About: Chinese creation myth   Sponge Permalink

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Chinese creation myths are symbolic narratives about the origins of the universe, earth, and life. In Chinese mythology, the term "cosmogonic myth" or "origin myth" is more accurate than "creation myth", since very few stories involve a creator deity or divine will. Chinese creation myths fundamentally differ from monolithic traditions with one authorized version, such as the Judeo-Christian Genesis creation myth; Chinese classics record numerous, sometimes contradictory, origin myths.

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  • Chinese creation myth
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  • Chinese creation myths are symbolic narratives about the origins of the universe, earth, and life. In Chinese mythology, the term "cosmogonic myth" or "origin myth" is more accurate than "creation myth", since very few stories involve a creator deity or divine will. Chinese creation myths fundamentally differ from monolithic traditions with one authorized version, such as the Judeo-Christian Genesis creation myth; Chinese classics record numerous, sometimes contradictory, origin myths.
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  • Chinese creation myths are symbolic narratives about the origins of the universe, earth, and life. In Chinese mythology, the term "cosmogonic myth" or "origin myth" is more accurate than "creation myth", since very few stories involve a creator deity or divine will. Chinese creation myths fundamentally differ from monolithic traditions with one authorized version, such as the Judeo-Christian Genesis creation myth; Chinese classics record numerous, sometimes contradictory, origin myths. Some Chinese cosmogonic myths have familiar themes in comparative mythology. For examples, creation from: chaos (Chinese Hundun and Hawaiian Kumulipo), dismembered corpse of a primordial being (Pangu and Mesopotamian Tiamat), world parent siblings (Fuxi and Nüwa and Japanese Izanagi and Izanami), and dualistic cosmology (yin and yang and Zoroastrian Ahura Mazda and Angra Mainyu). In contrast, other mythic themes are uniquely Chinese. While the mythologies of Greece, Egypt, and Mesopotamia believed primeval water was the single element that existed "in the beginning", the basic element of Chinese cosmology was qi "vapor; gas; life force". Anne Birrell (1993:23) explains that qi "was believed to embody cosmic energy governing matter, time, and space. This energy, according to Chinese mythic narratives, undergoes a transformation at the moment of creation, so that the nebulous element of vapor becomes differentiated into dual elements of male and female, Yin and Yang, hard and soft matter, and other binary elements."
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