Liberal group and a Conservative group. The liberal group being associated with the idea of individuality and change, for example as seen in the mythology of divination in China, such as the mythology of the dragon horse that delivered the eight bagua diagrams to Fu Xi, and methods of individual empowerment as seen in the Yi Jing (Book of Changes). The Liberal tendency is towards individual freedom, Daoism, and Nature. The relationship of the Conservative philosophies to mythology is seen in the legendary Nine Tripod Cauldrons, mythology about the emperors and central bureaucratic governance, Confucianism, written histories, ceremonial observances, subordination of the individual to the social groups of family and state, and a fixation on stability and enduring institutions. The distinction between the Liberal and Conservative is very general, but important in Chinese thought. Contradictions can be found in the details, however these are often traditional, such as the embrace by Confucius of the philosophical aspects of the Yi Jing, and the back-and-forth about the Mandate of Heaven wherein one dynasty ends and another begins based according to accounts (some of heavily mythological) where the Way of Heaven results in change, but then a new ethical stable dynasty becomes established. Examples of this include the stories of Yi Yin, Tang of Shang and Jie of Xia or the similar fantastic stories around Duke of Zhou and Di Xin.
Mythology and ritual Mythology exists in relationship with other aspects of society and culture, such as ritual. Various rituals are explained by mythology. For example, the ritual burning of mortuary banknotes (Hell Money), lighting fireworks, and so on.
Yubu
A good example of the relationship between Chinese mythology and ritual is the Yubu, also known as the Steps or Paces of Yu. During the course of his activities in controlling the Great Flood, Yu was supposed to have so fatigued himself that he lost all the hair from his legs and developed a serious limp. Daoist practitioners sometimes incorporate a curiously choreographed pedal locomotion into various rituals. Mythology and practice, one explains the other: in these rituals, the sacred time of Yu merges with the sacral practice of the present.
Cosmology
Various ideas about the nature of the earth, the universe, and their relationship to each other have historically existed as either a background or a focus of mythologies. One typical view is of a square earth separated from a round sky by sky pillars (mountains, trees, or undefined). Above the sky is the realm of Heaven, often viewed of as a vast area, with many inhabitants. Often the heavenly inhabitants are thought to be of an "as above so below" nature, their lives and social arrangements being parallel to those on earth, with a hierarchical government run by a supreme emperor, many palaces and lesser dwellings, a vast bureaucracy of many functions, clerks, guards, and servants. Below was a vast under ground land, also known as Diyu, Yellow Springs, Hell, and other terms. As time progressed, the idea of an underground land in which the souls of the departed were punished for their misdeeds during life became explicit, related to developments in Daoism and Buddhism. The underground world also came to be conceived of as inhabited by a vast bureaucracy, with kings, judges, torturers, conductors of souls, minor bureaucrats, recording secretaries, similar to the structure of society in the Middle Kingdom (earthly China).
Mythological places and concepts
The mythology of China includes a mythological geography describing individual mythological descriptions of places and the features; sometimes, this reaches to the level of a cosmological conception. Various features of mythological terrain are described in myth, including a Heavenly world above the earth, a land of the dead beneath the earth, palaces beneath the sea, and various fantastic areas or features of the earth, located beyond the limits of the known earth. Such mythological features include mountains, rivers, forests or fantastic trees, and caves or grottoes. These then serve as the location for the actions of various beings and creatures. One concept encountered in some myths is the idea of travel between Earth and Heaven by means of climbing up or down the pillars separating the two, there usually being four or Eight Pillars or an unspecified number of these Sky Ladders.
Directional The Four Symbols of Chinese cosmology were the Azure Dragon of the East, the Black Tortoise of the North, the White Tiger of the West, and the Vermillion Bird of the South. These totem animals represented the four cardinal directions, with a lot of associated symbolism and beliefs. A fifth cardinal direction was also postulated: the center, represented by the emperor of China, located in the middle of his Middle Kingdom (Zhong Guo, or China). The real or mythological inhabitants making their dwellings at these cardinal points were numerous, as is associated mythology.
Heavenly realm
The Heavenly realm is described by the Chinese word "Tian," which can be translated into English as both "Heaven" and "sky." Sometimes this was personified into a deity (sky god). In some descriptions, this was an elaborate place ruled over by a supreme deity, or a group of supreme deities, Jade Emperor being associated with Daoism and Buddhas with Buddhism. Many astronomically observable features were subjects of mythology or the mythological locations and settings for mythic scenes. These include the sun, stars, moon, planets, Milky Way (sometimes referred to as the River of Heaven), clouds, and other features. These were often the home or destination of various deities, divinities, shamans, and many more. Another concept of the Heavenly realm is that of the Cords of the Sky. Travel between Heaven and Earth was usually described as achieved by flying or climbing. The Queqiao () was a bridge formed by birds flying across the Milky Way, as seen in The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl mythology surrounding the Qixi Festival. The hazy band of stars of the Milky Way was referred to as the "Silvery River" or the "River of Heaven".
Subterranean realm