Today we'll look at
the process of creation itself
and see
if there's any interesting difference.
In Chinese mythology
the creation of the world
has always been anguishing one.
For the Han people
it was recorded in
庄子•应帝王
that before the world came into being
there had been Hundun
who was the god of the central land.
Hundun was friendly to his two friends
Shu
the god of the South Sea
and Hu
the god of the North Sea.
Having been treated by Hundun very well
the two gods planned to pay
a debt of gratitude to him
by help him
obtain his seven senses by
chiseling orifices in him.
One orifice a day with a sense opening
Hundun had
come to obtain all seven senses
by seven days
but
was found dead
from the massive trauma.
However
his death contributed to the birth
of the world.
Thus
Chinese tend to believe that
the world came out of labors
which is necessarily
a painstaking process.
Another age hero Pangu
who was also claimed to have
created the world by his own death.
The forests
mountains
rivers and seas
all came out of his hair
skin
flesh and blood
and the sun
the moon
the wind and the cloud
from his bone and blood.
Interestingly
in the creation mythology of other Chinese
ethnic minorities
we find the same
agonized creation process.
Li people’s myths
depicts a “giant god”
who created the valleys and rivers
by kicking down mountains
with all the strength
and it was his sweat
that poured into the valley
and ran like roaring rivers.
In Laku people’s myth
it was god Esha
who created the heaven and the earth.
Finding the heaven too weak without a support
Esha made a skeleton to support the heaven
with his own bones of hand and foot.
Here we see
the Chinese creation mythology
tends to view the creation
as an excruciating process
with lots of gallant
and praiseworthy self-sacrifice.
There is no such thing as romantic innovation
but trading of the gods’ own sweat
blood
flesh and bone
for a world of new life.
New world of variety of creatures
come out of the death
of the creator.
Now let’s take a look at how the creation goes
in the Greek mythology.
It is said
in the Greek Creation Mythology
that
in the beginning there was an empty darkness
the void
and there was nothing in the void but Nyx
the black-wing bird.
The bird
laid a golden egg
and ages later
life came out of the egg which is Eros
the god of love.
One half of the egg shell rose up
and became the sky
and the other half became the Earth.
Eros gave the sky the name
Uranus and the Earth Gaia
and she made them fall in love.
The following stories
are about the many children and grandchildren
Uranus and Gaia had
and the fighting between the fathers
and the sons.
Eventually
the younger generation won
and Zeus became the new leader.
So
how were the creatures in the world created?
It is said that
Zeus summoned his two sons
Prometheus and Epimetheus
to create men and animals.
So we don’t see any details if
this creation process is difficult or easy.
And how did the world
become flourished?
Apparently
the new comes from the fusion
between the old ones
The heaven came out of the fusion of the heaven
mountain and sea
the earth combined with the heaven
and thus we had the Titans
from the Titians
we have the other gods and the human world.
Everything
including the darkness
the dawn and the four seasons
has come from a result of certain wedding.
So
in general
in Chinese mythology
the world and the life in it
did not come easily.
There is
in most cases
a sacrifice of a greater being
that results in the birth
of the mortal world.
It is a trade of the life of superior being
to the life of many inferior beings.
Obviously
Chinese identifies itself
with the inferior and submissive beings.
Therefore
in Chinese culture
there has been a pervasive affection
and gratefulness to the creation gods
for the hardships
and sacrifices they had made
to create the world.
Whereas
we find more reverence
in Greek mythology.
The gods
in Greek mythology
are not treated in the western world as
ancestors
and naturally
here is a lack of affection
identification between western civilization
and their gods.
Time to go through our big point!
Questions
1
Describe briefly
how the prehistory gods made the world.
In Chinese mythology
we see examples in Han people
or other ethnic minority’s tales
that there is usually a god
existing before the world
and made the world out of his own body
his flesh and bones.
Chinese sees the world of new life
based on the self-sacrifice
of the supreme and benevolent god.
Whereas
in Greek mythology
there are not many words
to describe the world creation process.
We understand that the world
under the magic power of the Greek gods
come into being not in a very difficult way.
2
How does the different
creation process influence their attitudes
towards the gods who made the world?
Chinese have tremendous
gratitude towards the gods
who made the human world
and gave them life
because they believe the world is built
on the death of these immortals.
For Western civilization
there is very little identification
with the ancient mythological figures
as someone to be grateful to.
Part of the reason may be
the too casual
and seemingly easy process of creation.