Description
Book SynopsisHow did the world begin? How were the first people created and which specific roles were they supposed to play in the cosmos? Like other mythologies worldwide, China’s creation and origin myths explain how man created order out of chaos and imposed culture on nature. Cross-cultural approaches to myth make us aware of the limitations of our own familiar classifications. This book makes a provocative case for the comparative study of the hidden treasures of China’s oral and written myth traditions in different languages and cultures, a legacy generously left behind by singers, storytellers, poets, and writers. This book opens new doors to the study of Chinese mythologies, a surprising and so far almost unknown world outside China.
Trade Review"This is a book of ambitious breadth of scope, and clearly reflects the energy and enthusiasm of a discipline only now really re-establishing itself in the Chinese context...the book is attractively presented and is a significant addition to the Brill 'Religion in Chinese Societies' series." Peter Harris, New Zealand Journal of Asian Studies 15.1 (June 2013)
Table of ContentsI Comparative Perspectives Mineke Schipper: Humanity’s Beginnings in Creation and Origin Myths from Around the World Yang Lihui and An Deming: The World of Chinese Mythology: An Introduction Ye Shuxian: From Frog to Nüwa and Back Again: the Religious Roots of Creation Myths Namjila: Water-of-Immortality Myths in Altaic and Japanese Cultures Jaeseo Jung: Myths of Giant Corpse Transformation II Rediscovering the Beginning in Texts Kao Lifeng: Sacred Order: Cosmogonic Myth in the Chu Silk Manuscript Kristofer Schipper: The Wholeness of Chaos: Laozi on the Beginning Chen Lianshan: Gun and Yu: Revisiting the Chinese “Earth-Diver” Hypothesis Wu Xiaodong: Pangu and the Origin of the Universe III Oral Tradition and Ethnic Diversity Wu Bing'an: Chinese Creation Myths: a Great Discovery Wang Xianzhao: Minority Creation Myths: An Approach to Classification Liu Yahu: Humanism as a Paradigm for Creation Myths Yang Lihui: Performing Myths Today: A Field Study of the Renzu Temple Festival Mark Bender: Perspectives on the Environment in Miao and Yi Creation Narratives IV Anthology of Creation and Origin Myths
