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.
Religion in China is diverse and most Chinese people are either non-religious or practice a combination of Buddhism and Taoism with a Confucian worldview,which is collectively termed as Chinese folk religion.
The Luoshu (pinyin),Lo Shu (Wade-Giles),or Nine Halls Diagram is an ancient Chinese diagram and named for the Luo River near Luoyang,Henan. The Luoshu appears in myths concerning the invention of writing by Cangjie and other culture heroes. It is a unique normal magic square of order three. It is usually paired with the River Map or Hetu—named in reference to the Yellow River—and used with the River Map in various contexts involving Chinese geomancy,numerology,philosophy,and early natural science.
Yu the Great or Yu the Engineer was a legendary king in ancient China who was famed for "the first successful state efforts at flood control," his establishment of the Xia dynasty which inaugurated dynastic rule in China,and his upright moral character. He figures prominently in the Chinese legend titled "Great Yu Controls the Waters". Yu and other "sage-kings" of ancient China were lauded for their virtues and morals by Confucius and other Chinese teachers. He is one of the few Chinese monarchs who is posthumously honored with the epithet "the Great".
Jiutian Xuannü is the goddess of war,sex,and longevity in Chinese mythology.
Magu is a legendary Taoist xian associated with the elixir of life,and a symbolic protector of women in Chinese mythology. Stories in Chinese literature describe Magu as a beautiful young woman with long birdlike fingernails,while early myths associate her with caves. Magu xian shou is a popular motif in Chinese art.
The Chu Silk Manuscript,also known as the Chu Silk Manuscript from Zidanku in Changsha,is a Chinese astrological and astronomical text. It was discovered in a Warring States period tomb from the southern Chinese state of Chu.
The Nine Tripod Cauldrons were,in Ancient China,a collection of ding that were viewed as symbols of the authority given to the ruler by the mandate of heaven. They had been cast,according to the legend,by Yu the Great of the Xia dynasty.
Fangshi were Chinese technical specialists who flourished from the third century BCE to the fifth century CE. English translations of fangshi include alchemist,astrologer,diviner,exorcist,geomancer,doctor,magician,monk,mystic,necromancer,occultist,omenologist,physician,physiognomist,technician,technologist,thaumaturge,and wizard.
Hun and po are types of souls in Chinese philosophy and traditional religion. Within this ancient soul dualism tradition,every living human has both a hun spiritual,ethereal,yang soul which leaves the body after death,and also a po corporeal,substantive,yin soul which remains with the corpse of the deceased. Some controversy exists over the number of souls in a person;for instance,one of the traditions within Daoism proposes a soul structure of sanhunqipo (三魂七魄),i.e.,"three hun and seven po". The historian YüYing-shih describes hun and po as "two pivotal concepts that have been,and remain today,the key to understanding Chinese views of the human soul and the afterlife".
The Queen Mother of the West,known by various local names,is a mother goddess in Chinese religion and mythology,also worshipped in neighbouring Asian countries,and attested from ancient times. From her name alone some of her most important characteristics are revealed:she is royal,female,and is associated with the west.
The Great Flood of Gun-Yu,also known as the Gun-Yu myth,was a major flood in ancient China that allegedly continued for at least two generations,which resulted in great population displacements among other disasters,such as storms and famine. People left their homes to live on the high hills and mountains,or nest on the trees. According to mythological and historical sources,it is traditionally dated to the third millennium BCE,or about 2300-2200 BCE,during the reign of Emperor Yao.
The Yu Gong or Tribute of Yu is a chapter of the Book of Xia section of the Book of Documents,one of the Five Classics of ancient Chinese literature. The chapter describes the legendary Yu the Great and the provinces of his time. Most modern scholars believe it was written in the fifth century BCE or later.
Bigu is a Daoist fasting technique associated with achieving xian "transcendence;immortality". Grain avoidance is related to multifaceted Chinese cultural beliefs. For instance,bigu fasting was the common medical cure for expelling the sanshi 三尸"Three Corpses",the malevolent,grain-eating spirits that live in the human body,report their host's sins to heaven every 60 days,and carry out punishments of sickness and early death. Avoiding "grains" has been diversely interpreted to mean not eating particular foodstuffs,or not eating any food (inedia). In the historical context of traditional Chinese culture within which the concept of bigu developed,there was great symbolic importance connected with the five grains and their importance in sustaining human life,exemplified in various myths and legends from ancient China and throughout subsequent history. The concept of bigu developed in reaction to this tradition,and within the context of Daoist philosophy.
Bugang is a Daoist ritual dance or walk,based upon the Yubu "Steps of Yu" tradition,in which a Taoist priest paces through a supernatural pattern,such as stars in the Big Dipper or numbers in the Loshu magic square. Texts from the Shangqing School revelations contain the earliest descriptions of bugang,frequently with the practitioner pacing among constellations,especially the Big Dipper's stars. When religious Daoism began during the Six Dynasties period,the expression bugang tadou 步罡踏斗"pacing the guideline and treading on the Dipper" became popular.
The Yellow River Map,Scheme,or Diagram,also known by its Chinese name as the Hetu,is an ancient Chinese diagram that appears in myths concerning the invention of writing by Cangjie and other culture heroes. It is usually paired with the Luoshu Square—named in reference to the Yellow River's Luo tributary—and used with the Luoshu in various contexts involving Chinese geomancy,numerology,philosophy,and early natural science.
The Wǔfāng Shàngdì,or simply Wǔdì or Wǔshén are,in Chinese canonical texts and common Chinese religion,the fivefold manifestation of the supreme God of Heaven. This theology dates back at least to the Shang dynasty. Described as the "five changeable faces of Heaven",they represent Heaven's cosmic activity which shapes worlds as tán 壇,"altars",imitating its order which is visible in the starry vault,the north celestial pole and its spinning constellations. The Five Deities themselves represent these constellations. In accordance with the Three Powers they have a celestial,a terrestrial and a chthonic form. The Han Chinese identify themselves as the descendants of the Red and Yellow Deities.
The Four Heavenly Ministers,also translated as the Four Sovereigns,are four of the highest sky deities of Daoism and subordinate only to the Three Pure Ones. They assist the Three Pure Ones in administering all phenomenon of the universe.
Rishu,lit. "Day Book," is a genre of hemerological texts that circulated widely in China from the late Warring States Period to the Western Han dynasty. Rishu is also the name of one of the primary literatures for the schools of orthodox Shingon Buddhism of Japan. This term finds its first evident presence dated back to 217 BCE in China.
Yaoji,is a Chinese goddess of Wu Mountain. A shaman and master herbalist,Yaoji is responsible for the presence of many medicinal herbs on Earth. She is a protective weather goddess who raises and soothes storms. Some sources say that she was a daughter of the Yan Emperor,while later ones incorporate her into the Daoist religion by making her a daughter of the Queen Mother of the West. Yaoji is most well known from two poems,The Ode of Gaotang and The Ode of the Divine Maiden,both of which are attributed to the late Warring States poet Song Yu.
