#zhuanxu

[dorothygale123]

I think I've mentioned Nuwa repairing the sky before, but I don't thinks I've ever gone into the myth so we're doing that today.

The story begins with two other gods entirely, as they are the ones who cause the problem in the first place. One of them was Gonggong, a water deity. Sources vary on who he was fighting (some say it was Zhuanxu, the Black Emperor), but he is most commonly said to have fought the fire god Zhurong. No matter who he ends up fighting, Gonggong loses and is a very poor sport about it. He throws a temper tantrum and winds up running headfirst into Mount Buzhou and breaks it.

Unfortunately, that mountain is in charge of holding up the sky and breaking it has dire consequences. The sky starts to tilt and crack while water goes everywhere. Nuwa notices the situation and goes to do something about it. First, she goes and kills a giant turtle (possibly one of the ones carrying the mythological mountains of Penglai, Fangzhang, and Yingzhou) and cut off its legs to make new pillars su support the falling sky. However, that still wasn't enough, so she grabbed a passing black dragon an killed it to use as a pillar to hold up the sky in the middle (I like to think she smacked it on the ground like a Looney Toon). Some say that this pillar-dragon would later become the Ruyi Jingu Bang, the legendary weapon of Sun Wukong. Now that the sky was propped up, Nuwa had to deal with all the cracks that had formed. She scoured riverbeds for over 30,000 stones in 5 colors (possibly the colors associated with the 5 elements) and melted them so she could glue the sky back together.

Now, the book doesn't say she went and gave the two knuckleheads that caused this problem an ass-whooping, but I certainly would have. Then again, Gonggong supposedly died when he broke Mount Buzhou with his thick head, so it'd be a whole trip down to the underworld just to give that idiot a piece of her mind....

Anyways, the sky was no longer falling so Chicken Little could presumably find some new to stress over.

However, there was still lasting damage from the incident. First, the sky was tilted. This was the explanation for the Earth's slight tilt on it's axis that causes the seasons in real life. Another unfortunate consequence is that while Nuwa stopped MORE water from coming out, she couldn't exactly do anything about the water that was already there.....

TO BE CONTINUED......

Sh*tpost Masterlist

[yebreed]

Ye Family Taoist Lineage: Ancestry, Peculiarities of the Confucian Ethic, Way of the Celestial Masters

According to the genealogical canon, it goes back to the Ye branch (葉) of the Xiong (熊) family, Shen (沈) lineage, from the House of Mi (芈), the ruling clan of the Chu (楚) Kingdom [1]. The differentiation of the branch from the main clan occurred after the Ye County was added to the fief, and the new surname was accepted.

The founding ancestor of the family, Shen Zhuliang (沈諸梁), Duke of Ye (葉公高) (c. 529 BCE – after 478 BCE), descended from the Yellow Emperor through latter’s grandson and successor Zhuanxu (顓頊). A gifted strategist and wise ruler of his time, [2] the Duke surprisingly has gone down in history not so much because of his obvious merits, but because he dared to disapprove the nepotism promoted by Confucius.

It is pretty clear that with such a background, the Ye had no chance of becoming a decent Confucian family.

Part 2, Part 3.

[fate-magical-girls]

The Varieties of Chinese Mermaids

In the modern day, most people will think of the pearl-crying Jiaoren. However JIAOREN IS NOT THE PERFECT EQUIVALENT OF THE MERMAID in pre-modern folklore.

Chinese mermaids come in multiple types. Most of them can be found in the Chronicle of the Mountains and the Seas (Shan Hai Jing/山海經). Others can be found in the In Search of the Supernatural (Sou Shen Ji/搜神記) or Extensive Records of the Taiping Era (Taiping Guangji/太平廣記).

YUFU/MER-WIFE (魚婦): Zhuanxu was a god-emperor in legendary times, whose accomplishments included sending two of his sons to complete the separation of Heaven and Earth. When he died, fish ate his corpse, becoming half fish and half human women. They live in the Great Wilderness toward the west of China. They combine traits of humans, fish, and snakes. The Classic of Mountains and the Seas states: "There is a fish half-withered, it is Zhuanxu that died and then revived; when the winds blow northward, the sky whips up great geysers, snakes transform into fish, and those are mer-wives."

LINGYU/HILL FISH (陵魚，鯪魚): The Lingyu lived in the northern regions of China, either in the sea or mountain streams. They have human faces and limbs, but fish bodies. They are identified with Chinese giant salamanders or mud carp in the modern day. The Classic of Mountains and Seas states: "The nation of Guye is in the sea, among the Guye mountain range, surrounded by peaks to the southwest. There are great crabs are in the sea. There are Lingyu, which have human heads, feet, and hands, in the sea."

CHIRU/RED RU FISH (赤鱬): The Chiru lived in mountain in the south of China. It was red all over, had a human face, and its call sounded like that of a shelduck or mandarin duck. Eating its flesh protected people from contracting scabies. They are identified with sockeye salmon in the modern day. The Classic of Mountains and Seas states: "Three hundred miles more to the east, there is the mountain called Blue Hill...The Ying Waters emerge from here. Within are many Chiru; their forms are like fish, yet they have human faces, and their cries are like that of a shelduck. Those that eat its flesh will never have scabies."

DIREN/DI PEOPLE (氐人): The nation of the Di People was in the South of China. They were human from the waist up and fish from the waist down. They might have been a mythologization of the real Di People, who lived in western China, spread out from Shaanxi to Gansu. They joined the confederation of nomadic peoples who conquered Northern China during the Sixteen Kingdoms period. The Baima people of Gansu believe themselves to be descended from the ancient Di. The Classic of the Mountains and Seas states: "The nation of the Di People is west of the Jianmu Tree. Its inhabitants have human faces but fish bodies, with no feet."

HAI RENYU/SEA MERMAID (海人魚): The Sea Mermaid lives in the East China Sea. They tend to be around five to six shaku tall. (4'7"-5'6" or 1.4-1.68 meters.) Their upper bodies were that of humans, and they were all very beautiful. Their skins were white as jade, and their tails had no scales, but were covered in fine rainbow-colored hairs. Their hair grew long and wild like horse manes. Their private organs were much like that of humans, and they often sought humans or were sought by humans as mates in coastal communities, where they would live in a pool on their spouse's property. Sometimes they had red feelers or fins on their elbows and backs. Their bodies could not be penetrated by blades, but their fats could be harvested after death to form ever-burning candles. Han Dynasty texts state: "Merfolk have a human-like form longer than one shaku. They are not fit for consumption. Their skins are rougher than those of sharks, and cannot be penetrated by saws. They have little holes on their neck that they breathe through...Their fat is used to light lamps in royal tombs because the fire will never extinguish." Extensive Records of the Taiping Era states: "Sea Mermaids are found in the Eastern Sea. The largest ones are five or six shaku long. They are shaped like humans, with the brows and eyes, mouths and noses, hands and fingers, and heads of beautiful women, lacking in no feature. Their flesh is white as jade, and they have no scales, but thin, soft, and sleek hairs of five colors about one or two inches in length. Their private organs were no different from those of ordinary men and women. Widows and widowers from coastal communities often acquire them and raise them in pools. They mate the same way humans do, and never harm humans."

LOTING YUREN/LOTING FISH-MEN (盧亭魚人): Loting Fish-Men were found in the south of China, mostly around the Guangdong, Macau, and Hong Kong regions. They had humanoid limbs and humanoid faces with yellow hair and yellow eyes, but scaly bodies with fish tails. They lived mostly in the water, feeding on fish, but also built houses from mussel shells, and their favorite snack was chicken blood. They were a mythologization of the Tanka People, a southern Chinese pariah class who were once forced to live on their boats, as well as the Semang People. Ming Dynasty texts state: "The Jin Dynasty rebel Lu Ting was defeated and fled into the Guangdong region, where he lived a fugitive life on the water. After some generations, his descendants were unable to procure food or clothes, so they went about bare bodied and were called Loting. They would often sail out on the sea fishing for food, and they could all lie underwater for three or four days without dying, for they had already become fish." Qing Dynasty texts state: "Among the merfolk are the Loting Fish-Men, who are very numerous on Dayushan Island and the Wanshan Islands. Their adults are like humans, with male and female. Their hairs are dusky yellow and short and their eyes are also yellow, while their faces are black. Their tails are around an inch long. When they encounter humans they dive fearfully into the water. Often they would float along the waves, which would amaze people, who would they chase them. When a man who acquired one their females did the dirty with her, the fish-woman could not speak, only giggle. After a long while, she learned to wear clothes and eat grains. She was brought to Dayushan, where she went back to the water. These are the merfolk who do not harm men."

JIAOREN/SAMEBITO/SHARK-MEN (鮫人): Jiaoren are found in the South Seas. THEY ARE MER-SHARKS. THEY HAVE INKY BLACK BODIES, WILD HAIR, GLOWING GREEN EYES, AND SHARP TEETH. They are usually employed by dragon gods as weavers, capable of working tirelessly and spinning special waterproof silks. Their tears became pearls. They were first equated to Western mermaids by modern fantasy writers romanticizing the fact that they cried pearls.

WA WA YU/KIDDO FISH (娃娃魚): The Chinese Giant Salamander was often called a "mer-person" in the Ming and Qing dynasties, and described having a cry that resembled a baby's wail. To this day the colloquial name is still "Kiddo Fish".

[ryin-silverfish]

An informal translation of the Chinese dub dialogues in LMK S5 trailer

Sth I did on Discord earlier today. May as well put it here, with a few annotations.

Heavy spoilers under cut.

"The Ten Courts of Ksitigarbha has summoned you here to answer for your evil deeds. Do you three acknowledge your crimes?"

[地藏十殿 is referencing how in JTTW, Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha/Dizang is technically the boss of the Ten Kings of the Underworld.]

Li Jing: "I should take over all affairs in the Celestial Realm."

Ten Kings: "And this…is Devaraja Li Jing, the Pagoda King."

MK: "Nezha's dad?! Nezha, is your dad becoming the new JE?"

"But there is one thing that can bring the Great Sage Equal to Heaven to his knees/make him submit..."

Li Jing: "Don't you lot try to escape again!"

"Thou shalt be condemned for thy destruction of tis' world!"

"Right now, the damage caused to the Pillar of Creation is irreversible."

MK: "Wait a sec, what exactly is the Pillar of Creation?"

"This world's functioning depends on it."

[创世之柱 likely draws inspiration from "Nvwa patching the sky" mythos, where the water god Gonggong, after losing his battle against Zhuanxu or Zhurong, knocked over Mt. Buzhou, the sky pillar with his head.]

"Whatever happens, we'll always find a way, right?"

Mei: "It seems to have something to do with…rocks?"

"Regardless of whether there is some sort of secret conspiracy, the people we trusted are all by our side!"

SWK: "Everything will be okay, MK."

"There is something deep inside you that you cannot control..."

"What we gotta do is collect the Five-colored Stones, repair whichever parts that need repairing, and return everything to normal at last!"

"Here…comes…Monkey Kid!"

Red Son: "Let's put the topic of Divine Beasts aside for a sec, Dragon Girl. Distant water cannot put out a nearby fire——"

[远水救不了近火, a Chinese idiom that basically means "a slow remedy cannot resolve an emergency".]

Mei: "My codename is Long Dongqiang! Long-dong-qiang-dong-qiang…(humming)"

[隆咚锵咚锵, a Chinese onomatopoeia for drum + gong sounds. Mei is also making a pun here of her Chinese surname, Long.]

[Edit: the onomatopoeia is also used in a CNY song, 七个隆冬锵咚锵.]

[ryin-silverfish]

Adding on to this:

-The Chinese dub differs from the English dub in that he refers to himself as a descendant of Xiangliu (相柳后人) instead of Xiangliu the original, which makes a lot more sense.

-Xiangliu in the Book of Mountains and Seas is said to be a minister of Gonggong, who was slew by Yu the Great. His odious blood stained the earth, making it so that no crops could be grown there and the ground kept collapsing into sinkholes.

-In the end, Yu just built a Terrace to the Heavenly Emperors over the place where it was stained.

-As for this Gonggong guy: in Huainanzi, he was the water god who broke the sky pillar after losing a battle with Zhuanxu for the throne.

-The Emissary title is also entirely an English version thing, but it could refer to the Xiangliu-Gonggong connection and maaaaybe some clues to the whole "He's winning" line.

-The equating of Xiangliu with the Nine-headed Bird of folklore and JTTW, however, is entirely an LMK original thing.

-Though Jiufeng was mentioned in the Book of Mountains and Seas as a god with the body of a bird and nine human heads, the earliest mention of the strange bird as a monstrous critter was in Vol.2 of Yin Yun's Xiaoshuo.

-Here, the Duke of Zhou commanded a guy to shoot off one of its head, leaving only nine.

-In later sources like Jingchu Suishi Ji and You Yang Za Zu, it had gained a more well-known name: Gui Che(鬼车), whose call was an ill omen, and the story of it losing a head because of the Duke of Zhou was also tweaked so that its head was bitten off by a dog instead.

-Which probably inspired the part in JTTW where Skyhowler bit off one of Jiutou Chong's heads!

-Also, a nitpick: Jisai is the kingdom Jiutou Chong and the Wansheng Dragon Clan stole the Sarira jewel from. If we were to be accurate to the novel, he should be the Prince Consort of Bibo Lake instead.

The Nine-Headed Demon

Titles:

Prince Consort of Jisa, Xiangliu, and The Emissary

I wanted to know more about our villain for season 5 so I looked more into his titles.

Xiangliu:

it came up as, a venomous nine-headed snake monster that brings floods and destruction. Xiangliu may be depicted with his body coiled on itself. The nine heads are arranged differently in different representations. Modern depictions resemble the hydra with each head on a separate neck. Older wood-cuts show the heads clustered on a single neck, either side-by-side or in a stack three high, facing three directions.

But that can't be him sure they bring floods and destruction. But in the show we already see one of these and they have no giant bird form. In Season 4 Episode 4 Pig- Napped

I don't know why he said he was one of these...maybe he's related to one of that just what some people call him on the nine-head thing and he went along with it.

The Emissary title stumped me but it means that he was given or named himself a representative of something or someone. He mentioned being the consort of Jisa and the Wiki thinks it is a kingdom so maybe the Emissary of there but I think more likely with his obsession over it he's the Emissary of Chaos like the Harbinger of Chaos.

But it still got me no closer to him so I started looking at appearances.

I found this...

Jiu Feng:

Nine-headed Bird, also called “Jiu Feng” in Chinese, is a monster in Chinese Mythology. It is a legendary bird with a bird’s body and nine heads with human faces and is regarded as one of the earliest forms of the Chinese phoenix. It was worshiped by ancient natives in Hubei Province.

Pretty much WHAT he is but I went deeper on the WHO he is......

JTTW:

There was a demon with a similar name in the JTTW, I thought there was no way it was him no way it was that simple.....

"The Nine-Headed Beast (九頭蟲), also known as the Nine-Headed Prince Consort (九頭駙馬), is married to Wansheng Dragon King's daughter. He is armed with a Crescent Moon Spade (月牙鏟). He collaborates with his father-in-law to steal the Śarīra from Golden Ray Monastery. Sun Wukong enlists the help of celestial forces to deal with the demons. The Nine-Headed Beast has one of his heads bitten off by Erlang Shen's celestial hound but manages to escape."

It's him who got the description and the sharing consort title. I didn't think it could be because this character had no other link to Wukong than this one-off meeting but then again like I said before LMK is a JTTW fanfic.

In this scene where he mentioned being BOTH Friend and Foe, the Foe part made sense but the FREIND did not. Nor the why Wukong would not remember him in either capacity.

Also, this whole link to Chaos and these powers are out of nowhere for this character so they clearly added a few other things onto him as well.

But then again Wukong only sees him in this form. The Monkey does not get to see

Maybe if he saw him like this it might make him remember but that's just a theory.

Another name I found he is called is the Nine-Headed Bug or Worm listen to this...

(PS to Overly Saractist Production Fans this guy shows up in the Chapter after Bull King so the next episode of JTTW from their youtube channel if they ever get back to it)

"In his humanoid form, the Nine-Headed Bug is a man who has nine faces, and wears armor, holds a Crescent Moon Spade. However, in the 1986 series, he simply has one visible face like a regular person, wears regular purple -

aristocratic clothes, and a crown that consists of nine snake-like heads (hinting at his true form).

The Bug's -

true form is that of a gigantic bird that looks like an eagle, with nine heads, and blood on his back.

His true form is never fully revealed in the 1986 TV series, but a few heads of him hints at how it looks like."

The reason I mention this is because I've noticed this in my Iron Fan Legend, JTTW, and LMK. That the design for some of the characters comes from older media of JTTW like TV shows and movies live action or animated.

Wukong fillet in season 5 has a mix of all of his past media fillets designed with the middle cresting up for the two loops but we get a crest moon shape like in Journey to the West- Legends of the Monkey King (Middle image)

The bullhorn hair from Dream Journey 2: Princess Iron Fan in 2017.

and more.....

So using this description made sense.

I would also like to point out that I saw someone's comment but not sure who the NINE-Headed Demon in his beast form is missing one of his heads, his nine-headed title comes from the extra nine around the main one the main face does not count and they are right there are only eight of the small ones but go back up to the first quote where I mentioned Erlang's dog bit off one of those heads so it makes sense. If anything it might tell us THAT fight did go down just not the way in the book.

Good Puppy. :)

Hope you all enjoyed..

[fmpjemuelgallaza45]

Taowu (檮杌, lit. Ignorant Stump) - is a giant canine-like beast which once threatened the western areas of China.

Appearances: it has the Human Face with Two boar tusks Protudings from it's Lips. An arrogant and stubborn beast of might, it thrashes wildly through the wilderness and fights any living being it encounters to the death. Intrepid intellectuals once tried to educate Taowu with the human language, but it purposely ignored their pleas to slaughter them.

Power: Taowu was know for his power to see the future and the Past, So as to Make the best of its own Life.

Taowu (梼杌): Unrelenting Ferocity Taowu is a creature found in ancient Chinese mythology, considered the son of the Northern Emperor Zhuanxu.

[tom5201314]

Since the opening of heaven and earth by Pangu and the eventual birth of human beings, people all over the world need a person to manage them, known as the monarch, as the master of all people in the world. Therefore, in ancient times, after Fuxi, Shennong, Xuanyuan Huangdi, Zhuanxu and other chiefs, Tang Yao, Yu Shun, Da Yu, Shang Tang and other Kings did not fear heaven and respect the gods of heaven and earth. These Kings loved the people, worked hard on state affairs, and handled government affairs with caution all day long, deeply afraid that a slight mishap would cause the people of the world to suffer.

[astoryshing]

Water Virtue Emperor Zhuanxu

In his old age, Huangdi became a disciple of the immortal Guangchengzi and the Duke of Rongcheng, using the method of following the laws of nature to govern the Three Realms. When he achieved success, he desired to retire. He sent laborers to extract copper ore from the Shou Mountain and cast the Ding of Treasures at the foot of the Jing Mountain. On the day when the Ding was cast, a giant dragon…

[ryin-silverfish]

*Deep Sigh*

The general outline of Gonggong's myth is correct, but it's also very much a "pop version", heavily influenced by modern interpretations and completely unsourced.

One of the earliest mentions of Gonggong was in the Book of Mountains and Seas. Before that, Shang Shu also briefly alluded to Gonggong as a subordinate of Sage King Yao, who was exiled together with 3 other criminals.

In the Book of Mountains and Seas, he was the son of Zhurong(海内经), Xiangliu the Nine-headed Serpent was his minister(海外北经 + 大荒北经), and Yu the Great was said to have attacked "the Kingdom of Gonggong" (海内经).

That's it——the "breaking of the sky pillar" myth hadn't formed yet in the Warring States Era, or if it was, it wasn't mentioned.

The source that did mention it was Huainanzi: here, Gonggong went and headbutted Mt. Buzhou the sky pillar after losing a battle with Zhuanxu, the ruling Heavenly Emperor associated with the North.

(Not the JE; JE wouldn't be a thing for like, 800 years, Huainanzi being a Han dynasty work and all!)

(The same version of the story could also be found in Liezi.)

Huainanzi then proceeded to give some conflicting accounts, including:

1)Gonggong being one of the four evildoers exiled by Yao

2)Gonggong was killed by Zhuanxu for his transgressions

3)Gonggong returning during the time of Shun to cause floods again, thus, Yu the Great being commanded to conquer the great flood

Just for reference purposes: another Han dynasty (debated) work, Shenyi Jing, described Gonggong as having red hair, the face and limbs of a human, and the body of a snake.

If you are going by this source, he certainly has serpentine features——but he's not a black dragon!

The only source that mentioned a black dragon is Huainanzi, in the section about Nvwa patching the sky, and that was just one of the many random beasts running around after the sky pillar's collapse...

Now, the earliest source I'm aware of that replaced Zhuanxu with Zhurong was the Tang dynasty 三皇本纪, written by Sima Zhen as an addendum to Shiji.

This version became quite popular and well-known, probably because the symbolism of Water vs. Fire was a lot more appealing.

Oh, and Zhurong did not ride a tiger. Book of Mountains and Seas actually described him in 海外南经, as an entity with human face and beastly body, who rode on two dragons.

...The idea of Gonggong as a rebel figure, unhappy with heavenly hierarchy, is very much a modern reinterpretation, though, and one that's in the same vein as Havoc in Heaven's remaking into a revolutionary narrative.

(And the part where he rebelled because he was "growing sick of trival errands and paper work"...um, citation needed?)

-In almost all the ancient sources, Gonggong was depicted as a wrongfully rebellious vassal or a destructive god——much like the flood he was associated with and embodied.

[dorothygale123]

So, we've talked quite a bit about Hou Yi before, but his story always seems to start with him slaying the 10 Suns, doesn't it? He never seems to have much going on before The Incident. Well, one of my sources may shed a bit of light (no pun intended) on his pre-banishment history.

See, my newest book says that a god named Yi, who is the descendent of the Black Emperor, hung out on Riyue Mountain (the place where the sun and moon set) and was in charge of making sure the stars stayed in their lanes and didn't bump into each other. A celestial traffic cop, if you will. Now, my source doesn't say anything about this Yi being the same Yi that shot down the suns and, as it's written in English, I don't know if they're spelled with the same characters, but when has that ever stopped me before? These are called sh*tposts for a reason!

Besides, I think it fits with Hou Yi and his role in his most famous myth really well. As a deity who spent a lot of time on the mountain where the suns set every night, it would make sense if he knew and was friends with them. This would add another possible reason to why Di Jun would choose Hou Yi specifically to try and convince the suns to chill out- he was hoping their friend could talk some sense into them. As a consequence, it seems a lot less stupid that Di Jun would be surprised "the arrow guy he commissioned to shoot arrows shot arrows at the people he pointed him at" (Red, OSP). He probably thought their friend would be thr last person to hurt them.

It also makes the fact that he did shoot shoot them down all the more tragic and juicy! They were his friends, he knew them, and he tried to get them to see reason, but he failed. He couldn't convince them, and the world was still dying. He had to do something. Anything. Even if it meant killing them with his own hands. And then you add in my idea that he, Shen I, and Erlang killed the suns together but Hou Yi took all the blame himself-!

Oh the DRAMA!!!

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[adimadimcin]

Laba Festivali Yaklaşıyor Çin’in geleneksel festivallerinden Laba Festivali, La ayının (Çin’in ay takviminin 12. ayı) sekizinci gününe denk gelen büyük bir festival. Laba, yakında kutlanacak olan Bahar Şenliği veya diğer adıyla Çin Yeni Yılı’na bir girizgah olarak da kabul ediliyor. Eskiden bu günde sonraki yıl için bol hasat ve şans dilemek amacıyla atalarına ve tanrılarına kurbanlar sunuyordu. Kökeni hakkında birçok efsane olan festivalde bir kutlama şekli olarak yulaf lapası Laba pişirilip yenir. #labafestival #labanoodle #nanjing #jiangsuprovince #huaiancity #yuefeitemple #YueFeitapınağı #fiveempires #zhuanxu #besimparatoryili #zhuyuanzhang #Ciyunchantemple #tütsü #yakma #duaetmek #geleneksel #gelenekselsanatlar (Nanjing China) https://www.instagram.com/p/B5-uj66KpRa/?igshid=fibno3grmyf3

[theworldaswedontknowit]

China: Historical Overview

5000 years of history that honestly, never really gets boring

I would also like to point out my knowledge doesn't go very far after The Three Kingdoms and it is noticeable in my writing. I also wrote this while incredibly sick. Any errors please point them out.

China has a long, long history. There’s no denying it. Even if you were to ignore the mythical time of the 3 Sovereigns and 5 Emperors and the undocumented but “it probably existed” Xia Dynasty (more on that in a moment) the documented history of the country still stretches over 3600 years. There’s approximately 10 Dynasties we know existed but the country has seen multiple periods of division and in fighting, even up to the 1900s. So, with the monstrous task now ahead of me, let’s get started!

The first people who were human like to arrive in China were Homo Erectus and the estimated dates are between 2.24 million and 800,000 years ago. That’s quite a while. Tooth fragments have been found elsewhere that date back 80,000 years.

So, how about mythical beginnings? Well, one of the key mythical figures in almost every story told is the Jade Emperor. The first Chinese people came from Fu Xi and Nü Wa, brother and sister who survived a flood that swept away their homeland. The siblings came to the Jade Emperor for help and he gave them the power to create new human life. The two married and made the human race through clay models. Fu Xi then ruled over the group for 115 years, establishing the ritual of marriage and making conception a shared act, having previously been a miracle occurrence that solely involved females. There is a monument erected in his memory in Gansu Province.

There is a slight…erm. Okay let’s be frank, girls don’t win in history very often. This mythical period is known as the era of the 3 Sovereigns and 5 Emperors and there is some debate about who the three sovereigns were. While most name them as Fu Xi, Shennong and Huangdi others declare Nü Wa the first or second sovereigns but most of the time gets left out almost altogether. Sucks to us.

So, onto the next Sovereign – Shennong. Shennong is famous in Chinese mythology for introducing tea. He was also known for making himself a guinea pig and regularly testing new medicines on himself – tea being his antidote. Shennong, it should be noted, was also known as Yandi (炎帝) and is the God of Agriculture, supposedly teaching Slash and Burn techniques to his people. It should also come as no surprise that Shennong’s death is related to his habit on testing things on himself. He died after consuming a poison herb and his intestines putrefied as he was unable to reach his tea in time. There is also speculation that the title Yandi was a dynastic title and that it spanned a longer period of time, some sources recording names for the Kings of Shennong.

The final sovereign is Huangdi, for whom we have an actual name for, he is noted as Gongsun Xuanyuan which was recorded by the Grand Historian – Sima Qian. Another name, Youxiong, is also noted but the consensus seems to be that this was more of a clan name than anything else.

The myth goes that Shennong and Huangdi ruled in neighboring states – wikipedia likes to suggest than Shennong (or Yuwang) and Xuanyuan were in fact brothers, born to Lady Fu Bao and step sons of Shao Dian, a supposed ancestor of Boyi who we well get to later. Either way, during their reigns an evil spirit named Chi You attacked Shennong with 86 other tribes, so Shennong enlisted the help of little brother/neighbor Huangdi. The two defeated Chi You and joined their two lands, naming their people the Huaxia whom the main Han ethnic group all claim descent from.

However, both Emperors’ pride was damaged and the two went to war. Huangdi would win and become sole ruler of the Huaxia peoples. Huangdi would rule for 100 years – from 2698BCE – 2598 BCE – and is credited with the creation of a calender, the writing system, laws and even football. Hats off to you indeed Huangdi. One of his wives, Leizu, is also credited with teaching people how to weave silk and dye clothes.

Now, this is where things get a little weirder. 5 Emperors with almost 450 years to cover stretches the bounds of credibility just a little bit but that’s fine. There’s also something to be said about the number 5, it’s a symbol of completeness so there were probably (definitely) more than 5 Emperors but 5 have been crammed in and strung out over impossible periods of time to fit this. To confuse just about everyone and fitting this idea of 5 but there were actually more there are six potential rulers for 5 spots.

The six are: Shaohao (reigned c. 2598BCE - 2518BCE) he was the son of Huangdi and is also the one who is passed over by Sima Qian. Zhuanxu (reigned c. 2518BCE - 2440BCE) a Grandson of the Yellow Emperor and nephew of Shaohao he either followed his Grandfather or was his Uncle's assistant from the age of 10 to 20 years old. Emperor Ku (reigned c. 2440BCE - 2377BCE) the Grandson of Shaohao. Supposedly rode on Dragon back for half of the year. His four sons would ultimately all rule, two as Kings/Emperors in their own right and two who became dynastic founders of Shang and Zhou. Emperor Zhi (reigned c. 2377BCE - 2368BCE) Emperor Ku's son who was passed over for his younger brother, Yao. Promptly usurped the throne and lasted a meagre nine years. Well, you tried Zhi.  Emperor Yao (reigned c. 2368BCE - 2269BCE) the younger son of Emperor Ku. He is remembered as a wise and kind ruler who those in the future sought to emulate.

Emperor Shun (reigned c. 2269BCE - 2219BCE) A distant relative of the yellow emperor through Zhuanxu he either took over from Yao peacefully after making himself well respected for his humble life. Alternatively he usurped the throne, killed Yao and banished his heir. Honestly, seen as this I mythology you can take your pick.

Finally, we get onto Dynastic China. China’s first dynasty, the Xia, is still largely considered fictional and wasn’t believed to have existed at all until the Xia-Shang-Zhou Chronology project lead to the uncovering of evidence of a culture called the Erlitou who were around the same time as the dates we’re given for the Xia.

The Xia would have a total of 17 Kings over 395 years. The first would be Yu the Great, calmer of the flood waters and his son, Qi, would begin the rule of primogenitor (as put by The History of China podcast, “the first-born son wins rule”). The final King of Xia would be Jie and they would be usurped by the Shang Dynasty whose dynastic founder was one of the sons of Emperor Ku.

The Shang Dynasty had 30 Kings over 630 years and has two names. It is known as the Shang Dynasty as that is where the rulers were from however in Korea and Japan it is known as the Yin Dynasty as that was the city where they had their capital. The first King would be Tang of Shang and the last King Zhou of Shang, a tyrant. An additional note on the Shang – this is where China’s written history begins as the Oracle bones date back to this period and provide an insight into the beliefs and lives of the Shang people.

Next come the Zhou, the longest reigning (sort of) Dynasty in Chinese History, their own Dynastic founder being the other son of Emperor Ku. I’m sure when that happened one looked at the other and said, “Thanks. Thanks a lot.” The Zhou Dynasty is split into two halves, the Western and Eastern. Western Zhou saw almost complete rule by the Kings of Zhou and lasted from 1046CE – 771BCE. In Eastern Zhou this changed, the Kings became little more than puppets and were eventually deposed in 256BCE.

During this time the two periods Spring and Autumn and Warring States would take hold of China, fracturing it once Zhou rule became nothing more than a memory. The separate states and eventually Kingdoms would spend centuries fighting for the right to be Hegemon. The period also brought the classics The Confucian Analects and The Art of War. The infighting would continue for another 30 years after the final Zhou King was deposed before the Qin Dynasty and China’s first real Emperor claimed rulership over the land.

Despite the permanent mark it left on China and the culture the Qin Dynasty was something of a blip. Qin Shi Huang would take the throne in 221BCE and rule for only 14 years before ingesting Mercury in a bid for immortality and instead, not surprisingly, dying. His eldest son, Fu Su, would be forced to commit suicide by his minister Li Si and the Eunuch Zhao Gao and his 18th son, Huhai, installed as Qin Er Shi.

Boy that went well. Qin Er Shi, only a teenager at the time, fell under the influence of the Eunuch Zhao Gao. Oh and get ready for Eunuchs, they really, really love bringing an end to Dynasties. Eventually Zhao Gao would force the young Emperor to commit suicide and pass power onto Ziying – generally accepted as another son of Qin Shi Huang – who, along with his two sons, would murder the Eunuch.

Another warring states would follow, known as the Chu-Han contention, which ended with the succession of the Han Dynasty. The Han Dynasty is undoubtedly one of China’s most famous Dynasties and left the most visible print on the country. The main ethnic group are known as the Han people, the clothes are called Hanfu and the writing system is Hanzi. The Han would rule for a little over 400 years, only facing usurpation once when the Xin Dynasty tried to take hold of the country. Han would have 30 rulers in 414 years and was followed by The Three Kingdoms.

You ever played Dynasty Warriors? Or just heard of it? I love those games, they’re what got me into this period to begin with. The Three Kingdoms – Wei, Wu and Shu – would fight for dominance over China for almost a century before all three of the ruling families (Cao, Sun and Liu) would be beaten and usurped by the Sima family. The age gave us some of the best tactical thinkers in Chinese history and some of the most badass warriors ever. If you want to know more about this period than what I’m telling you I suggest you go and read the blogs of @daolunofshiji and @the-archlich , though, you’ve probably already heard of them. Bonus they're both pretty funny.

Not that the Jin Dynasty did very well. It took two Emperors before pretty much everything went horribly wrong in the form of the War of the Eight Princes. The monarchs would ultimately become utterly powerless over the 155 year rule and the land would fragment into 16 Kingdoms. Nice going, Sima family. I can see Sima Yi shaking his head in shame.

The Northern and Southern Dynasties saw the land fragmented again for almost 180 years and eventually it culminated into the Sui Dynasty. The Sui were another blip in history, lasting for only 37 and going through three emperors it was something of a Qin 2.0. It had reunited China after a long period of division and had only three Emperors. The Eunuchs seem to be missing from this time, it was more a demand of labor that brought the Sui down.

Tang would take over from the Sui and last for 289, seeing 21 Emperors and the first and only Empress of China, Wu Zetian who would rule as Empress Dowager Wu of Tang and then Empress of Zhou. Two of her sons would sit on the throne and another would be given the title of Emperor posthumously. I’d personally argue she was one of the most powerful women of the time.

After the Tang, China would fracture once again into the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms which would shrink to just four. Song, Liao, Xia and Jin. Song would reign triumphant eventually, splitting into two periods, Northern Song (960 – 1127) and Southern Song (1127 – 1279) after which it was conquered by Kublai Khan and brought in the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty.

The Yuan dynasty, beginning officially in 1279, was the first foreign Dynasty to rule China. Headed by Kublai Khan, a Grandson of Genghis Khan, it consisted of most of modern day China, Mongolia and Korea. During the Yuan dynasty Princes from Korea would spend several years at the Yuan court, allowing for greater culture exchange. The Dynasty would begin to falter in the early 1300s with onsets of famine and general unrest. For the other Khanates, the Yuan had become “too Chinese” and distrusted them while the populace saw them as foreigners and so they were untrusted by both parties. It would fracture in 1368 into the Northern Yuan and Ming Dynasty.

While the Northern Yuan retreated to Mongolia (although it would keep right on going until the Qing Dynasty) the Ming set up in Beijing and were the last Dynasty that was ethnically Han Chinese. They’re known well throughout the world, especially for their vases. The Ming also saw much increased trade with other countries both in Europe and nearby Japan. The 276 reign of the Ming dynasty saw 18 emperors before being taken over by China’s final dynasty, the Manchu Qing Dynasty.

The Qing dynasty is the one no one seems to have heard of but everyone knows exactly what they look like? They’re the ones where the men’s hair is braided and shaved at the front. The Qing dynasty was turbulent at best, it’s when my country (yay Britain…christ I hate this) decided that we’d sell Opium to them and there’s a political cartoon of European countries and Japan dividing up China and I’ll be honest that is basically what happened. Towards the late 1800s there were multiple rebellions and the Dynasty finally fell in 1912 when Emperor Puyi abdicated, although there was a botched attempt to reinstate the dynasty 1917 which went…swimmingly.

The Republic of China was ushered in and would continue until 1949. The period was also devastating, seeing civil war, the Japanese invasion and the second world war. In 1949 the Communist Party of China would come to power under Mao Zedong. There are endless, endless books you can read on this period and it’s common knowledge that this was perhaps some of the darkest years of Chinese history. After Mao’s death in 1976 and the student protests in Tiananmen Square in 1989 China has turned around. Though still legally communist, the economic make up of the country takes it further from this definition often as it moves toward the status of super power, industrializing and producing most of the world’s goods.    

What a ride that was.

[ryin-silverfish]

I have already written an overview of Gonggong's actual mythos in this reblog, but TL; DR:

-Gonggong did not fight against JE, because JE would only become a thing 800-900 years after the "breaking of the sky pillar myth" appeared in Huainanzi.

-Instead, the guy he fought for the throne was Zhuanxu, a Heavenly Emperor associated with the North.

-Similarly, Zhuanxu only got replaced by Zhurong as "the guy Gonggong fought" in a Tang dynasty source.

-Gonggong isn't really given a motivation either, and the idea of him as a rebel figure was very much a modern reading.

Now that the relevant info was over, I'd like to go on a tangent: "How do you know if something has basis in actual ancient sources, is a modern reinterpretation, or flat-out made up when it comes to Chinese mythos?"

Well, first and foremost: can you find a source? If your source is not a translation of an actual primary source, does it cite its sources?

Example: the version of Gonggong's mythos cited in this post and the other one I reblogged can be traced to this one Wordpress blog post.

Gong Gong, Nüwa, and the Fragile Nature of Life | ferrebeekeeper (wordpress.com)

As you can see, the author does not cite any sources, English or Chinese. Which would be okay if the topic is, say, folklore/oral legends and he was merely recounting a version of the tales he had personally heard——except it was ancient mythology.

Now, old Chinese myths are known for being fragmented and scattered between multiple books, but 1) this one actually has more than one offhand mention in written records, and 2) it makes listing your sources even more important.

Second: if it does cite its sources, can you find these sources, either in print or online?

If you can, well, go read them and make sure what they are saying is actually in the primary sources, or, at the very least, isn't completely baseless!

Case in point: "Nvwa is JE's daughter", a claim her Wikipedia page made once upon a time, which cited FSYY as a source...except FSYY never said that.

If you can read Chinese, Ctext is an invaluable resource that has digitalized many, many premodern Chinese texts, with both text version and scans of the printed books available.

If you can't, and an English translation is either too costly or doesn't exist...can you find scholarly secondary sources on the subject matter, then?

Ideally, these secondary sources should be written by a Sinologist or scholars of Chinese religions, a.k.a. people who specialize in this field, and as up-to-date as possible (read: be a little more careful when it comes to sources before the 90s).

At the very least, whoever wrote the secondary source should be able to read Chinese.

Lastly: this is a little tricky, but...does the source feel like it's pushing for a specific narrative, especially one that seems anachronistic?

For example:

The Feudal Propriety Problem——does it portray the traditional social norms, power structure, and morality in an overwhelming negative light, like someone from the 21th century who absolutely does not believe or grow up in such a world might?

Peasant Rebellion Everywhere——is it creating a binary divide between the oppressed mass and the oppressor, and making every rebel into a revolutionary hero?

Does it read more like a conspiracy theory where every god or authority figure have some kind of ulterior motives?

Now, this isn't saying that people of the past never criticized their own society, or wrote religious satires, or cared more about proper human conducts than gods and ghosts——they absolutely did.

However, they were not gonna do it like an early 20th century reformer trying to modernize Chinese culture, an Maoist historian of the 60s, or a 21th century kid who's atheist by default.

And the more your source leans into any of the above, the more likely it is to be a modern reinterpretation.

"Good to know, but why should I care? I'm just here for the LMK stuff."

...Exactly. The show itself is a derivative work that differs a lot from its original inspiration, and although I don't think an adaptation has to stay 100% faithful to the original, there are a lot of "taking HCs and misinformation as facts" in the fandom, sometimes to the detriment of people who actually want to get into the novels as well as the broader Chinese mythos.

So this reblog is kinda meant as a PSA and rudimentary guide, for those who do want to look beyond the surface-level stuff but don't know where to start.

Also, I am a mythos nerd and cannot miss a chance to infodump, for the life of me.

I have a theory about Season 6 of Lego Monkie Kid. (Spoilers for season 5 below the cut.)

So you know how Xiang Liu said here, "It means he is winning.", and people are speculating on who "he" is? I think I know! In Chinese legends, Xiang Liu is the subordinate of the water God, Gong Gong. Legend says that Gong Gong was not happy with the rigid hierarchical order of things, and he rebelled against the Jade Emperor. Gong Gong and Xiang Liu killed countless people together, but they couldn't defeat the powers of Heaven. They were opposed by Zhu Rong - the God of Fire, but just when he had nearly defeated them, Gong Gong threw himself into Mount Buzhou, one of the PILLARS OF HEAVEN tearing a hole in the sky and releasing monsters and disasters on the world! (Gong Gong was the one who broke the pillar before, guys!!!)

Nuwa repaired the pillar and fought Gong Gong. In some legends, she killed him, but in others, he ESCAPED!!!

I think Gong Gong is the "he" Xiang Liu was talking about! He's back and I think he wants revenge!!

[ryin-silverfish]

A FSYY question. Most of the Twelve Immortals of Kunlun are repackaged versions of preexisting deities. Guangchengzi and Chijingzi are primordial gods who acted as instructors for the prehistoric god-kings Huangdi and Zhuanxu. Wenzhu Guangfa Tianzun, Puxian Zhenren, and Cihang Zhenren are meant to be the past lives of Manjushri, Samantabhadra, and Avalokitesvara/Guanyin/Miaoshan respectively. Juliu Sun is meant to become the Buddha of Antiquity Kakusandha. Taiyi Zhenren is based on the Taoist god of salvation, Taiyi Jiuku Tianzun. Lingbao Dafashi and Qingxu-Daode Tianzun are split off from Yuanshi Tianzun's two "brothers" among the Three Pure Ones (Daode for Laozi, Lingbao for Lingbao Tianzun or Tongtian Jiaozhu). Huanglong Zhenren is either based on stories of dragons helping Yu the Great manage the flood or the figure of the Yellow Dragon that manages the asterisms in the center of the sky. Where, then, did Yuding Zhenren and Daohang Tianzun come from? They seem to be OCs created just for the book.

Also, in FSYY, Kakusandha's name is implied to be in the same style as his disciple's name, with a title in front and a surname as the final word. So Tuxing Sun = Earthwalker Sun, with his main technique being tunneling through the earth, and Juliu Sun = Imprisoner Sun, with his main weapon being his god-binding rope. Would this imply a deeper relationship for them than just master/disciple?

I actually remembered reading something about Sage Huanglong's origin in 西游新说十三讲: namely, he might be inspired by the story of "Lv Dongbin sent his flying sword after Yellow Dragon" (吕洞宾飞剑斩黄龙).

The version of the story in Xingshi Hengyan basically went like this (though the story of these two's conflict had already been circulating long before):

Lv Dongbin left the mountain he was studying on after getting a flying sword from his master, picked a (verbal) fight with the local renowned monk Yellow Dragon, lost badly, and decided to be a sore loser by trying to assassinate the guy with his flying sword.

Which he also failed at——he lost his sword to the guy and had to return to his master in shame.

It's very much a story Buddhists used to flex on Daoists, and in return, Daoists made their own versions where Lv Dongbin won to flex back at Buddhists.

The book made the argument that FSYY might also be following that story tradition, and firmly took Lv Dongbin's side, which kinda explained Huanglong's memetic loser status in the novel (seriously, I don't think this guy has ever won a fight).

You are right that Yuding and Daoheng are more or less OCs, to a greater extent than the others, but the name "Yuding" actually appeared in two Daoist texts.

庚道集, a book on external alchemy, had a chapter titled "The Ninefold Great Elixir of Sage Yuding of Western Shu", while the internal alchemy text 性命圭旨 featured a mnemonic chant attributed to him, alongside other historical Daoists like Zhang Boduan and Wei Boyang.

This suggested he might also be a venerable Daoist sage, active in the Sichuan area at some point IRL history.

As for Daoheng Tianzun: he also got two "likely" namedrops inside two Daoist texts. 太上灵宝朝天谢罪大忏 mentioned a 道行真空天尊, while 太上洞玄灵宝三十二天尊应号经 mentioned a 道行洞空天尊.

These are also works that fall squarely into the "gigantic pantheon list full of gods that almost never appeared outside of said scripture, or enjoy actual worship" category, so yeah.

As for Juliu Sun: the name is just the Chinese transliteration for Krakucchanda/Kakusandha, which could be written as 惧留孙/拘留孙/俱留孙. Though it wasn't impossible for Tuxing Sun's name to be based after his master for matching purposes, I don't think there is any deeper meaning to it.

[wu-kongs]

I don't nominate it as an official name, but I think heaven would just call them the chinese version of chaos

i gave this a little thought! because in new gods nezha reborn (i went back to rewatch this part to get it right too), wukong says he and li yunxiang's ancestor, one before nezha, were leftover stones from when the goddess Nuwa patched the sky—and in mythology, this was after the battle of Gonggong (a water god commonly blamed/responsible for catastrophes) and Zhuanxu (a mythological emperor) each tryna become the Supreme Ruler™ (this story is from the Huainanzi btw, an ancient text dated back to the 100s BC). although what these stones are leftover from exactly, he doesn't say. where was i going with this? Nuwa has nothing to do with the concept of chaos... lol. but it could be that we can attach macaque as another of the little stones! though this was more about mending the chaos created than creating more.

wow i. really lost the plot on that one

anyway, so about Hundun... the faceless embodiment of primordial chaos in chinese mythos. Hundun has a bunch of different... meanings. hun & dun separately as well, and it can be written a bunch of different ways. but heaven might nickname the fusion that because of how much chaos they create, calling them the second coming of it

[mecthology]

Nüwa from Chinese mythology.

Nüwa created humanity due to her loneliness, which grew more intense over time. She molded yellow earth or, in other versions, yellow clay into the shape of people. These individuals later became the wealthy nobles of society, because they had been created by Nüwa's own hands. However, the majority of humanity was created when Nüwa dragged string across mud to mass-produce them, which she did because creating every person by hand was too time- and energy-consuming. This creation story gives an explanation for the social hierarchy in ancient China. The nobility believed that they were more important, because Nüwa took time to create them, and they had been directly touched by her hand.

In another version of the creation of humanity, Nüwa and Fuxi were survivors of a great flood. By the command of the God of the heaven, they were married and Nüwa had a child which was a ball of meat. This ball of meat was cut into small pieces, and the pieces were scattered across the world, which then became humans.

Nüwa was born three months after her brother, Fuxi, whom she later took as her husband; this marriage is the reason why Nüwa is credited with inventing the idea of marriage.

The Huainanzi tells an ancient story about how the four pillars that support the sky crumbled inexplicably. Other sources have tried to explain the cause, i.e. the battle between Gong Gong and Zhuanxu or Zhu Rong. Unable to accept his defeat, Gong Gong deliberately banged his head onto Mount Buzhou which was one of the four pillars. Half of the sky fell which created a gaping hole and the earth itself was cracked.

Nüwa pitied the humans she had made and attempted to repair the sky. She gathered five colored-stones (red, yellow, blue, black, and white) from the riverbed, melted them and used them to patch up the sky: since then the sky has been colorful. She then killed a giant turtle (or tortoise), Ao, cut off the four legs of the creature to use as new pillars to support the sky. But Nüwa didn't do it perfectly because the unequal length of the legs made the sky tilt.

Follow @mecthology for more mythology and lores. DM for pic credit or removal. https://www.instagram.com/p/CY6xDmLF1uo/?utm_medium=tumblr