Chinese Myth: A Treasury of Legends, Art, and History: A Treasury of Legends, Art, and History (The World of Mythology) 9780765681034, 076568103X

Table of contents :
Cover
Half Title
Copyright Page
Title Page
Table of Contents
Introduction
Creating the Universe
The Creation of the World
The First Humans
The Land of China
The Ten Suns
The Great Flood
The Gods of Chinese Life
Bringers of Civilization
Life in Ancient China
Learning Two New Skills
Lessons of the Dragon King
The Heavenly Empire
The Jade Emperor's Court
Confucianism
The Eight Immortals
Daoism
Safe as Houses
Myths of Buddhism
In the Western Paradise
Buddhism in China
The Merciful Goddess
Monkey
Timeline of China
Glossary
For More Information
Index

Citation preview

I THE WORLD OF MYTHOLOGY I

CHINESE CHINESE A TREASURY OF LEGENDS, ART, AND HISTORY

First publishedby 2008M.E. Sharpe.Inc Published2016 by Routledge 2 ParkSquare,Milton Park,Abingdon, Oxon, OXI4 4RN 711 Third Avenue,New York, NY 10017,USA Routledgeis an imprint ofthe Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

Copyright© 2008 Marshall Editions A Marshall Edition Conceived,edited, and designedby Marshall Editions Copyright under International,Pan American, and Universal Copyright Conventions.All rights reserved.

No partof this book may be reprintedor reproducedor utilised in any form or by any electronic,mechanical,or other means, now known or hereafterinvented,including photocopyingand recording,or in any informationstorageor retrieval system, without permissionin writing from the publishers. Notices No responsibilityis assumedby the publisherfor any injury and/ordamageto personsor propertyas a matterof products liability, negligenceor otherwise,or from any useof operationof any methods,products,instructionsor ideascontained in the material herein Practitionersand researchersmust alwaysrely on their own experienceand knowledgein evaluatingand using any information, methods,compounds,or experimentsdescribedherein.In using such information or methodsthey should be mindful of their own safetyand the safetyof others,including partiesfor whom they havea professionalresponsibility. Productor corporatenamesmay betrademarksor registeredtrademarks,and are usedonly for identificationand explanationwithout intent to infringe. Library of CongressCataloging-in-PublicationData Wilkinson, Philip. Chinesemyth : a treasuryof legends,art, and history I Philip Wilkinson. p. em. -- (The world of mythology) Includesbibliographical referencesand index. ISBN 978-0-7656-8103-4(hardcover:alk. paper) I. Mythology, Chinese--Juvenileliterature. 2. Legends--China--Juvenile literature. 3. China--Art--Juvenileliterature. 4. China--History--Juvenileliterature. I. Title. BL1825.W55 2007 299'.51113--dc22 2007005873 Originated in Hong Kong by Modern Age ISBN 978-0-76568-103-4(hbk)

Publisher:Richard Green Commissioningeditor: Claudia Martin Production:Nikki Ingram Picture manager:Veneta Bullen Designand editorial: Tall Tree Ltd. Production:Anna Pauletti Previouspage: Fishermenwait on one of China'srivers at dusk. T his pageand opposite:A golden lion standsguard in Beijing's ForbiddenCity, the old imperial palace.

I THE WORLD OF MYTHOLOGY I

CHINESEM CHINESEM TREASURY A TREASURY OF LEGENDS, ART, AND HISTORY

PHILIP WILKINSON

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CONTENTS Introduction. . . ... . .. ... . . ....... . . ... .. .

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t'RERTING THE UNIVERSE The Creationof the World. . . .. . .. . ........ 12 The First Humans...................................................................... 16 The Land of China...................................................................... 20 The Ten Suns..................................................................................... 22 The GreatFlood.. .. . .... . ... .. . ... .. .. . . . .. . .. .. . 28

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Bringers of Civilization ...... . . .. .. . . ..... . ......... .34 Life in Ancient China .... . ..... . ...... . ........ ... . .40 Learning Two New Skills..............................................42 Lessonsof the Dragon King ...................................... .46

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INTRODUCTION China is a hugecountry that stretchesall the way from CentralAsia in the west to the Yellow Seain the east,a distanceof some2,500 miles (4,000 km). This vast areacontainsall kinds of countryside, from craggymountainsto lush river valleys, high plateausto dense forests.This varied land gavebirth to one of the richestculturesin the world-andoneof the mostvibrant collectionsof myths.

O

ver its long history, manypeoplehavemadetheir homesin China, but becausethe country is cut off from most of its neighborsby mountains,deserts,and seas,the Chineselived for thousandsof yearsvirtually isolatedfrom the rest of theworld. But despitethis, China prospered,developingwaysof growing foods suchaswheatand rice that could thrive in a wide rangeof environments,and creatinga uniquecivilization.

A UNIQYE CIVILIZATION Many things aboutChinesecivilization were different from the culturesof the West. For example,the Chinesedevelopedtheir own writing system,which is still in use, in which complexcharactersstandfor whole words or ideas.Until the early twentiethcentury,the Chinesealso had a very specialsystemof government.At the top was the emperor,the seniormemberof a ruling family or dynastyand a personof supremepower. He wielded his authority throughthe world's first civil service,an enormousarmy of officials who got their jobs by passingan exam,and worked on behalfof the emperorin every area from tax-coiJectionto organizingthe building of bridges. Oneof the most amazingfacts aboutChinesecivilization is that the Chinesecameup with many key inventionshundredsof yearsbeforethey were thoughtof in the West. For instance,the Chinesewere the inventorsof gunpowder,porcelain,paper,and printing. They were amongthe first to developmetal casting.They madethe first magneticcompassand the first suspensionbridge. The wheelbarrowand the umbrella, the matchand the kite, were all Chineseinventions.

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Above: A traditional-styledrawing from the Ming Dynasty(1368- 1644) showsa figure sitting by a river in a typical Chineselandscapeof rocks, trees,and mountains.

THE MYTHS A sophisticatedcivilization first developedin China during the ShangDynasty(c. 16001050 B.C.E.). Someof China's myths had probablyalreadyevolvedby this time, spread by word of mouth. Thesetraditional storiesattemptedto explain a host of difficult questions,suchas how the world was createdand why the land sometimesflooded. The myths featurednumerousgods and goddesses who controlledelementsof the naturalworld and helpedChina establishits civilization. In the sixth centuryB.C.E., two new belief systems,Confucianismand Daoism (also known as Taoism),emergedin China. In the next few centuries,followers of thesefaiths wrote down the myths, sometimesaltering them to fit their beliefs more closely, for exampleby inventing life storiesfor the many godsand goddesses.Still later, Chinese scholarsof the Song Dynasty(960-1279C.E.) recordedthe myths more systematically, writing them down in referencebookssuch as encyclopedias. Confucianismand Daoism had a hugeinfluenceon the lives of China'speople. Daoismwas a religion developedby the sixth-centuryB.C.E. philosopherLaozi. It helped peopleto lead a betterlife and guided them along a path toward spiritual perfection. Confucianismwas basedon the work of the greatthinker Confucius(551-479B.C.E.).

Introduction

7

Left: This seventeenth-century painting on silk showsthe first Chineseemperor , Q!.n Shi Huangdi (chin-sheehwang-di) (221- 210 B.C.E.), being carried by his servants . The emperorwas such an important personthat he was not expectedto have to walk anywhere.

It emphasizedthe importanceof family valuesand promoteda stable stateand good government.In addition, China was also influenced by Buddhism,originally an Indian faith that developedin a specialway when it was broughtto China in the third centuryC.E. Thesethree beliefsystems combinedto produceone of the most fascinatingmythologiesin the world. At its heart are storiesabout the immortals- the many godly beingswho influencelife on earth in all kinds of ways. The life of the immortalsin many ways mirrors life on earth. The immortalsare ruled by their own leader,the JadeEmperor,who hasa court and a huge array of civil servants,just as the real emperorof China did. The immortalsdid not belongto any one religion or belief system.Many have their origins in the time beforeDaoism or Confucianismemergedin China, while somedate from the birth of thosebeliefsystems.Confuciusencouragedthe worship of someof the ancientgodsand goddesses,while Laozi and the Daoistsaddedto their ranks by introducingall kinds of other heroeswho, when they died, were raisedto the level of gods. Confuciushimselfwas seenas a mortal man who becameimmortal after he died. In this way, the Chineseimmortalsare extremelydiverse,ranging in characterfrom the calm and merciful goddessGuan Yin (kwan yin) to the mischievousMonkey, who creates havocwhereverhe goes. Thereare also severaldifferent kinds of storiesin Chinesemythology. One group of myths tells how the cosmosand humanbeingswere createdand dealswith events-such as greatfloods and terrifying droughts-thathappenedin the early history of the human race. Another group recalls the deedsof China'sso-called"culture heroes,"the immortals

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who were said to have broughtthe distinctive aspectsof the Chineseway of life to earth. Writing, agriculture, China's unique form of medicine,and Chinesecivilization as a whole are all said to be the result of the work of specific immortalswho gave the Chinesethe tools or abilities they needed. Many storiesof the godsdescribehow they becameimmortals in the first place. Myths of this type relate the good deedsand specialabilities that set thesepeople apart from the rest of the human race, making it possiblefor them to join the Jade Emperorand other membersof his court when they died. Many of thesestories describefigures who now work to help humanbeings, and who respondto their prayers. Goddessessuch as Zhunti Pusa(choon-teepoo-sah)and Guan Yin, for example,and immortalssuch as Amituo Fu (a-mi-to foo), are seenas the most merciful of the immortals, figures who will come to the help of peoplein need. In today'sChina, there are still peoplewho offer them their prayers.

MONGOLIA

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Introduction

9

The HuangShan(hwangshan)mountainstower abovethe Yangtze(yang-tsee)River in easternChina. Many mythsoffer explanationsfor the formation of . such featuresof the Chineselandscape

CREATING THE UNIVERSE

S

orne of the most famousChinesemyths tell the story of how the universecameinto being and what happenedafter the creation. They describea time when everythingwas a swirling, formless mass. The creatorgod, Pan Gu (pan goo), had the task of giving shapeto this chaoticmass, bringing into being the featuresof the world as we know it, : its trees, mountains, and especiallythe featuresof the Chineselandscape long, winding rivers. But PanGu did not createthe humanrace. People , Nu Wa (nu wah), who molded were an afterthought, createdby a goddess them out of clay. Alongsidethesestoriesare myths that tell of environmentaldisasters, especiallyflood and drought, eventsthat are still commonin China today. Theselegendsbelongwith the creationmyths both becausethey talk abouteventsthat happenedvery early in the history of the world and becauseafterwardsomepartsof the world had to be re-created, as when the dragon-likecharacterYu dug new rivers to drain away the watersof the greatflood.

THE

CREATION OF THE WORLD

In the beginning there was no earth and no sky, no land and no oceans.Everything was swirling chaos,stretching endlesslyin every direction, and all the elements--earth,water, fire, and air-were mixed t~er in an unruly massthat flowed continuously up and down and around and around. Gradually, the creator god, Pan Gu, came into being and beganto give shapeto the world. 11

I

t took thousandsof yearsfor Pan Gu to evolve, taking nourishmentfrom the elements churningaroundhim. And when the god did take his final form he was in a deep sleep,a sleepthat lastedfor thousandsof years.As he slept, PanGu slowly gathered all the strengthhe would needto createthe world.

PAN GU AWAKES After sleepingfor eighteenthousandyears,Pan Gu awokeand looked this way and that. But it was dark, and he could not seevery well. As his eyesadjusted to the gloom, all he could makeout were the chaotic elementsmoving aroundhim. He was angry that he had cometo life in such a chaotic, unpleasantworld and, when he had gatheredhis immensestrength,he hit out, delivering a violent blow as his great handcrashedonto the elementsaroundhim. Therewas an almighty boom that could have beenheard millions of miles away-if there had beenanyonealive to hearit. As the crashechoedaroundthe universea miraculousthing happened.The elements of the cosmos,sent hurtling this way and that by Pan Gu's greatblow, beganto move in a lessrandomway. The heavy things sankdownwardto form the rocks and soil of the earth,while the lighter elementsfloated upward to createthe vast blue sky. PanGu had broughtthe two most importantpartsof the world into being. This amazingact of creationdid not happeninstantly. The earthand sky kept growing. Every day the earth grew thicker and deeper , increasingin depth by more than a man'sheight eachday and laying down layersof rock, heavyclay, and finer top soil.

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ChineseMyth

Left: The creatorgod Pan Gu usesall his strengthto hold the earth and the sky apart. One version of the myth of Pan Gu saysthat, in the beginning,the cosmoswas in chaos,like a chicken'segg from which the creatoremerges,as shown here.

At the sametime, the sky grew ever higher and higher, expandingso that in the end even the great Pan Gu could not seeits top. Meanwhile, Pan Gu stood betweenearth and sky holding them apart with his enormoushands, preventingthem from collapsingtogetheragain and turning back into the swirling chaoshe had seenwhen he first woke. Just as the earth and sky grew, so did Pan Gu himself, adding to his height eachday, and forcing the sky and earth farther and farther apart in the process. For thousandsof yearsPan Gu stood like this, getting taller and taller and holding the earth and sky apart. At long last he felt sure that the earth and sky were so well separatedthat if he let go they would no longer collapseback into chaos.And so, exhaustedand pleasedwith his work, he lay down on the ground to rest, and fell into a deepsleep.

THE BODY OF PAN GU Pan Gu's sleepbecamedeeperand deeperand his breathingbecameshallower and shalloweruntil he died. But his deathwas not the end of creation, but a new beginning. As he breathedhis last breaths,the air from his lungs traveled into the sky to becomethe winds and the clouds.

Creatingthe Universe

13

MYTHICAL BEASTS A numberof fantasticcreaturesappearin

fish, reptiles, and amphibians)and in the the myths of China. Theseexotic animals sky (where they pulled the chariots of and birds often combine the featuresof someof the gods). Although they looked more than one earthly creature. The fearsome, the dragons of Chinese phoenix,oneofthecreatureswho guarded mythology were usually kind, and were the heavenly empire of gods and said to bring wealth, good luck, and goddesses,was amongthe most colorful. justice. Emperors often wore robes A beautiful bird, it was portrayed as a embroideredwith dragonsor had dragon cross between an ornamental pheasant decorationson their palaces , to show that and a peacock,with one tail feather for they were just rulers. eachmonth of the year. Perhapsthe most famous of all Chinesemythical beastswere the dragons,scaly creatures that weresaidto live both in lakes (where they were the rulers of the

Right: This phoenix, with its stunning, peacock-liketail, is embroideredon a silk robe worn by a Chinese empressof the nineteenth century.The beautiful design and golden threadsin the robe would have madeit standout from the garments of the other peopleat the imperial court.

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Right: Someof the walls and pavementsin Beijing are decorated with dragons,like this one on the Nine DragonsWall in the city's Beihai Park. The dragondesignis made of ceramictiles, which have beenindividually molded to show the churning greenwaves of the sea and the dragon's scaly body.

The last syllablesfrom his lips joined the clouds in the sky to becomethe rumbling voice of the thunder.And the sweatthat rolled from his body from all the effort at holding the earth and sky apart turnedinto the rain and dew that would refresh the earth,giving it back someof the energyhe had spent. The god's two eyesbecamethe sun and the moon, and the hairs from his beardjoined them in the sky and were transformedinto thousandsof twinkling stars. The vast body of Pan Gu becamethe mountainrangesthat are scatteredacrossthe earth,and his handsand feet pointed to the four cardinaldirections-theNorth and South Polesand the far easternand westernendsof the earth.The blood flowed from his veins to becomethe water in the world's rivers, and his flesh turnedslowly into the fertile soil of the fields. Oncethe soil was in place, Pan Gu's hairs fell away, took root in the soil, and grew into the first flowers and trees. And so Pan Gu finished his work of creation.He had brought into being a universe of starsand a beautiful earth, warmedby the sun, wateredby the rain, and blessedwith soil in which plants and treescould grow.

Creating the Universe

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THE

FIRST HUMANS .-.

After Pan Gu had created the world, the other godslooked down on it. They admired Pan Gu's work, but one goddess,Nu Wa, felt that there was somethingmissing. Shedecidedto create a race of beings to peoplethe earth. In this way the first humans were born.

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II

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he universecreatedby Pan Gu was a wonderful place.The earthtook its place in a vast cosmosof thousandsof stars that shonebrightly at night. The moon's waxing and waning markedthe monthsand yearsof the calendar.During the daytime, the sun shone,heatingthe air and the earth below. In the warming sunlight and refreshingrain, life flourished on earth. Treesgrew, dropping their seedson the ground to producesaplings,which grew in turn, until huge areaswere coveredwith thick forests.Smallerplantsmultiplied too, growing beautiful flowers that pleasedthe godsas they looked down on them. The rippling watersof the rivers and seasglinted in the sunlight. Beastsof all kinds scamperedthrough the woods and acrossthe fields. They all found placesto live, whetherin the trees,in the fields, or in holesin the ground. And a whole raceof creatures, from fish and eelsto crabsand starfish,swamin the rivers and seas.The godswere pleasedwith the universe, and impressedthat Pan Gu had madesuch a wonderful world.

AMAN OF CLAY But one goddess,Nu Wa-althoughsheadmiredthe creationjust as much as the othersdid- thought that the world could be improved. Nu Wa was one of the most striking of all the deities who ruled the heavens.Unlike most of the godsand goddesses,who looked very much like humans,Nu Wa had the headof a woman but the body of a serpent.Shewas destinedto changethe story of the world forever. Nu Wa's human-likeeyesgave her good eyesight,and she could seefar and wide acrossthe earth. Although the world was filled with beautiful mountainsand rivers,

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THE EARLY PEOPLE OF CHINA The earliest Chinese state was formed under the rulers of the ShangDynasty, who cameto powerin around1600s.c.E. and ruled until about 1050 s.c.E. The Shangpeople built China'sfirst towns and cities, includinga famous capital city at Anyang. Above all, the Shang people were famous for their metalwork. They knew how to heat rocks to extract the metal ore and,using the bronzethey made

in this manner,they developeda way of making beautiful objectsby heating the metal until it melted and pouring it into molds. Many of the metal objects that they madewere usedin religious rituals.

Right: This ShangDynasty wine vesselis in the form of a highly decoratedelephant. The creature'sbody is coveredwith designsrepresentingcloudsand thunder, while the tip of the trunk supportsa crouchingtiger and the headof a phoenix.

with great forests and vast seas,to Nu Wa it seemedstrangelyempty. When shevisited earth she felt lonely and she thought the world would be a better place,and more interestingto the gods, if it was populatedwith a new kind of creature. The goddessthoughtabout this problem for a long time, and then she beganto searchthe earth for what she needed. She had noticed that, although many partsof the world were coveredwith water, sand,or hard rocks, someareaswere coveredwith soft, flexible clay. The goddessrealizedthat she could use this clay to make things.

Creatingthe Universe

17

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ChineseMyth

So she went to one of the placeswhere the ground was madeof clay- and searched the place for the kind of yellowish clay that is easyto mold into all kinds of different shapes. Picking up a lump of clay in her dragon-likeclaws, Nu Wa beganto mold and model like a sculptor until she had produceda figure. The creaturethat Nu Wa moldedout of the clay had a headsimilar to her own but, insteadof a dragon'sor serpent's body, it had two legs and a pair of arms- Nu Wa had madea humanfigure. But Nu Wa's clay man was different from the figures made by sculptors:when she placedhim on the ground, he cameto life.

PEOPLING THE EARTH Nu Wa was overjoyed,and beganto laugh as her creationstartedto jump around and danceas if he were trying to entertainher. She was so pleasedthat shesoon madesomemore humans- both men and women- and smiled to herselfas they jumped and dancedabout in front of her. She realized that she had addedthe finishing touch to creation, and had completedthe enormousjob that had been begun by the greatcreatorgod Pan Gu. Soon the humansbeganto explore the earthand to find different placesall over the planet's surfacewhere they could make their homes. They seemedhappy, and wheneverNu Wa cameto earth she was pleasedto seethem. The goddesswas no longer lonely on her visits to earth. But after someyearshad passed,Nu Wa saw that her humancreationswere beginningto get old. She realizedthat, unlike the gods, they would one day die. So the goddessgave humanity a new power: the ability to havechildren. She taught them the ways of marriage, and soon the planetwas alive with new sounds - the cries of babiesand the noiseof children playing. It madethe goddesshappy,and she saw that the peoplewere happy, too. Now there would be an endlesssupply of humans, who could care for the planet, bring up the next generationof children, and entertainthe godsand goddesses wheneverthey decidedto visit their planet.

Left: The goddess Nu Wa, who molded the human race out of clay, had the headof a woman but the body of a dragonor serpent.She gave humanitythe power to have children and people the world.

Creating the Universe

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China is a vast country, coveringmore than 3.6 million squaremiles (9.3 million sq km). Its sceneryrangesfrom the high mountains of the Himalayasto the plains of the east.It is also hometo someof the world's longestrivers. Many of China's myths describethis hugeland, telling of its creationand how the immortalstaughtthe skills of agriculture.China'ssizealso explainswhy thereare such a large number of myths-the country has beenhometo , who developed many different peoples different stories over the years.

Above: At the busiest times of the farming year, everyone in the area came to help. This thirteenth- or fourteenth-centuryc.E. picture depicts the rice harvest.

RIVERS The rivers of China are among its people's most important resources.The major rivers have been used for t ransport for centuries. Rivers are also a vital source of fish for food and for water to irrigate the fiel ds. However, the rivers are also dangerous. The vast volumesof water carried by the Yangtze, for example, have led to frequent flo ods. Right: A man on a raft crossesthe Li River (or Li Jiang) in China's southernprovince of Guangxi. The area'scraggy uplands are visible in the background.

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Left: Mist forms around the upper slopesof the Yellow Mountains (or Huangshan). Chinesemyths frequentlyportr.ay mountainsas placesof mystery.

MOUNTAINS A large portion of China is uplandcountry, and thereare many mountains,especiallyin westernand central China. The Chinese creationmyth tells how the mountainranges were formed out of the body of the creator god Pan Gu. Chinesepeopleseemountains as special,often holy, places,wherepilgrims flock to templesor where peoplego to be aloneand contemplatenature.

FARMING Agriculture was vital to provide a food supply for China's huge population.One of the key cropswas rice, which grows especiallywell in the fertile southof the country, especiallyon eitherside of the YangtzeRiver. According to mythology, it was the god ShenNong who taughtChina's peoplehow to farm.

Above: China hasmany large lakes that are hometo all kinds of wildlife, including wading birds suchas the white crane. This one appearson the badgeof a highranking civil servantof the seventeenthcenturyc.E. But thjs beautiful bird, which could fly for long distance s, had a specialmeaningin Chinesemythology. It was said to be a messengerof the godsand the creaturethat carried the soulsof the deadto the WesternParadise.

THE

TEN SUNS

In the beginning there was not one sun but ten. Usually they took turns tAo bsh.ine ~n thhe s~ but onhe day htheydallthdecided to s.hbine at eart1e once. thhetAo1IStenng eat .e11 on t e eart anearttAoere was tem suffering. The emperor of China, Yao (yow), did not know what to do to savehumanityfrom this catastrophe.

L

ong ago there were ten boys, eachof whom shonewith a dazzling li ght. Some said they were the sonsof the Emperorof Heaven;othersthat they were the children of an immortal called Di Jun. The ten boys lived in a great tree, which toweredabovethe Eastern Ocean. The tree was so vast that peoplesaid that one thousandmen, all with their armsstretchedout, could not hold hands aroundits enormoustrunk. The branchesof this tree stretched so high into the sky that people on earth could not seetheir tips. Every dawn, one of the boys took off from the top of this vast tree and flew slowly acrossthe sky, lighting up the world until he finally cameto rest on the tree againat nighttime. In this way, eachchild was a sun. Each day a different sun shonein the sky, as the ten boys took their turn. The people on earth did not realize that there was more than one sun, becauseeachappearedin turn and no two ever came out at the sametime. The peopleloved the suns because they broughtwarmth and comfort, and they helped their food plants to ripen.

DROUGHT AND DEVASTATION All went well with the ten sunsuntil one terrible day. No one knows why, but the ten suns decidedto come out and shine at once. First the sky brightenedas normal, then anothersun cameout and it got much hotter, and then anotherand another.By the time all ten sunswere out, the earthwas drying up, the crops were dying, and even the . Therewas no rain, both people and cattle went rivers were beginningto evaporate thirsty, fires ragedthrough the forests, and soon peoplebeganto die.

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ChineseMyth

::1 1 11

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Ab ove: A rubbing taken from a carved stonerelief of the secondcentury B.C.E. showsthe archerYi shootingthe suns,who are depictedin the form of birds perchingin a tree.

Creatingthe Universe

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But the heatwas not the only problem. As the earth and the air heatedup, more strangethings beganto happen.Peoplebroughtreportsto EmperorYao of monsters that were appearingin different placesin China. One messengerdescribeda creature with a man'sbody, an animal'shead,and a single, deadly, razor-sharpfang. Another describeda giant peacockbeatingits wings togetherand causingpowerful gales. A third messengertold Yao how a seamonsterwas devouringfishermenand travelers on China'srivers and lakes.

THE SUPREME RULER SENDS HELP EmperorYao, who could usually solve any problem that he faced, was baffled. What could he do to stop this terrible, burning heatand destroythesefearsomecreatures? He prayedto the SupremeRuler. The ruler heardYao's prayersand decidedto sendhis most skillful warrior, the archerYi (yee), to help. Yi arrived on earthat nighttime, when the full moon was shining in the sky. The sunshad gone to rest in their tree for a few

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ChineseMyth

WEAPONS Although Yi 's preferredweaponwas the bow, the Chinesedevelopedmany other weaponsearly in their history. Their skill in metalwork, for example,enabledthem to createall kinds of knives and swords in bronze, and examplessurvive from as early as the seventhcentury B.C.E., some with finely decorated handles. In the sameperiod they also usedthe battleaxe

and the halberd-a bronze blade mounted on a long bamboo pole. A halberd was a fearsome weapon when swungby a Chinesecharioteer.But even more impressive,and powerful over long distances , wasthe crossbow . The Chinese invented this weaponsome time before 4 50 s.c.E., centuriesbefore it appeared in Europe.

hours, but they would soon be out again and increasethe unbearablesuffering on earth. Yi went straightto the imperial palaceto find out what Yao neededhim to do. Yao was impressedwith Yi and his greatred bow, but doubtedwhethera bow and arrowswere strongenoughweaponsagainstthe ten sunsthat would rise in the morning. Yi decidedto show the emperorthe powerof his bow. He loosedan arrow high into the sky and the pair watchedas it traveledfor miles, eventuallysplitting in two the trunk of a tall pine tree on top of a mountainin the far distance.The emperorbeganto hope that Yi might be able to savehis peoplefrom droughtand deathafter all. Yao could not sleepthrough the night from too much worrying and insteadspenthis time praying to the SupremeRuler. A little while beforedawn, Yao left his room in the palaceand went to get Yi. He was alreadyawake, too, quietly waiting for the dawn. Together,the pair walked through the streetsof the capital city. Yao explainedto Yi that he wantedto take him to the tallest watchtoweron the easterncity wall, where the archerwould get a good view of the sunsas they cameup. When the tower's watchman saw them coming, he was worried that two peopleshould be out so early. But when he saw that one was the emperor,he bowed low and let them pass.Yao and Yi climbed the stepsof the watchtowerin silence. Opposite:Archery was an importantskill for Chinesewarriors. They practicedbowmanshipand held archery contestseven as recendyas the eighteenthcentury C. E., as shown on this painting, done on a pieceof silk.

Creatingthe Universe

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YI FIRES HIS ARROWS As the sky in the eastbeganto turn yellow with the dawn, Yi choseten arrows, all tipped with pin-sharpbronzearrowheads , and loadedthem into his quiver. No sooner did he have his arrows ready than a processionof ten sunsappearedover the horizon. Straightaway Yi felt the air heat up and sawsomeclumps of dry grassin a distantfield begin to smolder.He knew he had to act quickly- and immediatelylifted his bow and let loose his first arrow. In seconds,one of the ten sunsdisappeared and a great black crow, the spirit of the sun, fell to the ground. Yao was impressed,but therewere still nine suns,and alreadythe heat was unbearable . Yi wastedno time. Again and again he raisedhis bow to the east, and one after another, the crow-like sun spirits fell to the ground defeated.Yi seemedto be enjoying his task and, as he broughtdown the sixth sun, Yao realizedthat there were still four arrows left. Would Yi forget and shootdown all ten suns,plunging the earth into total darkness ? While Yi was aiming at the seventhsun, Yao crept quickly up behind the archerand silently removedan arrow from the quiver, hiding it in his sleeve. Yi shot his remaining arrows, removing nine of the tensunsand leaving one left to warm the earth. Soon cloudsformed in the sky and life-giving rain beganto fall again. The terrible time of droughtwas over.

MONSTERS OF THE LAND, AIR, AND WATER But there was still the threatof the monstersthat rampagedthrough the land, air, and water. Could Yi defeatthosetoo? For days, Yi stalkedthe monsterwith the deadlyfang. Eventuallyhe cameto a placewherethe groundwas littered with severedhuman heads- he had found the spot where the creature decapitatedits humanenemies beforedevouringtheir bodies. Suddenly , Yi saw a movementas the beastemergedfrom a nearbycave, its body concealedbehinda hugeshield. Yi drew an arrow and stood ready to shoot, daring the monsterto comecloser. The beastadvancedtoward him, but was still hidden by the shield. As the creaturegot within a few feet of Yi , it droppedits shield to pounceon the bowman.In a split-second, Yi shot his arrow, aiming at the beast's gum. The terrible tooth broke off and piercedthe throat of the creature, which droppeddeadon the ground. Next Yi chaseddown the giant peacock.The archerthought that one arrow might not be enoughto kill the greatbird, so he tied a cord to his arrow beforehe fired. When the arrow enteredthe bird's flesh, Yi gavea mighty pull on the end of the cord

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and the bird fl apped its wings to try to escape. To and fro the pair pulled, and it seemed likely that Yi would tire first. But with one last greateffort Yi gave an enormous tug, broughtthe bird to the ground, and cut off its head with his sword. Finally Yi went to the lake where the seamonsterwas lurki ng. He borroweda fi shing boat, sailed to the center of the lake, and waited for the monsterto appear. Sure enough, the creature's scaly back soonstarted to rise out of the water. Yi aimed and shot, but the pain caused by the arrow only madethe monster thrash around, making the watersmore and more turbulent and threateningto capsizeYi's boat. The waterswere so rough that Yi could not keepsteady enough to aim. Yi laid down his bow in the bottom of the boat and looked down into the water. As the little craft crashed againstthe waves, Yi jumped, diving deep toward the seaserpent's scale-covered back. Time and again Yi stabbed the monster's body with his sword. Time and again the beastturned and tried to grasp Yi in its wide jaws. But at last Yi lodged his bladedeep in the creature's fl esh. The serpent fell lifelessto the lake bed, and Yi swam to the surfacegasping for air. As the sun droppedtoward the westernhorizon, Yi fl oated to the shoreof the lake and lay down for a long, well-earned rest. Left: Because the sun traveledacrossthe sky eachday, the Chinesesaw it as a bird that flew through the air. In one myth, the bird, a crow, carriesthe sun to the top of a tree before taking off on its daily journey through the sky But other stories-andpaintingslike this one from about 190 B.C.E.-portray the crow as li ving inside the sun'sdisc.

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THE

GREAT FLOOD

Therecamea time when the Emperorof Heavenwas angry with the men and womenon earth,becauseof their wicked ways. He sentthe waterspirit Kong-kongto makea greatflood to punish humanity.Soonthe rivers broke their banksand the whole surface of the earthwas coveredin water. Men and womenhad to build nestsin tall treesin orderto survive. With the fields waterlogged, therewas nothing to eat.

li

T

en he saw the terrible flood, Kun (koon), the grandsonof the Emperorof Heaven,took pity on the humanrace. He knew that amongthe treasuresof the HeavenlyEmperor'spalacewas a kind of soil that absorbedwater and could turn lakesand rivers into dry land. Kun took someof the precioussoil from the palace and traveledto earth.Then Kun beganto spreadthe soil out on the flooded plains and along the river valleys. The soil absorbedthe water and soon,where there had been floods, therewas dry land; and wherethere had beendeeplakes, therewere marshes. The peoplewere overjoyedby what Kun had done.They camedown from their tree-toprefugesand beganto rebuild their damagedhousesand replant their sodden fields. It seemedas if humanlife would be able to go on as it had beforethe greatflood.

THE EMPEROROF HEAVEN'S REVENGE But Kun had stoppedthe flood without asking the permissionof his grandfather , the Emperorof Heaven.This madethe Emperoras furious with Kun as he had beenwith the peopleof the earth. He sentmore rains to makeconditionson earth evenworse and commandedthe fire spirit Zhu Rong (choo jung) to searchout Kun and murder him. But when Zhu Rong stabbedKun's body with his sword and killed him, an extraordinary thing happened . Kun's body did not decaylike a humanbody doeswhen a persondies. Insteadit remainedlooking just as it did when Kun had beenalive. This was becauseKun was an immortal. While Kun's body lay there, a new being was coming to life inside.

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CHINA'S CHANGEABLE RIVERS Many of China's rivers, including both the Yangtzeand the Yellow (Huang-Ho) rivers, run from the high mountains of western China to the plains of the east. They collect vast amountsof water from the uplands, and if the snow melts suddenlyor thereis heavy rain, the rivers can flood, causing the destruction of crops and homes,and even loss of life.

Due to the threat of flooding, the people of China have been building canals, dykes, and other flood-control measuresfor hundreds of years. The effort to control flooding continues today with huge engineeringprojectsto build dams, such as an enormousnew one near the Three Gorges on the YangtzeRiver.

Left: The enormous power of China's rivers is clear, as here at Hukou in Jixian county, when water crashesover the rocks at weirs and waterfalls.

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Left: This portrait of Yu includes an inscription that tells how he was skilled in mappingthe earth, recordin gwater sources,and building dykes. In the picture he carries a tool that was usedfor dredging.

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The Emperorof Heavensaw Kun's body and realizedthat he had not died in the normal way. So he sentanotherspirit, armedwith a sharpsword, to finish off the unfortunateKun. The spirit found Kun, took aim, and struck the body with his sword. The sharpblade sliced through Kun's flesh- but insteadof blood pouring out, a young dragonemerged out of the corpse.The dragonopenedits wings and flew straightto the court of the Emperorof Heaven.

THE WORK O F YU When the dragonarrived at the Emperor'scourt he announcedthat he was Yu, son of Kun, and he beggedthe Emperorto savehumanity by allowing him to put a stop to the floods. In spite of his former anger,the Emperorwas moved by Yu's plea, and thought that perhapshumanity had sufferedlong enoughat the handsof Kong-kong. After some deliberation,the Emperoragreedto Yu's request.Yu immediatelystretchedhis wings and set out for earth. He took with him a load of the specialsoil that Kun had used previouslyto soak up water and put a stop to the floods. When Yu arrived he found that earthwas totally under the control of Kong-kong. He had turned the roadsinto rivers, the fields into lakes, the rivers into raging torrents, and the lakes into stormy seas.Furious, Yu landedon top of a tall mountain, called all the spirits togetheraroundhim, and showedthem the havoc that Kong-kong had created.The spirits were so shockedthat they surroundedKong-kong and chasedhim far away from the earth. Then Yu set to work to tame the floods and bring down the water level. He raised new mountainrangesand laid out fields where men and women could grow their crops. And he built drainagedykes and new rivers to take away the excesswater, marking out their courseon the land with his tail. The peoplesaw that the country'sgreat mountain rangesand the long rivers such as the Yangtzeand Yellow rivers were the resultsof Yu's efforts as he worked hard to banishthe floods from the country. It took him somethirty yearsto tame the floods and makeall thesenew featuresso that the land was fit for humansagain. The water spirit Kong-kong had vanishedfrom China and no one in heavenor on earth had any idea where he had gone. But even today, when it has rained very hard or after there have beenheavysnows,China'srivers sometimesburst their banks. When this happens , men and women have to work as hard as Yu to drain away the water, cleanthe mud from their houses,and banishthe spirit of the floods.

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THE CoosOF CHINESE LIFE dentChina had a very advancedcivilization that was different from ny culture in the West. The Chinesecreatedmany inventions,from etalworkingto silk weaving, long beforethey were known in the rest of the world. Theseinventionswere madeso long ago that even the Chinesedid not know the namesof the inventors.So to explain how these technologiescameabout, they told storiesabout how skills suchas farming and metalworkingwere handeddown to humansby the godsand goddesses. Thesedeitiesare sometimescalled the "culture heroes"of China, becausethey showedpeoplehow to makethe advancesthat set China apartfrom the world's other cultures.Therewas one god, Fu Xi (foo hsi), who devisedChina'sunique form of writing, and a numberof physiciangods,such as Yao Wang (yow wang) and Wu Tao (woo tow), who showedthe Chinesetheir specialmedical skills using acupunctureand herbs.Even today, somepeoplein remoteChinese communitiesmay take homean imageof Wu Tao from their local templeto help a family memberrecoverfrom an illness.

BRINGERS OF CIVILIZATION ~

.

-

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Three of the immortals kept a special eye on men and women and helped them develop many of the skills they neededin order to survive and prosper. Thesewere the three "culture heroes" Fu Xi, Shen Nong, and Huang Di (hwang dee), and they had an enormous impact on humanity, helping the men and women of China build the great civilization for which their country becamefamous.

A

fter the goddessNu Wa had createdhumanity, she married the god Fu Xi. Like Nu Wa, he had the body of a dragonbut a headlike that of a man. Fu Xi had such greatknowledge, in so many different fields, that he could have founded civilization on his own. Many of Fu Xi's inventionswere inspired by the natural world. The god looked at the things aroundhim and imitated them. The first gift he gave peoplewas fire, which he found out about by looking at the natural fires that startedin forests when lightning struck the trees. He soondiscoveredhow to makefire by rubbing piecesof wood together.He then taught men and women how to do this, so that they could keep warm and cook food. Not long afterward,while watchinga spiderspinningher web, Fu Xi inventedthe fishing net, and gave peoplea whole new sourceof food from the rivers and seas. Coming up with inventionsand discoveries likefire and fishing nets madeFu Xi realize how importantthe natural world could be. The world was full of rich resources that peoplecould use, from the sky, which could tell you what the weatherwas going to be like, to the ground, which was where food plantsgrew. The more the god thoughtabout thesethings, the more he realizedthat it would be useful to find some way of describingthe world, so that peoplecould makea lasting recordof its wonders. So it was that Fu Xi cameup with China'sfirst writing system,the bagua (pah gwah), or eight trigrams. The trigrams were a seriesof symbols,eachmadeup of three lines drawn in different ways. Somesaid that Fu Xi inventedthe trigramsafter

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Right: The god Fu Xi, who taught people how to write, holds a panel painted around the edges with the earliest Chinese written symbols, the eight trigrams. Each trigram is madeup of three horizontal lines, broken or unbroken.

listening to the voicesof the eight winds blowing across the countryside.But in reality he devisedeight symbols becausehe wantedeach symbol to standfor something importantin the universe. Therewas a symbol for heaven, one for earth, one for water, one for fire, one for mountains , one for storm, one for wind, and, finally, one for marshland. Theseeight symbolswere the beginningsof a systemof writing that grew and grew in complexity until the peopleof China could eventuallyuse it to describeeverythingaroundthem-not to mention all kinds of ideasand beliefs. But the trigrams were not just symbols. The ba gua also had magical powers, and peoplewho understoodthem could use them to predict the future. Fu Xi had createdone of the most powerful tools that the Chinesepeopleusedto build their civilization.

SHEN NONG By following the exampleof Fu Xi , with his skill at looking at the natural world, people learnedhow to find plantsthat they could eat and to locate drinking water in rivers and streams.But there was a problem. It was not alwayseasy to find good food plants.

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Sometimespeopletried to eat plantsthat did not tastegood, or even speciesthat were poisonous.Many peoplesufferedand someevendied becausethey chosethe wrong food. The farmer god, ShenNong, helpedpeopleto solve this problem. He showedpeople severaldifferent grainsthat they could sow in the groundand then harvest.He also taught peopleabout the qualitiesof the soil: which soils were the most fertile, which were barren, which soils were well drained, and which were too wet or dry to grow crops. With all this new knowledge,peoplewere able to becomefarmers. They could control their own food supply, and there were fewer deathsby starvationor poisoning. Villages beganto prosperand grow in China as never before. Like Fu Xi, ShenNong was famousfor his knowledgeof the naturalworld. As time went by, peoplebeganto ask him if therewere any new food plants they could grow or gather, to maketheir diet more varied. They were scaredto try different plantswithout his advice, becausesomeof them could be poisonous.

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Left: Much of the land in China is made up of hills and mountains, where it is difficult to find enoughflat land on which to grow crops. In someareas,as here in present-dayYunnan province, peoplecut away the sloping land to make narrow, flat terraces wherethey can grow wheat.

ShenNong decidedto help the peopleby personallytestingall the plantsthat grew in China. He found out which were bitter and which were sweetand good to eat. He discoveredwhich were safeand which were poisonous.Becausehe was an immortal, the poisonousplantscould not kill ShenNong-butthey could still make him feel ill. There were so many plantsto tastethat in one day alone he was madeill seventy times because of all the poisonhe ate. ShenNong passedon all the information he learnedto the men and women of China, so soonthey had the most varied and enjoyablediet in the world, with all kinds of fruits, leaves,and roots that were in seasonat different times of the year. But it was still hard work growing all thesegood foods, becausethe farmersneededto do a greatdeal of digging to preparethe soils for their crops. So ShenNong gaveChina'sfarmersone last gift. He inventedthe plow so that people would be able to turn the soil easily. Farmingwas still hard work, but it was no longer so backbreaking , and the peopleof China had time to enjoy all the wonderful fruit and vegetablesthat ShenNong had helped them to cultivate.

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THE REAL FIRST EMPEROR Sincethey were so powerful and had such a huge impact on life in China, the three bringersof civilization are often known in China as "emperors." But Fu Xi and Shen Nong were in fact godswho camedown to earthto look after humanity, while Qin Shi Huang Di (meaning"emperor") was a real man who ruled China between 221 and 207 B.C.E. He was the first person to unify the country into a single stateand is known as the Shi Huang Di, meaning"fi rst emperor." Shi HuangDi achieveda lot during his short reign, introducingstandard weights and measures,forming an enormousarmy, building partsof the Great Wall, and constructinga huge tomb for himself, completewith its famous army of life-size terracotta soldiers. To do all this he needed money, so he taxed people heavily, which meantthat manyofhis subjects suffered under his rule and some even died of starvation. But later people honored him becauseof his achievementsin unifying thecountry. After he died, they saw him as the immortal who brought the first true civilization to China.

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Above: The surviving picturesof Qi.n Shi Huang Di, like this seventeenth-century C.E. woodcut, date from long after his lifetime, so no one knows exactly what he looked like. He is always shown as an imposing, beardedfigure.

HUANG DI The last of the three mythical bringersof Chinesecivil ization was Huang Di, the Yellow Emperor. He was said to be the first man to rule all of China and he was known as the Yellow Emperorbecause his character and reign were associate d with the element of earth, which was usually portrayed in a yellow color. Unlike Fu Xi and Shen Nong, Huang Di was not born a god but a mortal. Yet Huang Di had a miraculousbeginning.His mother became pregnantafter she saw li ghtning strike a star, and Huang Di was born a full twenty monthslater. When he grew up he had to fight many enemiesin a series of bitter wars but eventuallytook control of the whole of China. China'scivilization madehuge advances during the reign of Huang Di. The scholars at his court inventedinstrumentsfor looking at the moon and stars,and the observations they made enabledthem to work out China's fir st method of calculatingtime and the calendar. The arts of pottery and woodworking were perfected during Huang Di's reign, and China prospered. Huang Di was seenas the father of the great civilization that developedin China over the following millennia. Huang Di ruled China for around a hundred years, beforedying at the amazing age of Ill . When he died his body was seenon the back of a dragon, which flew up into the sky, climbing so high that it eventuall y disappeare d. When his people saw this, they realized that Huang Di was going to join the gods in heaven. He was the first human being to become an immortal. Right: Qi.n Shi Huang Di's tomb is one of the wondersof China. It contains more than 7,000 life-size statuesof soldiers, each one modeledas an individual portrait of one of Shi Huang Di's men. The statues originally carried real weapons,but many of thesewere removed by tomb-robbers.

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Lifa in Rneiant Chino

Largely isolatedfrom the rest of the world, the ancientChineseempire developedits own way of life. As well as coming up with many inventions, the Chinesedevelopeduniquemethods of building and their own style of costume.Someof the productsof this ancientway of life, suchas the famous GreatWall, survive today.

Right: This twelfth-century drawing showsboth traditional Chinesebuildings, with their upturnedtil e roofs, and various forms of transport.As well as cartsand wheelbarrows,people transportedgoodsusing baskets balancedon shoulder-poles, while the wealthy rode on horsebackor were carried in a comfortable sedanchair.

INVENTIONS The dozensof inventionsthat the Chinese cameup with rangedacrossall kinds of fields, from engineeringto medicine.They were making steelsome2,000 yearsbeforeanyone in the West. Chinesedoctorsknew about the circulation of the blood 1,800 yearsbefore their counterpartsin the West. Left: This fourteenth-century C.E. illustration showsa pump designedto raisewater from a river to the fields. Although it is a practical machine,it has a mythological name- the dragon's backbone-perhaps becauseto the first peoplewho saw it, it seemedto work by magic.

WRITING China developedits own systemof writing, using thousandsof different symbols,eachrepresentinga whole word or idea. The first Chinese writing to survive datesfrom the ShangDynasty(c. 1600-1050B.C.E.). In ancientChina, few men or women could read or write except for highly educatedpeople.The best jobs were in the employ of the emperorin China'shuge civil service.The first civil servantswere appointedat the beginningof the Han Dynasty, in around 206 B.C.E. To get a job in the civil service,you had to passan exam, so all civil servantscould read and write.

Above: By the fourth centuryB.C.E., the rulers of China were building walls to protect their territory and keep out invading nomadsfrom the north and west. Over the centuries,the emperorsaddedto thesewalls and joined them up to make the vast Great Wall, which stretched for thousandsof miles along the country'sborders.

Left: Scribeshad to be able to mastercalligraphy, or beautiful writing, which the Chineseconsideredto be one of the most importantart forms. To write the thousandsof Chinese characterswell required yearsof practice.

LEARNING

Two NEw SKJLLS -

Two of the mostvaluableskills of the Chinesepeople-metalworking and silk production--cameto the country long beforethey reached otherpartsof the world. The ability to makeitems out of metal and I the techniqueof producingsoft, fine silk cloth set China apart.It was the mighty warrior Chi You (cheeyoo) who first discoveredthe skills of metalworking,while the secretsof silk productionwere revealedby a creatureknown as Can Nu.

C

hi You was a fearsome-lookingcreaturewith the headand hornsof a bull. He was incredibly strong- so strong that peoplesaid his headwas madeof bronzeand his brows of iron. He had a group of followers, madeup of his seventy-twobrothers,and they were all powerful and fearlesslike Chi You himself They could build up their strengthstill more by eatingpebblesand they could all do terrible damageto their enemiesby simply butting them with their enormousheads. One day therewas an earthquakeand one of China'stallest mountains,Ko Lu, burst open. Great rocks fell everywhereand at first water rushedout of the cracksin the stone,as undergroundstreamsfound a new route into the openair. But then a strange new substanceappearedfrom within the mountain. The strangenew materialwas metal. The warrior Chi You went to the mountainto seethis substancethat everyonewas talking about. He soonsaw that the metal could be usedto form useful objects-andthat this could be incredibly helpful to humankind. Naturally, the warrior's first thought was to use the metal to makeweapons,and soon he was showing peoplehow to makeswords, spears,and lances,as well as strong protectivearmor.

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Above: One result of the Chineseskill in metalwork was that they

discoveredthat a magnetizedpiece of iron would point north- south. The Chineseinventedthe magneticcompassin around the fourth century s.c.E., over a thousandyearsbefore it appearedin Europe.

Peoplequickly caught on and soon they all had swordsto brandishagainst their enemiesand armor to defend themselves.They realizedthat they could use metal tools in peacetime,too. Knives, hoes,and even plowsharesmadeof metal were the result. Thanksto Chi You, China was able to becomeone of the most advancedcivilizations in the world. Chi You li ved at the time of the Yellow Emperor, Huang Di , and was jealous of the power of the great ruler. He decided to stagea revolt. He gathered together his brothersand declaredwar on the emperor.Therewere severalhard-foughtbattles.

developeddeveloped

44

THE SECRET OF SILK The Chinesewere the first peoplein the world to discoverhow to makesilk from fibers collectedfrom the cocoonsof silk moths. The process of harvesting the fibers, weavingthe cloth, cleaningit, and decoratingit, was a long one, but people thought it was worth it because the finished cloth was so luxurious and beautiful. The fabric was reservedfor the upperclasses:the emperorand his court, the rich, and high-rankingofficials. They prized it both for its softnessand for the way it could be beautifully decorated. When the Chinesebeganto tradewith the West in around 500 s.c.E., they sent

cargoesof silk by camelon the so-called Silk Roadto the Mediterranean.The Silk Road was a network of thousandsof miles of commonly traveledtrade routes linking cities and markets. Westerners paid huge prices for the silk, and the Chinesewere careful to keep secret the way it was made.The secretsof how silk was producedwere first known outside China in around 500 c.E., when craft workers in Constantinople(present-day Istanbul) began to make the cloth. But the Chinesestill producedmoresilk, and of better quality, so the trade carried on for centuriesmore. Left: This silk robe of the late nineteenth centuryc.E. is madeof the finest silk and richly decoratedwith embroidery.A highquality garmentsuch as this must havebeen worn by a rich woman.

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Many times it looked as if Chi You and his brotherswould win, becauseof their incrediblestrengthand becauseChi You could createdensefogs to confuse his enemies. But both sideswere armedwith metal weaponsand so Chi You's invention did not give him the advantageover HuangDi. After a long struggle,the emperorwas actually victorious. Eventuallypeoplewere able to forgive Chi You for the chaos causedby his revolt, becausehe had given them sucha useful ability in the art of metalworking.

THE HORSE'S MARRIAGE Silk cameto China after a man had to leave home for a long trip on business.His daughtermissedhim sorely. One day when shewas groomingher horse,shesaid that shewould marry anyonewho broughther father back home. In an instant, the horse bolted out of the stableand out of sight. The horsegallopedas far as the town wherethe girl's father was staying.When the man saw the creaturehe thoughtsomemishapmight havehappenedto his family, so rode back homestraightaway. The girl was overjoyedthat her horsehad broughther father back home, and the father was relievedto seehis family unharmed. But althoughthe girl gave her horseextra fodder as a reward, the animal seemed unhappy,leaving most of the food and neighingloudly whenevershecamenear. Then the father realizedwhat had happened:the horsehad heardwhat the girl had said and wantedto marry her. The father thought he would put an end to that idea by killing the horse,and soonthe poor animal lay deadon the ground. But as the girl was looking sadly at her horse'sbody, the animal'sskin cameto life, wrappeditself aroundher, and took off into the sky! The next day, the girl's parentssaw a strange, caterpillar-likecreaturewith a headlike a horse'shangingin a nearbytree. This was their daughter,who had becomeCan Nu, or "Lady Silkworm," and sheshowedthem the fine threadthat shecould produce.Soon the girl's mother and father had gatheredthe threadand discoveredhow to makeit into the finest cloth anyonehad ever seen.They had lost their daughter,but had gainedone of the most pricelessskills known to the peopleof China. Left: This twelfth-centuryc.E. painting showswomen poundingnewly woven silk cloth to prepare it for dyeing.

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LESSONS OF THE

DRAGON I(ING -

-

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-

Sun Simiao (soon si-mi-ow) was a great healer. He loved the countryside becauseit was a good source of medicinal plants. He knew at a glance how to recognizethe plants that had healing properties. He also liked to talk to an old hermit who lived in a lonely spot and who told him many more secretsof the healer's art.

0

ne day Sun was walking in the countryside looking for plantswhen he came acrossa shepherd who was trying to kill a small blue snake by hitting it with his stick. Sun could not bear to seethe innocentcreatu re harmed so he told the shepherd to stop. At first the shepherd refused to stop beatingthe snake as he thought the poisonouscreature would harm him or his flo cks. Sun was so sorry for the snakethat he offered the shepherd his clothesin return for the animal's freedom.Finally the shepher d agreed, and Sun picked up the snakeand carried it off. He tendedthe animal carefull y, treating its woundswith healing herbs until one day it was strong enoughto slither off into the undergrowth.

AN AUDIENCE WITH THE DRAGON KING Sun returned to his wanderingsonce more. On the road he met somehorsemen who told him about the beautiful city they were traveling to. They said that Sun would be madewelcomethere.Sun decidedto join the horsemen,and when he reachedthe city he was taken into a huge palaceand told he would be introducedto the king. When he entered the great audience hall he saw the king sitting on a throne. Next to him stooda small boy dressedin blue robes. "Thank you for saving the life of my son," said the king. "I am the DragonKing and my son and I h ave the power to changeshape." Sun realizedthat the snake he had saved was the Dragon Prince.

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The Dragon King understood that Sun was a greathealer, becausehis son had been very badly woundedby the time the shepherdstopped beatinghim. So instead of rewardingSun with moneyor gold, the king commandedhis servantsto bring a still more preciousgift to the palace. Sun could not wait to seewhat it was and was overjoyedwhen the king presentedhim with no fewer than thirty books describinghealing medicines that were known only to the dragonpeople. Sun read the thirty volumes carefully, and was soon using the healing plants they describedto cure all kinds of illnesses.

Right: Yao Wang (yow wang) was a legendary physician of the Tang Dynasty (618- 907 C.E.) who became an immortal. This statue shows him embracedby a dragon, a symbol of good fortune.

T he Godsof ChineseLif e

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THE ENERGY OF LIFE China is famous for its traditional medicine, a systemof healing that hasexistedfor thousands of years.It usesall kinds of herbsthat grow in the Chinesecountryside,aswell asthetechniques of acupuncture.Accordingto traditionalChinese medicine,a life-giving energy,called qi (chi), flows along a seriesof twelve lines, known as meridians, that run up and down the body. When something blocks -+--~ - +-- .........·• the flow of qz: the body'snatural balance is upset and illness - --r--+- " "1 1 ~ 41 L results. It is the physician'sjob to get the qi flowing again. One method of unblocking the flow of the qi is to use acupuncture, which involves !It ----· -Wo ~ insertingspecialneedlesinto the ::0:11':. body, at particular points along the meridians. Modern science has not so far found a way to explainwhy acupunctureworks, but someone who has been AA Jit- -..lloo--+-4--~lf&! ---+-• properly trained can produce !:fl ~ - - - -+--• some impressive results, often improving the symptomsthat a patientfeels.

WJr,-

nr,

m

Right: A Chinesemedical chart shows the path followed by a meridian and the points where needlescould be inserted.

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But he also carried on exploring the countryside, tastingall kinds of plantsand testing their medicinal powerson himselfbeforeprescribingthem to patients. Sun discoveredmany remarkablequalitiesof plants, realizing that somepoisonous plants becamegood to eat when combined andcookedwith otherspecies. Peopleeven said that partsof Sun's body were transparent , so that he could look inside and seethe effectsthat different medicineshad on his inner organs. Sun was in greatdemandas a doctor, and when he finally died people were heartbrokenthat sucha talentedhealershouldhave passedaway. Everyonewho knew him was determinedthat he should havea magnificentfuneral and that he should always be rememberedas one of China's greatestever physicians.But when they went to put his body in its coffin, somethingextraordinaryhappened. Only Sun'srobeswere there. His body had completelydisappeared . The healerhad goneto heavento take his placeamongthe gods.

Left: Chinese physiciansuse many herbal remedies made from the dried leaves, stems,and roots of plants, all specially mixed to suit the patient and their specific illness.

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The enormoussize of the Chineseruler's court is shown by this picture from the Qi.ng Dynasty, in which thousandsof courtiersare assembling . to honor the emperor

THE HEAVENLY

EMPIRE

F

or thousandsof years,China was ruled by a seriesof supremelypowerful emperors.The first emperorwas Qi.n Shi Huang Di, who cameto power in 221 B.C.E. and was the first man to rule the whole of China as a single country. The last emperorwas the boy-emperorPuyi, who was forced to step down in 1912.In order to governthis hugecountry, the emperorsrelied upon an enormousstaff. This civil servicewas chosenby merit and was powerful and highly respected.The godsand goddesses of Chinesemythology were organizedin a similar way. The supremegod, known as the JadeEmperor, SupremeRuler, or Emperorof Heaven,had a vast staff, a kind of heavenly civil service,who helpedhim rule and actedas messengers betweenthe humanworld and the world of the gods. The JadeEmperorand his court were immortalswho lived forever. But many of them startedout as ordinary men or women. By doing somegood deedor displayingsomeexceptionalability, they found favor with the JadeEmperor and were admittedto the ranksof the gods.The myths connectedwith many of thesecharacters,suchas the famousBa Xian (pa hsi-en),or Eight Immortals,are the talesof how they left the mortal world behind to join the court of the JadeEmperor.

THE JADE

EMPEROR'SCOURT The ruler of the godswas known as Yu Huang (yoo hwang), the Jade Emperor, although peoplealso called him the Emperor of Heaven or simply the SupremeRuler. The Jade Emperor was surrounded by hundreds of servants. Theseimmortals influenced eventson earth in all kinds of ways, from controlling the weather to helping peoplewith their problems.

V

u Huangwas suchan exaltedfigure that few peoplehad a clue about how he becameEmperorof Heavenin the first place. But accordingto one story, he got his high-rankingposition through cunning. Thousandsof yearsago, therewas a war betweentwo powerful ruling families in China, the Zhou (choo) and the Shang. The Shangking, Zhou Xin (choo hsin) and his wicked mistresswere an evil pair who were cruel to their subjects,so the Chinesepeoplewere pleasedwhen, after a seriesof battles, King Wu of the Zhou Dynasty,ably assistedby his prime minister and general Jiang Ziya (changtzoo-yah),was the winner. After his victory, King Wu gaveJiang Ziya the job of rewardingall of thosefrom both sideswho had fought bravely-andthe bravestof all were to becomeimmortals in heaven. Jiang Ziya madethe most courageouswar leadersgods, but kept the post of Emperorof Heavenvacant.When Jiang had finished, Wu announcedthat Jiang himself should becomeJadeEmperor.Jiang pausedmodestly,as if deciding whetherto accept the post. At this point, Zhang(chang), a cunningcommanderwho had not beenoffered immortality, steppedforward and knelt in front of Jiangand Wu, thanking them for making him emperor!The pair were so astonishedthat they did not know what to say. And so it was that ZhangbecameYu Huang,JadeEmperor,insteadof Jiang. PoorJiang had to be contentwith the job of the JadeEmperor'schief minister.

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THE EMPERORRULES JUSTLY

In spite of this difficult start, the JadeEmperorsoon showedhimself to be a just ruler of heaven. One of his most importanttaskswas to keepa recordof how every human being on earthbehavedduring their life. To do this, he relied on reportsfrom the householdgods-oftencalled the Kitchen Gods- who kept watch on humans all year round. Every year, toward the end of the last lunar month, the kitchen godscameto the court of the JadeEmperorand describedeachperson's conduct.What the kitchen gods said was addedto the record, along with any commentsmadeby the Jade Emperor himself. When a persondied, the recordsof their conductwere usedto determine whetherthey would be reborn as a humanor an animal. The JadeEmperorwas far too glorious a figure to deal directly with humans, so peopledid not normally try to influence him by making offerings to him at the temple. Insteadthey worshippedhis servantsand courtiers,in the hope that theselesser deities would put in a word to the Emperoron their behalf. Left: One versionof the myth of the heavenlycourt describes how a trio of godshold power. At the top was the Jade Emperorhimself. Beneathhim were Dao Zhun (dow choon; on the right), keeperof the sacredbooks and ruler of the secondheaven, and Laozi (on the left), founderof Daoism, royal teacher,and ruler of the third heaven.

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THE GIFTS OF QYEEN XI WANGMU After the JadeEmperorhimself, the most important personat the heavenlycourt was Q.!!een Xi Wangmu,also known as Jin Mu ("Golden Mother") or the Q.!!een Mother of the West. Xi Wangmuwas the wife of the JadeEmperor.Shehad her own residenceon Mount Kunlun, whereshe lived surroundedby other immortals.Shehad the power to grant immortal life, which shecould give to peopleby offering them one of the peachesof immortality or by prescribinga specialelixir that madeyou immortal if you drank it. When the archerYi had shot down the nine sunsand savedthe world from drought (see pp. 22-27}, he madeone immortal angry. This was Di Jun, who was the father of the ten sunsand wantedYi just to frighten them into obedience,not to kill them. In revengeDi Jun forced Yi to live on earth as a mere mortal. So Yi went to ask Xi Wangmu if shecould restorehis immortality. The queengave him a bottle containingthe elixir, but warnedhim that, if he took it all, he would leaveearth forever and live only with the immortals in heaven. Yi did not want to leave earth behind,so he put off taking the elixir. But his

Right: Xi Wangmu was said to bring long life to thosewho worshippedher, and in this illustration carries one of the peachesof immortality in her left hand.

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THE FORBIDDEN CITY From the fifteenth to the early twentieth centuryc.E., the Chineseemperorslived in a huge palace complex, like a city within the city, in the centerof Beijing. Only the royal family and peopleon the emperor'sstaff were allowed inside, so the complex became known as the Forbidden City. Inside the walls were luxurious living quartersfor the emperor

and the court, offices for royal officials, and large ceremonial halls where the emperor received visitors. All these buildings were set in beautiful gardens, crossedby streams. Below: The ForbiddenCity was sealed off by high walls and a moat. Only the royal family and high-ranking civil servants could enter.

wife, who was called ChangE, liked the idea of eternallife, even thoughshedid not want to go to heaveneither. ChangE went to seean astrologerwho said that if sheachievedeternallife shecould go to live on the moon- away from the troublesof earth but also well away from heaven, too. So ChangE swallowedall the elixir Xi Wangmuhad given Yi and set off for the moon. Sadly, shewas miserableand lonely there becausethe only other living beingson the moon were an old man and a hare. ChangE learnedthe hard way that the gift of Xi Wangmucan be dangerousas well as powerful.

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Confuetont~ht The great philosopherKong Zi (kong zee) (551-479s.c.E.) is better known in the West by the nameConfucius.He was born at a time of social unrest,when different ruling families were fighting for control of China. Confucius traveledwidely, trying to persuadepeopleto changethe way they lived to makesociety more stable.But few peoplelistenedto Confucius'teachings , and only much later, during the EasternHan Dynasty (25- 220 C.E.), did his ideasbecomepopular. Above: This portrait of Confucius shows him as a teacher, explaining his valuesof respectand harmony.

CONFUCIUS The philosopherput family values at the heart of everything. He believedthat children should obey their parents,and that parentsshouldlove and carefor their children. Thereshould be a similar balance in other humanrelationships, too: a governmentminister should show the samerespectto his emperor, in return for his protection.If peoplerespected each other in this way, therewould be no disputesand wars. Right: One of Confucius'great followerswas Mengzi (meng-zee) (372-c. 289 B.C.E.), better known in the West as Mencius. He believedthat everyonewas basically good, and that their goodnesscould be broughtout by education and work.

Right: At placeslike this Confuciantemple in Nanjing, peoplecometo makeofferings to the gods.

TEMPLES AND RITUAL Worship of the ancientgods and following of rituals were very important to Confucius, becausehe believedthat, if you concentratedon rituals, you were more likely to lead a good and peaceful li fe. Confucian temples were full of harmonious music and the sweetsmell of incense.

THE NATURAL WORLD Although Confucius' ideaswere very practical, aiming to help China toward peace, security, and better government, the philosopher also saw the importanceof looking at the world of nature. As well as writi ng booksabout ritual, Confuciusalso taught using poetry, someof which commentson the beautyand harmony to be found in nature.

Right: The emperor Huizong painted this picture of a parakeet in the early twelfth centuryc.E. in a traditional Chinese style. The emperor was a poet, calligrapher,art collector, and a talentedartist in his own right.

THE

EIGHT IMMORTALS

, .---~~~~

~~~~~

~--~

The great Ba Xian, or Eight Immortals, could fly through the air, slay demons,and had the ability to remove evil from the world. But they had not always been immortal. They had once lived on earth as ordinary mortals before becominggods as the result of their devotion to the Daoist religion.

,-!

T

he first of the Eight Immortalsto achieveimmortality was Li Xuan (lee hsoo-an), an avid studentof Daoismwho was taught the secretof eternallife by Xi Wangmu, the QyeenMother of the West. Li Xuan had a diseasedright leg. The Qyeen Mother curedthe disease , but Li was left lame, so she gave him an iron crutch to help him to walk. One day Li Xuan wantedto crossa river and steppedon a floating leafso that it could carry him acrossthe water. When he encourageda bystanderto crossin the same way, the man refused,sayingthat he would sink. Li Xuan said that mortal men's cares were too heavyand the leafwould not supportthem. An immortal, on the other hand, had few cares,and so was as light as the air. This was why immortalscould fly. Then Li Xuan steppedon the leafonce more, and floated away in the direction of the EasternParadise.

ZHONGLI Q!JAN Zhongli Qyan (chong-leekoo-an) spenthis life as an officer at the emperor's court. When he was an old man, he retired from his job and traveledto the mountainsto live thereas a hermit. Peoplesaid that he had the power to turn copperinto the much more valuablemetal silver. But he did not seekto makea profit from his ability. Insteadhe gave any money he madeto the poor. On his travels he met the immortal Li Xuan, who taught him about Daoism. When he becameimmortal, Zhongli becamethe messengerof the gods.

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Left: The Eight Immortalsjourney acrossthe sea together.While sevencrowd into the boat, Zhang Guolaorides his magicaldonkey. On oneoccasion the immortalswent to a party and got drunk. They thought that it would be dangerousto fly homein sucha condition,and decidedthat instead they would travel by sea.

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SAILING The ancientChineseusedtheir rivers to get around their enormouscountry, as sailing was easier and quicker than building roadsthroughthe roughterrain. The Chinese became skilled sailors, using their boats to make long river journeys, for fishing, and to set up ferry servicesacrossthe larger rivers such as the Yangtze.They also exploredthe seas, using large, sturdyshipsknown asjunks. The great age of Chinese exploration was the fifteenth century c.E., when

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China's sailorsexplored the SouthChina Sea, the Indian Ocean,and the Arabian Sea, visiting the coastsof India and Sri Lanka and even traveling as far as the eastcoastof Africa. They did not attempt to conquer the lands they visited, but offered local rulers gifts, in order to set up diplomatic and trading relations. Below: A junk is a ship with a high stern, a flat bottom, and sails stiffened with slender battens of wood.

LU DONGBIN One day a man called Lu Dongbin arrived at an inn tired and thirsty after a long journey. Zhongli was alreadyat the inn and was heatingsomerice wine. As he watched Zhongli perform this task, Lu, exhaustedfrom his traveling, fell asleep.He dreamedthat he was promotedto an importantjob at court and was successfulfor fifty years,building up a greatfortune. But then he dreamedthat his luck ran out and he was sentinto exile. Lu woke up to seethat Zhongli was still warming the rice wine-hehad only been asleepfor a few minutes.Lu's dream had shown him that worldly successcould end in pain, so he decidedto study Daoismand eventuallydiscoveredthe secretof immortality.

MUSIC Confucius believed that music was as important to human beings as food. He thought that, if people regularly sang,playedan instrument, or listened to music, the harmony of the notes would enhance their own inner harmony, and therefore promote the health of both mind and body. He especiallyvaluedgentle,delicatemusic, fearing that loud or discordantsounds would make people behaveviolently or be unhappy. Music was frequently performed in ancientChina. Emperorsliked to have music playing for them while they held banquets,and many peopleliked to listen when a storytellerset his tales to music.Thereweremanyinstruments, including pipes, lutes, and a stringed instrumentcalled a zither.

Above: This tenth-centuryc.E. illustration showsa woman playing reed pipes,which were amongthe most popular instruments.

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HAN XIANGZI Han Xiangzi (han hsi-ang-zee)was an eagerstudentof Daoism,following in the footstepsof his great-uncle, Han Yu, who was a famousphilosopherof the Tang Dynasty. Han Yu taught his great-nephewabout the Daoist faith, and the young man soon knew more than his teacher,evenlearninghow to predict the futurehe foretold that Han Yu, who had fallen out with the emperor,would soon return to favor. Realizing that Han Yu had taught him all he could, Han Xiangzi soughtanother master, and becamea follower of the immortal Lu Dongbin. It soon becameclear that Han was so wise that he was closeto becomingimmortal too, so Lu took him to climb the tree where the peachesof immortality grew. When Han had almost reachedthe top of the tree, he missedhis footing and fell , but he had climbed high enough- just beforehe hit the ground, he achieved immortality. Han went to live with Lu and the other immortals in the EasternParadise.

CAO GUOJIU Unlike Lu Dongbin, who dreamedthat he got an importantjob, Cao Guojiu (cow kwojew) really did have ahigh position at court: he was the brotherof an empressduring the Song Dynasty. But his high position did not keepCao Guojiu out of trouble. He was accusedof being involved in a murderconspiracyand found himselfin prison. After someyears, Cao was releasedfrom captivity. But having learnedabout the short-livedand precariousnatureof humanpower, he no longer wantedto return to court. Cao traveledinto the mountains,gaveaway his wealth, and beganlife as a hermit. But Cao kept one souvenirof his former life: the small gold tablet that every courtier carried. One day, Cao wanted to crossa river but had no money to pay the ferryman. So he showedthe boatmanhis gold tablet, to show that he was a courtier and deserveda free passage.The ferryman was not impressedand told Cao not to pull rank. Cao respondedby throwing the gold tablet into the river, to show that he had now really renouncedhis old privileged life. The ferryman, who was noneother than the immortal Lu Dongbin, was so impressedthat he taughtCao the way of Daoism. Cao later joined the ranks of the immortals. Opposite:This painting on wood showsthe immortal Cao Guojiu (standing)in his refuge amongthe mountains.

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MAGIC The magical powers of the Eight Immortals seem incredible today, but in ancient China many people believed in magic. Magicians played an important part in daily life and, during the Q!_n and Han dynasties (221 B.C.E.-220 c.E.), the emperors evenemployeda numberof magicians. Calledfongshz; thesemen worked as healers and had the reputation of

being able to make people live longer-andto make them immortal when they died. Although many people believed in their powers, the Confucian scholars who became increasinglypowerful at court during the Han Dynastywere more sceptical, and the fashion for employingfongshi had declined by the time the Han Dynastycameto an end.

ZHANG GUOLAO ZhangGuolao (changkwo-low) was a hermit who possessedmagical powers.The emperorand empressoften tried to persuadehim to come to court, but Zhang refused,preferring his quiet country life. After many requests,Zhangfinally gave in and traveledto the capital, but suddenly droppeddeadby the gateof one of the temples.Miraculously, he cameback to life, even though his body had startedto decay,and he impressedthe emperorwith all kinds of powers:he could make himselfinvisible, drink poisonwithout getting ill, and turn birds to stonesimply by pointing at them. EventuallyZhangreturnedto his homein the mountains,now an old man. When he died he was buried in a tomb near his home. Later, someof his followers opened the tomb and found it empty-for ZhangGuolao had becomean immortal. He was said to ride a magicaldonkeyor mule, which he could fold up like a sheetof paper and stow away in a bag when he did not needto travel. Along with Lu Dongbin and Li Xuan, ZhangGuolao was an especiallypowerful immortal. The threewere well known for their flamboyantdressand their dashing adventuresfighting demons.They were sometimesso boisterousthat they got themselvesinto trouble, by getting drunk or playing dangeroustricks suchas settingfire to the ocean.

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LAN CAIHE Lan Caihe (Ian tsigh-ho) was the most mysteriousof the Eight Immortals, becauseno one was certainwhetherhe was a man or a woman-althoughpeopleusually referredto him as a man. Lan Caihewas famousas a healerand knew the medicinal powersof many herbsthat grew in the Chinesecountryside.Once he was walking in the mountainsgatheringherbswhen he met an old beggarwho was obviously in pain. When Lan looked under the man'srags he saw that his body was coveredwith soresand wounds.Q!!ickly Lan beganto wash and dressthe woundsand, althoughthis was a dauntingtask, he did not give up until all the beggar'sboils were soothed.The sick man turnedout to be the immortal Cao Guojiu, and Cao was so impressedboth with Lan's healing powersand with his determinationthat he took him to the EasternParadiseto becomean immortal.

HE XIANGU He Xiangu (ho hsien-koo) was a young girl who lived near a mountain range calledtheMotherofPearlMountains. One night she had a dream in which a spirit told her to go to the mountains, take some of the mother of pearl that was found there,and grind it into a powder. She should then eat the powder, and when shedid so shewould become immortal. When she awoke the next morning, He went to the mountain and ate the stone. And she soon joined the other immortals in the EasternParadise. Right: He Xiangu was the female memberof the group of Eight Immortals and was much worshippedby women.

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Daot~111 The philosophyof Daoismwas popularizedby the sageand writer Laozi, who lived in the fifth century B.C.E. Daoism, also known as Taoism, is a philosophythat stressesthat all living things are linked. WhereasConfucianism focuseson the family or the state, Daoism focuseson the individual, and Daoistsaim to reach a form of spiritual perfectionthat leadsto everlastinglife after death. Below: Making offerings and burning incenseare two of the rituals that take place in Daoist temples. Theseworshippers in Hong Kong are burning i ncense. Devoteeshope that the smoke will carry their messagesto the immortals.

Above: Daoist templescontain altars where imagesof the immortalsare placed. This temple is in Shanghai.

THE DAOIST WAY To achieveeverlasting li fe, Daoists foll ow the dao, or way, which entail s trying to li ve a simple li fe in harmony wi th nature. To begin with, Daoism was a philosophy, a way of helping people to lead a better life. But in the centuries after the death of Laozi it changed. Foll owers were inspired by stories of people who had become immortals from following Daoist teachings, and they began to worshi p theseimmortals as gods and goddesses. In this way Daoism became a religion with its own deities and temples.

YIN AND YANG According to Daoism, everythingin the world is madeup of two basic , calledyin andyang. In nature, elements thesetwo elementsare held in a delicatebalance. When things go wrong- when someoneis ill , there is a war, or a river floods- it is because of an imbalancein yin and yang. The traditional way to representyin and yang is as a circle divided into a light and a dark sectionby an S-shaped line, representingthe way the two elementsflow into eachother. Below: In this plate from a Daoist temple, the Yin and Yang symbols are surroundedby the eight trigrams (see pp. 34-35).

-centuryC.E. painting Above: This eighteenth showsLaozi (left) meetingConfucius, who is holding the Buddha.The threemen could not havemet becausethe Buddhalived in lndia-ponrayingthe threetogetheris simply a way of showingthat they were the three most imponantreligious leadersto influenceChina.

LAOZI Laozi worked as an archivist in the emperor'spalace,but after a while he tired of that life and left to lead the life of a traveling sage.When someonehe met askedhim about his ideas, he wrote a book called Dao De Jing (tow tay ching; "The Way and Its Power"). The Dao Dejing is still the most important Daoist text

--

--

SAFE AS HOUSES I

The god Zao Jun (tsow chun) is often known as the Kitchen God, or the God of the Stove. Chinesepeople sometimesput up his portrait in the kitchen, abovethe stove.But he was not alwaysa powerful god: he was oncean ill-fated mortal man named Chang.

W

hen Changwas a young man, he marrieda girl called Guoding Xiang (kwoting hsian). Guodingwas everythinga man could want in a wife: gentle, attractive,faithful, and a good cook! With his young wife's help, Changsoon beganto do well in businessand becamequite rich.

AN UNLUCKY MARRIAGE But the couple'shappinessdid not last long. Another woman, Li Hai Tang, decided shewantedto marry Chang,and soon she had persuadedhim to divorce Guodingand marry her. But without Guodingat his side, Changdid not do so well in businessand his moneygraduallydwindled away. When he becamepoor, the faithless Li lost interest in Chang,and soonsheleft him. Changwas on his own, poor, and miserable.He took to wanderingthe streetsas a beggar.Lack of food and sheltermadehim ill and, after a few years,he beganto lose his eyesight.One day Changwas wanderingaroundbeggingas usual when he happenedto passthe houseof his first wife. When GuodingspottedChangshe recognizedhim immediately, even though he was dressedin rags and looked much older than when they had beenmarried.Shetook pity on him, invited him in, and cooked him a dish of noodles.Changdid not realize who this kind woman was as he was now completelyblind. He ate the noodlesravenously and told Guodingthat they tasteddelicious, just as good as the noodleshis first wife usedto make. When Guodingsaw how appreciativeChangwas, shesaid, "Chang,openyour eyes!" And straightaway Chang'ssight was miraculouslyrestored.

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Left: The Kitchen God Zao Jun is usually portrayedas a bearded man in the robes of a scholar. In this illustration he is accompanie d by a band of musicians playing traditional instruments.

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Of coursethe first thing Changsaw was his former wife. But insteadof being pleasedhe was full of shamefor the way he had treatedher. Overcomeby remorse, he jumpedstraight into the fire. Guodinggrabbedhold of his leg to try to pull him out of the flames, but he was too determined.Changwas swiftly consumedby the flames, leaving Guoding in tears,graspingthe leg that had come away from his burning body.

CHANG GAINS IMMORTALITY Becauseof his genuineremorse,Changwas allowed to join the immortalsafter his saddeath.He becamean importantgod, known as Zao Jun. It is not surprisingthat he becamethe God of the Stove. And becausethe stove, usedfor both heatingand cooking, is the heartof a traditional Chinesehouse,Zao Jun was soon one of the bestloved of the gods. Peoplesaid that Zao Jun was especiallyoffendedby swearingand bad language. Everyonewas expectedto be respectfulto his imageand to behavewell, especially in the kitchen itself. He did not like wastedfood and was offendedif peoplemadea promise-forexampleto live without eating meatfor a period of time-andthen broke their vow. Although he was not a memberof the JadeEmperor'scourt, Zao Jun had a very importantjob. He actedas a messengerbetweenearth and heavenand it was his role to report on the behaviorof humanity, so the JadeEmperorhad a full recordof what went on on earth. Peoplebelievedthat when somethingwas burned,the smokerose to the sky and took a messageto heaven. So at every New Year the paperimageof Zao Jun was taken down from abovethe stoveand burned,sendinga report to the JadeEmperorabout the family's behaviorduring the previousyear. The ceremonyof burning the imageof the Kitchen God was one of the most importantin the religious year, so peoplepreparedfor it very carefully. The usual customwas to makean offering of someof the most temptingsweetsa few days before New Year. The householderleft theseon the stove, by the god's image. Then the image itself, which could get rathersooty from the smokefrom the fire, was cleaned.Sometimessomesugaror wine was smearedon the god'sface, to help persuadeZao Jun to give a good report when he arrived in heaven.Finally, the image was takendown and burned,and the higher the smokerose the happierpeoplewere, becausethey believedhis report was reachingheaven.A new imagewas put up in the kitchen shortly afterward.

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CHINESE HOUSES TraditionalChinesehouseswere often quite large because each one was usually home to severalgenerationsof the same family. Homes were built around one or more courtyards,with the main courtyardacting as a meeting placefor family members.Like a small garden, it often had a tree in the middle and there were usually pots containingflowers. At the far end, away from the street, was either the main building, where the most senior members of the

householdlived, or the entranceto an inner courtyard, again for the older family members . To either side of the courtyard were buildings where relativeslived or where guestsstayed. The kitchens were built conveniently near the main building, and if the family was rich enough to have servants , their rooms would be near the kitchens. Many traditional houses like this still survive, although many were replacedby modern-stylehomes during the twentieth century.

Left: Traditional courtyard homes can be seenin this painting of summertimein Beijing at the start of the twentieth century.

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Statuesof the Buddha, usually showinghim in a poseof quiet contemplation, becamecommonas the faith spreadacrossChina. This one is in JingshanPark in Beijing.

MYTHS OF

BUDDHISM

T

he Buddhistfaith has proveda rich sourceof Chinesemyths. As well as the Buddhahimself, ChineseBuddhismfeaturesmany other religious leadersand teacherswho show peoplehow to lead a betterlife, in the hopethat they will eventuallyreacha stateof fulfillment or enlightenment.

Thereare many myths involving thesecharacters,but ChineseBuddhistmyth doesnot exist in isolation. Charactersfrom traditionsoutsideBuddhismcan enterBuddhistmyth, meetthe Buddha, and learn importantlessonsaboutlife. It is not unusualfor a single mythical story to include charactersfrom the Daoist religion, the Buddha, and figures from the ranksof the traditional godsand goddessesof China. Like the vast land of China itself, Chinese myths contain influencesfrom far and wide, and in someof the longestand most famousstories,like the tale of Monkey, all these differentelements cometogether.

IN THE

WESTERN PARADISE Of all the Buddhist deities, the most powerful was Amituo Fu, the gendebuddha, or "enlightened person," who promised everlasting life to thosewho had faith in him. He began life as a mortal long ago in India, where he was named Dharmakara. When he was a young man, he was inspired by the simple life led by the Buddha, who had renounced comfort and riches in order to find out how to reach a higher state of fulfillment, known as enlightenment.

D

harmakaradecidedto becomea Buddhist monk and, under the guidanceof a wise teacher , meditatedfor many long years, steadily coming closerand closer to enlightenment. Gradually Dharmakaradecidedthat his own vision of fulfillment was ratherdifferent from the usual goal of personalenlightenment.He did not simply want enlightenment for himself, but wantedto bring othersto enlightenmentas well. After considerable thought, he madea promise. Dharmakaraannouncedthat he would not becomea buddhahimselfunlesshe could saveall living things and set up a heavenlykingdom where they would all be able to enjoy everlastinglife. This amazingvow broughtthe monk so much merit that he did indeedbecomea buddhahimself, after which time he was known in India as Amitabha, and in China as Amituo Fu. Amituo Fu went to live in a heavenlykingdom in the west, one of four Buddhist kingdomsat the four points of the compass,known as the WesternParadiseor sometimesas the Pure Land. This was an ideal land where everythingwas beautiful. , no violence or suffering, but everything,from the Therewere no fires or darkness gardensto the palaces , was arrangedto make thosewho dwelled therecontentedand at peace.

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PAGODAS A pagoda is a tall tower on which each story has its own overhanging roof. Pagodasare among the most beautiful structures in Asian architecture,elegantly designedand often displaying many statuesof the Buddha. Pagodaswere first built at Buddhistshrinesin India and spread to China when Buddhismtook hold there.They camein variousdifferent shapes and sizes. They could be octagonal,hexagonal, or square,and had different numbers of floors, althoughthey were always tall. Pagodasbeganas monumentsbuilt over the burial-placeof the ashesof a particularlysaintly Buddhistmonk. The structures became popular in China during the Tang Dynasty (618-906c.E.), and in the centuries that followed it was normal for every ChineseBuddhistmonasteryto have at leastone pagoda.

Right: Numerouspagodassurvive in China today. Like many others,this pagodain the Red and Gold Temple in Hong Kong is eight-sided.

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THE PURE LAND The WesternParadisewas a placeof amazingnatural wonders.The many treesincluded bananatreesfull of ripe fruit and jewel trees madeof gemsand preciousmetalssuch as gold and silver, emeraldsand pearls. Enormouslotus flowers-someof them severalmiles across-bloomedall year round. Countlessrays extendedfrom theselotus flowers, and at the end of eachray sat a buddha, looking down on the world with calm and compassion.Every buddhawas surroundedby a halo of light, purity, and peace, so all thesebuddhas,with their adjoining haloes, madethe WesternParadisethe most perfect place imaginable. The rivers of the WesternParadiseflowed slowly and steadily, and beautiful scentsroseup from their watersto delight the passerby.As the watersran by they madeall kinds of beautiful sounds,which combined togethermadethe most melodiousmusic one could ever hear, gentle and moving to the heart, and endlesslychangingso that no listener would ever tire of hearingit. If someonewantedto bathein the rivers, their waterscould be as hot or cold as they wished them to be. Listening to theselovely soundsand looking at the gorgeous treesand flowers was so pleasingand so calming that anyonein the WesternParadisewas soon brought to a stateof peaceand compassion. In this way, the WesternParadiseitself helpedpeopletoward the state of enlightenmentthat they wished to gain by practicingBuddhism on earth. Amituo Fu said that all would be able to come to the Western Paradisewho had faith in him, who did not commit certainserious crimes or sins, and who did not speakdisparaginglyof the true religion of Buddhism.Many peoplebelievedthat, if they sincerely announcedtheir faith in Amituo Fu, they would be admittedto Paradise.As a result, devotion to Amituo Fu becamepopularall over China.

Right: This imageof Amituo Fu in the WesternParadise comesfrom a cavetempleat Dunhuang(doon-hwang),a Chinesetown at the edgeof the Gobi Desert,which contains someof the mostbeautifulBuddhistpaintingsin the world.

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Ever sinceAmituo Fu becamea buddha,peoplein China haveoffered prayersto him. Many peoplepray to him both in times of difficulty, when it is hopedthat the gentle buddhawill make things better,and in times of happiness , when peoplewant to thank the buddhafor everythingthat he hasdonefor them. His nameis also often includedon tombstones,especiallyof thosewho havedied young, so that anyonewho readsthe inscription will automaticallyutter a prayerto Amituo Fu, therebyhelping the soul of the deadpersonon their way to the Paradisein the West.

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Buddht~ht

tn Chtno

The Buddhistfaith beganin India during the sixth centurys.c.E. and was basedon the teachingsof SiddharthaGautama(c. 563-483B.C.E.), known as the Buddha("the enlightenedone"). Buddhismdid not arrive in China until long aftetward,probablyaroundthe time of the collapseof the Han Dynastyin 220 c.E. After Han rule ended,China was ruled by peoplefrom CentralAsia who broughtBuddhistmonkswith them as civil servants. Buddhismspreadquickly throughChina, whereit developedfeaturesthat were distinctly different from Buddhismin India. Left: The founderof Buddhism,the Buddhais revered as a teacher. Gigantic statues of him, like this one cut out of a rocky hillside at Leshan, were erectedin many placesin China.

Above: Bodhisattvasare often ponrayedin pictures and carvings,such as theseat the LongmenCavesin Hunan province,China. Constructionof the cavesbeganin 493 c.E.

THE BUDDHA SiddharthaGautamawas an Indian prince who gave up a life of luxury to seek higher truths. He taught that, by following a way of life involving wisdom, good behavior,and meditation, people could be led away from the suffering of the world to reachan ideal statecalled nirvana or enlightenment.

Left: Mountainstower toward the heavensand are remoteplacesof great grandeurand beauty.It is not surprisingthat many Chinese mountains,like this one, Hua Shan (hwa shan),are seenas holy places. Many have links with specific bodhisattvas,and thereare templeson their slopesthat are regularly visited by pilgrims.

Below: TheseBuddhistmonks,in their traditional robes, havegathered for a religious festival in Qinghai province in westernChina.

BODHISAITVAS A key differencebetweenChineseBuddhism and the kind practicedin India is that many ChineseBuddhistsbelievethat, if they have buddhaAmituo Fu, faith in the compassionate they can live on after deathin the Western Paradiseor Pure Land. Followersof this form of Buddhismare known as PureLand Buddhists.They believethat the bestway to show your faith is to becomea bodhisattva,a buddhaor enlightenedperson,who reachesthe point of nirvana, but turns back, in order to help othersachievethe enlightenedstate.

MONASTERIES Monasteriesplay a major role in Buddhist life, especiallyin the Buddhismof Tibet and westernChina. As well as providing ideal placesfor a life of contemplation,they are also beneficial to the rest of the population,who achieve"merit," and thereforemove closerto , by donatingfood to the monks. enlightenment

THE

MERCIFUL GODDESS ·-

The goddessGuan Ym began life as the princessMiao Shan (meeow shan), the daughter of a Chineseemperor of the Chou Dynasty.Miao Shan's father wanted her to marry a wealthy prince, to increasethe prestige of the imperial family. But Miao Shan did not want to get married-her ambition was to enter a nunnery. ··-

-

M

iao Shan'sfather tried to persuadeher to do what shewas told and get married, but the girl insisted.Shewas absolutelycertainthat shewantedto devoteher life to religion. In the end, the emperorsaid that she could join a nunnery- but he had a cunningplan. The emperorhad a long conversationwith the abbessof a nunnery,explainingthat his daughterwas so devotedto her duty that sheshould do all the worst jobs: menial taskslike cleaningand heavywork like carrying big loads.Secretlyhe hopedthat Miao Shanwould be put off the nunneryfor good, and beg to return to the palace and get married.· Yet the emperor'splansdid not work out. Miao Shanput up with her degrading duties with cheerfulness,and it becameclear that she did not want to leavethe nunneryat all. The girl's determinationoverwhelmedthe emperorwith anger.How could his young daughterdisobeyhim like this! Wild with fury, he orderedthat his daughterbe executed.

AN EXECUTION Miao Shanwas broughtto the placeof executionand a swordsmanbroughtdown his razor-sharpsword on her neck. But a miraculousthing happened - as it fell, the weaponshatteredinto a thousandpieces, leaving Miao Shanunscathed. The enragedemperororderedthat his daughtershould be strangled.His command was obeyed,and as the girl's body slumpedlifeless, her soul escaped,making its way straightto the underworld.

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[1

'I

The soul of the virtuous girl passedquickly through the underworldand soon reachedparadise. When shearrived theresheannouncedthat she would rather return to earth to help the countless peoplewho neededaid-andso Miao Shanwas rebornas the merciful goddessGuanYin, which means"hearingthe cry."

HEARING THE CRY Soonafter shereturnedto earth,Guan Yin heardthat her father was seriouslyill. Sheknew that the only thing that would cure him was a medicinemade of one of her own eyesand one of her arms. So, settingasideher own terrible pain, shesacrificedher own body to makesucha potion. Shesentthe elixir to her father, who was quickly cured. The emperorwas flabbergasted.He realized that he had underestimated his daughterand the power of Buddhism.Not only did he becomea Buddhistbut he ordereda statueto be madeof his daughter,and in this statue shewas depictedwith one thousandarms, restoringthe flesh that shehad sacrificedfor him a thousandfold.

Left: This porcelain statuetteshowsthe goddessof mercy GuanYin with an expressionof calm contemplationon her face.

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PAPER AND PRINTING The Chinese were experimenting with papermakingduring the Han Dynasty (207 B.C.E.-220 C.E.). By the seventh century c.E., they were beginning to develop the printing process,some 800 years before it was invented in Europe. Printersworked out how to carvewriting and picturesinto blocks of wood, which

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they then coveredwith ink and pressed onto sheetsof paper. Although they had no complex machinery to help them, a skilled printer could produceup to 1,500 pagesa day with wood blocks. It is likely that most of the early printers were Buddhistswho usedtheir skill to produce copiesof the Buddhistscriptures.

To this day, many statuesof Guan Yin in Chinesetemplesshow her with a thousand arms,or with so many that sheseemsto havea thousand. Guan Yin continuedto travel aroundthe world answeringpeople'sprayersand helping the sick and needy.Shebecamea particularfriend of childlesscouples, helping them to havechildren. Sheloved to help families sort out their argumentsand differences,so that both childrenand parentscould seeeachother'spoints of view, just as her father had finally beenable to seeher point of view about her missionto help and heal. GuanYin's powerand mercywere so greatthat sooneveryonein difficulty appealed to her. Shewould help women in childbirth, comfort peoplewith sick relativesor who had recentlysuffereda bereavement,and give strengthto thosewho were aboutto do somechallengingtask such as go on a long journey or begin a new businessventure. The merciful goddessplayed one other vital role: she helpedto comfort souls in the underworld.Daoists,who believedthat soulsspenttime beingjudged in the underworldbeforepassingon to paradise, askedher to help the soulsof their departed loved onesthrough this ordeal,so she becameas importantto them as to Buddhists.And to this day, peoplestill makeofferingsof tea, fruit, or moneyto GuanYin, convincedthat shewill help all who pray to her through life's difficulties. Her statuecan be seenin millions of homes and templesthroughoutChina. Left: The oldestChineseprinted book to survive is a Buddhisttext, known as the DiamondSutra, which was printed in 868 C.E. and is a 16-ft-long (5 m) scroll. A surra is a manual, or collection of rules or ideas.Buddhistsstill read the Diamond Sutra, which summarize s a numberof key ideas of the form of Buddhismpopular in China, Mongolia, and other Far Easterncountries.

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MONKIV Soon after he was born in the forest, Monkey becamea brilliant magician. To improve his skills further, he studied with a Daoist immortal, who taught him all kinds of magic. Monkey learned how to leap thousandsof miles through the air and how to changehis shapewheneverhe wanted to. He was easily the most skilled and powerful member of his speciesto walk the earth.

M

onkey'sskills were secondto none,but he could not resist playing tricks on peopleand he often got into trouble. Eventuallythe Daoistswith whom he was studyingthrew him out and Monkey returnedto his fellow animalsin the forest. Soonhe becameleaderof all the other monkeys,using his magic powersto conquertheir enemies. All the apesand monkeysof the forest were so impressedwith Monkey'sskills that they held a great feast in his honor. But the celebrationgot out of hand. Monkey drank too much and fell into a drunkenstupor. While he was asleepthe king of the underworldarrived and capturedMonkey, and soon the haplessanimal found himself chainedup in the dungeonsof hell.

PUNISHING MONKEY But Monkey'spowersenabledhim to escape . He broke his chainsand, beforeanyonehad realizedit, stole the registerof judgments.This was the book in which the judgesof the underworldwrote down the detailsof everyone's life and death.Monkey turned to his own pageand found that he was listed as dying at the ageof 342. This was not old enoughfor Monkey, so he crossedout his nameand agefrom the book-aswell as thoseof many of his monkeyfamily, too. From this point, he was destinedto becomean immortal. The judgesof the underworlddecidedthat they shouldgo to theJadeEmperorhimself to complainaboutMonkey'santicsand to ask him to comeup with a suitablepunishment. When the emperorgot to hearof what Monkey had done he was angry. His first instinct

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\

.

Above: Immortals look down from heavenon the youngMonkey in this early twentiethcenturyc.E. painting. The trickster is alreadywaving a paw boldly at the onlookers.

was to summona vast army to deal with the animal. But he changedhis mind. Ratherthan wastethe efforts of his soldiers,he decidedthat the bestway to treat the trickster was to give him a job to keep him busy. So Monkey was madeoverseerof the Emperor'sstables and for a while he was well behaved.

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To begin with, Monkey thought that his grand-soundingjob was an importantposition. But he soonrealizedthat it was not a very powerful post, and that the emperorhad given him the job to keep him out of trouble. So he grew restlessand beganhis mischiefonce more. This time, he becamea vandal, going aroundbreakingup the JadeEmperor'spalace and causingall kinds of problems. When the JadeEmperorsentsoldiersto stop him, Monkey ran away up Mount Huaguo(hwa-gwo), and whateverthe emperor'stroops did to try to bring him down, Monkey stoppedthem by using his magic powers. After this had goneon for a while, the JadeEmperorsaw that the bestthing would be to come to an agreementwith Monkey. So once more, the emperorgave the mischiefmakera job, this time looking after the heavenlypeachgarden,where the treesbearing the peachesof immortality grew. Eating thesemarvelousfruits madeyou live forever.

THE HEAVENLY PEACH GARDEN All went well until the gods held a peachfestival in the gardenand forgot to invite Monkey. It was an important festival, to celebratethe birthday of Xi Wangmu, the Q!.!een Mother of the West, and the trickster was angry when he found out that he had beenleft off the invitation list. So before the party began,Monkey crept into the garden, gatheredup all the peaches,and ate them all. He had not only spoiled the celebrations but had fulfilled his destiny-hewas now one of the immortals. Monkey then fled the gardenand ran off to the homeof the Daoist sageLaozi, where he causedmore trouble by stealingthe sage'spills of immortality. He evenate one of the pills-to make doubly sure that he really was immortal. The power of the peachesand Laozi's pills would make Monkey an even more troublesomeenemyfor the gods. He ran away from Laozi's home, chuckling at the mischiefhe would be able to do. Before long, Monkey was making yet more trouble, attemptingto take over heaven beforehe onceagainclimbed Mount Huagaoto hide from the soldiersof the Jade Emperor.This time the Emperorrealizedthat things had got seriousand decided Monkey should be put to death.But of coursethis was impossibleas Monkey had eaten both the peachesand Laozi's pill of immortality. When the Emperordiscoveredthis, he did not know what to do. He askedfor the adviceof the Buddha.Perhapsthe great teacherwould have apeacefulsolution where war and punishmenthad failed. Opposite:Peopleimagined that the heavenlypeachgardenwas a placeof greatbeauty, . This painting of where peachtrees grew againsta backdropof stunningmountainscenery the gardenwas the work of an artist of the Ming Dynasty(1368-1644C.E.).

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Chinese M yth

MONKEY IS SUMMONED BY BUDDHA The Buddhacalled Monkey to him and startedto questionhim. When Monkey was askedwhy he wantedto rule heaven, he replied that he was clever and powerful enoughto do so. "Everyoneknows that I can travel thousandsof miles in a single leap," he said. The Buddhareplied that, if Monkey could really achievethis, he should rule heaven, but that he doubtedif Monkey could even jump out of his hand. Monkey replied not with words but with the mightiestleap he had ever made.He traveledfar, landing at the foot of a tall mountainand writing his nameon one of the rocks beforeboundingback to report to the Buddhawhat he had done. But the Buddhalaughedwhen Monkey said he had crossedthe whole world in one leap. He showedthe trickster the mountainwhere he had written his name- it was simply the baseof one of the Buddha's great fingers. Monkey refusedto believewhat the Buddhatold him, so the teachertold Monkey to make the leap again, to check for himself. As Monkey jumped, the Buddhaclosedhis hand, carefully imprisoningMonkey in his fist. He then handedthe trickster over to the merciful goddessGuan Yin, to comeup with a suitablepunishment. GuanYin createda magic mountainand locked Monkey inside. He was told he would have to spend hundredsof yearsinside the mountain,and that when he truly repentedof his sins he would be let out again. After centurieshad passed,the Buddhaand Guan Yin decidedthat the time had come for Monkey to be released.The Buddhacameup with a greatchallengefor Monkey. He was told to accompanythe sageT'ang Seng (tangseng),who was going on a long pilgrimageto India to bring back Buddhistscripturesto China. Right: Monkeys,with their amusinganticsand similarity to humans,fascinatedpeoplethroughoutthe history of China. This monkey-shaped wine containerdatesfrom the Tang Dynasty(618-906C.E.).

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ChineseMyth

THE Q!LIN Chinesemyths are full of animals that played a special part in the lives of humansand the gods. One of the most famous was the qilin (chee-lin), which was the Chinese equivalent of the Westernunicorn. The qilin had the body of a deer, the hoovesof a horse, and a single horn. Along its back were hairs of various different colors. The qilin was said to be a creature that worked for justicein the world. When a wise or just emperortook the throne,a qilin wassaid to appearso that people would realize that the ruler had thesegood qualities. WhenYongle(yong-li) (1403- 1424c.E.) became emperor, an admirer sent a giraffe to his court as a gift. Many peoplethought that this creature-then

unknownin China- wasso unusualthat it must be a qilin. Yongle was reveredas a just ruler as a result, and when he turned out to be an able ruler, people must have had their belief in the power of the qilin strengthened.According to onestory, the creaturewas meantto take part in criminal trials, and if it found a person guilty, was said to skewer the prisoneron its horn.

Right: This picture of a qilin forms an embroideredbadgewhich onceadornedthe robe of an official who worked at the court of the emperorduring the sixteenthor seventeenth century c.E. The badgewas probablymeantto suggestthat the wearerbehavedwith justice when he was carrying out his work.

By a hugeeffort of will , Monkey managedto make the entire pilgrimagewithout once making mischief. He only usedhis magical powerswhen he and T'ang Senggot into trouble on their long and perilousjourney. On Monkey's return, the JadeEmperor and the Buddhawere so impressedwith him that they promotedhim to the highestrank in heaven.He was madegod of victorious strife, and he has beenfamouseversince.

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TIMELINE OF CHINA C. 1580 B.C.E. The first of the Shangkings comesto the throne; they encouragethe developmentof metalworking and the Chinesewritten script.

C.E. 175 A project beginsto produceaccuratetexts of the Confucianclassicbooksand to inscribe them on around 50 stone tabletsat the Imperial Academy.

604 B.C.E. Laozi born.

C.E.

551 B.C.E. Confuciusborn.

C.E. 435 The emperorWendi (wen-dee)curbs the power of Buddhismby allowing new templesto be built only with imperial permission.

C.

403 B.C.E. A prolongedperiod of conflict, known as the Warring StatesPeriod, begins; it divides China.

221 B.C.E. Qin Shi Huang Di, the first emperorof the Qin Dynasty, unites China and beginsambitious building projectsincluding the Great Wall and his own tomb at Mount Li.

207 B.C.E. The emperorGaodi (gow-dee),founds the Han Dynasty.

124 B.C.E. A systemof competitiveexaminationsis introduced as a qualification to enterthe Chinesecivil service.

119 B.C.E. The Han Dynasty nationalizescast iron production, so that the emperorcan take all the profits from the industry. 31 Water power is usedto operatebellows to produce the currentof air neededin iron furnaces. C.E.

C.E. 80 "Dragon's back" pump is first described. C.E.

105

The first evidencefor the Chineseinvention of paper.

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ChineseMyth

220

Buddhismis by now well establishedin China.

C.E. 600 Around 90 percentof the peopleof China are Buddhists. C.E. 609 The Grand Canal,linking northern and southern China, is completed.

c.E. 618 The emperorGaozufounds the Tang Dynasty, beginninga period when the arts and literature flourish. C.E. 635 A monk called Alopen settlesin the city of Changan and founds the first Christian church in China. C.E. 653 The earliestsurviving Chineselaw code is drawn up. C.E. 725

A ChineseBuddhist monk makesthe world's first mechanicalclock.

751 Muslim forces defeatthe Chineseat the Battle of Talas River, stoppingthe Chinesearmy from expandingbeyond the Pamir Mountainsin the far west of the country. C.E.

782 NanchanTemple, Shanxi Province, is China's earliestsurviving woodenbuilding. C.E.

C.E. 868 The DiamondSutra, a Buddhist text, is printed; it is the oldestsurviving printed book in the world. C.E. 960 The emperorTaizu (tie-zoo) founds the Song Dynasty,a period in which Chineseindustry prospers.The emperorintroducesa Grand Council of ministersand advisersto help him rule. C.E. 971 The BuddhistCanon, a large collection of Buddhist scriptures,is printed.

1405 The Chineselaunch a seriesof seaexpeditionslead by admiral Zheng He to Borneo, India, Africa, and the Arabian Peninsula. 1644

After the collapseof the Ming Dynasty, a foreign ruling family, the Manchusfrom Manchuriato the northeastof China, founds the Qing (Ching) Dynasty,which enduresuntil 1912.

1645 The Manchusmake Chinese men wear the Manchu hairstyle. 1840 Britain and China fight a war for control of the opium trade.

C.E. 1007 A shortageof coppercoins leadsto the decisionto print the first papermoney.

1842 The Opium War endswith the Treaty of Nanjing.

C.E. 1044 A formula for gunpowderis publishedfor the first time.

1905 The civil service examinationsystemis abolished.

1213 The Mongol leaderGenghisKhan attacksthe northern plains of China until the Chinesebuy him off.

1911 China becomesa republic.

1215 Genghisagain attacksnorthernChina, but then decidesto move westward,leaving China free from further assaults .

1912 Puyi, the last emperorof China, stepsdown from power.

1279 The Mongol leaderKhubilai conquersChina and establishesthe Yuan Dynasty, which rules China for almost l 00 years. 1368 The emperorHongwu (hong-woo)founds the Ming Dynasty and brings the country underChinese leadershiponce more.

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GLOSSARY acupuncture Systemof traditional Chinesemedicinein which the physiciantreatsthe patientby insertingneedlesinto certain points on the patient's body.

dynastieswere the Q!n (Chin: 221- 207 s.c.e.),the Han (207 B.C.E.220 C.E. ), the Tang (618-906c.E.), the Ming (1368-1644),and the Q!ng (Ching: 1644-1912).

IHr gu« The Eight Trigrams,a seriesof eight symbols, eachmadeup of threecontinuousor brokenlines, usedto predictwhat may happenin the future.

elixir A magical liquid said to havethe ability to makea person live longer or to make them immortal.

bodhisattva A Buddhistsaint, or personwho, having almost reachedthe ultimatespiritual goal of enlightenment, holds off from reachingthe enlightenedstatein order to help othersachievethe goal.

hermit Personwho lives a life apartfrom other peoplein order to seekspiritual fulfillment or truth.

Buddha Namemeaning"the EnlightenedOne" and appliedto the founder of the Buddhistfaith (the Buddha)or to one who has achievedeither enlightenmentor the stateof a bodhisattva.

immortal Being who will live forever. Chineseimmortalswere either godsand goddesseswho had alwaysexistedor thosewho had beenborn as humansbut were madeimmortal becauseof their outstandingbehavioror insight.

Buddhism Religious faith foundedin India by Gautama Siddhartha,known as the Buddha,during the 6th centuryB.C.E. and which was establishedto China by the early-3rd centuryC.E.

incense Substancethat is burned,to producea fragrant odor, during religious ceremonies.

cardinal directions The four points of the compass- North, South, East,and West. civil service Body of paid officials who carry out the day-to-day businessof a nation or empire. Confucianism Chinesebeliefsystemfoundedon the teachingsof the sageKong Zi, known as Confucius. court The group of peoplemost closelyassociatedwith the emperorand who include his closefamily, advisers,and most importantservants. culture hero Mythical beingwho helpsto found a particular culture or civilization. Daoism (also known as Taosim) Chinesebelief systembasedon the teachingsof the immortal Loazi. dragon Mythical creaturewith a scaly body, whiskery face, and horns;in China,dragonswere closely associatedwith the emperor and were believedto be wise, strongbeingswho were bringersof good fortune. dredging Clearinga river or canalby scoopingup mud or rubbish from the bottom. dynasty Chineseruling family. Emperorsareidentified by the dynastyto which they belonged.Amongstthe most important

92

enlightenmentThe final spiritual goal of Buddhists,a stateof completeknowledgeand releasefrom suffering.

ChineseMyth

Jade Emperor The ruler of heaven,the most powerful being in Chinesemythology; also known as the SupremeBeing. lunar month The time takenfor the Moon to travel aroundthe Earth. meridian One of a number of invisible pathsor channels, running throughthe human body, along which energyis said to travel. PureLand The paradiseto which accordingto the PureLand schoolof ChineseBuddhism, the soulsof the faithful go after death; also known as the WesternParadise. sed an chair Coveredchair in which a personis carriedby two servants,who hold the chair on long poles. sutra A manualor collection of rulesand idea, generallyregarded as the teachingsof the Buddha. terracotta Hard, unglazedpottery madefrom brownish/reddishclay. trigra.m Symbol madeup of threeparts;specificall y the symbols making up the ba gua or eight trigrams. WesternParadise SnPure Land. yin and yang The two natural substances or forces out of which, according to ancientChinesethought,everythingwas made.It was thoughtthat any disruption of the balancebetweenyin and yang was harmful.

FoR MORE INFORMATION BOOKS The following is a selection of booksthat have beenusedin the making of this volume, plus recommendations for further reading. Birch, Cyril. Tal!.! .from China. Oxford: Oxford Universiry Press, 2000. Birrell, Anne. Chin!.le Mythology: An Introduction. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Universiry Press, 1993. Christie,Anthony. Chin!.leMythology. London: Paul Hamlyn, 1968. Cotterell,Arthur. ChinaEyt'Witn!.lsGuide. London: Dorling Kinderlsey, 1994. Duane,0. B., and Hutchinson, N. ChinmMythsandLegends . London: BrockhamptonPress,1998. Ebrey, PatriciaBuckley. The CambridgeIllustrated History ofChina. Cambridge:CambridgeUniversiry Press , 2003. Paludan,Ann. Chronicle ofthe Chinm Emperors . London: Thames& Hudson, 2003. Shaughnessy , Edward, ed. China: TheLandoftheHetn~tn/y Dragon. London: DuncanBaird Publishers , 2000. Stevens , Keith. ChinmGods. London: Collins and Brown, 1997. Walters,Derek.ChinceMythology:An Enr:JcloptdiaofMyth andUgtnd. Timonium, MD: Diamond Books, 1995. Wong, Eva. Tal!.! ofthe TaoistImmortals. Boston: Shambhala,2001.

SPELLING AND PRONUNCIATION The Chineselanguageusesits own uniquescript, and thereare various methodsof "Romanization," the process of converting Chinesewords into westernletters. The methodof Romanization usedin this book is basedon the pinyin system.This is designed to representas accuratelyas possiblethe pronunciationof the words in Chinese, but to help make them easierto pronouncein English, the book also gives a simplified pronunciationguide in bracketswherethe word first appears.But there is no accurate way of writing down the sounds of the Chineselanguageusing westernletters,so thesepronunciationguidesare only approximate.As an additionalguide,someof the rough English equivalentsof the more difficult Chineselettersare given here. ao roughly equalsEnglish ow as in cow b roughly equalsEnglish p as in spot c roughly equalsEnglish ts as in sits d roughly equalsEnglish t as in stop g roughly equalsEnglish k as in skill q roughly equalsEnglish ch as in chill x roughly equalsEnglish hs z roughly equalsEnglish ds as in bids zh roughly equalsEnglish ch

WEB SITES http://www.chinavista.com/ experience/ myth/myth.html Overview of Chinesemythology, focusing on its history and specialfeatures,and the sryle and art of Chinesewriting. http://www.livingmyths.com/Chinese.htm Brief informationon belief systemsand creationmyth. Part of a web site on mythology, which includesGreekand Celtic myths. http://www.pantheon.org/ areas/mythologyI asia/chinese/ Many short articleson Chinesegodsand goddesses and placesof importancein Chinesemythology. http:/I www.chinatown-online.co .uk/pages/ culture/legends/ A selectionof Chineselegendsand myths, including a creation myth and talesof Confucius.

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INDEX A acupuncture33, 48 agriculture 9, 20, 21, 3 3, 35-37 Amituo Fu 9, 74-77, 79 animals 14, 16, 89 monsters24, 26 Anyang 17 archery25 astronomy39

8

bagua (writing system)34, 3 5 Ba Xian (Eight Immortals) 51, 58-65 birds 14, 21, 26-27 boats60 bodhisattvas79 bronze 17, 25 Buddha67, 72, 73, 74, 78, 86-89 Buddhism8, 73, 75, 78-79, 90, 91 myths 73-89 buildings 40, 91

c

calendar39 calligraphy41 Can Nu 42,45 canals90 Cao Guojiu, immortal 62- 63, 65 Chang, secZao Jun ChangE55 chaos11, 12, 13 Chi You 42-45 children 19, 56, 83

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civil service6, 8, 41, 51, 78, 90, 91 civilization 6-7, 9, 33- 39 docks 90 compass43 Confucianism7-8, 56-57, 64, 66, 90 Confucius7, 8, 56-57, 61, 67, 90 cranes21 creationmyths 7, 8, 11- 3 1 crossbow25 culture heroes8- 9, 33, 34-39

D Dao Zhun 53 Daoism7, 8, 58, 61, 62, 66-67, 73, 83 death 53 Dharmakara,suAmituo Fu Di Jun 22, 54 DiamondSutra83, 91 Dragon King 46-47 dragons14, 15, 31, 39, 47 dress40 drought 8, 11, 22- 26

E early Chinese17 Earth, creationof 12- 16 EasternParadise58, 62, 65 Emperorof Heaven28-31, 51, 52 emperors14, 50, 51, 55, 61 first 8, 38, 51 last 51, 91 enlightenment73, 74, 78 exploration60, 9 1

f family 56, 70, 71 fangshi (magicians)64 fire 34 fishing 34, 60 floods 7, 8, II , 2~ 29, 67 Great Flood 28-31 food 35- 6 ForbiddenCity 55 Fu Xi , culture hero 33, 34-35, 38

G Gaodi, Emperor90 Gaozu, Emperor90 godsand goddesses7-9, 33, 51, 73 household gods 53, 68- 71 government6 GreatWall 9, 38, 41, 91 Guan Yin, merciful goddess8, 9, 80-83, 88 gunpowder9 1 GuodingXiang 68-70

H halberds25 Han Dynasty41, 56, 64, 78, 82, 91 Han Xiangzi, immortal 62 Han Yu 62 He Xiangu, immortal 65 herbal remedies33, 46-49 heroes8 Hongwu, Emperor91 houses 71 Huagao, Mount 86 Huang Di, Emperor 43-45

culture hero 34, 38-39 first emperor8, 51, 90 tomb 38, 39, 90 Huizong, Emperor57 humans, first 8, 11, 16-19

I

immortals8- 9, 28, 32, 39, 51- 70, 84 incense57, 66 inventions6, 25, 33, 34, 40, 90, 91 iron 43, 90

J

Jade Emperor8, 9, 51, 84-86, 89 court of 52- 55, 70 JiangZiya, prime minister 52 Jin Mu, seeXi Wangmu junks 60

K

Kitchen God 53 , 68- 71 Kong-kong, waterspirit 28, 3 1 Kun 28-31 Kunlun, Mount 54

L lakes21 Lan Caihe, immortal 65 landscape7, 10, 11, 2~21 Laozi 7, 8, 53, 66-67, 86, 90 Li Hai Tang 68 Li River 20 Li Xuan, immortal 58, 64 lotus flower 7 6 Lu Dongbin, immortal 61, 62, 64

M

Q_

magic 64 magneticcompass43 Manchus91 medicine9, 33, 40, 46-49 Mencius 56 metalwork 17, 25, 33, 40, 42-45, 90 Miao Shan, seeGuanYin monasteries79 Mongols91 Monkey 8, 73, 84-89 monsters24, 26 Mother of PearlMountains65 mountains10, 15, 21, 31, 79 music 61, 69

qi48 qilin 89 Qin Dynasty8, 64 Qing Dynasty 32, 91

N

sailing 60 scribes41 seamonster24, 27 ShangDynasty 1 7, 41, 52, 90 ShenNong, culture hero 21, 34, 35- 38 Shi HuangDi, set HuangDi silk 33, 42, 44-45 Silk Road 44 SongDynasty62, 91 steel40 Sun Simiao 46-49 suns, ten 22- 27, 54 SupremeRuler 24, 25, 51, 52

naturalworld 57 New Year 70 Nu Wa, goddess11, 16-19, 34

0 Opium War 91

p pagodas75 PanGu, creatorgod 11, 12- 16, 21 paper82, 90 peacock,giant 24, 26-27 phoenix 14 plows 37, 43 pottery 39 printing 82 pump, dragon's back 40, 90 Pure Land, seeWestern Paradise Puyi, Emperor5 1, 91

R reincarnation53 religion 7- 8, 17 Buddhism78- 79 Confucianism56-57 Daoism66-67 rice 20, 21 rivers 10, 15, 20, 29, 31, 60, 76

s

T

Taizu, Emperor9 1 Tang Dynasty 62, 75, 90 T'angSeng88-89 temples57, 66 Ten suns22- 27, 54

Index

95

terraces37 terracottaarmy 38, 39 ThreeGorgesdam 29 trade 44, 60 transport40, 60, 90 trees 15, 22, 76 trigrams 34-35, 67

WesternParadise21, 74-77, 79 woodworking 39 world, creationof 12-16 writing 6, 9, 33, 34-35, 41, 90 Wu, King 52 Wu Tao, physiciangod 33

u

Xi Wangmu,QyeenMother of the West 54, 55, 58,86

X

underworld83, 84 universe35 creationof 8, 11, 12-16

y YangtzeRiver 10, 20, 21, 29, 31, 60 Yao, Emperor22-26 Yao Wang, physiciangod 33, 47 Yellow Emperor, seeHuang Di

w

war 52, 56, 67 weapons25, 42-45 Wendi, Emperor90

Yellow Mountains 21 Yellow River 29, 31 Yi, archer23-27, 54 yin and yang 6 7 Yongle, Emperor89 Yu 11, 30,31 Yu Huang,seeJadeEmperor

z Zao Jun, Kitchen God 68 Zhang 52 Zhang Guolao, immortal 59, 64 Zhongli Qyan, immortal 58, 61 Zhou Dynasty 52 Zhou Xin, King 52 Zhu Rong, fire spirit 28 Zhunti Pusa,goddess9

Aci