|
Chinese mythology refers to those myths found in the historical geographic area of China: these include myths in Chinese and other languages, as transmitted by Han Chinese as well as other ethnic groups (of which fifty-six are officially recognized by the current administration of China).〔(Yang, 4)〕 Chinese mythology includes creation myths and legends, such as myths concerning the founding of Chinese culture and the Chinese state. As in many cultures' mythologies, Chinese mythology has in the past been believed to be, at least in part, a factual recording of history. Thus, in the study of historical Chinese culture, many of the stories that have been told regarding characters and events which have been written or told of the distant past have a double tradition: one which presents a more historicized and one which presents a more mythological version.〔Yang, 12-13〕 The dozens of ethnic minority groups of the country of China have their own languages and their own folklore, and many have their own writing: much of which contains valuable historical and cultural information as well as many unique myths. Some myths are widely shared across multiple ethnic groups, but may exist as versions with some differences. Historians have written evidence of Chinese mythological symbolism from the 12th century BC in the Oracle bone script. Legends were passed down for over a thousand years before being written in books such as ''Classic of Mountains and Seas''. Other myths continued to be passed down through oral traditions like theater and song before being recorded as novels such as ''Epic of Darkness''. Imperial historical documents and philosophical canons such as ''Book of Rites'', ''Records of the Grand Historian'', ''Book of Documents'', and ''Lüshi Chunqiu'' all contain Chinese myths. ==Major concepts== Some myths survive in theatrical or literary formats as plays or novels. Books in the ''shenmo'' genre of vernacular fiction revolve around gods and monsters. Important mythological fiction, seen as definitive records of these myths, include: * Verse poetry associated with the ancient state of Chu such as "Lisao", "Jiu Ge", and "Heavenly Questions", contained in the ''Chuci'' anthology, traditionally attributed to the authorship of Qu Yuan of Chu * ''Fengshen Bang'' (''Investiture of the Gods''), a mythological fiction dealing with the founding of the Zhou dynasty * ''Journey to the West'' attributed to Wu Cheng'en, published in the 1590s; a fictionalized account of the pilgrimage of Xuanzang to India to obtain Buddhist religious texts in which the main character encounters ghosts, monsters, and demons, as well as the Flaming Mountains * ''Baishe Zhuan'', a romantic tale set in Hangzhou involving a female snake who attained human form and fell in love with a man 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Chinese mythology」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|