Mythology
In spite of much research and conjecture, the origin of the Chinese people remains undetermined. We do not know who they were nor whence they came. Such evidence as there is points to their immigration from elsewhere; the Chinese themselves have a tradition of a Western origin...
In spite of much research and conjecture, the origin of the Chinese people remains undetermined. We do not know who they were nor whence they came. Such evidence as there is poi...
2. Chapter 2The Manichæst, _yin-yang_ (dualist), idea of existence, to which further reference will be made in the next chapter, finds its illustration in the dual life, real and imaginary,...
3. Chapter 3The most conspicuous figure in Chinese cosmogony is P'an Ku. He it was who chiselled the universe out of Chaos. According to Chinese ideas, he was the offspring of the original...
4. Chapter 4The dualism noted in the last chapter is well illustrated by the Chinese pantheon. Whether as the result of the co-operation of the _yin_ and the _yang_ or of the final dissolut...
5. Chapter 5According to Chinese ideas, the sun, moon, and planets influence sublunary events, especially the life and death of human beings, and changes in their colour menace approaching...
6. Chapter 6As already noted, affairs in the Otherworld are managed by official Bureaux or Ministries very similar to those on earth. The _Fêng shên yen i_ mentions several of these, and gi...
7. Chapter 7The dragons are spirits of the waters. "The dragon is a kind of being whose miraculous changes are inscrutable." In a sense the dragon is the type of a man, self-controlled, and...
8. Chapter 8The celestial organization of Fire is the fifth Ministry, and is presided over by a President, Lo Hsüan, whose titular designation is Huo-tê Hsing-chün, 'Stellar Sovereign of th...
9. Chapter 9The gods of epidemics, etc., belong to the sixth, ninth, second, and third celestial Ministries. The composition of the Ministry of Epidemics is arranged differently in differen...
10. Chapter 10According to a beautiful Chinese legend, Kuan Yin. when about to enter Heaven, heard a cry of anguish rising from the earth beneath her, and, moved by pity, paused as her feet t...
11. Chapter 11Either singly or in groups the Eight Immortals, Pa Hsien, of the Taoist religion are one of the most popular subjects of representation in China; their portraits are to be seen...
12. Chapter 12In Buddhist temples there is to be seen a richly attired figure of a man holding in his hand a model of a pagoda. He is Li, the Prime Minister of Heaven and father of No-cha.
13. Chapter 13The _Fêng shên yen i_ describes at length how, during the wars which preceded the accession of the Chou dynasty in 1122 B.C., a multitude of demigods, Buddhas, Immortals, etc.,...
14. Chapter 14In dealing with the gods of China we noticed the monkey among them. Why and in what manner he attained to that exalted rank is set forth in detail in the _Hsi yu chi_ [33]--a wo...
15. Chapter 15Among the many animals worshipped by the Chinese, those at times seen emerging from coffins or graves naturally hold a prominent place. They are supposed to be the transmigrated...
16. Chapter 16The _Shan hai ching_, or _Hill and River Classic_, contains descriptions of some curious people supposed to inhabit the regions on the maps represented on the nine tripod vases...
17. Chapter 17as he recalled the greatness of these two men in the ant-world. From that day he became a reformed man; drink and dissipation were put aside. After three years had elapsed he di...