Where is the origin of China myth?

China myth is a treasure of China culture and history, which is circulated in fables, novels, religions, dances and plays through oral or written records. To some extent, ancient myths will be assumed to be the real part of history, and the original written records are scattered in such classics as Shan Hai Jing, Notes on Water Mirror, Shangshu, Historical Records and Shilu Chunqiu. According to Yuan Ke's classification, China myths can be divided into three types: myths, legends and fairy tales. From the Jin Dynasty to the Ming and Qing Dynasties, there appeared a category called "mystery novels" or "ghost novels" in the history of China literature, many of which refer to myths, legends and fairy tales, among which the famous ones are Romance of Ghosts and Ghosts, The Journey to the West and Liaozhai. From the literary point of view, myth expresses the ancient people's understanding and desire for natural and social phenomena in the form of stories, which is "the natural and social form itself processed by people's fantasies in an unconscious artistic way". Myths take gods as the leading role, including all kinds of natural gods and deified heroes. The plot of myth is generally manifested as change, divine power and magic. The meaning of myth is usually manifested as the explanation of some natural and social phenomenon; Some expressed our ancestors' desire to conquer nature and change society. Cowherd and Weaver Girl First of all, people talk about myths to maintain the significance and rationality of social customs and social systems. Secondly, due to low productivity, especially in the face of frightening nature, individuals must integrate themselves into the clan to survive. Thirdly, in the mysterious daily work and life, our ancestors accumulated quite a lot of strong emotional experiences. Fairy tales can make the incomprehensible reality show all kinds of dramatic attributes, and people vent all kinds of uneasy emotions in the illusion of grasping the world. [Edit this paragraph] Myth is a story and legend that reflects ancient people's original understanding of the origin of the world, natural phenomena and social life in the form of supernatural images and fantasies. Due to the low level of productivity in ancient times, people could not scientifically explain the origin of the world, natural phenomena and contradictory changes in social life, so they personified the power of nature with the help of fantasy. Myths often show the ancient people's resistance to natural forces and their pursuit of ideals. China's myths are extremely rich, many of which are preserved in ancient works. Such as Shan Hai Jing and Huai Nan Zi. In the literary and artistic creation of past dynasties, works that imitate myths, reflect reality or satirize reality under the guise of legendary gods are usually called myths. There were myths in ancient China, but the word "myth" never existed. What is a myth? Mr. Mao Dun once gave a definition: "Myth is a popular folk story in ancient times, and it is beyond human ability to describe the behavior of God. Although absurd, the ancients praised each other, but they were convinced of its truth. " [Edit this paragraph] The myth of China, the goddess of mending the sky, is rich and colorful, mainly including the following nine aspects: the creation myth about the creation of heaven and earth, and the myth about the origin of human beings and all things. Also known as opening a myth. The myth of creation is a naive explanation and description of nature and the universe in the form of fantasy in human childhood, which reflects the original ideas of primitive ancestors on heaven, earth, the universe and the origin of human beings. There are mainly two kinds of creation myths: the creation myth of heaven and earth (including the formation of the world and everything) and the myth of human origin (including the origin of nations). There are three myths about the creation of heaven and earth: the first is to create the world with God as the main body. This Chang 'e created the image, title and way of opening up the world of God. The creative god of Yao nationality is called Miruotuo; Yi people have four creative gods: Bagg, Dianni, Zhige Aru and Jiezhi Jialu. The second category, the giant metaplasia myth, tells that everything in the world is transformed from various parts of the giant's body. For example, the myth of Pangu of Han nationality, the myth of "Shepama and Shemima" of Achang nationality, and the myth of "Nizhi Xiajin, the giant who created everything" of Yi nationality, etc. The third category, the myth of natural evolution, tells the process of natural formation of heaven and earth in imagination, which is neither the creation of the god of land reclamation nor the metaplasia of giants, but completely natural evolution. For example, Buluotuo and his sisters in Zhuang mythology, and the ancestors' love in Naxi creation mythology. These myths are preserved in the epics and ancient songs of ethnic minorities. There are two kinds of myths about the origin of human beings: one is to explain the birth of human beings in the world, to tell the process of creating human beings and to explain the origin of nations; The other is related to the flood myth, which explains the process of rebuilding human beings through the combination of brother and sister after the flood. In the myth created by the country, people come from eggs, gourds, stones, caves or Woods, but it is more common that people are made of mud. Such as the myth of Nu Wa. In the myth of creation, the contents that explain the origin of human beings and nationalities are often combined, and the origins of nationalities and human beings are considered to be simultaneous. The creation process recorded in the Yi epic Meige is that brother and sister get married, give birth to strange gourds, and eight kinds of people appear, indicating the origin of eight nationalities. The myth of creation is worldwide, and it is the ideology of human primitive period, which has important historical value and certain literary value. The myth of the sun, moon and stars explains natural phenomena such as the sun, moon and stars. The myth of the sun, moon and stars first put forward the origin of the sun, moon and stars. China has five myths: fertility theory, limb metaplasia theory, egg birth theory, casting theory and God creation theory. In addition, there is another saying that the sun is a heroic god and a celestial emperor. There are also some myths that explain the origin of some constellations. The regular movement of the sun and the moon is one aspect of the explanation of natural phenomena in the myth of the sun and the moon. Ancient myths in China described the daily life schedule of the sun and the moon as having work and rest like human beings. The shadow in the middle of the month, the change of the full moon and the short moon, is another aspect of this kind of myth explaining natural phenomena. In Han mythology, the Goddess Chang'e flying to the moon turned into a toad, WU GANG chopped laurel, and Jade Rabbit pounded medicine. There are also many myths among ethnic minorities to explain the shadow in the middle of the month. Regarding the relationship between the sun and the moon, people think of them as husband and wife, brother and sister, sister and menstruation. There is also a magical explanation for the phenomenon of solar eclipse in mythology. For example, the Han people have the saying that Tiangou swallowed it. The myth of shooting at the sun is an indispensable part of the myth of the sun and the moon. The basic content it describes is that there are many suns (or moons) in the sky, and strong light irradiation has caused serious consequences. The hero's archer shot down the redundant sun and moon. This kind of myth reflects the ancient people's desire to control the sun and conquer drought. The myth of the sun, the moon and the stars reflects the simple understanding of celestial bodies by ancient humans, and some show the desire to control celestial bodies by witchcraft, which has primitive science and certain practical significance. However, due to the infiltration and integration of various primitive concepts, they finally combined into a myth full of naive fantasies, which was taken as the creative theme by literati. The myth of the origin of animals and plants is a natural myth. It is an explanatory story of primitive people about the origin and characteristics of animals and plants. In the primitive era of fishing, hunting and gathering economy, the level of human productivity is extremely low, and it is still impossible to distinguish between itself and nature. People often think that the animals and plants around them have the same perception, feeling and life history as themselves, especially those that have a direct interest in people's life and production, and then use visual fantasy to explain their sources and characteristics, which has become the myth of the origin of animals and plants. In China's mythological works, there are few separate myths about the origin of animals and plants, and most of them exist as original myths and local plots in the epic of creation. For example, in the Buyi myth epic "Creation of the Earth", it is said that the forest and rare birds and animals are all changed by Weng's family. According to Kuafu mythology, Taolin was transformed from a cane that Kuafu abandoned after dying of thirst every day. This kind of myth holds that animals and plants are changed by a certain part of God's body or God's instruments. In addition, some myths believe that animals and plants were created by the creator God. For example, the Yi epic Le Aoteyi tells the story of Otsu who helped the gods create creatures on the earth, planted three trees on the ground, and then there were trees. Put the deer in the forest, and there were animals from then on. There are also some myths that god, man, animals and plants are interactive. Flood myth. A worldwide myth about the destruction of the universe and the rebirth of mankind. Most of the records about floods in ancient China were related to water control. For example, there is a story of the goddess mending the sky and governing the water in "Huai Nan Zi Lan Mingxun". In addition, there are myths about Gun and Yu's water control. None of them are directly related to human regeneration. The flood myth circulated in later generations reflects that after the catastrophic flood disaster in a certain period in ancient times, two brothers and sisters of flood survivors got married and regenerated human beings. This myth can be divided into two systems: North and South. Generally speaking, the flood myth of Southwest China is: Leigong flood, flooding the world. Brother and sister hid in the gourd to avoid the flood, and later became husband and wife, resulting in different races after marriage. The northern flood myth says: floods flood the world. Fuxi and Nuwa (or Pangu brothers and sisters) escaped the flood under the protection of stone lions or turtles, and then got married. Finally, brother and sister pinched the yellow clay figurine, recreated human beings and became the "ancestors" of the Han nationality. There are traces of primitive blood marriage in the myths of these two systems. It seems to be a reflection of the transition from group marriage to pairing marriage in primitive society in China. Due to different social stages, there are different attitudes towards brother and sister marriage in mythology. Early mythology believed that the marriage of brother and sister was a necessary condition for the continuation of mankind; Later myths have different degrees of affirmation. Wen Yiduo's "Myths and Poetry Fuxi Kao" quoted in detail the flood myth materials of Miao, Yao and Yi in southwest China in modern times. Flood myths of Han, Mongolian, Daur and other ethnic groups in the Central Plains and the north are constantly being discovered. Some of them are integrated with the myth of creation, and some have serious Buddhist tendencies. Due to the restriction of natural environment and social and cultural environment, the myth of oral flood is often constantly evolving. The myth of nuwa. Nu Wa is the goddess of creation in China mythology. It is a great goddess image handed down from the matriarchal clan period in primitive society. The content of the myth of Nu Wa mainly has two aspects. The first is to make people. It is said that Nu Wa kneaded the yellow fairy tale book of China and created human beings. Later, because I was busy, I dragged the rope into the mud and shook it. The spilled mud became a lot of people (see Ying Shao's "Later Han Dynasty Customs and Justice"). The other is mending the sky. The theory of mending the sky was first seen in Huai Nan Zi Lan Mingxun. Legend has it that in ancient times, the sky fell apart, fires burned us, floods flooded, and evil birds and animals harmed people. Nu Wa smelted five-color stones to fill the sky; Cut off the turtle's foot and put it on the ground, propping up the sky and killing the black dragon who made waves to save the people in the Central Plains. Then the reeds were burned to ashes, which stopped the terrible flood. Nu Wa can also be regarded as the earliest hero of water control in China myths and legends. In addition, it is also said that Nu Wa once made a sheng spring. This is similar to the Lusheng played by all ethnic groups in southwest China later. Nu Wa is also the goddess of music. There is also a legend that Nu Wa established a marriage system for human beings ("the general meaning of custom"), allowing young men and women to marry each other and reproduce. She is also the goddess of marriage. Fuxi myth. The myth created by China culture. Fuxi, also called Taihao Fuxi, is said to be the son of Hua Xushi who stepped on Raytheon's footprints in Razer. He can "go up and down" along the building timber growing in the wild in Du Guang as a ladder. Fuxi has many inventions, mainly saying that he sat on a square altar, listened to music from all directions and painted? (fuck),? (Kun),? (earthquake) (?),? (Kan)，？ (from),? (Chuang),? Guagua has eight symbols, called eight diagrams, which represent all kinds of things between heaven and earth. He also imitated spiders to weave webs and make fishing nets. According to this principle, his courtier Ju Mang became a bird catcher. Fuxi also made the harp and created the music of peace and discussion. The dawn of ancient civilization was revealed in the legendary Fuxi era. Fuxi later became the emperor of the East, and his courtier Ju Mang became his god. There is also a legend that Fuxi and Nuwa are husband and wife. This theory appeared in the Western Han Dynasty. Wang Yanshou of the Eastern Han Dynasty wrote the words "Fuxi Scale, Nu Wa Snake" in Lu Lingguang Dian Fu. There are images of Fuxi, Nu Wa mating with the snake head on the stone statue of Wuliangci in the Eastern Han Dynasty. One side is marked Fuxi, and the other side may be Nuwa. The myth of emperor. The myth of Heaven Emperor worshipped by Yin people in ancient China. Oracle Bone Inscriptions's name is Gaozu? . He was the ancestor of the Yin people and was later promoted to the Emperor of Heaven. In Oracle Bone Inscriptions, he is in the shape of a bird's head, a monkey's body, a foot, and seems to have a cane in his hand. The last five chapters of The Classic of Mountains and Seas and the Classic of Huang Da focus on the divine words about the Emperor, but not in other books. Di Jun's two wives, one named He, who lives in Gan Yuan, gave birth to 65,438+00 suns. The other, Chang Xi, lived in the wilderness in the west and gave birth to 12 moons. There is also a wife named E Huang, who lives in the southern wilderness and gave birth to an ancestor of 1 trisomy. Di Jun often falls from the sky and makes friends with some colorful birds. The two shrines of the Emperor below are managed by these colorful birds. In the Great Northern Wilderness, the Emperor had a bamboo forest. He cut a section of bamboo and cut it open to make a boat. 18 days, Yao went to war, and Di Jun gave Yi Hong a bow and white arrow, asking him to go down the mountain to help the poor. These are fragments of the existing myth of the emperor. We can see the divinity of the Emperor as the Emperor of Heaven. Due to the development and evolution of myth, Dijun became two legendary emperors, one was Xin's and the other was Xin's. They are all demigods and demigods heroes, spreading their own myths and legends. Yi mythology. Yi is a hero who shoots at the sun in China mythology. According to pre-Qin ancient books, Yi is either called Yi (Zuo Zhuan, Tian Wen) or Renyi (Shan Hai Jing). According to Yi myth, when Yao was the monarch, 10 sun appeared in the sky, burning seedlings, starving the people, and all kinds of evil birds and beasts took the opportunity to harm the people. So the God gave you a red bow and a bag of white arrows and told him to relieve the people's suffering. When he descended to the mortal world, he first shot down nine of the 10 suns, and then destroyed the ferocious beasts such as Hella, Tooth Cutting, Nine Babies, Gale, and Snake Repairing. Finally, I went to the mulberry forest in the Central Plains and caught the most harmful wild boar. He steamed the wild boar and gave it to the Emperor of Heaven, expecting a return, but he didn't know that the Emperor of Heaven shot and killed his nine grandchildren because of Yi, and he was very dissatisfied with Yi's actions. In addition, there are some records of shooting Hebo, asking her for the elixir of life, and Heng E's trip to steal the moon in [[Queen Mother of the West]], which reflect her other activities and his tragic ending. Huainanzi also records the folk gods who worship foreigners and eliminate disasters. Chang 'e Myth Chang 'e is the moon goddess in China mythology. The myth of the Goddess Chang'e flying to the moon is the most popular. It first appeared in Huai Nan Zi Lan Mingxun. According to the myth, you asked the Queen Mother of the West for the elixir of life and brought it home. Chang 'e stole the elixir while she was away. She flew lightly off the ground and ran to the Moon Palace. The Goddess Chang'e flying to the moon's myth can also be found in the earlier "Gui Zang", but the narrative in "Gui Zang" is sketchy, only saying that Chang 'e took the elixir of the western queen and went to the moon palace for a month's essence, which seems to have nothing to do with Iraq. In the ancient edition of Huai Nan Zi, there is a record that Chang 'e became a toad in the Moon Palace. Now there is no record, which shows that people have changed from condemnation to sympathy for Chang 'e. From the Wei, Jin and Six Dynasties to the Tang Dynasty, people's sympathy for Chang 'e developed more and more, and ancient legends such as becoming a toad were gradually forgotten.