Chinese mythology 中国神话传说 英文版的.docx
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Chinese mythology 中国神话传说 英文版的.docx
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Chinesemythology中国神话传说英文版的
ChineseMythology
Chinesemythology(中国神话)isacollectionofculturalhistory,folktales,andreligionsthathavebeenpasseddowninoralorwrittentradition.TheseincludecreationmythsandlegendsandmythsconcerningthefoundingofChinesecultureandtheChinesestate.Likemanymythologies,ithasinthepastbeenbelievedtobe,atleastinpart,afactualrecordingofhistory.
HistorianshaveconjecturedthattheChinesemythologybeganinthe12thcenturyBCE.Themythsandlegendswerepasseddowninoralformforoverathousandyears,beforebeingwritteninbookssuchasShanHaiJing.Othermythscontinuedtobepasseddownthroughoraltraditionsliketheaterandsong,beforebeingrecordedasnovelssuchasHei'anZhuan-EpicofDarkness(literallyEpicoftheDarkness).ThiscollectionofepiclegendsispreservedbyacommunityofChineseHannationality,inhabitantsoftheShennongjiamountainareainHubei,andcontainsaccountsfromthebirthofPanguuptothehistoricalera.
ImperialhistoricaldocumentsandphilosophicalcanonssuchasShangshu,Shiji,Liji,LüshiChunqiu,andothers,allcontainChinesemyths.
Creationmyths
Chinesecreationmythsexplainthelegendarybeginningsoftheuniverse,earth,andlife.
EarlyChinesetextsrecordedfragmentsofcreationstories.TheZhuangziandHuainanzicosmogonicallymentionHundun.TheShujingandGuoyudescribetheseparationofHeavenandEarthduringthelegendaryeraofZhuanxu.TheHuainanziandChucisaythatNüwacreatedthefirsthumansfromyellowclayandrepairedthefallenpillarsofHeaven(cf.Axismundi).
OneofthemostpopularcreationmythinChinesemythologydescribesPangu盤古separatingtheworldegg-likeHundun混沌"primordialchaos"intoHeavenandEarth.However,noneoftheancientChineseclassicsmentionsthePangumyth,whichwasfirstrecordedinthe(3rdcenturyCE)SanwuLiji三五歴記"RecordofCyclesinThreesandFives",writtenbyThreeKingdomsperiodDaoistauthorXuZheng.DerkBoddeparaphrases.
HeavenandEarthwereonceinextricablycommingled(hun-tun)likeachicken'segg,withinwhichwasengenderedP'an-ku(anameperhapsmeaning"Coiled-upAntiquity").After18,000years,thisinchoatemasssplitapart,whatwasbrightandlightformingHeaven,andwhatwasdarkandheavyformingEarth.Thereafter,duringanother18,000years,Heavendailyincreasedtenfeetinheight,Earthdailyincreasedtenfeetinthickness,andP'an-ku,betweenthetwo,dailyincreasedtenfeetinsize.ThisishowHeavenandEarthcametobeseparatedbytheirpresentdistanceof9millionli(roughly30,000Englishmiles).(1961:
382-3)
The(ca.4thcenturyBCE)DaodejingsuggestsalessmythicalChinesecosmogonyandhassomeoftheearliestallusionstocreation.
Therewassomethingfeaturelessyetcomplete,bornbeforeheavenandearth;Silent–amorphous–itstoodaloneandunchanging.Wemayregarditasthemotherofheavenandearth.Notknowingitsname,Istyleitthe"Way."(tr.Mair1990:
90)
TheWaygavebirthtounity,Unitygavebirthtoduality,Dualitygavebirthtotrinity,Trinitygavebirthtothemyriadcreatures.Themyriadcreaturesbearyinontheirbackandembraceyangintheirbosoms.Theyneutralizethesevaporsandtherebyachieveharmony.(tr.Mair1990:
9)
LaterDaoistsinterpretedthissequencetomeantheDao"Way",formlessWuji"WithoutUltimate",unitaryTaiji"GreatUltimate",andbinaryyinandyangorHeavenandEarth.
The(ca.4th-3rdcenturiesBCE)TaiyiShengshui"GreatOnegavebirthtowater",aDaoisttextrecentlyexcavatedintheGuodianChuSlips,offersanalternatecreationmyth,butanalysisremainsuncertain.
The(ca.120CE)Lingxian靈憲,bythepolymathZhangHeng,thoroughlyaccountsforthecreationofHeavenandEarth.
BeforetheGreatPlainness(orGreatBasis,Taisu太素)cametobe,therewasdarklimpidityandmysteriousquiescence,dimanddark.Noimageofitcanbeformed.Itsmidstwasvoid;itsexteriorwasnon-existence.Thingsremainedthusforlongages;thisiscalledobscurity(mingxing溟涬).ItwastherootoftheDao.…WhenthestemoftheDaohadbeengrown,creaturescameintobeingandshapeswereformed.Atthisstage,theoriginalqisplitanddivided,hardandsoftfirstdivided,pureandturbidtookupdifferentpositions.Heavenformedontheoutside,andEarthbecamefixedwithin.HeaventookitbodyfromtheYang,soitwasroundandinmotion;EarthtookitsbodyfromtheYin,soitwasflatandquiescent.Throughmotiontherewasactionandgivingforth;throughquiescencetherewasconjoiningandtransformation.Throughbindingtogethertherewasfertilization,andintimeallthekindsofthingswerebroughttogrowth.ThisiscalledtheGreatOrigin(Taiyuan太元).ItwasthefruitionoftheDao.(tr.Cullen2008:
47)
TheNeo-ConfucianistphilosopherZhouDunyiprovidedamultifacetedcosmologyinhisTaijitushuo太極圖說"DiagramExplainingtheSupremeUltimate",whichintegratedtheYijingwithDaoismandChineseBuddhism.
Zhou'sTaijitushuodiagram
Majorconceptsandfigures
Somemythssurviveintheatricalorliteraryformats,asplaysornovels.Importantmythologicalfictionwhichisseenasdefinitiverecordsofthesemythsinclude:
∙VersepoetryofancientstatessuchasLisaobyQuYuanoftheChustate.
∙FengshenBang(封神榜),orInvestitureoftheGods,amythologicalfictiondealingwiththefoundingoftheZhoudynasty.
∙JourneytotheWest,byWuCheng'enandpublishedinthe1590s,afictionalisedaccountofthepilgrimageofXuanzangtoIndiatoobtainBuddhistreligioustexts,inwhichthepilgrimsencounterghosts,monsters,anddemonsaswellastheFlamingMountains.
∙BaisheZhuan,aromantictalesetinHangzhouinvolvingafemalesnakewhoattainedhumanformandfellinlovewithaman.
Shangdi(上帝)
Shangdi(上帝,pinyin:
Shàngdì,Wade-GilesShangTi,lit."HighSovereign")referstoagodorapowerregardedasthespiritualultimatebytheChinesepeopleduringtheShangDynasty.[1]AccordingtoYanxiaZhao,evidenceshowsthatShangdiwasprobablymoretranscendentalthanimmanent,onlyworkingthroughlessergods.[2]DuringtheZhouDynasty,ShangdiwasassociatedwithHeaven(天Tiān).[3]BythetimeoftheHandynasty,theinfluentialConfucianscholarZhengXuandeclaredthat"ShangdiisanothernameforTian."ShangdiremainschieflysynonymouswithHeaveninmodernChinesethought.
Firstmention
TheearliestreferencestoShangdiarefoundinOracleBoneinscriptionsoftheShangDynasty(ca.1600–ca.1046BC).ShangdiisfirstmentionedinChineseLiteratureintheFiveClassics,allegedlycompiledbyConfuciusinthe6thcenturyBC.TheWujingwasacollectionoffivebooksthatrepresentedthepinnacleofChinesecultureatthattime.TheoldestpartsoftheWujingwerefirstwrittenaround1000BC,apparentlyrelyingonoldertexts.AllofthefiveclassicsincludereferencestoShangdi:
OccurrencesofShangdi(上帝)inWujing(五經)
char
pinyin
English
occurrence
書經
Shujing
ClassicofHistory
32times
詩經
Shijing
ClassicofPoetry
24times
禮記
Liji
ClassicofRites
20times
春秋
Chunqiu
SpringandAutumnAnnals
8times
易經
Yijing
ClassicofChanges
2times
OtherclassicsmentionShangdiaswell.Another"Classic"collection,theFourBooks(四書,pinyin:
SìShū),mentionsShangdialso,butitisalatercompilationandthereferencesaremuchmoresparseandabstract.Thehighestnumberofoccurrencesappearintheearliestreferences;thispatternmayreflectincreasingrejectionofShangdiovertime.
OneofthefivebooksintheWujingistheClassicofHistory,(書經,pinyin:
Shujing),akaBookofHistory,akaEsteemedBook(尚書,pinyin:
Shangshu).TheShujingispossiblytheearliestnarrativeofChina,andmaypredatetheEuropeanhistorianHerodotus(about440BC)asahistorybymanycenturies.ThisimpliesthatShangdiistheoldestdeitydirectlyreferencedbyanyChinesenarrativeliterature.TheShujingitselfisalsodividedinto5parts,andthosepartswereactuallyconsideredbooksaswell.However,thenumberofbooksor"documents"isadivisionthatvariesdependingontheversionorcompilation.Therefore,quotedreferencesmaynotmatchindifferentcompilations.
The2ndofthe5"books"insidetheShujingiscalledthe"BookofYu"(虞書,pinyin:
Yushu).Yu,inthistitle,isalocation,notthepopularheroYu(禹).This"book"has4"chapters";andthe1st"chapter"iscalledthe"CanonofShun"(舜典,pinyin:
ShunDian).EmperorShunwasthepredecessortotheheroicDaYu(大禹),orGreatYu,thefirstemperoroftheXiaDynasty.AboutthethirdsentenceisthefirstmentionofShangdi.And,asitwasmentionedintheprevioussectionhowyearlysacrificestoShangdiweremadebyEmperorShun,theChinesebeliefinShangdimayhavebeenregardedaspredatingtheXiaDynasty.
Worship
FromtheearliesterasofChinesehistory,Shangdiwasofficiallyworshippedthroughsacrificialrituals.Shangdiisbelievedtoruleovernaturalandancestralspirits,whoactasHisministers.ShangdiisthoughttobetheSupremeGuideofboththenaturalorderandthehumanorder.TherulerofChinaineveryChinesedynastywouldperformannualsacrificialritualstoShangdiatthegreatTempleofHeavenintheimperialcapital.DuringtheritualacompletelyhealthybullwouldbeslaughteredandpresentedasananimalsacrificetoShangdi.ItisimportanttonotethatShangdiisneverrepresentedwitheitherimagesoridols.Instead,inthecenterbuildingoftheTempleofHeaven,inastructurecalledthe"ImperialVaultofHeaven",a"spirittablet"(神位,orshénwèi)inscribedwiththenameofShangdiisstoredonthethrone,HuangtianShangdi(皇天上帝).Duringanannualsacrifice,theemperorwouldcarrythesetabletstoth
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