THE CREATION OF MAN and other traditional Chinese myths
Forward a translator’s note
Mythology and storytelling is a big part of many cultures. Not only are these folktales, legends, and myths passed down through generations for children to read and enjoy, but they reflect many cultural values and beliefs, and can show how people lived and survived in ancient times. With so many different places in the world, with people living under different conditions or with a different lifestyle, it isn’t surprising that many people have developed different stories and beliefs. I am Chinese, born and raised in Hong Kong, I have lived in this city my entire life. Yet, it seemed to me that my connection to Chinese culture was much weaker than mine with Western culture. This, I believe, has to do strongly with the fact that I have attended international schools my whole life, and as Hong Kong is also a very international city, I have been exposed to a more Western lifestyle than a traditional Chinese one. This combination and clash of cultures became clear to me during my year in CIS Hangzhou, where I attended school and lived in China for the entire school year. I realized that my knowledge of my personal culture was far less extensive than I had thought, and sought to expand it. This is when I discovered Chinese mythology. Although I was not previously oblivious to the fact that Chinese legends and folktales existed, I had never taken initiative to look into them. After reading them, with me acting as a standpoint in the middle of both cultures, I could see where the similarities and differences in Chinese and Western mythology lay. I thought this was interesting, being able to see the virtues behind two different cultures through mythology, and I believe that I am not the only person who has experienced this push and pull between two cultures and lifestyles. I decided to further study the similarities and differences in mythology between two cultures, in hopes that mythology from two different backgrounds could build a bridge between cultures rather than separate them. Mythology is a magical form of cultural expression, where the most valued beliefs of a culture and a community is showed through tales filled with wonder and mystery. Through the following myths, you will be able to
see how Chinese culture highly values morality, and where their beliefs are similar to or differ to those written in Western Greek mythology. Surely, it is important to understand the cultural aspect of these myths, but the one thing that is the most important of all, is to enjoy!
The Creation of Man
Before you begin your journey into the great unknown of Chinese myths, legends, and folktales, there are some things that you should know to help you on your way. There are many different tellings of how the world was created, but the Chinese believed that once upon a time, the heavens and earth were stuck together. It wasn’t until the great god Pangu tore the heavens and earth apart and created the four pillars to support the sky that the world was born, filled with life and other gods and goddesses that proceeded to better the earth in their own ways. One of these many gods and goddesses was Nüwa, who, as you will find, is responsible for the creation of men. *** Not long after the world was born, when the mighty God Pangu separated the heavens from the earth, the skies were filled with the brazen sun, the calm moon, and the glittering stars. On the earth, lush valleys, flat plains, animals and plants of all kind were born. However, the shadow of man was nowhere to be found. On the Earth, there lived a goddess by the name of Nüwa. Her appearance was different from any other: the top half of her body was that of a beautiful woman’s, but the skin past her hips grew scaly just like a snake’s, becoming green puzzle pieces that fit together to create a long tail. Nüwa was a powerful goddess, and she could create many things out of nothing at all, but as she wandered the Earth by herself everyday, she could not help but feel extremely lonely. Nüwa would sigh deeply, all the while wondering to herself: “Oh! What a bore — just what is the Earth missing that makes my days so wearisome?” Nüwa stopped by a lake to rest herself, and while leaning to drink, caught her own reflection in the still lake waters. Nüwa blinked; the reflection blinked. Nüwa smiled; the reflection smiled, too. Nüwa was mesmerised with the image of another being just like her. Then, Nüwa started, pulling herself out of her reverie. “That’s it!” the goddess told herself. “What the Earth is
missing is this! I should create many, many beings just like this. Then, the Earth will become happier. Then, I will become less lonely.” Nüwa wasted no time to begin work. She gathered clay from the ground, and pressed and folded, slowly moulding her creation. First, a pair of bright eyes appeared from the clay, then a sharp nose, and then the rest of a round face. Encouraged by her progress, Nüwa began to work even faster, and with renewed strength. Nüwa pulled and tweaked, creating arms and fingers and a slim torso for her creation. Just as she was about to make a tail, however, she paused. Deciding that her tail made travelling less than convenient, she formed legs and feet instead. Now her creations could run and jump! Finally, Nüwa had finished her work. Bringing her new creation to her lips, the goddess blew softly into clay doll, bringing it to life. The clay creation shook itself, shaking its hands and legs, jumping joyfully at the new life he was given. It turned to Nüwa and smiled happily, using its new voice to say, “Mother!” Nüwa was filled with joy, and thought to herself, “What an adorable being! Why don’t we call you Man? My dear little Human.” “My name is Man,” the newly created Human crowed loudly, before skipping away to explore in a kaleidoscopic field of flowers. Nüwa smiled as her creation ran cheerfully. “What a beautiful being I have created,” Nüwa said. “It would be a shame to only make one Human. I must make more of them. Until everywhere I go on Earth, I will be able to find my Humans. I shall never be lonely again!” One by one, Nüwa moulded Humans and breathed life into them. Nüwa created ten Humans, then one hundred, then one thousand. Nüwa worked until even her fingers were pained from fatigue, but there still wasn’t enough Humans to her liking. Nüwa used a tall mountain as a pillow, and rested for a while. Her gaze travelled to the sky, where stark white clouds floated in the clear blue sky. Suddenly, she thought of a new idea.
Using one hand, Nüwa grasped at the white clouds and pulled them out of the sky, twisting and knitting them into a very long vine. Using the vine, Nüwa thrashed the wet clay by the lake side. Millions of droplets of wet clay rained down to the earth, gleaming radiantly as the sun’s rays shone on them. Then, Nüwa commanded them to change, and change they did. Millions of droplets bathing in the glow of the sun became millions of Humans, running and jumping and shouting. Using this method, Nüwa could create many more Humans in a much shorter time. Finally satisfied, and no longer feeling lonely in the slightest, Nüwa began her life with her newly created Humans. Nüwa taught her creations many things, such as how to create instruments, sing, and to marry and create even more Humans. This way, her creations could live on forever in the world. However, not long after, a disaster occurred that broke the harmony of their lives. One day, cracks appeared in the blue sky, and the sky split open, leaving a gaping hole above the earth. Thunder cracked and lightning sparked from the hole in the sky, and rain poured out heavily, flooding the earth. Then, the ground rumbled, splitting and sinking. The Humans were terrified: some clambered up tall trees, while other ran for mountain peaks. It seemed that a water god and a fire god had been fighting. When the water god had ultimately been defeated, he charged towards a mountain in blind rage, toppling it. Originally, the mountain had been extremely tall, and had been one of the Four Pillars that held up the heavens to keep it away from the Earth. When the water god had broken the pillar, the sky that was not supported shattered, creating the hole, and, because of the disruption of balance, the ground slid towards the Southeast. Although Nüwa’s dear Humans had climbed up trees and mountains to escape danger, they were not yet safe. The treetops were littered with the nests of mighty eagles, and the mountains were home to ferocious lions. The
rising level of water threatened to drag them away in rippling currents. “Beloved Nüwa! Quick! Come save us!” Man called. Seeing her own precious creations being met with such danger, Nüwa felt extremely troubled. It was not a simple task to mend the gushing hole in the sky. Nüwa set to work immediately, gathering multicoloured rocks, piling them into big mountain. Then, the goddess picked reeds from the river side, using them to start a fire. Using the fire to heat the rocks, the pile soon began to melt into a rainbow-like liquid. Nüwa then laboriously used the melted rocks to repair the hole in the sky. Nüwa blew out the fire, and using the ash from the flame, patched up the largest cracks in the earth to stop the flooding. Finally, her Humans were safe. Although Nüwa was able to mend the sky, one of the Four Pillars holding up the world could never be fixed, leaving Earth just a little bit skewed. That is the reason, to this day, why the sun, the moon, and the stars head Westward. It is because of this very incident that all rivers flow from West to East, and from North to South.
A Note on The Creation of Man After reading this story there are some things that you should know to help you understand it better. There are many different tellings of how the world was created, but the Chinese believed that once upon a time, the heavens and earth were stuck together. It wasn’t until the great god Pangu tore the heavens and earth apart and created the four pillars to support the sky that the world was born, filled with life and other gods and goddesses that proceeded to better the earth in their own ways. One of the most common tales in all of folklore is the creation of human beings. Many people have different ideas and stories on how human beings first set foot on Earth, such as the tale where Nüwa creates the first humans, or where, in Greek mythology, Prometheus creates people. From first impressions, both tales are extremely similar: both Nüwa and Prometheus used clay to create figures in the shape of man, and, life was breathed into them by a goddess. Furthermore, in both myths, humans were created with the images of gods and goddesses in mind. However, the tales begin to differ with the characteristics of the gods. It is clear through the myth that Nüwa is extremely fond of her creations, and do everything in her power to keep them safe. In return, these humans address Nüwa as their mother, and love and admire her. On the other hand, Zeus and the rest of the gods and goddesses in Greek mythology do not seem to take much interest in humans or their well-being, as shown when Zeus refused to provide the humans with fire in the frigid winter, claiming it was only fit for the gods, and punished Prometheus when he stole fire to provide for the humans. There is a clear contrast here, where Nüwa is a pillar of support, whereas Zeus acted as a ruthless god. From looking at two similar, yet very different, myths we can gather how people would view their deities. In both cultures, the gods are revered and worshipped, yet, in one culture one views their god as a caring, motherly figure, whereas the other depicts the god as a seemingly cruel and pitiless being.
Jingwei Flattens the Ocean
In Chinese culture, there is not one single god or goddess to control a special element on earth. Instead, both minor and major deities co-exist and live in harmony, helping the humans and earth as much as they can. This can mean that there are multiple gods of harvest, and numerous gods of weather; often the gods and goddesses most worshipped reflect the needs of the people. Many gods and goddesses were told to live among humans, or to disguise themselves to observe how the world was progressing, and it is therefore unsurprising that there would be multiple minor deities roaming the earth. *** A long time ago, the Flame Emperor had a daughter named Nuwa. Nuwa was intelligent, energetic, extraordinarily beautiful — the Emperor loved her very much, and could not be happier. One day, when Nuwa was taking a walk in the village, looking for children to play with, she caught sight of a boy pressing a younger boy into the ground, while riding on his back as if he was a horse. The young boy was extremely tired, practically collapsed on the dusty floor, yet the boy on his back would not let him be. Nuwa walked over immediately, pointing at the older boy’s forehead disapprovingly. She chided him angrily, “You are a horrible person, bullying young children! If you had strength, you would fight bears or tigers instead of bullying.” The boy eyed Nuwa up and down, seeing that she was a young maiden, thin and weak-looking. He jumped off the younger boy’s back nimbly, and strutted to face Nuwa. “I am the son of the King of Sea Dragons, who do you think you are, suddenly coming over to stick your nose in my business?” “What’s so amazing about the son of the King of Sea Dragons?” Nuwa asked. “I am the daughter of the Farmer God. If you ever set foot on this ground again and create trouble, I will hang you off the tallest trees and let the sun dry you up.” The son of the Dragon King sneered. “I’ll let you know my true power,
then you’ll know to mind your own business.” He pulled his arm back, ready to throw a punch. Unbeknownst to the son of the Dragon King, Nuwa had, since a young age, followed her father up to mountains to hunt with him, and was agile and strong. Nuwa dodged the punch, before stretching out her own foot to kick the son of the Dragon King, who fell face-first into the ground, mouth filling with dirt. The son of the Dragon King stood up, stubbornly refusing to admit defeat. He ran towards Nuwa again, but Nuwa only aimed a swift punch to his chest, sending him flying backwards. Knowing that he couldn’t beat Nuwa, the son of the Sea Dragon King could only slouch back towards the ocean. After a few days, Nuwa went to swim in the ocean, enjoying herself immensely. However, her presence was discovered by the son of the Sea Dragon King. He swam over to her, confronting Nuwa. “That other day, we were on the ground, so I could only go easy on you. But now, you’re in my territory. Apologise, or I will create the biggest waves you will ever see, and drown you.” Nuwa obstinately replied, “I will not apologise, I was not wrong.” Seeing that strong-willed Nuwa was not going to be apologetic, the son of the Sea Dragon King used his powers to create angry winds that battered the waters, tossing and churning them into looming waves. With no time or method to escape, the waves pulled Nuwa under the raging ocean waters and drowned her, her body never to be recovered. Nuwa was not emotional from her death in the slightest, and her spirit freed itself from her body to become a large bird by the name of Jingwei. Jingwei’s forehead was bright multicoloured, with a curved, white beak, and red feet and talons. Overall, it looked quite like a large crow. Jingwei looked at the merciless waves which had taken her very own life, and could not help but think that other innocent people could also be
swept away into the ocean, losing their young lives. Jingwei flew to a mountain, picking up stones and tree branches with her beak, and flew back to the ocean, dropping the stones and branches into the waters, hoping to flatten the ocean. Jingwei performed her task without rest, flying to and fro the mountain, but the ocean only laughed at her fruitless efforts. “Little bird, just give up! Even if you did this for a hundred-thousand years, you would never be able to flatten me.” Jingwei’s flying figure in the sky was determined. “It doesn’t matter if it takes a hundred-thousand years, or even a million years, or until the world ends, I will not stop my work until this ocean is flat.” “Why are you doing this?” the ocean asked. “Because you, who took my life, might take many more innocent lives in the future. “Silly bird, then, go ahead with your impossible task. Go ahead!” the ocean replied, laughing loudly. Jingwei laughed back. “I will! I will go ahead, and I will never stop. You can laugh at me if you want, you merciless ocean, but there will be one day when I flatten you completely.” Jingwei flew off once again, collecting more stones and branches and dropping them in the ocean. ’Til this day, Jingwei still flies to and from the ocean, determined to one day fill the ocean with sticks and branches and flatten its raging waves.
A Note on Jingwei Flattens the Ocean There is not one single god or goddess to control a special element on earth. Instead, both minor and major deities co-exist and live in harmony, helping the humans and earth as much as they can. This can mean that there are multiple gods of harvest, and numerous gods of weather; often the gods and goddesses most worshipped reflect the needs of the people. Many gods and goddesses were told to live among humans, or to disguise themselves to observe how the world was progressing, and it is therefore unsurprising that there would be multiple minor deities roaming the earth. There are many things that shine through in Nuwa’s character, before and after her spirit is reborn as Jingwei the bird. Her bravery, as she stood up to the son of the King of Sea Dragons, her caring attitude for the child being bullied, her perseverance and determination as she set herself the task of filling the ocean. These are characteristics that not only valued in the Chinese culture, but clearly a message stating that this is how we should be as human beings. Her resolve and persistence to complete the seemingly impossible task of filling the ocean with sticks and stones is especially admirable, and could even be compared to the legendary figure of Odysseus, who had to persevere through obstacles and endless challenge presented to him by the gods to return home after the Trojan War. One would believe that Nuwa would finally accomplish her task, as Odysseus returned home after ten long years, resulting in a happy ending to a laborious tale. Both myths, though extremely different in content, depict protagonists with strong hearts and minds, who follow through with their actions, and think about achieving their goal rather than what could end in failure. This characteristic, we can deduce, is highly respected in both cultures, as both protagonists became legendary figures (Odysseus as a hero, and Nuwa as a spirit reborn immortal). This once again shows that two cultures may have more things in common than anyone would think.
The Door Gods Under the Peach Tree
In Chinese culture, ghosts and spirits are believed in. In fact, there are many customs and taboos in the culture that reflect how the people view spirits. As you will see in this tale, ghosts are feared and when times turn bleak, people turn to the gods and goddesses for help to rid them of evil and vice. In China, there is an annual Ghost Festival, also called ‘The Hungry Ghost Festival’, which takes place over a month. The Chinese believe that ghosts and spirits of deceased ancestors would visit the living, and therefore pay homage to them. However, the month is also considered auspicious, and therefore it is advised against to start a new business, move houses, or begin anew in this month. Because ghosts play quite a large part in Chinese culture, there are many stories relating to spirits, warning against them, telling people to be careful. *** Far, far away in the East, there was a mountain. And on the very top of the mountain, there was a large peach tree, so big it could scare any person. The branches of the peach tree grew and stretched in all four directions, twisting and curving, easily covering the whole mountain. On the thickest and longest branch on the large peach tree lived a golden rooster. Everyday, when the first ray of sunlight shone on his golden body, he stretched out his neck, and crowed loudly and clearly. When he crowed, a strange thing happened: ghosts of all kind would slowly trickle back from all directions, and return to the mountain, moving towards a door located under the thick branches on the Northeast side of the tree. It seemed that, under the large peach tree, was the Kingdom of Ghosts. Every night, when the sun set in the West, ghosts big and small would disperse and set off to wander in the living world, until the rooster crowed for their return. In the Kingdom of Ghosts, there were good ghosts, and ghosts who loved to play jokes, but the number of evil ghosts, who caused mayhem within the living society, were definitely not few. Good ghosts would only go among the living society looking for good food and entertainment, and would not do much else. However, the evil
ghosts had many things they liked to do in the hours between dusk and dawn. Naughty ghosts liked to enter the bedrooms of children as the slept peacefully, and lightly blow into their ears. The next morning, the children would become disrespectful, not listening to their parents, and going out to pick fights and make trouble. Greedy ghosts would wait for moments when people weren’t paying close attention, then stick shadows of silvery coins to their eyeballs, so that all they could see and think about was money, becoming greedy souls who only loved money, even going as far as to fight for it until their eyes were black and blue, and noses were bleeding. Like this, many good people would become people who loved to pick fights, cause trouble, were greedy, and impolite. Eventually, smart people of the villages began to suspect the sudden change in the villagers had to do with ghosts, and were quick to pray to the gods for help, asking them to help them get rid of the evil ghosts. The gods, upon hearing their prayers, were enraged by the ghosts, and decided to send a pair of godly soldiers down to the mountain to eliminate every single one of the evil ghosts. So it was that Shentu and Yulei, brothers and two of the bravest and strongest gods, were sent down to Earth to catch the ghosts who loved to cause trouble. Shentu wore an intricate gold suit of armour, and in one hand held a thick rope made of reeds, with a long spear in his other. He looked extremely fierce, and his voice was as loud as a clap of thunder. Shentu’s younger brother, Yulei, wore a suit of silver armour, and held a large, heavy club in his hand. His eyes were large and round, just like copper bells, and had the ability to see ghosts, and even the most cunning and sly of ghosts could not escape his vision. The two brothers, tall and strong, looked like two enormous towers made of gold and silver. Shentu and Yulei stood in front of the door to the Kingdom of Ghosts mightily, just as a ray of sunshine peeked through the clouds: it was time for the ghosts to return to their home.
Shentu faced the crowd of ghosts, and said in his booming voice, “Listen to me! The gods have sent my brother and I to stand guard in front of the door. Anyone who has tried to cause trouble in the living society: we will not let them go.” The good ghosts slowly filed through the door back to their kingdom, and the worst of the ghosts followed, trying to blend in with the large crowd. “Lying Ghost, and Gambling Ghost! Stop right there,” Yulei said. He scanned them with his gigantic eyes to see what mischief they had been up to the previous night. “We didn’t do anything bad!” the two ghosts cried. “Last night the two of you worked together to teach a good man to cheat someone of their money to gamble, and you still dare to say you two didn’t do anything bad?” Shentu bellowed. He pulled out his rope of reeds and tied the two ghosts together, throwing them to one side. One by one, Shentu and Yulei picked out the worst of the ghosts: Sly ghosts, selfish ghosts, and complaining ghosts were wrapped up by Shentu’s rope of reeds and were thrown into a tiger’s den on the West of the mountain to feed the white-templed tiger. After Shentu and Yulei arrived at the mountain, the number of evil ghosts slowly diminished, and many other bad ghosts became well-mannered and lawful, never daring to enter the living society to cause mayhem again. The villages surrounding the mountain became peaceful once again, and villagers began to carve pictures or the names of Shentu and Yulei on the wood from peach trees to hang on their front doors, believing that with the gods guarding their door, they would be safe from the evil ghosts if they ever dared to return. It was so that Shentu and Yulei became the mighty Door Gods, protecting peace and harmony in the homes of all.
A Note on The Door Gods Under the Peach Tree In Chinese culture, ghosts and spirits are believed in. In fact, there are many customs and taboos in the culture that reflect how the people view spirits. As you will see in this tale, ghosts are feared and when times turn bleak, people turn to the gods and goddesses for help to rid them of evil and vice. In China, there is an annual Ghost Festival, also called ‘The Hungry Ghost Festival’, which takes place over a month. The Chinese believe that spirits of ancestors would visit the living, and would pay homage to them. However, the month is considered auspicious, and it is advised against to start a new business, move houses, or begin anew in this month. As shown extremely clearly in ‘The Door Gods Under the Peach Tree’, evil spirits were feared in the villages, and the gods were therefore sent to help the humans and eradicate them. The evil deeds performed by the ghosts were ones which displayed bad morality and wicked behaviour, such as gambling, drinking, lying, cheating, and disrespecting your elders. It is evident that in Chinese culture, respect and good manner and behaviour was extremely valued. In Greek mythology, arrogance is one of the biggest vices, and in this regard we can see that humbleness was valued. A prime example of this would be the tale of Niobe, a mother of seven pairs of twins, who decided that if the goddess Leto, who had only beared one pair of twins should be worshipped so should she. She ordered for a shrine to be built in her name, and when Leto heard of her prideful deed, she turned Niobe’s seven daughters into blocks of ice, and her seven sons into piles of ash. Not only does this show that arrogance was seen as sinful, but it also shows how vengeful and violent the gods of Greek myths could be. Unlike so, the gods in Chinese myths appear to have a deeper personal relationship with the humans, and seek to protect the humans rather than punish them, as displayed in ‘The Creation of Man’ and ‘The Door Gods Under the Peach Tree’.
The Incident in Which Song Dingbo Sells a Ghost
As previously mentioned, ghosts are extremely prevalent in Chinese mythology, and often play the role of the antagonist. Many Chinese ghost stories tell of monks or good people, set off on long journeys, who get enticed and bribed by ghosts, tricked, and then killed. It is said that during the month of the annual “Hungry Ghost Festival”, people should stay away from bridges, as ghosts of drowned victims may push people off and drown them, in an attempt to come back to life with their bodies. It is no exception in this tale that the ghost is supposedly the feared villain, and yet the story takes a very unexpected turn. *** This is the tale of an incredible man by the name of Song Dingbo, and the time he sold a ghost. Song Dingbo was a man from the Southeast, of short, bulky build. Not only was he brave beyond wonders, but he was extremely smart as well. One day, Song Dingbo had business in a faraway city, and to save time, he decided to walk for one day and one night without rest. By the time Song Dingbo reached a cemetery near the city, night had fallen completely. It was silent, and he didn’t see a single soul. Suddenly, a thin, wispy figure of a man drifted past him. Song Dingbo frowned at the sight, wondering to himself why there would be a person outside of the city walls so late at night, and studied the person surreptitiously. The man’s appearance and his clothing was eccentric, and very much unlike the appearance of anybody nowadays. Worriedly, Song Dingbo rushed forwards to say, “Hello, kind Stranger, may I ask who you are?” When the man heard his words, he jumped with fright, swivelling around to meet Song Dingbo’s gaze. “I’m a ghost, and what are you?” the ghost asked in a small voice. Hearing his words, Song Dingbo could not decide if he was frightened, thinking to himself, “How could it be that I’d meet a ghost? What shall I do?”
Faced with the sudden predicament, Song Dingbo suddenly thought of an idea. “Well! I’ll just trick the ghost,” Song Dingbo thought. He faced the ghost and laughed boldly. “Me? What am I? I’m a ghost, of course!” “Oh!” replied the ghost, sighing in relief. “That’s great. Otherwise, I would have had to be very unpleasant to you. Where are you heading?” Unwilling to say that he was heading for the city, Song Dingbo only replied, “East.” “East?” the ghost asked delightedly. “Then you must be heading towards the city! What a coincidence! I was just heading there myself!” Although reluctant, Song Dingbo had no other choice than to ask the ghost to travel with him. “Well,” he said when the ghost agreed. “Us two men should set off, then.” “No, no. You shouldn’t say us two men. Us two ghosts would be more accurate.” “Ah, of course. Us two ghosts,” Song Dingbo said, quickly correcting himself. Song Dingbo and the ghost set off, talking while walking, hurrying to reach their destination. Halfway through their journey, the ghost shook his head. “Travelling this way is much too tiring!” he announced. “What about we take turns carrying each other?” “That’s a great idea! Since you’re tired, let me carry you first.” The ghost clambered onto his back and they set off on their journey once more. The ghost was so light, that Song Dingbo did not feel tired at all. Carrying the ghost was not unlike carrying a bagful of air! When it was time for the ghost to carry Song Dingbo, he made sure to climb onto the ghost’s back with extreme care. The knees of the ghost buckled slightly. “How odd!” the ghost exclaimed. “You’re a ghost, yet you’re so heavy — just like a living person!” “This is because I died recently,” Song Dingbo explained confidently. “so I’m still almost the same weight as a living man. I hope you’ll forgive me.”
“Ah, so that was the reason.” The ghost heaved, walking forwards slowly, continuing on their journey. Another thought suddenly appeared in Song Dingbo’s mind, and he leaned forwards. “Since I just became a ghost recently, I have no idea what ghosts are most afraid of! Do you know?” “You don’t even know this?” the ghost asked with a sigh. “Let me tell you: beware of the saliva of living humans. If their spit lands on you, you won’t be able to use your transforming powers anymore!” Soon after, Song Dingbo and the ghost reached a river. With one light hop, the ghost was on the other side of the river bank. However, Song Dingbo rolled up his trouser legs and slowly made his way across. Finally, when he reached the other side, the ghost asked him curiously, “You are a strange ghost, how could you be as stupid as some old cow? Come on! The sun is about to rise!” “Sorry,” Song Dingbo apologised, heaving. “I’m a new ghost, so forgive me for not knowing about these things. It’s my turn to carry you now. Let’s hurry.” And with that he threw the ghost onto his back, sprinting for the city. Suddenly, the ghost cried out, and began struggling with all his might to get off Song Dingbo’s back, all the while making guttural noises in an attempt to scare Song Dingbo. “You’re no ghost! You have a shadow!” the ghost exclaimed, pinching and punching Song Dingbo. Song Dingbo gave him no mind, running with all his might. By the time they arrived outside the city, the sun was glittering in the sky. Song Dingbo used all his strength to throw the ghost onto the floor, but the ghost rolled over quickly, immediately transforming into a large goat with sturdy horns, wanting to escape. Suddenly recalling the ghost’s words, Song Dingbo hurriedly spat onto the body of the goat, leaving the ghost powerless. The ghost rolled on the ground, wanting to transform yet again, furious when he found that he
was too late. He could never turn back into a ghost again. Song Dingbo tied a length of rope around the neck of the goat, and led him into the city. Not long after, a shopkeeper caught sight of the stout goat, offering Song Dingbo one-thousand and five-hundred copper coins for the goat. Song Dingbo sold the goat, and returned home happily. It didn’t take long for his village to learn about what he had done, and Song Dingbo was forever labeled the bravest man in the village: one who dared to even sell a ghost.
A Note on The Incident in Which Song Dingbo Sells a Ghost In addition, another similarity between two tales from China and Greece which reflect both values and thoughts of the culture from the East and the West can be seen from the tale of Odysseus where he encounters the cyclops’ island, and ‘The Incident in Which Song Dingbo Sells a Ghost’. In both myths, the protagonist is required to think on his feet, and had to be sharp-witted to evade the enemy and defeat them. In Odysseus’ case, it was the cyclops Polyphemus, and in Song Dingbo’s instance it was a ghost. After tricking and eluding their enemy, both Song Dingbo and Odysseus become famous legendary figures, admired and respected by people far and wide, which proves that cunning and cleverness was highly valued in both cultures. However, although in this case both cultures are seen to value cleverness highly, we are able to see that one culture values strength more than the other through popular themes in their mythology. The heroes in Greek myths such as Hercules or Perseus were regarded with great respect because of their strength and courage. Unlike Chinese myths such as ‘Jingwei Flattens the Ocean’ or ‘The Door Gods Under the Peach Tree’, where determination, perseverance, honesty and morality were recurring themes, power and strength were dominant themes in Greek mythology. This further establishes the fact that though both cultures valued both brain and brawn, different lifestyles and living conditions made it so that they found more merit in one rather than the other.
The Lady of the Moon
Before you begin ‘The Lady of the Moon’, it is important to take note that this myth is a rather obscure myth, taken from minority groups of China. Although the tale is fairly simple, it is an interesting fact that red is a color symbolizing good fortune and joy, often used in weddings and celebrations. It is also believed in China that each person has a red string tied to their pinky fingers when they were born, and the red string would lead them to their soulmate. The red flower, although a small detail in the folktale, could also be symbolizing this, and shows from the very beginning that Yanjiao was ultimately destined to marry the Lady of the Moon, though she set him on the complicated tasks to win her hand in marriage. *** Moonlight shone on the surface of Ku Erbing River in the East, casting spots of silver light across the still water surface. A young hunter with a bow and arrow on his back sat upon a large, fine white horse. Having finished hunting for the day, he was riding home, when suddenly he heard a wind chime-like song from across the river. “A little river flows so peacefully, deep like my dark eyes. The moonlight above shines on this river. A little red flower is tucked behind an ear,” the melodic voice sang. The hunter, Yanjiao, followed the sound of the song, searching for the source of the beautiful song. On the other side of the river bank stood a maiden with a small, bright red flower tucked behind her ear. The maiden held two wooden buckets, which she was filling with water. Standing on the other side of the river, with the moonlight caressing yet hiding her features, she looked extremely beautiful. Yanjiao waited until she had filled both buckets with water, before using an arrow and his bow to shoot a hole through a bucket. Water rushed out of the bucket and spilt onto the ground. Yanjiao, laughed delightfully, joking around. Angrily, the maiden huffed. “Huh! What’s so amazing about shooting
an arrow? If you were truly amazing, you would travel two thousand, two hundred, and twenty-two kilometres through mountains to reach Pangu Lake, find the Lady of the Moon, and convince her to marry you.” Finishing her sentence, the maiden turned and walked towards the tall, dark mountain behind her. Stories told that the journey down the path to Pangu Lake was treacherous and filled with demons and ghosts and monsters of all kinds, but Yanjiao did not want to lose honour by refusing to complete the task the red-flowered maiden had set. Yanjiao jumped onto the horse. Stars hung brightly in the dark night sky. Taking off quickly, Yanjiao’s large horse leapt over Ku Erbing River in one flying jump, landing safely on the opposite river bank. Reaching the dark mountain, Yanjiao could not help but feel uneasy. How could it be that not a single blade of grass could be found on such a big mountain? Suddenly, the mountain started to move — the mountain was not a mountain at all, but an enormous, grey dragon! The dragon wrapped its long tail around thirty eight maidens. The maidens caught the eye of Yanjiao, and called for help. “Hunter on the horse! Do not just stand there idly! Come, quick! Come save us!” Yanjiao pulled his bow taut, and let go. With a swoosh, the arrow soared through the air like a shooting star in the sky, and hit the dragon straight in the head. The dragon crumpled to the ground, his tail loosening, freeing the thirty eight maidens he had been holding captive. “Brave Hunter, you are very courageous. Thank you for saving us,” the maidens sang. “As a reward, why don’t you choose one of us to take as a wife?” Yanjiao shook his head. “I can’t. I have to go to Pangu Lake to find the Lady of the Moon.” But as the maidens would not let him go, Yanjiao had no other choice than to look through the crowd of the thirty eight maidens. He found a young
maiden, who seemed to look extremely familiar, and said, “Well, then, I choose you. But I can only take you as my little sister. I’m going to marry the Lady of the Moon.” The maiden agreed, and chose to help him find the Lady of the Moon. The thirty seven other maidens gifted him with an axe and a little aromatic pouch, and followed them up the winding road to send them off. When Yanjiao and his little sister reached a small stream, Yanjiao turned to her and asked, “Are you the maiden collecting water from Ku Erbing River?” The little sister smiled. “What river? I’ve never heard of it.” Yanjiao pondered for a while. “Perhaps you aren’t, after all. Because you don’t have a red flower behind your ear.” The maiden laughed. “You’re so dumb. You have me, why do you still need to find the Lady of the Moon?” “Whenever you do things, you have to finish what you start. I’m not going to change my mind in the middle of a journey,” Yanjiao explained decisively. “Well,” the little sister replied. “If you are really going to find the Lady of the Moon, then I don’t mind helping you at all.” “Thank you, sister, you are nice,” Yanjiao said. They set of on Yanjiao’s horse, crossing seventy-seven rivers, climbing ninety-nine mountains; whatever obstacle came their way, the brave Yanjiao would overcome it. Finally, Pangu Lake was in sight. The little sister turned to Yanjiao, and said, “Brother, you’re so close! Go quickly! I’ll wait for you here.” Yanjiao thanked the maiden for helping him politely, and hurriedly rushed towards Pangu Lake, reaching the home of the Lady of the Moon. The Father of the Lady of the Moon studied Yanjiao and said, “If you want to enter and see the Lady of the Moon, you may, but you must pass three difficult tasks I give you.”
Yanjiao pounded his chest confidently. “That will be no problem for me!” The Father brought out a fast, golden horse, and on its saddle, nailed a small copper coin. “The first task you must complete, is to shoot an arrow through the eye of this coin,” he announced, whistling for the horse to start running. The golden horse started galloping, and Yanjiao leapt onto his own horse, squeezing his thighs to urge his horse to move faster, until he was beside the other horse. Slipping an arrow into his bow and pulling it back, Yanjiao let the arrow fly, and saw it land right in the centre of the coin, through the eye of the coin. The Father nodded. “Young hunter, your skill with a bow and arrow is quite fine. Now, the sun is beginning to set. You should rest.” He brought Yanjiao to a small shack, to let him sleep. As soon as Yanjiao stepped into the shack, the door locked from the outside. In the middle of the night, Yanjiao woke to a loud buzzing noise. A horde of hornets had covered Yanjiao’s entire body, and was using their long stingers to sting him. Yanjiao jumped to his feet, slapping ferociously at the hornets on his body. Strangely, where the aromatic pouch the thirty seven maidens had given him hung around his waist, not a single hornet could be found. Yanjiao hurriedly opened the pouch, and let the aroma diffuse through the air. Immediately, the hornets began to fall from the air, dead. The next morning, when the Father of the Lady of the Moon opened the door to shack, and found a floor full of dead hornets, he asked Yanjiao, “Did you sleep well last night?” Yanjiao smiled. “Very well.” The Father nodded. “There’s only one task left. Follow me.” As soon as Yanjiao stepped out of the shack, he froze. Not far in front of him, a pile of wood and kindling burned brightly. Above the raging fire
was a tall wooden platform, where a beautiful maiden was tied up on. Yanjiao thought that the maiden looked extremely familiar, and thought to himself, “Isn’t that sister?” But when he looked carefully, the maiden tied up had a bright red flower tucked behind her ear. “No, that’s not right. She must be the maiden collecting water from Ku Erbing River.” The flames rose steadily higher, the flames almost licking at the hem of the maiden’s dress. “Ku Erbing’s Hunter! Quick, come rescue me!” Yanjiao quickly took out the axe the thirty seven maidens had presented to him and walked through the fire. The flames burned his feet, and made him sweat profusely, but he did not retreat, using his axe to chop a path through the flames. Then, he climbed up onto the wooden platform, and rescued the maiden. “Who are you?” Yanjiao asked. The maiden smiled demurely. “Brave Brother Yanjiao: I am the Lady of the Moon, yet I am also the little sister you rescued from the horrible dragon, and I am also the maiden collecting water from Ku Erbing River.” The Father of the Lady of the Moon laughed loudly. “Young hunter, you are courageous and have completed my tasks. I give you my blessing to wed my daughter.” He looked at his daughter. “What wedding gift would you like?” “No need, Father,” the Lady of the Moon said. “I already have something.” She pulled out a bucket — the very same bucket Yanjiao had shot a hole in back in Ku Erbing. It turned out that at that very moment, after Yanjiao had fired his arrow to catch her attention, she had taken a liking to him. “Lady of the Moon! If you had already liked me, why did you make me go through so many obstacles and struggle to find you?” The Lady of the Moon rolled her deep, dark eyes. “I could not marry you when I did not even know what person you were,” she explained. “I understand! That’s right! My clever Lady of the Moon.” After all his struggles, Yanjiao was finally able to wed the Lady of the
Moon. Yanjiao and the Lady of the Moon jumped onto his horse, and rode their way back to their place of first meeting — the bank of the Ku Erbing River. Silver moonlight bathed the river in shining, reflecting light. The river suddenly remembered the sweet song of the Lady of the Moon, and gurgled softly. “A little river flows so peacefully, deep like my dark eyes. The moonlight above shines on this river. A happy couple lives together eternally.”
A Note on The Lady of the Moon At first glance, this myth may seem like nothing but a long-winded tale of a journey for romance, but by reading in between the lines or just looking a little bit closer we can see the deeper meaning of the tale. Not unlike ‘Jingwei Flattens the Ocean’, this myth tells of determination and completing a journey once you’ve begun, yet it also tells a tale of a young hunter following his dream, and finding his personal fantasy. In this tale, Yanjiao, our protagonist, realises that more than anything, he wants to find the woman of his dreams, the one he had met across the lake. Although it may seem to us like a rash decision to suddenly want to wed a person he had just met, Yanjiao is a strong-hearted character, whose spirit never once wavered even through all the hard tasks the Lady of the Moon set him. By overcoming any obstacle to pursue his dream, Yanjiao was finally able to wed the Lady of the Moon. Once again, we are able to draw similarities to a myth from the West. Strength was extremely important to the Greeks, but another recurring theme in their myths was perseverance, this is once again shown in the tale of the hero Perseus. Perseus was set the dangerous task of retrieving the head of the Gorgon Medusa to give to a king. Not unlike Yanjiao, the journey Perseus set on to retrieve Medusa’s head was a perilous journey, and just like Yanjiao, Perseus had to overcome many obstacles, and battle onwards even when times seemed dark and hopeless. From both tales we can once again see how determination was highly valued. However, whilst Yanjiao was given tasks that tested both courage and skill and calmness of mind, most of the tasks Perseus met were once that required brute force and strength, with the small exception of a few. Once again, though both cultures similarly place a high value on the characteristic of determination, the other values expressed behind it are very different.
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