Chinese

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Chinese Creation Myths

At the start of every civilization many stories are told to explain life and how things began. Each culture portrays the beginning of life in a different way but are similar in many ways. The themes and gods may differ by name and physical features, but the part they play in creation are all too familiar in every myth. In Chinese mythology, the basic themes of revolve around the order from chaos theme of myths. Order from chaos can be defined as giving a basic explanation to how and why things are the way they are. To deal with the more complex aspect of things, mythological creatures and characters are used to provide meaning. The many stories and gods within them all tie together to provide meaning. In Chinese myths, there is no exception. The names of the gods differ in different regions of China, but their roles are usually the same. The first story existed during the Han dynasty which lasted from 206 BC- 220 AD (Rosenberg, 359). Although religious beliefs taught by Confucius banned any religions that had to do with worshiping nature. Scholars sought ways in which they could change them around to fit the religion at the time (Rosenberg, 259). In the majority of the myths there is a divine pair that exists, meaning a balance between good and evil. The Chinese believed that for every object that existed, there was a complete and total opposite. In this particular, "The Creation of the Universe", the earth starts off as an egg that contained the whole universe (Rosenberg, 360). The first being named Pangu, dwelled within this "Cosmic Egg". After some time, Pangu decided it was time to come out from within and broke the egg open and began to bring order to the world. Since the sky and heavens were lying on top of each other, there was no way for things to separate. So Pangu lifted the top part (heaven and sky) which came to be known as Yang. The piece below became known as Yin ...