CLT 3378 Ancient Mythology East and West Spring 2015 Lecture Outline Chinese Creation and Flood Culture Chinese Work read various collections of poems Type of work poems Date of work 4th century BCE 3rd century CE Language of work Chinese I Traditional Chinese Mythology a from earliest historical period Shang Yin b our sources from later periods c sources influenced by philosophical views esp Confucianism and Taoism II Chronological Periods Dynasties of Chinese History Shang or Yin c 1766 c 1123 BCE Chou Dynasty c 1123 c 221 BCE Western Chou c 1123 771 BCE Eastern Chou Spring and Autumn Era 722 481 BCE Warring States Era 403 221 BCE Ch in Dynasty 221 207 BCE Han Dynasty 206 BCE 220 CE Three Kingdoms Wei Shu Wu 221 280 CE III Questions of Heaven b 186 poetic verses c 4th c BCE a part of Ch u Tz u Songs of Ch u d Warring States Era Chou Dynasty e author of Ch u Tz u 1 named Ch u Yuan 2 first named Chinese poet cf Homer 3 author of Ch u Tz u official in Ch u court 4 Ch u state in Chou Dynasty f earliest comprehensive collection of Chinese myths g poses questions about creation h Reading IV IV Hun Tun a first element first thing created in creation of cosmos 1 empty space dark wet Reading I 2 images but no forms dark misty Reading II 3 shapeless chaos Reading III b empty space chaos Hun Tun c Hun Tun 1 orig meant empty space cf Chaos 2 later meant confusion disorder d cf same word as wonton soup dumpling e Hun Tun primordial soup V Yin and Yang a yin and yang rise out of Hun Tun Reading II III V b pair of opposites primordial couple c Yin heavy feminine dark d Yang light masculine white e cf Apsu and Tiamat f Yin becomes earth Yang becomes sky VI P an Ku a Reading V b Hun Tun imagined as cosmic egg c Yin earth and Yang sky inside of egg d P an Ku also inside egg e Reading VI A f death of P an Ku g giant body becomes parts of universe 1 left eye sun right eye moon 2 blood semen water rivers 3 flesh land 4 hair beard stars 5 body hair plants trees 6 mites on body humans h myth from southwest China i foreign origin VII Nu Kua a creator goddess b Reading VI B c creates human beings d aristocrats out of yellow earth e commoners out of mud VIII Nu Kua and Fu Hsi a begin in Han Dynasty 1 primeval giant god man 2 P an Ku coiled antiquity really ancient and has been curled up in egg 3 p an ku grows for 18 000 yrs 4 until yin and yang earth and sky fully formed in egg b married couple c serpentine lower bodies IX Fu Hsi a god culture hero b invents 1 writing 2 hunting fishing 3 music 4 fire cooking c from vapor that condenses Reading II X creation of humans a from mites on P an Ku b from clay by Nu Kua XI Kun and the Flood a gods have sent Flood b Kun trickster god c he steals hsi jang from gods 1 hsi jang breathing earth 2 self renewing soil that can grow on its own d kun steals it but gods kill Kun e from Kun s belly is born a son Yu f yu picks up where kun leaves off XII Yu and the Flood a Yu culture hero b uses hsi jang to stop Flood c travels world and repairs world damaged by flood d Yu shrivels up e Yu walk f Kun Yu duality failure success
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