Gods & Goddesses of Ancient China

Gods & Goddesses of Ancient China
Author: Trenton Campbell
Publisher: Encyclopaedia Britannica
Total Pages: 161
Release: 2014-07-15
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 1622753941

This authoritative volume examines the two main faiths, Confucianism and Daoism, that developed before China had meaningful contact with the rest of the world. Aspects of Buddhism later joined features of these faiths to form elements of Chinese ideology and, with the beliefs in immortals and the worship of ancestors, they led to a popular religion. The narrative describes the gods and goddesses that dominated China's mythology and folk culture, roughly from the 3rd millennium to 221 BCE, including the Baxian (Eight Immortals), Chang'e (moon goddess), Guandi (god of war), the Men Shen (door spirits), and Pan Gu (first man).

Handbook of Chinese Mythology

Handbook of Chinese Mythology
Author: Lihui Yang
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 309
Release: 2008
Genre: History
ISBN: 0195332636

Compiled from ancient and scattered texts and based on groundbreaking new research, Handbook of Chinese Mythology is the most comprehensive English-language work on the subject ever written from an exclusively Chinese perspective. This work focuses on the Han Chinese people but ranges across the full spectrum of ancient and modern China, showing how key myths endured and evolved over time. A quick reference section covers all major deities, spirits, and demigods, as well as important places, mythical animals and plants, and related items.

Chinese Myths & Tales

Chinese Myths & Tales
Author:
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 556
Release: 2018-12-15
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1787552640

Curated new Myths and Tales. Great floods and river Gods, snake spirits, and Immortals, China's unique set of mythological tales are derived from its vast expanse, diverse culture and the endless wars between tribes and dynasties. The result is a rich landscape of humanity, gods and spirits introduced here in this comprehensive book of folk tales and legendary exploits. The latest title in Flame Tree's beautiful, comprehensive series of Gothic Fantasy titles, concentrates on the ancient, epic origins of modern fantasy.

Oedipal God

Oedipal God
Author: Meir Shahar
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
Total Pages: 273
Release: 2015-08-31
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0824856961

Oedipal God offers the most comprehensive account in any language of the prodigal deity Nezha. Celebrated for over a millennium, Nezha is among the most formidable and enigmatic of all Chinese gods. In this theoretically informed study Meir Shahar recounts Nezha’s riveting tale—which culminates in suicide and attempted patricide—and uncovers hidden tensions in the Chinese family system. In deploying the Freudian hypothesis, Shahar does not imply the Chinese legend’s identity with the Greek story of Oedipus. For one, in Nezha’s story the erotic attraction to the mother is not explicitly acknowledged. More generally, Chinese oedipal tales differ from Freud’s Greek prototype by the high degree of repression that is applied to them. Shahar argues that, despite a disastrous father-son relationship, Confucian ethics require that the oedipal drive masquerade as filial piety in Nezha’s story, dictating that the child-god kill himself before trying to avenge himself upon his father. Combining impeccable scholarship with an eminently readable style, the book covers a vast terrain: It surveys the image of the endearing child-god across varied genres from oral and written fiction, through theater, cinema, and television serials, to Japanese manga cartoons. It combines literary analysis with Shahar’s own anthropological field work, providing a thorough ethnography of Nezha’s flourishing cult. Crossing the boundaries between China’s diverse religious traditions, it tracks the rebellious infant in the many ways he has been venerated by Buddhist monks, Daoist priests, and possessed spirit mediums, whose dramatic performances have served to negotiate individual, familial, and collective tensions. Finally, the book offers a detailed history of the legend and the cult reaching back over two thousand years to its origins in India, where Nezha began as a mythological being named Nalakūbara, whose sexual misadventures were celebrated in the Sanskrit epics as early as the first centuries BCE. Here Shahar reveals the long-term impact that Indian mythology has exerted—through the medium of esoteric Buddhism—upon the Chinese imagination of divinity. A tour de force of literary analysis, ethnographic research, psychological insight, and cross-cultural investigation, Oedipal God is a must read for anyone interested in Chinese studies and the historical connection between India and China. Shahar’s broad reach and engaging approach will appeal to specialists and students in a variety of disciplines including Chinese religion, Chinese literature, anthropology, Buddhist studies, psychology, Indian studies, and cross-cultural history.

Myths and Legends of China

Myths and Legends of China
Author: E. T. C. Werner
Publisher: The Floating Press
Total Pages: 566
Release: 2009-01-01
Genre: Literary Collections
ISBN: 177541440X

The West's first encounters with the folk tales and myths of the East proved to be a heady experience, as they were based on an entirely different value system and worldview than those that are reflected in the Greek myths and most subsequent Western folk tales. In Myths and Legends of China, author E.T.C. Werner offers up a rich tapestry of Chinese folk narratives. A must-read for fans of world myths, fairy tales, and legends.

Chinese Mythology

Chinese Mythology
Author: Anne Birrell
Publisher: JHU Press
Total Pages: 350
Release: 1999-04-26
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780801861833

In Chinese Mythology, Anne Birrell provides English translations of some 300 representative myth narratives selected from over 100 classical texts, many of which have never before been translated into any Western language. Organizing the narratives according to themes and motifs common to world mythology, Birrell addresses issues of source, dating, attribution, textural variants, multiforms, and context. Drawing on exhaustive work in comparative mythology, she surveys the development of Chinese myth studies, summarizes the contribution of Chinese and Japanese scholars to the study of Chinese myth since the 1920s, and examines special aspects of traditional approaches to Chinese myth. The result is an unprecedented guide to the study of Chinese myth for specialists and nonspecialists alike.

From Kuan Yin to Chairman Mao

From Kuan Yin to Chairman Mao
Author: Xueting Christine Ni
Publisher: Weiser Books
Total Pages: 347
Release: 2018-06-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1633410676

“Luminous and detailed, this is an encyclopedic treasure trove that now renders the gods and goddesses of Eastern lore accessible to the West.” —Benebell Wen, author of Holistic Tarot China is an immense land with a history spanning thousands of years, and its needs and problems are perhaps too many for a single deity to watch over. This book begins to explore the veritable army of gods, immortals, and deities to whom the Chinese have turned for help, support, and intervention—not just in the annals of history but also in the bustling modern world. From Kuan Yin to Chairman Mao offers fascinating insight into the complex interweaving of China’s main religions and folklore and the way the gods themselves have evolved to meet changing challenges, finding their way from scriptures and statues to vouchers and videogames. Author Xueting Christine Ni recounts the stories of sixty Chinese gods and goddesses, selected from across the spectrum of China’s mythical beings, deified heroes, gods, goddesses, and immortals. They derive from Taoism, Buddhism, Confucianism, and folklore, as well as revered sages and protective deities from other traditions. Get to know Kuan Yin, the goddess of mercy; Zhong Ku, the demon slayer; Tian Hou, the goddess of the sea; the beloved Monkey King, and a host of other Chinese deities, both ancient and modern. In addition to exploring the origins and rituals of this eclectic pantheon, this book also looks at how, in a country that has undergone a myriad of changes and upheavals, its gods and goddesses have never been more than a whisper away.

Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor

Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor
Author: Xiran Jay Zhao
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 352
Release: 2022-05-10
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1665900725

Percy Jackson meets Tristan Strong in this hilarious middle grade “edge-of-your-seat adventure” (James Ponti, New York Times bestselling author of City Spies) that follows a young boy as he journeys across China to seal the underworld shut and save the mortal realm. Zachary Ying never had many opportunities to learn about his Chinese heritage. His single mom was busy enough making sure they got by, and his schools never taught anything except Western history and myths. So Zack is woefully unprepared when he discovers he was born to host the spirit of the First Emperor of China for a vital mission: sealing the leaking portal to the Chinese underworld before the upcoming Ghost Month blows it wide open. The mission takes an immediate wrong turn when the First Emperor botches his attempt to possess Zack’s body and binds to Zack’s AR gaming headset instead, leading to a battle where Zack’s mom’s soul gets taken by demons. Now, with one of history’s most infamous tyrants yapping in his headset, Zack must journey across China to heist magical artifacts and defeat figures from history and myth, all while learning to wield the emperor’s incredible water dragon powers. And if Zack can’t finish the mission in time, the spirits of the underworld will flood into the mortal realm, and he could lose his mom forever.

Japanese Gods, Heroes, and Mythology

Japanese Gods, Heroes, and Mythology
Author: Tammy Gagne
Publisher: ABDO
Total Pages: 51
Release: 2018-12-15
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 153217070X

The hero Momotaro, the sun goddess Amaterasu, and the Buddha are important subjects of Japanese mythology. Japanese Gods, Heroes, and Mythology explores the gods, heroes, creatures, and stories of Japanese mythology, in addition to examining their influence today. Aligned to Common Core Standards and correlated to state standards. Core Library is an imprint of Abdo Publishing, a division of ABDO.