Great flood and procreation

Last updated
A mural of Nuwa and Fuxi from Han Dynasty. NuwaFuxi1.JPG
A mural of Nuwa and Fuxi from Han Dynasty.

The great flood theme, in which a flood almost wipes out the entire human race followed by the procreation of a brother and sister pair to repopulate the earth, is a popular mythological theme in China. Chen Jianxian (1996) said that this theme was one of the more popular legends which was still being told by more than 40 ethnics in China. There is a possibility that the myth is newer than the other Chinese great flood mythologies, because the oldest recorded sources about this myth were from Six Dynasties, save that the oral tradition maybe much older. [1] The myth narrates a brother and sister incest and often confused with the myth of Nüwa and Fuxi (Shan Hai Jing described both the divine ancestors as brother and sister who married each other to populated the earth with human beings). [2] Another version paired Pangu with his unnamed older sister as the main characters of this myth. [3]

Contents

The theme has several variations, but the outline describes a great flood which destroyed all the humans all over the world except a pair of brother and sister, or aunt and nephew. Both ended up married in order to repopulate the world. One version stated that their children were ordinary humans, while the others said it was a lump of meat, gourd, melon, or grindstone; after they opened, cut, or destroyed it, humans emerged. [1]

The Thunder God's Revenge

Chen Jianxian presumed the origin of this myth is from Miao people. In this version, the story begin with the dissension between the human ancestor whose name is varied with the thunder god. One day, the human ancestor managed to confine the thunder god, but his children (sometimes named as Fuxi and Nüwa) released him out of pity. The thunder god gave them a seed of gourd or pumpkin or his own tooth and told them that there would be a great flood. All the humans perished except the brother and sister who hid themselves inside the gourd. To repopulate the earth, they married each other after receiving an "agreement sign from the heaven" (which is different depends on the sources). Some versions said that the sister gave birth to a gourd; both cut the gourd into pieces and each pieces became the ancestors of different tribes, and so on. [1] There are other similar versions as written below.

Once upon a time, a farmer was working in his field when he heard thunder. He took his children (Nüwa and Fuxi) inside their house, prepared an iron cage, and armed with pitchfork. When the thunder god Lei Gong appeared with his thunder axe, the farmer stabbed him and locked him inside the cage. The farmer planned to kill the god and pickle him, and he went into the market to buy the spices after warning his children not to go near the god and gave him anything to eat or drink. Both the kids obeyed their father until they pitied the thunder god who asked them for food and water. After the kids gave him a drop of water, his strength was returned and he freed himself from the cage. He gave the frightened kids his own tooth to be planted, which grew into a gourd plant. Lei Gong leaped into the sky and commanded the rain god to pour the water as heavy as he could. [4]

Meanwhile, the farmer came into his house, the flood was already as high as his knees. He knew what happened and made a boat, put his children inside the magical gourd, and climbed into the boat. The water level continued to rise until it almost reach the heaven. The farmer knocked the heaven's gate and asked Taidi to stop the rain. Taidi realized what was about to be happened and ordered the water god to get rid of the water at once. The water was gone, the boat was falling from the sky and crashing into the ground along with the farmer, but his children inside the gourd was safe. After they climbed out of the gourd, both the kids realized that they were the only survivors of human kinds and decided to married and repopulated the earth. [4]

A bit different version named the survivor boy as A Zie. After the flood, he planned to married his older sister to in order to repopulate the earth but was rejected because she was hesitant to violate the incest taboo. After reasoning with her, she agreed to accept his marriage proposal with a condition: they should both go up to the top of opposite hills, taking with them each a part of a millstone, and roll the millstone down into the valley in the middle. If both parts of the millstones manage to perfectly collide straight into each other, she would marry her younger brother. A Zie, realising that his sister's condition was almost impossible, prepared already collided millstones in the bottom of the valley without her knowledge before they climbed on the hills and rolled their millstones, making it appear as if he won. But his sister did not expect this and was still reluctant, so she proposed another condition which was the same as the first one but the objects they would carry would be different. He carried a knife and she carried its sheath; she would marry her younger brother only if the knife was inserted into the sheath. A Zie made the same trick by setting up a duplicate knife and sheath in advance. Finally she agreed to the marriage, and they consummated. She conceived and bore her younger brother's first child, which was a lump of meat without arms and legs. The maddened A Zie cut off their offspring into pieces and scattered it to the rest of the hill. The next morning the pieces of the meat became both male and female humans, making A Zie and his older sister the progenitors of the humans that lived after the flood. [5]

There are another version which stated that the brother could not meet his sister's condition and so both of them were not married. They created living humans from clay. While they dried the clay dolls under the sun, the rain was pouring and the couple tried to save their creations. Unfortunately, some of the dolls lost their arms, legs, eyes, and so forth, explained why some people are disabled. [1]

Human Ancestor Marries a Heavenly Maiden

The theme is spread among Nakhi and Yi people. There were some brothers who worked at their field but their work was undone in the next morning; this happened for several days. The brothers found out that every night their field was being spoiled by a boar. They planned to kill the boar except one; and for his benevolent, the boar which was actually a god told him that there would be a devastating great flood on its way. The youth climbed into a leather-covered drum or wooden box, which was carried into the heaven by the ever-rising water level. In heaven, he met a heavenly maiden and fell in love with her. He must pass a series of tests before they are able to be married, while their offspring became the ancestors of the Tibetan, Nakhis, and Bais. [1]

The last version is a mixture from different myths. There were two brothers and one sister who hoed the field, which was vandalized by a god. The god later told them for the coming great flood, he told the younger brother and sister to aboard on a giant gourd, while to the older ill-tempered brother into a stone boat. The brother and sister inside the giant gourd were saved. He married his older sister, and they had a boy who eventually married a heavenly maiden. [1]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chinese mythology</span> Myths and practices of the Chinese people

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fuxi</span> Culture hero in Chinese legend

Fuxi or Fu Hsi (伏羲) is a culture hero in Chinese mythology, credited along with his sister and wife Nüwa with creating humanity and the invention of music, hunting, fishing, domestication, and cooking as well as the Cangjie system of writing Chinese characters around 2900 BC or 2000 BC. Fuxi was counted as the first mythical emperor of China, "a divine being with a serpent’s body" who was miraculously born, a Taoist deity, and/or a member of the Three Sovereigns at the beginning of the Chinese dynastic period.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pangu</span> Chinese mythical figure

Pangu is a primordial being and creation figure in Chinese mythology and Taoism who separated heaven and earth, and his body later became geographic features such as mountains and rivers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nüwa</span> Mother goddess of Chinese mythology

Nüwa, also read Nügua, is a mother goddess, culture hero, and/or member of the Three Sovereigns of Chinese mythology. She is a goddess in Chinese folk religion, Chinese Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism. She is credited with creating humanity and repairing the Pillar of Heaven.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yinglong</span> Water deity in Chinese mythology

Yinglong is a winged dragon and rain deity in ancient Chinese mythology.

Gonggong is a Chinese water god who is depicted in Chinese mythology and folktales as having a copper human head with an iron forehead, red hair, and the body of a serpent, or sometimes the head and torso are human, with the tail of a serpent. He is destructive and is blamed for various cosmic catastrophes. In all accounts, Gonggong ends up being killed or sent into exile, usually after losing a struggle with another major deity such as the fire god Zhurong.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hundun</span> Primordial and central chaos in Chinese cosmogony

Hundun is both a "legendary faceless being" in Chinese mythology and the "primordial and central chaos" in Chinese cosmogony, comparable with the world egg.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rainbows in mythology</span>

The rainbow has been a favorite component of mythology throughout history among many cultures around the world. Abrahamic traditions see it as a covenant with God to preserve the world from a second flood. Whether as a bridge to the heavens, messenger, archer's bow, or serpent, the rainbow has served as a symbol for millennia. There are myriad beliefs in a complex diversity with several repeated themes.

The Epic of Darkness is a collection of tales and legends of primeval China in epic poetry, preserved by the inhabitants of the Shennongjia mountain area in Hubei. It is composed of numerous Chinese myths relating to the creation of the world, containing accounts from the birth of Pangu till the historical era. It dates back to the Tang dynasty of China. It was translated and published by Hu Chongjun after the discovery of a manuscript in 1982.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Snakes in mythology</span> Serpent that only appears in myths and legends

Snakes are a common occurrence in myths for a multitude of cultures. The Hopi people of North America viewed snakes as symbols of healing, transformation, and fertility. Snakes in Mexican folk culture tell about the fear of the snake to the pregnant women where the snake attacks the umbilical cord. The Great Goddess often had snakes as her familiars—sometimes twining around her sacred staff, as in ancient Crete—and they were worshipped as guardians of her mysteries of birth and regeneration. Although not entirely a snake, the plumed serpent, Quetzalcoatl, in Mesoamerican culture, particularly Mayan and Aztec, held a multitude of roles as a deity. He was viewed as a twin entity which embodied that of god and man and equally man and serpent, yet was closely associated with fertility. In ancient Aztec mythology, Quetzalcoatl was the son of the fertility earth goddess, Cihuacoatl, and cloud serpent and hunting god, Maxicoat. His roles took the form of everything from bringer of morning winds and bright daylight for healthy crops, to a sea god capable of bringing on great floods. As shown in the images there are images of the sky serpent with its tail in its mouth, it is believed to be a reverence to the sun, for which Quetzalcoatl was also closely linked.

Chinese creation myths are symbolic narratives about the origins of the universe, earth, and life. Myths in China vary from culture to culture. In Chinese mythology, the term "cosmogonic myth" or "origin myth" is more accurate than "creation myth", since very few stories involve a creator deity or divine will. Chinese creation myths fundamentally differ from monotheistic traditions with one authorized version, such as the Judeo-Christian Genesis creation narrative: Chinese classics record numerous and contradictory origin myths. Traditionally, the world was created on Chinese New Year and the animals, people, and many deities were created during its 15 days.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Incest in folklore and mythology</span>

Incest is found in folklore and mythology in many countries and cultures in the world.

The Flood Mythology of China, or Great Flood of China is a deluge theme which happened in China. Derk Bodde (1961) stated that "from all mythological themes in ancient Chinese, the earliest and so far most pervasive is about flood." The mythology also has shared characteristics with other Great Floods all over the world, although it also has unique characteristics or different focuses. Lu Yilu (2002) groups all versions of great flood into three themes: "the heroes controls the flood; "brother-sister marriage to repopulating the world"; and "the flood which is drowning the whole city along with its citizens".

The sinking city myth is one of the great flood themes in Chinese folklore. This myth includes three specific characteristics: one or two survivors; a blood-crying statue; and the sinking of an entire city, along with its citizens. The survivor(s) are saved by the gods because of their benevolent acts; the survivors may include an old lady or a devoted son. The blood-crying statue is often a stone lion statue, or sometimes a tortoise statue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chinese gods and immortals</span>

Chinese gods and immortals are beings in various Chinese religions seen in a variety of ways and mythological contexts.

Coqsseʻleelʻee is a legendary character in the mythology of Nakhi people. He was recorded in the Naxi epic Coqbertv Zherlzzoq as the ancestor of human being.

Huaxu (华胥) is a Chinese goddess and mother of the gods Nüwa and Fuxi,whose hometown is a region that is part of modern day Huaxu Township(华胥镇), Lantian County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Goumang</span>

Goumang, also known as Jumang (句芒), is an auxiliary god of the Fuxi family. The Classic of Mountains and Seas described his appearance as "bird body and human face, ride two dragons". He is the god of wood and spring, in charge of life and health.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Lihui, Yang; Deming, An; Anderson, Jessica (2005). Handbook of Chinese Mythology. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 114–117. ISBN   978-0-19-533263-6.
  2. ↑ Worshiping the Three Sage Kings and Five Virtuous Emperors - The Imperial Temple of Emperors of Successive Dynasties in Beijing. Beijing: Foreign Language Press. 2007. ISBN   978-7-119-04635-8.
  3. ↑ Lihui, Yang; Deming, An; Anderson, Jessica (2005). Handbook of Chinese Mythology. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 177–178. ISBN   978-0-19-533263-6.
  4. 1 2 Jeremy Roberts (2010). Chinese Mythology A to Z, Second edition. New York: Chelsea House Publishers. ISBN   978-1-4381-2799-6.
  5. ↑ E. T. C. Werner (1922). "Myths and Legends of China". London: George G. Harrap and Company. pp. 406–408. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.