Lecture 3 Morals and Themes of Cultural Heroes

Morals and Themes of
Chinese Mythical and

Cultural Heroes
GCVM 1077
Wisdom in Chinese Religious Tales and Fiction
Mythical Figures and
Culture
Heroes/Heroines
A Culture Hero/Heroine is a mythical
figure variously represented as a beast,
bird, man, or demigod to whom a people
attributes the factors that appear most
essential to its existence and culture (as
important inventions, the overcoming of
major obstacles, the exercise of divine
leadership, and the origin of itself,
mankind, natural phenomena, or the
world)
one that symbolizes the ideal of a people

or a group
Mythical figures and
Cultural Heroes
Major Heroes:
Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors
Nuwa
Leizu
Da Yu
Others
Kuafu
Jingwei
Three Sovereigns and
Five Emperors
Different versions
Three Sovereigns
Fu Xi, Nuwa and Shennong ( 神農 ) 《 the Chronicle of
Three Sovereigns 》 *
Fu Xi ( 伏羲 ), Shennong ( 神農 ) and Huangdi ( 黃帝 ) 《 The
Chronicle of Emperors and Kings’Genealogy 》 *
Suiren ( 燧人 ), Fu Xi and Shennong 《》 *
Five Emperors
Huangdi, Zhuanxun ( 顓頊 ), Hao ( 嚳 ), Yao ( 堯 ) and
Shun ( 舜 )
Shaohao ( 少昊 ) , Zhuanxun, Hao, Yao and Shun
Taihao ( 太昊 ) ／ Fu Xi, Emperor Yan ( 炎帝 ), Huangdi,
Shaohao, and Zhuanxun
Fu Xi ( 伏羲 )
Brother and husband of Nuwa – human ancestor
Also known as Paoxi or Baoxi
Portrayed with human heads or upper bodies and

serpents’ and dragons’ lower bodies (sometimes
with their tails intertwined)
Taught people how to fish with net, hunt with iron-

made weapons, and cook
Creator of I Jing, and arrangement of Eight

Trigrams
Invention of Guqin ( 古琴 ) - music

Fu Xi and Nuwa
Fu Xi and Nuwa
These symbols are interpreted as
representing the order that Fu Xi and Nuwa
created subsequently by establishing the
rules of the world and the harmony of the
universe between Yin and Yan
Shennong （神農）
From archeological excavations, China started to
have agricultural societies around 10000 – 7000 BCE
Earliest written records appeared after the Warring

States Period
According to oral and written records, Shennong

contributed to the Chinese civilization in two ways:
Invention of Lei ( 耒 )and Si ( 耜 ) – agricultural tools, like
plow ( 犁 ) and hoe ( 鋤 )
The use of herbal medications
He was also known as the ancestor of other culture

heroes, i.e. Emperor Yan ( 炎帝 ) and Yellow Emperor
( 黃帝 ), as well as Chiyou ( 蚩𡯁 )
Huang Di ( 黃帝 Yellow
Emperor)
“Huangdi is reputed to have been born about 2704
BCE and to have begun his rule as emperor in 2697
BCE.
His legendary reign is credited with the introduction of

wooden houses, carts, boats, the bow and arrow, and
writing.
Huangdi himself is credited with defeating Emperor

Yan ( 炎帝 ) and Chiyou ( 蚩𡯁 ) in great battles somewhere
in what is now Shanxi—the victory winning him the
leadership of tribes throughout the Yellow River plain.
Some traditions also credit him with the introduction of

governmental institutions and the use of coined
money. Huangdi’s wife was reputed to have discovered
sericulture (silk production) and to have taught women
how to breed silkworms and weave fabrics of silk.
Huang Di ( 黃帝 Yellow
Emperor)
Huangdi is held up in some ancient sources as a
paragon of wisdom whose reign was a golden
age. He is said to have dreamed of an ideal
kingdom whose tranquil inhabitants lived in
harmonious accord with the natural law and
possessed virtues remarkably like those
espoused by early Daoism. On waking from his
dream, Huangdi sought to inculcate these
virtues in his own kingdom, to ensure order and
prosperity among the inhabitants. Upon his
death he was said to have become an immortal.
From Encyclopedia Britannica
Yan Di ( 炎帝 )
Literally means the Flame Emperor, may
refers to the use of fire for agricultural
purpose
A long-lasting debate on the relation

between Emperor Yan and Shennong.
Recently, a consensus has reached:
The tribe of Shennong ruled the Yellow River
plain about 500 years. All the rulers of this
Shennong tribe were honored as Emperor
Yan
Huangdi (Yellow Emperor) was also one of
the descendants of this tribe, but not
legitimate successor of the kingship
He defeated the last Emperor Yan and
Yan Di ( 炎帝 )
Ancient texts mentioned that the tribes of
Huangdi and Yan Di unified after the defeat
of Yan Di at Banquan ( 阪泉 ), and formed the
Huaxia people – the ancient name of Han
Chinese
Some ancient texts held that Chiyou was a

descendant of Yan Di. He continued the
struggle of his ancestor Yan Di with the new
ruler Huangdi, and only ended with the
defeat in Zhuolu ( 涿鹿 ) 。 Some other texts
held that Chiyou was part of the defeated
Yan Di tribe.
Chiyou was known as the leader of Jiulei( 九黎 )

The Flood
The most dominant myth and pervasive
type of myth
There are THREE systems of flood myths

1st : Controlling the flood
2nd : Brother-sister marriage
3rd : Local legend – reward to the good
people
What interested us here is the first type

Theme of Chinese Myth on
Flood
Compare with myths of flood in other
culture, Chinese version emphasize on the
conquest of the flood and the origin of
civilization rather than the flood that came
to punish human sin
This characteristic is strongly illustrated in

the Gun-Yu ( 鯀－禹 ) myth
The Gun-Yu Myth
The moral of the myth is to praise the heroes for making
every effort to conquer the natural disaster, no matter
how challenging the task is, in order to save human.
The myth ended with the success of Yu in stopping the

water and changed the miserable world into a habitable
place for the people (restoring the cosmological and
social order)
Yu became the founder of the first civilized state – Xia
The same moral existed in the Myth of Fu Xi and Nuwa
Yu and other "sage-kings" of Ancient China were lauded

by Confucius and other Chinese teachers, who praised
their virtues and morals
Kuafu
Originated from Shanhaijing and Liezi ( 《》 )
A mythical giant Kuafu decided to chase and

(might want to capture) the Sun
After chasing the sun a long distance, Kuafu felt

thirsty and drank from the Yellow River and Huai
River ( 淮河 ). He dried up these rivers without
satisfying his thirsty. He decided to go the great
lake in the north, but died his way there.
The staff he held became the Deng Grove ( 鄧林 )

Kuafu Chasing the Sun
“Kuafu got this extravagant idea into his head to
run a race with the Sun. They reached the Yu Abyss
together, as though there were no win, not loss.
Marvelous and extraordinary was his divine power,
empty the rivers was not enough to quench his
thirst. Deng Grove is his remaining trace – his
accomplishment were fulfilled after his death.”
夸父誕宏志，乃與日競走；俱至虞淵下，似若無勝負。神力既殊妙，傾河焉足有；餘跡寄鄧林，功竟
在身後
Tao Yuan-ming. “On Reading the Classic of

Mountains and Seas”
Jingwei
Myth from Shanhaijing
Jingwie ( 精衛 ) was the little daughter of

Emperor Yan, drowned in the East Sea.
She transformed into a little bird, and

persistently carry stones and twigs to the
East Sea. Answering the query of the Sea,
the bird expressed her determination to fill
up the Sea as a revenge of her violent
death even though her action seemed
hopeless for any success
What we have learnt
These Mythical Figures/ Culture Heroes/Heroines were

honored not merely about their personal attributes,
but as the originators of Hua-Xia culture
The cultural characteristics of the Hua-Xia culture (in

contrast to the barbarian cultures in the four different
directions) are agricultural, civilized, humanistic and
well-governed
This culture did not denied the existence, power and

functions of gods and natural phenomenon, but
persistently show a deep trust in the human duties,
efforts and intelligence in creating/re-creating the
cosmological, social and political orders for the
benefits of the people form an extra-ordinary culture
mark
What we have learnt
These humanistic concerns were further
lauded by Confucius and his followers – the
Confucian school
Confucius repeatedly claimed that he was

a not a founder of creator of the values
and order he insisted, but an advocate and
transmitter of an ancient ideal of order and
value system.
Many of these mythical figure/culture

heroes became the role-model/sage-king
( 聖王 ) of Confucian ideology
What we have learnt
The honor that these culture
heroes/heroines received, and efforts of
Confucius and his followers upheld can
also be understood from perspective of
sociology of religion
Emile Durkheim, through studying totems

worship, held that religion is actually an
symbolic expression of the members to
their collective identity – their own society.

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Morals and Themes of

Chinese Mythical and

one that symbolizes the ideal of a people

Also known as Paoxi or Baoxi

Portrayed with human heads or upper bodies and

Taught people how to fish with net, hunt with iron-

Creator of I Jing, and arrangement of Eight

Invention of Guqin ( 古琴 ) - music

Earliest written records appeared after the Warring

According to oral and written records, Shennong

He was also known as the ancestor of other culture

His legendary reign is credited with the introduction of

Huangdi himself is credited with defeating Emperor

Some traditions also credit him with the introduction of

A long-lasting debate on the relation

Some ancient texts held that Chiyou was a

Chiyou was known as the leader of Jiulei( 九黎 )

There are THREE systems of flood myths

What interested us here is the first type

This characteristic is strongly illustrated in

The myth ended with the success of Yu in stopping the

Yu became the founder of the first civilized state – Xia

The same moral existed in the Myth of Fu Xi and Nuwa

Yu and other "sage-kings" of Ancient China were lauded

A mythical giant Kuafu decided to chase and

After chasing the sun a long distance, Kuafu felt

The staff he held became the Deng Grove ( 鄧林 )

Tao Yuan-ming. “On Reading the Classic of

Jingwie ( 精衛 ) was the little daughter of

She transformed into a little bird, and

These Mythical Figures/ Culture Heroes/Heroines were

The cultural characteristics of the Hua-Xia culture (in

This culture did not denied the existence, power and

Confucius repeatedly claimed that he was

Many of these mythical figure/culture

Emile Durkheim, through studying totems

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