The Chinese Culture
This report is about the myths and beliefs of the Chinese culture. It's about
the stories the Chinese created to explain the world around them, and generally
how they perceived their surrounding environment. This report deals with
ancient myths and the people who believed them, and what the current believes of
these people are.
The Southwest Creation Story
The Southwest creation story is a myth which explains why people are different.
The myth begins by saying that there were people on earth who were all alike,
meaning there weren't people who were black, white, oriental, etc.. It states
that the humans on earth all generally were the same. There were also gods who
lived above the clouds in the heavens. And there was a huge heavenly ladder
which started on a mountain and reached all the way up to heaven's door. It
goes on to tell a story of a man who had two children. One was a girl and the
other was a boy.
They lived in a house which had a huge very thick roof. The man had built the
roof so thick because it rained almost every day. He hated the rain. He knew
it had its benefits but too much of it ruined his crops, destroyed his livestock
and every time it rained the roof of the house was destroyed. And every time
the man rebuilt it, he made it thicker and thicker. He blamed all his
misfortune on the Duke of Thunder. The Duke of Thunder was one of the gods who
lived in the heavens. He was the god of rain and thunder. The man dispised the
Duke very much and had a pure hatred of him.
Every time it rained the Duke would descend from the heavens and stand on a
hilltop. There he would watch with pure delight as the rains and thunder came
down harder and harder. Finally the man had had enough. One day he took his
axe and waited on the hilltop for the Duke to arrive. When the rains came so did
the Duke, and the man slashed him in the back. The Duke was
hurt but not killed because he was a god. The man caged him and brought him
home. He put him in a corner and warned the kids not to go near him. And to
especially not give him water. The next morning was a beautiful sunny one, but
the Duke looked horrible almost as if he was dehydrating. The man told the
children he had to go to the market and said again not to go near the Duke no
matter wha...
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... his son. Zoa was killed by his own
brother who was ashamed of what his younger sibling had become. What the
magician didn't tell Zoa was which close relative would kill him. Zoa who
had become overconfident wasn't as great as he thought he was. And he was
too arrogant to not know that the gods should not be challenged. This myth
tells that becoming overconfident will eventually hurt you and that no one
could beat their destiny. The Chinese in this story believed in the gods,
they were very religious people and this myth tells that the gods should not
be challenged.
Both of these myths were written a long time ago and I don't think that the
people today still believe in these myths as strongly as the people who wrote
them did. I think it's like Halloween in our culture. We still practice the
custom as the ancient people did but we don't have as much as a strong believe
in ghosts and goblins as our ancestors did.
Bibliography
Birch, Cyril. Chinese Myths And Fantasies. Great Britain: London, 1992.
Fei, Charles. Strange Creatures. New York, 1990
Ke, Yuan. Dragons And Dynasties. China: Beijing, 1993
*Chinese Myths.* Grolier Encyclopaedia, 12th ed. 1996.
the texts stem from the reasons they are the same; why certain people are chosen,
The most common mythological theme across different cultures is the creation of humankind because everyone has always questioned how the earth was created and so forth. Creation myths are “usually applied to a mytho-religious story which explains the beginning of humanity, life, the earth and the universe as being the result of a deliberate act of supreme beings or being” ("Creation myths," 2007). Individuals from different cultures believe in a higher power known as God and they believe that the higher power is the creator of earth, animals and humankind, however each culture believe in different Gods but they all believe that God is the creator and that is the universal theme across different cultures.
When common practices and experiences are determined amongst world religious leaders, it is offend borrowed from the myths developed by human existence which was written in scripture during archaic times. Traditionally, practices that occurred during historical events are stretched out due to the worldview of individuals. These practices are advanced by personal belief or a natural
Every ancient society and civilization has creation myths that were passed down and keep alive throughout the passing of time by word of mouth. These myths are the world’s oldest stories and are vital to these cultures because they explain their beginnings and give purpose to their existence. By analyzing and interpreting different creation myths it becomes easier to understand different cultures and their connections and relationships with heir beliefs and god(s).
Zeus was the king and leader of the 12. His symbol was the thunder and in many
Garden of Eden, where the power of naming everything and creating a world that fit into
that the gods that take care of them created the world. Later on once the first and second world were
Enil, “Lord of the underworld,'; was very angry when he saw that Utnapishtim had been spared. He was soon calmed by the other gods and gave his blessing to Utnapishtim and his wife by granting them the gift of immortality and transferring them to a remote island.
It is also stated that she has never seen him alone. The storm starts to increase outside, reflecting the sexual tension inside. The storm's sinister intention appears when "The rain beat upon the shingled roof that threatened to break an entrance.". It seems that the storm knows what is going on between the two and is threatening to break in and ruin their chances. They move throughout the house and end up in the bedroom "with its white, monumental bed, its closed shutters, looked dim and mysterious.
When the storm was over he set out to find his great-grandfathers farm. He found some of the old foundation and the carved name on a tree and knew he was on the family compound of his dreams not terribly far from his soon to be home in the Hemlock tree.
China is a culturally vibrant country, full of unique costumes and traditions, religions, accustomed social organizations, beautiful arts and literature, and interesting language that make up its diverse culture. It’s a beautiful country to venture and explore getting a taste of their delicious traditional foods and getting to know their people.
Zeus is the god of law, justice, morals, thunder, lightning, and rain. It was his job to oversee and make sure laws were being kept. He was worshipped originally as a weather god. He was depicted as a middle-aged man with a youthful appearance; he was regale and was almost always shown ready to throw a lightning bolt (pantheon/zeus).
One day he was walking on the woods and found himself in the cavern of the winds