Handbook of Chinese MythologyEvery year, at the Wa Huang Gong temple in Hebei Province, China, people gather to worship the great mother, Nuwa, the oldest deity in Chinese myth, praising her for bringing them a happy life. It is a vivid demonstration of both the ancient reach and the continuing relevance of mythology in the lives of the Chinese people. Compiled from ancient and scattered texts and based on groundbreaking new research, Handbook of Chinese Mythology is the most comprehensive English-language work on the subject ever written from an exclusively Chinese perspective. This work focuses on the Han Chinese people but ranges across the full spectrum of ancient and modern China, showing how key myths endured and evolved over time. A quick reference section covers all major deities, spirits, and demigods, as well as important places (Kunlun Mountain), mythical animals and plants (the crow with three feet; Fusang tree), and related items (Xirang-a kind of mythical soil; Bu Si Yao-mythical medicine for long life). No other work captures so well what Chinese mythology means to the people who lived and continue to live their lives by it. With more than 40 illustrations and photographs, fresh translations of primary sources, and insight based on the authors' own field research, Handbook of Chinese Mythology offers an illuminating account of a fascinating corner of the world of myth. |
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ancestors Ancient China Annotations in Chinese Baltimore and London became Beijing bird Cangjie Chang’e Changxi Chengdu Chinese Mythology Chiyou comps County deity Di’s dragon dynasty earth Emperor ethnic groups Fangfeng Feng Bo flood myths Further Reading Birrell Fusang Fuxi gave birth goddess gods Gonggong heaven Henan Province Hopkins University Press Houji Houtu Houyi Huainanzi Huang Huang Di human Hundun invented Jiandi Jiang Yuan Johns Hopkins University Kuafu Kunlun Mountain later legends Leizu Lihui Miao moon mother mythical Myths of Ancient named Nüwa Pangu Qing dynasty Qu Yuan rain recorded References and Further ritual River sage kings scholars Shaanxi shamans Shandong Shang Shanghai Shanhaijing Shanhaijing chapter Shaohao Shennong Shun Sichuan Province sky ladder stop the flood story Supreme Divinity Taihao told tradition tree versions Wang Wangmu Wenyi Chubanshe worshiped written Xihe Xiwangmu Yan Di Yinglong Yu Shi Zhong Zhongguo Zhuanxu Zhurong