What's Inside
This volume catalogs the expansive supernatural history of China, organizing legends by their celestial and earthly functions. It bridges the gap between state-sanctioned ancestor worship and the wild, varied myths of stars, dragons, and epidemics. The text details the cosmology of P'an Ku, the domestic lives of the Eight Immortals, and the bureaucratic structure of the Ministry of Epidemics. It also documents creatures like the nine-inch-tall pygmies and the dragon-spirits who control rainfall. Rather than a singular narrative, the work acts as an index of traditional beliefs, explaining how these figures and forces have occupied the Chinese imagination for centuries. It remains a dense, authoritative mapping of a rich, non-linear mythological landscape.
Works & figures
- P'an Ku
The dwarfish fashioner who chisels order from primordial chaos (in “Cosmogony--P'an Ku and the Creation Myth”)
- Sun
A fugitive immortal who eats the peaches of life (in “How the Monkey Became a God”)
- No-cha
A vengeful warrior restrained by a floating lotus-flower (in “A Battle of the Gods”)
- Shang Ti
A celestial power historically worshipped by the emperor (in “The Gods of China”)
- T'ien Kou
A celestial dog that bites fugitives in the calf (in “How the Monkey Became a God”)
What it's really about
- Cosmic Bureaucracy
- Heaven mirrored by imperial-style administrative ministries.
- Symbolic Duality
- Balance between yin and yang principles.
Why it's memorable
- A raven representing the sun inside a circle.
- Pygmy couples walking hand-in-hand to avoid abduction.
Where to start
Begin with the section on the Eight Immortals, as their presence on everything from teapots to scrolls offers the most immediate entry into the everyday folklore described here.
For your book club
- How celestial hierarchies reflect terrestrial government structures.
- The role of the dragon as a weather-controlling artisan.
If you liked this
