The creation of China and the West is how the blood relationship evolves.
This bosom friend, the myth of creation is an important part of myth, and it is a romantic and serious reflection of primitive human beings on the creation of the world, everything and the origin of human beings. It contains people's value orientation, code of conduct, moral customs and other national consciousness contents, which will inevitably have a great impact on the cultural psychology, thinking mode and behavior habits of later generations. Therefore, a comparative study of the creation myths of China and Greece is of positive significance for understanding the differences of national consciousness between China and Greece, promoting mutual understanding and respect, and reducing barriers and misunderstandings.
First, the differences between China and Greek creation myths
Due to the differences in geographical environment and historical opportunities between different ethnic groups living in China and Greece, there are obvious differences in the origin of the world, the origin of man, the way of making man and the relationship between god and man in the creation myth.
(A) the origin of the world
First of all, the Archean concept of heaven and earth in Greek mythology is similar to that in China mythology. They all interpret the world as a chaotic world, with no mountains, no sea, no plants, no birds and animals. With regard to the origin and creation of the universe, hesiod said in The Divine Spectrum that the world originated from Chaos. After chaos, people produced Caia (Earth) and Tarr talos (Hell) from their arms in an inexplicable way. Gaia gave birth to Uranus (heaven), mountains and Puntos (sea) with her own body, and then combined with her son Uranus to give birth to Cyclops, Hecka and Kreis (Centurion). The combination with Puntos gave birth to different sea gods, making them the first gods (Titan gods) born in Greek mythology. Titan gods combined with each other to produce the sun, moon, stars and so on. Here, the concept of time and space of primitive human beings is trance-like, grotesque and chaotic, and so is the myth of China. "Heaven and earth chaos, Pangu was born in it, eighteen thousand years old, heaven and earth. Yang Qing is the sky, cloudy and turbid is the earth, and Pangu is among them. Nine times a day, God is in heaven, and Saint is on earth. The sky is a battle high, the ground is one foot thick, and Pangu is ten feet long. So eight thousand years old, the number of days is extremely high, the number of places is extremely deep, and Pangu is extremely long. So I went to Wan Li. "
"The characteristics of primitive thinking are concrete and vivid. We can't think independently with abstract concepts, nor can we generalize according to the nature of things themselves. On the contrary, we often use some concrete images to understand the world. " They believe that everything is animistic, so both Chinese and western myths attribute the creation of heaven and earth and the origin of everything to the creation of an omnipotent God. In addition, when the ancestors interpreted all things in nature, they often "measured the nature of things", that is, they unconsciously moved their attributes to nature, such as Shan Hai Jing? "Overseas North Classic" contains: "The God of Zhongshan, named Yin Candle, regards it as day, turns it into night, blows it as winter, calls it summer, never drinks or eats, never stops, and calls it wind." The Five Bureau Calendar quoted Yi Shi as saying: "Born Pangu, the last incarnation: the air becomes the wind and cloud, the sound is thunder, the left eye is the sun, the right eye is the moon, the five limbs are the five mountains, the blood is the river, the tendons are the ground, the tendons are the earth, the hair is the star, and the hair is the vegetation." They either explain the formation of day and night, seasons and winds through some common physiological behaviors of people, or infer the formation of things between heaven and earth through various parts of the human body. Similarly, when Greek mythology explains the formation of the four seasons, it also combines the changes in nature with the separation of human beings. Demeter's daughter was taken away by Hades, the guardian of the earth, and her mother looked everywhere, but there was no landing. Later, with the help of Zeus, Hatteras promised to reunite her daughter with her mother once every six months. At this time, her mother was happy and everything grew. It was spring and summer. When her daughter returned to hades, her mother had no intention of raising any more plants. At this time, everything is dying, and it is autumn and winter. These myths all show the spirit of primitive ancestors actively exploring natural phenomena.
"Myth is an extension of the fantasy form of human essential strength in childhood. Both national myths use fantasy to explain the creation of the universe. Primacy, simplicity and grotesque are the same styles, while magic, richness and surprise are similar meanings. This is a reflection of the psychological characteristics of primitive people and a manifestation of human desire to understand and conquer the objective world. " Here, the people of the two nationalities are full of confidence in their creativity, and it is not difficult to see that the praise and praise of this power is full of high optimism and fearless heroism in the myths produced by heaven and earth.
(B) the origin of mankind
China and Greek mythology have similar explanations of the opening of heaven and earth, and they also have many different understandings of the birth of man.
Greek mythology thinks that human beings are made of clay by Prometheus, and China mythology also thinks that human beings are made of loess by Nuwa. Although men and goddesses are the products of patriarchal clan society and matriarchal clan society respectively, the birth of human beings in China and Greek mythology has gone through a period of primitive consanguineous marriage, which is often combined with brother-sister marriage. From the perspective of anthropology and sociology, the myths created by China and Greece all reflect the narrowness of the initial restrictions on marriage and sexual relations in the early clan society. Since the emergence of Greek mythology, people have compared the relationship between gods with primitive phratry and blood relationship models. Before the "Olympian God System", although the primitive gods had obvious traces of natural worship or totem worship, their inheritance and blood relationship were no different from those of human beings. Mr Gaia, the mother of the earth, gave birth to the god Uranus, and then combined with Ukraine to give birth to Cronus. After Cronus ruled the kingdom of heaven, he married his sister Rhea and gave birth to Zeus. Zeus also married his sister Hera, and married seven wives successively. He also deceived other goddesses and secular women, and gave birth to many goddesses, forming the famous "Olympian God System".
The myth of China, based on the myth of flood, is often combined with the type of brother-sister marriage, especially the myth of ethnic minorities. According to the portraits of Wuliangci, the images on unearthed ancient artifacts and the legends of ethnic minorities in the southwest frontier, Fuxi and Nuwa were originally brother and sister, husband and wife, but they had human beings. They are the ancestors of human beings, and they are also the legacy of the distant shadow of ancient human blood clan group marriage. The myth of China's brother and sister marriage was recorded earlier in the biography of Du Yi by Don Yong-Jae Lee: "At the beginning of the universe, there were two brothers and sisters, Nuwa, who were in Kunlun Mountain, but there was no one in the world. They thought they were husband and wife and were ashamed of themselves. My brother and sister went to Kunlun Mountain and cursed, saying: If Heaven sends us as husband and wife, it will vanish; If not, let the smoke disperse. As soon as you smoke, your sister becomes your brother, but you become a fan. To block its face. "
Both China and Greek mythology have stages of primitive consanguineous marriage when explaining the emergence of God and man, but their development and morphological characteristics are different. With the development of primitive society and the transition of myth from cognitive nature to cognitive society, Greek tribes constantly create new images of gods according to their own production practice and life experience, and enrich the whole Greek mythology by standardizing the relationship between the twins. In this way, all the new gods, old gods, demigods and heroes, without exception, were brought into the blood relationship similar to the original phratry, thus forming a huge and complete pedigree of gods and a series of images of gods. Almost all Greek myths are related to Zeus. Under the guidance of the main gods Zeus, Poseidon, Pluto, God of War, Sun God, etc. They all participated in the great cause of creation, formed an orderly but different division of labor based on blood relationship, and formed a god system centered on Zeus. In contrast, the important gods in China's mythology lack the consanguinity of their married children like Greek gods, and the image-building is generally in a state of opposition and dispersion. Even if individual gods have mothers, wives and children and grandchildren, they are not as strict as Greek mythology. The most famous myths in China, Pangu Tiankai and Nu Wa created man, are all independent myths, so it is difficult to sort out a network of gods. The Yellow Emperor seems to be the deity who can barely act as the Lord God. Each god has his own position and does his own thing, which seems to be sloppy and messy. Pangu was born in a chicken egg, and everything changed. Nu Wa can transform into seventy in one day and ten in one intestine. As for the famous new gods, such as Xingtian, Kuafu, Hou Yi, Chang 'e, Hebo and Gong Yu, most of them have nothing to do with pioneers and ancestors. Therefore, although the number of gods in China mythology is increasing gradually, most of them still exist alone, without forming a series of interrelated and inseparable images of gods. What surprises Chinese and foreign scholars most is that the Han nationality with a long history and profound culture does not have a complete and slightly longer creation myth and epic.
(C), induction and sensibility
In China's mythology, the emergence of the God-man belongs to the "induction myth", and people, gods and heroes are all produced by "induction and conception". For example, Fang Shan Ji Shu and Spring and Autumn Weiyuan Mingbao said: "When the Yellow Emperor was born, the big star was like a rainbow, and the female festival was like a dream. The white emperor Zhu Xuan was born and intended." (Song Jun's note: "Zhu Xuan, Shao." ) It means that a woman feels like a shooting star and was born in Shao Hao. Another example is "Peaceful Magnolia", which quotes four quotations from "A Mountain Climbing Map to Jia Rong Jie": "Niu Shan, a female painter, falls into a spring, and the moon in the water is as fine as a chicken, so she loves it. She swallowed it unconsciously, so she got pregnant and gave birth to Yu Xia in April. " According to legend, the female de swallowed the essence of the moon in the water and gave birth. There are also records of "thinking of scholars" and "thinking of women". Liezi? Tian Rui: "Shi Si thinks that there is no wife and that women are pregnant without husbands." That is to say, in the "closed door", men named "Shi Si" don't marry, and women named "Sisi" don't marry their husbands, and they have children with each other. There are also "women swallowing coix seed to produce jade" and "feeling red dragon to produce Yao", all of which belong to this category.
On the other hand, Greek mythology is different. Most of its heroes and gods are born from the copulation between God and God, and between God and man. Zeus and Poseidon were born to Cronus and Rhea, the mother of the earth. Then Zeus and Leto gave birth to Apollo and themis, the sun god, Dionysus and Semele, the daughters of the river god, Helen and Leda, the queen of Sparta, and Prometheus gave birth to Apollo and themis, the titan god. This difference is related to the time when the myth came into being. China's creation myth originated from the flourishing period of matriarchal clan society. At that time, "men and women mixed, no media and no job" ("Liezi? Tang Wen "). When the Greek myth of creation came into being, human society had changed from matriarchal clan commune to paternal clan commune. In human production activities, the original view that women are equal to life and reproduction has declined, and the role of men in reproductive behavior has been paid attention to. People began to realize that the birth of a new life must also involve men. This is the law of social development.
(4), the relationship between god and man
Although the creators of Greece created highly intelligent people, they had obvious differences in how to locate and deal with the relationship between man and God.
It seems that the Greek creators created human beings only to decorate the world they created. They think that man is just a doll made of mud and sawdust, and the status of man and God is not equal. People are not qualified to enjoy the unique things of the gods. The creator will even punish or even destroy human beings in order to maintain his rule and dignity. Among the Greek creator gods, except Prometheus, the father of mankind, I am afraid that few gods are willing to sympathize with and help mankind. The gods not only tried their best to prevent mankind from getting eternal fire, but also threw Pandora's box containing evil such as disease, plague and jealousy to mankind. As Homer said, "God gave fear and pain to the poor, but God lived happily." . Prometheus said, "I hate all gods!" " "This spirit of opposition between man and god also reflects the blasphemy factor in Greek mythology from another side.
The creator of China seems to have been born with deep feelings for people, and there is harmony and equality between God and people. The ancient myths in China have obvious consciousness of loving the people. For the survival and reproduction of mankind, the gods have benefited mankind and killed people. Huainanzi? "Looking at the Ghost Training" contains "the past four poles were abandoned, and the nine continents were cracked. The sky was not covered, the ground was not covered, the fire was not extinguished, and the water was endless; Wild animals eat people, while birds prey on the old and the weak. So nuwa refined five-color stones to make up the sky, and the broken claws were enough to set up four poles, killing the black dragon and helping Jizhou, and accumulating reed ash to stop the lewd water. Heaven makes up, four poles are positive, lewd water is solid, and Jizhou is flat. If the ants die, it will benefit the people. "
Nu Wa created the necessary natural conditions for human survival; Yu and his son saved water and people all their lives. Houyi shot at the sun and restored the order of the world; Hou Ji teaches people to grow grains for the benefit of the world; Zhu Rong and Sui people taught civil fire; Fuxi taught people to weave nets to fish, and Wang Hai taught people to domesticate animals. The gods in China have a kind and dignified elder demeanor, so the ancient people in China are often "respectful but not afraid" of the gods. When people encounter disasters, they hope that the gods can bless them and help them eliminate disasters, and firmly believe that the gods will do as they wish.
Secondly, the differences of national consciousness are seen from the comparison of creation myths between China and Greece.
Myth is a kind of cultural accumulation and a kind of national consciousness accumulation, which has influenced people's cultural thinking and behavior habits in a subconscious way for thousands of years. The differences between China and Greece's creation myths are inevitably reflected in the national consciousness of China and Greece.
Labor and adventure
Generally speaking, most of China's myths reflect the content of labor. The first conclusion of Mr. Yuan Ke's in-depth study of China's mythology is: "In China's mythology, there are echoes of labor, and the famous gods or heroes praised in the mythology are almost all related to labor." God was born for labor, and people gave them the power to work, thus shouldering the heavy work that human beings could not bear. Whether Pangu created the world or Nu Wa refined the stone to make up the sky, it was all related to labor. China's ancient myths first showed us the beautiful field of labor, so that in spiritual life, people transformed the objective real world according to their own ideals. Such as: gun, Yu water control, Houyi shooting at the sun, Jingwei reclamation, etc. It is often a labor giant shaped according to some ideal. Most of China's creators go it alone, without the help of other gods, plus the obstacles of monsters and the bad weather environment, they are doomed to work hard bit by bit. When the great creative cause is completed, most of them have died, leaving only this hard-working and pragmatic spirit. However, the closeness brought by this pragmatism has prompted this exploration to have a taste, and there is not much breakthrough. The invention of gunpowder is limited to making firecrackers, and the invention of compass is mainly used to see Feng Shui. In life, "it's good to stay at home for a thousand days, but it's hard to go out for a day", and I'm only busy with the "business" of "digging up soil to support my family" How can you have the heart to explore and invent?
The gods and heroes in Greek mythology are often dance academies, playing tricks on human beings and pursuing enjoyment. Their actions often show a kind of adventure, which embodies a kind of adventure beauty. Troy's ten-year war was also for love. In order to get love, he was willing to risk other stories at all costs, such as the story of Jorge's hero and the story of the pearl rope, all of which reflected gods and heroes, or to satisfy personal desires, or to obtain the right to inherit the throne, or to revenge, or to love. Their actions are not for the benefit of mankind in desire, but only for adventure. Because adventure may lead to glory, power, love and even eternal life, it embodies the beauty of adventure.
(2) Shangli and Suntech
The creator of Greece is very keen on expansion, so as to enhance his strength and improve his position, because whoever has the strongest power is the king of the gods, and the king of the gods always guards against and attacks other gods who try to surpass himself. The myth of creation is full of violence: Uranus, the first generation god, was castrated by his son Cronus, and Cronus swallowed all his children. The blood between flesh and blood is so bloody. Wells said in the book: "Sailors will soon realize the unique freedom and opportunities that ships give them. They can leave the mainland for the island. Neither the chief nor the king can catch the boat, and every captain is a king. " This concept and lifestyle created the Greek national character of daring to take risks and advocating wisdom and strength. It reflects that Greece is a nation that advocates force and individual heroism.
Different from this, China's creative myth has obvious characteristics of Suntech. Suntech's spirit is not only reflected in the noble and great dedication of the great gods, but also in their sense of responsibility to protect and protect the people. The spirit of Suntech embodied in China's ancient myths, some of which are inherent characteristics of congenital myths, and some of which are artificially transformed the day after tomorrow. It is the result of cultural transformation and choice of civilized society. After the remolding and selection of this culture, the little "humanity" left by the ancient great gods also disappeared, leaving only an idealized image far away from society, human beings, high above and illusory, so their original divinity was weakened, becoming idols worshipped by the world, models of human emperors, and mythical great gods eventually evolved into ancestors of the world. It is this spirit of Suntech that makes the requirement of "virtue" reflected everywhere in China culture. In our traditional realm of life, putting "self-cultivation" in the first place also illustrates this point. Only by "starting from scratch" can we cultivate ourselves first, then unite our families, and then rule the country and level the world. In the long civilized society the day after tomorrow, whether I abolish the monarch and replace him, or the monarch demotes me and punishes me, there are always excuses from "morality". It seems that only in this way can one "coup" or "condemnation" be justified and logical. This cultural choice can still be seen everywhere, even in today's social life, in the thinking and habits of our nation.
To sum up, the differences in historical opportunities and cultural traditions between China and Greece have caused sharp differences in creation myths between China and the West, and great differences in national consciousness and cultural psychology. This difference exists for a long time and is not easy to change. This requires the people of China and Greece, two nation countries with different cultural backgrounds, to seriously reflect and learn from each other's strong points to promote the better development of their respective nationalities.