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rrcraft-and-lore · 4 months

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The Monkey King - Sun Wukong who first appears in Chinese stories (Journey to the West) during the Ming Dynasty period 1368 to 1644 CE, well after the introduction of Buddhism to China in about 206-220 CE.

But, was he inspired by another Monkey hero/character of myth?

The prevailing and dominant theory among Asian scholars is ...yeah, likely.

That character, Hanuman, king of the monkeys (the monkey people -Vanaras- of Vedic myth!).

The story follows a Buddhist monk who is accompanied by Sun Wukong and others to travel west to India to obtain sacred Buddhist sutras. Many of their powers and personality traits are similar as well.

We know that Vedic god such as Indra have made their way as far as Japan to take root and be worshipped because of the spread of Buddhism.

As I've talked about before and is shown in texts such as the journey's of Ibn Battuta / Ibn Fadlan, storytelling was a weapon and powerful tool for idea transfer--propagation. Philosophy was huge in the old world - and places such as Nalanda - the first residential university in the world - invited scholars from all over such as Greeks from the west, and the Japanese. Buddhism became a vehicle for trading things such as: martial arts information, medicine, sciences, and of course, myths and stories.

However, as with stories, people usually altered/coopted elements and molded them to better suit their cultures and fancy. That's a thing as old as time. I've shared how the panchatantra stories and jatka tales are thought to be the inspiration for nearly 30-50 percent of all nursery rhymes, ballads, "fairy tales".

Anyways back to this theory - Chinese Indologist Professor Liu Anwu of Peking University has dedicated chapters to the comparisons (in one of his works) to further break down this theory focusing on consistent and or similar depictions of beats in Journey to the West that of Rama's story in Ramayama and the Buddhist sutras.

Even though today the story of Sun Wukong is a wholly Chinese story - it's important to note the power of oral storytelling and how it travelled evolved over thousands of years, and, just as important, the vehicles it used to do so. Not just storytellers and philosophers and travelers but religion! Philosophy!

This is a theme heavily commented on and shown in Tales of Tremaine, which is my love letter and sort of self PhD. in comparative storytelling, mythology, and story foundry through an Asiatic lens (hence a silk road analog) stretching along a similar route the silk road did from damn near as far as you can east (complete with the oceanic routes) to as west as old venezia, portugal, and spain.

Also note: this is the most popular theory atm, but the operative word is theory. Experts likely far better than you, Internet, so chill before you comment, are still debating this. I know last week some of you were doctors in sociopolitical relations, the music industry before that, and then you were leading virologists before that. Spare us simpler folks from your mighty genius just now and sit down.

The point here is the beauty of stories and their ability to travel and morph and comment on themes/points ideologies important to cultures while being entertaining and showing that humans like certain universal moments, beats, archetypes, tropes, and progressions in tales.

Now, is that because we've naturally been predisposed liking them, or the opposite in that everyone went, yo, i dig this, took it home and someone else went, this is cool but needs to be more US (insert culture) and retold it. And thus...timemachine noises speed up. Here we are today?

You might not know that about 35,000 Chinese words ( I said this instead of Mandarin because they don't just show up in one language) are derived from Sanskrit as well as Pali (a Middle Indo-Aryan Liturgical Language -- meaning language of sacredness/religious use, in this case connected to sacred Buddhist texts). It is important to make the distinction, because, Internet!

Sanskrit did not SHAPE the Chinese languages. They evolved on their own. This is just a commentary on how words/stories shaped over travel in this case strongly through the spread of Buddhism.

Religion was the mover.

Back from quick bathroom break. Going to add again - INSPIRED is the keyword here.

INSPIRED.

Sun Wukong is his own mythos/character. Influence doesn't nor can claim dominion over everything in a later tale. Sun Wukong has gone on himself to inspire legends and characters Outside of China - re: most famously and legendary?

Son Goku - who is openly a Sun Wukong inspired character.

...hell, tbh, he might be the most famous monkey inspired super powered character now. Dude makes soccer stadiums air his fights. @_@.

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motivationwithpragatibansal · 2 years

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8 Best Moral Stories For Children In Hindi -बच्चों के लिए 8 सर्वश्रेष्ठ नैतिक कहानियां हिंदी में

हिंदी में बच्चों के लिए ये नैतिक कहानियाँ जो अच्छे नैतिक मूल्यों को सीखने के लिए सर्वोत्तम हैं। बच्चों के लिए ये हिंदी कहानियाँ आपके बच्चों पर बहुत अच्छा प्रभाव डालेंगी और आपके बच्चों को एक सही नैतिक दिशा मै लें जायेंगी | Read more:

#interesting story #positive quotes #short story #funny jokes #motivational quotes #religious stories #panchatantra stories #laghu katha

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em-dash-press · 10 months

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What Is Flash Fiction?

You don’t have to write novel-length manuscripts to be a professional or hobby writer. You can also learn to conquer the world of flash fiction. Check out this quick guide to learn everything you need to know about the genre.

What Is Flash Fiction?

Flash fiction is a literature genre of short fictional stories. They can range from a few words to a few pages.

Although you’ll see word counts thrown around by well-meaning writers, the recommended length of a flash fiction story is typically set by the publisher printing them or the contest accepting them.

History of Flash Fiction

People have been telling stories likely since the beginning of time. We’ve seen them etched on cave walls and tablets across thousands of years.

There’s also a long history of verbal flash fiction. Cultures passed down their mythologies and lore by telling the same short stories to each new generation.

A Western view of history might say that short stories began with Aesop’s fables in the 4th century BCE. However, Vishnu Sharma wrote the Panchatantra around 200 BCE.

Since then, writers like Kate Chopin, Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, Xiao Hong, and more have made history with their short stories. It’s a genre full of potential but it’s often overlooked by those who believe the pinnacle of writing to be publishing novels.

Characteristics of Flash Fiction

The Page or Word Count

This factor changes depending on the publisher’s preferences. A team making a small chapbook for an indie press might say their flash fiction submissions can only be 500 words maximum. A creative writing magazine could have more pages for story submissions, so their flash fiction guidelines have a 2,000-word maximum.

Publishers can also change their preferences with each publication. A quarterly short story journal may need more page space for advertisers, so they require shorter stories for their fall edition than they did for their summer print.

Always check the guidelines to ensure you’re within the word count for any submission request you find. It’ll be alongside other guidelines like the accepted genres.

Standard Plot Points

Flash fiction is just like longer fiction — it almost always has a beginning, an inciting incident, a middle, and an end. Unless you’re writing for an experimental submission, try working these into your extra short stories. (Experimental calls for submissions may accept a paragraph or a sentence that tells a story without necessarily having all of these things.)

A Strong Sense of Place

Novels get the luxury of plot progression. You can let your characters introduce themselves to your reader gradually. As the plot unfolds, your readers will get more invested. They know there’s a great depth of story about to come.

Flash fiction has to snap the reader’s attention to your work. They’re reading it because it’s a faster form of literature. Your story needs a strong sense of place to ground it, so make your world-building vivid from the start.

You can rely on the traditional five senses to describe your initial scene and use the next few paragraphs or pages to bring the limited world to life through your character’s experiences.

Specific Word Choice

Flash fiction writers have less space to get their point across. The eventual editing that follows is going to be much sharper. Ensure that every sentence serves a purpose and you stand behind every word. If you’re unsure what you meant by something, it’s a waste of valuable page space.

Typically Fast Pacing

Most readers expect a faster story with flash fiction. They know they’re going to get a satisfying experience for 10 to 30 minutes of their time. Ensure your pacing is quick, regardless of how many traditional plot points your story actually has.

A traditional novel-length or even short story manuscript might throw in a scene for just character development or just plot. Flash fiction combines both. Give every scene a purpose to make your extra short stories successful.

Limited Character Rosters

Unfortunately for character readers, flash fiction also presents less time to get to know tons of people. However, many novels become hits with a primary core cast of three to five characters, so the number you choose for your flash fiction really depends on your story.

Introduce your characters within your pacing instead of setting up scenes to meet them outside of your plot. This goes back to giving every scene a purpose to speed up your pacing. If your reader only needs to feel engaged with one or two characters to understand what you’re telling them through your story, it’ll be a greater success compared to flash fiction that leaves many characters undeveloped.

Examples of Flash Fiction

6 Words: “For sale: baby shoes, never worn” by Ernest Hemingway (Supposedly)

Although we’re not sure who actually wrote this famous flash story, Ernest Hemingway often gets the credit. It tells a story by letting the reader fill in the gaps. It tells you what the story is about—a baby and the loss of it—but you get to imagine why. It makes the story effective because many people have experienced loss (of their babies or otherwise) and can relate to the guttural emptiness behind the fictional ad.

681 Words: “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid

This non-traditional flash fiction appears in creative writing classes because it’s a unique take on the genre. It uses a stream-of-consciousness approach to talk about girlhood and the complex relationship between a girl and her mom. Layered in between the stitched-together sentences are positive aspects of that same concept. I highly recommend reading it to transform how you think about story formatting.

1,159 Words: “Riddle” by Ogbewe Amadin

In less than 1,200 words, Amadin tells a story about how there are complex layers between the concepts of good and evil. The twist ending leaves readers questioning how they feel about the story’s message. It doesn’t always take a novel-length manuscript to keep readers thinking about your work long after they finish the last page.

How to Write Flash Fiction

1. Develop Your Characters

Character development is about more than their physical appearance or quirky traits. What do your characters care about? What are their relationships with each other?

Most importantly, know why each character matters. They each have to lend something to your theme or plot progression.

2. Make Everything Feel Real

You don’t need 100,000 words to make a fictional world come to life. You can use tools like vivid imagery, symbolism, the five senses, and even your characters’ relationships to help the reader sink into your story.

You’ll know you need to work on this element of your flash fiction if it reads more like dry narration than an in-depth experience.

3. Weave an Ever-Present Theme

Your story has to stay focused on why you’re writing it. That’s also known as your theme. If you ask yourself what each plot point does for the purpose of your theme, your flash fiction will become more to the point and purposeful.

4. Edit With Different Eyes

When it comes to publishing flash fiction, everything is about getting to the right word count for submission. Make sure you polish your grammar (a general spell-check tool is helpful in addition to software like Grammarly). You don’t want to waste your limited word count on things that don’t advance your plot or theme.

Common Mistakes to Avoid When Writing Flash Fiction

1. Not Writing With Theme In Mind

It’s easy to start a new story when you’re excited about a character, concept, or scene. It’s much harder to write a great story if you finish it and submit it for publication without identifying its theme.

Always match your flash fiction to at least one overarching theme. Without it, your story will feel aimless. It’s not good for flash fiction or any other type of creative writing.

2. Not Including a Twist

Stories always need at least one twist. That includes a super short flash fiction manuscript. Whether the twist is emotional, physical, or circumstantial, it should make the reader feel something because they’re already connected with and care about your characters.

3. Not Remembering Your Audience

Consider your potential audience’s demographics. You can also consider the potential publisher’s demographics if you have a specific contest or submission call in mind.

How will your audience best receive or learn from your theme? Is it something they’ll better understand through a shocking plot twist or do they need emotional development?

The audience’s age range and general reading interests play a big role in these decisions. It’s a good thing to reflect on before writing any type of story.

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Anyone can study flash fiction from an academic perspective with guides like this one. Break the genre apart to understand how it works, what makes it successful, and why readers like it. You’ll develop these skills in your creative practice to get started with your own short stories.

FAQs About Flash Fiction

What Is Flash Fiction?

Flash fiction is a short creative writing genre that includes stories between six and 2,000 words.

What Are the Flash Fiction Genres?

Writers can create stories of any subgenre when writing a flash fiction manuscript. If you want to write science fiction, fantasy, romance, or any other type of story, you can make it within a flash fiction format.

Who Publishes Flash Fiction?

Publishers calling for flash fiction may want shorter stories for various editions of their magazines, newsletters, journals, or contests. You can find groups publishing flash fiction by browsing incredible databases like Chill Subs or collecting submission calls through independent Google searches.

What Is the Rule for Flash Fiction?

Don’t go over your word count limit! Check the publisher’s requested word count and write within that framing. If you have a pre-written story you’d like to submit, you’ll need to make a copy and edit it down to the correct word count.

If you like what you see, please consider using the tip feature on my posts! I run this site for free, but will always appreciate the financial support. 💙

#flash fiction #what is flash fiction #writeblr #writing advice #writing flash fiction #writing tips #creative writing #writers of tumblr #writing community #writing #writing inspiration #writing help #writing resources

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mybeingthere · 6 months

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Travelling Tales

Kalīlah wa-Dimnah and the Animal Fable

By Marina Warner

Influencing numerous later animal tales told around the world, the 8th-century Arabic fables of Ibn al-Muqaffaʿ’s Kalīlah wa-Dimnah also inspired a rich visual tradition of illustration: jackals on trial, airborne turtles, and unlikely alliances between species. Marina Warner follows these stories as they wander and change across time and place, celebrating their sharp political observation and stimulating mix of humour, earnesty, and melancholy.

Kalīlah and Dimnah are two jackals, wily and ambitious, one virtuous and the other rather less so, who give their names to the eponymous cycle of animal fables in Arabic that is framed by the stories of their friendship, adventures, and mishaps.1 The collection bears a family likeness to Aesop’s Fables and to other classics of moral exempla, but the volumes vary one from one another and even when the stories coincide, they aren’t identical. They share certain generic features: animal protagonists above all (lions, wolves, monkeys, asses, mice, magpies); a narrative of braided tales passing between speakers, often imbricating one story inside the other; and a prevailing tone of tragi-comic moralising coupled with world-weary wisdom about the folly and the treachery of humans.

Most of all, the story of the two jackals Kalīlah and Dimnah, and the tales told in the course of their adventures, are travelling tales, which have been travelling for a long while, migrating from language to language, culture to culture, religion to religion. The Arabic stories’ rich history ranges from Benares to Baghdad and Basra and Rome and beyond, appearing in numerous iterations over centuries, moving across borders, carrying the sparkling hope and mordant cynicism, the canniness and the wit of a form of wisdom literature that originated in the Sanskrit Panchatantra (The Five Books, or Five Discourses) and the Mahabharata, sometime in the second century BCE. Two significant branches grew from this trunk: first, a collection often attributed to a legendary Indian sage, known as Bidpay or Pilpay, and second, the Arabic branch, beginning in the eighth century with the work of the scholar Ibn al-Muqaffa‘ (d. 139/757), who translated and compiled Kalīlah wa-Dimnah. Ibn al-Muqaffa‘ worked from a lost Pehlevi (Middle Persian) composition by a writer called Barzahwayh, which he treated freely, mixing into the Panchatantra’s original fables four more tales, and a highly circumstantial and persuasive explanation of how the manuscript was obtained; he also added a crucial dramatic chapter about Dimnah’s trial, self-defence, and ultimate punishment.

Read the whole essay https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/travelling-tales/

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nicklloydnow · 11 months

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“And so, as I stand today to receive a peace prize, I ask myself, “What does the world of fable have to tell us about peace?”

The news is not very good. Homer tells us that peace comes after a decade of war, when everyone we care about is dead and Troy has been destroyed. The Norse myths tell us that peace comes after the Ragnarök, the Twilight of the Gods, when the gods destroy their traditional foes but are also destroyed by them. And the “Panchatantra” tells us that peace—the death of the owls and the victory of the crows—is achieved only through an act of treachery. To abandon the legends of the past for a moment and look at this summer’s twin fables, the film “Oppenheimer” reminds us that peace came only after two atom bombs, Little Boy and Fat Man, were dropped on the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki; while the box-office monster called “Barbie” makes clear that unbroken peace and undiluted happiness, in a world where every day is perfect, exist only in pink plastic.

And here we are gathered to speak of peace, when war is raging not very far away—a war born of one man’s tyranny and greed for power and conquest—and when another bitter conflict has exploded in Israel and the Gaza Strip. Peace, right now, feels like a fantasy born of a narcotic smoked in a pipe. Even the meaning of the word is a thing on which the combatants cannot agree. Peace, for Ukraine, means more than a cessation of hostilities. It means, as it must mean, a restoration of seized territory and a guarantee of its sovereignty. Peace, for Ukraine’s enemy, means a Ukrainian surrender. The same word, with two incompatible definitions. Peace for Israel and for Palestinians feels even further away.

(…)

If my work has been influenced by fables, there is also something decidedly fabulist about a peace prize. I like the idea that peace itself might be the prize—that this jury of wise benefactors is so infinitely powerful that they are able to bestow upon a single individual, and no more, one year’s award of peace. True, blessed peace, not trivial contentment, paix ordinaire, but a fine vintage of Pax Frankfurtiana, a whole year’s supply of it, delivered to your door, elegantly bottled. That’s an award I’d be very happy to receive. I am even thinking of writing a story about it, “The Man Who Received Peace as a Prize.”

(…)

My fate, over the past many years, has been to drink from the bottle marked Freedom and therefore to write without any restraint those books that came to my mind to write, and now, as I am on the verge of publishing my twenty-second volume, I have to say that on twenty-one of those twenty-two occasions the elixir has been well worth drinking. On the remaining occasion, namely, the publication of my fourth novel, I learned—many of us learned—that freedom can create an equal and opposite reaction from the forces of unfreedom, and I learned, too, how to face the consequences of that reaction, and to continue, as best I could, to be as unfettered an artist as I had always wished to be. I learned, too, that many other writers and artists, exercising their freedom, also faced the forces of unfreedom, and that, in short, freedom can be a dangerous wine to drink. But that made it more necessary, more essential to defend. I confess there have been times when I’d rather have drunk the Peace elixir and spent my life sitting under a tree wearing a blissful, beatific smile, but that was not the bottle the peddler handed me.

We live in a time I did not think I would see in my lifetime, a time when freedom—and in particular freedom of expression, without which the world of books could not exist—is everywhere under attack from reactionary, authoritarian, populist, demagogic, narcissistic, careless voices; when places of education and libraries are subject to hostility and censorship; and when extremist religion and bigoted ideologies have begun to intrude in areas of life in which they do not belong. And there are also progressive voices being raised in favor of a new kind of bien-pensant censorship, one which appears virtuous, and which many people have begun to see as a virtue. So freedom is under pressure from the left as well as the right, the young as well as the old. This is something new, and made more complicated by our new tool of communication, the Internet, on which well-designed pages of malevolent lies sit side by side with the truth, and it is difficult for many people to tell which is which; and our social media, where the idea of freedom is every day abused to permit, very often, a kind of online mob rule, which the billionaire owners of these platforms seem increasingly willing to encourage—and to profit by.

What do we do about free speech when it is so widely abused? We should still do, with renewed vigor, what we have always needed to do: to answer bad speech with better speech, to counter false narratives with better narratives, to answer hate with love, and to believe that the truth can still succeed even in an age of lies. We must defend it fiercely and define it as broadly as possible, so, yes, we should of course defend speech that offends us; otherwise we are not defending free expression at all. Let a thousand and one voices speak in a thousand and one different ways.

To quote Cavafy, “the barbarians are coming today,” and what I do know is that the answer to philistinism is art, the answer to barbarianism is civilization, and in any war it may be that artists of all sorts—filmmakers, actors, singers, and, yes, those who practice the ancient art of the book—can still, together, turn the barbarians away from the gates.”

“The survey, conducted from October 19 to October 25, found that 70 percent of Russians would support Putin should he decide to end the conflict this week.

However, if ending the war would include Russia returning the territories that it has occupied and annexed throughout the conflict, only a third (34 percent) of respondents said they would support that decision.

(…)

In its latest poll, the Levada Center surveyed 1,608 people across Russia. The results suggest that 20 months into Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, public support for the conflict has dropped significantly.

The results are significant given that stringent laws passed in Russia in March 2022 made criticizing the Russian military and the war in Ukraine illegal. Many are believed to answer public opinion polls on the topic dishonestly, fearing retribution.

(…)

An August poll by the Levada Center showed that just 38 percent of respondents "definitely" support the actions of Russia's armed forces in Ukraine.

That is in contrast to results from a February 2022 survey from the research organization, conducted when Putin launched his full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Results from that poll, which asked the same question, showed 48 percent of respondents said they "definitely" supported the army's actions in Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said on multiple occasions that he will not comply with the Kremlin's non-negotiable conditions for peace talks, including that Kyiv must accept the September 2022 annexation of four of its regions—Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia—following referendums called by Putin that were deemed illegal by the international community.

Ukraine has said that any peace deal must make void Russia's annexations of its territory, and that the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, which Putin annexed in 2014, must be reversed.

Zelensky has pushed a 10-step "peace formula," which includes radiation and nuclear safety; food security; energy security; the release of all prisoners and deported persons; implementation of the U.N. Charter and restoration of Ukraine's territorial integrity and the world order; withdrawal of Russian troops and cessation of hostilities; restoration of justice; countering ecocide; preventing escalation; and finally, confirmation of the end of the war.

Russia has maintained that any peace deal must include "the entry of four [Ukrainian] regions into Russia," something that Kyiv is unlikely to budge on.”

“The US and Israel are exploring options for the future of the Gaza Strip, including the possibility of a multinational force that may involve American troops if Israeli forces succeed in ousting Hamas, people familiar with the matter said.

The people said the conversations have been impelled by a sense of urgency to come up with a plan for the future of Gaza now that a ground invasion has begun. A second option would establish a peacekeeping force modeled on one that oversees a 1979 Egypt-Israel peace treaty, while a third would see Gaza put under temporary United Nations oversight.

(…)

“We can’t have a reversion to the status quo with Hamas running Gaza,” Blinken, who will travel to Israel on Friday, told the Senate Appropriations Committee. “We also can’t have — and the Israelis start with this proposition themselves — Israel running or controlling Gaza.”

(…)

Israeli officials have said repeatedly that they don’t intend to occupy Gaza, but they’ve also said that continued rule by Hamas is unacceptable after the Oct. 7 attack in which the group killed 1,400 Israelis and took more than 200 people hostage. There’s also little evidence that the Palestinian Authority, which governs the West Bank, would be willing or able to take over Gaza. Hamas has been designated a terrorist group by the US and the European Union.

Ophir Falk, a foreign policy adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said, “A number of options have been raised for the day after Hamas. The prerequisite for all of them is that Hamas be destroyed. Once Hamas is destroyed, all the options discussed are based on the premise that Gaza be demilitarized.”

All options hold political peril for President Joe Biden and for other nations, including Gulf States, not to mention Israel. Biden believes that putting even a small contingent of American troops in harm’s way could prove politically risky, according to a person familiar with his thinking, who added that the US isn’t close to making such a decision. It’s also not yet clear whether Arab states might be interested in participating, another person said.

Ultimately, Biden and other US officials say that an endpoint that involves a sovereign Palestinian state is necessary, but exactly how to reach that outcome has barely featured in discussions, either public or private. And Israel says its military operation could last months, and will result in a buffer zone around Gaza.

According to the people familiar with the matter, one option would grant temporary oversight to Gaza to countries from the region, backed by troops from the US, UK, Germany and France. Ideally, it would also include representation from Arab nations such as Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates, the people said.

A second option is a peacekeeping force modeled on the Multinational Force and Observers group that operates on and around the Sinai peninsula, enforcing the terms of the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel. Israel believes that this idea is worthy of consideration, according to a person familiar with the matter.

A third option would be temporary governance of the strip under a United Nations umbrella. This would have the advantage of the legitimacy bestowed by the UN, but Israel views it as impractical, according to a person familiar with Israel’s thinking, who added that Israel believes that little good has come from the world body.

Earlier this month, Israeli Minister Benny Gantz labeled UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres a “terror apologist” after Guterres argued that the Oct. 7 attacks “did not happen in a vacuum.”

Several former officials and outside groups have already begun discussions with the US and Israel, and floated possible plans. One came from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, which called for a Palestinian-run interim administration, with the UN Relief and Works Agency continuing to provide food, heath and education.”

#rushdie #salman rushdie #peace #peace prize #german book trade #war #russia #ukraine #israel #hamas #palestine #gaza #wwiii #world war 3

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