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Chinese Mythology A to Z second Edition
MYTHOLOGY A TO Z African Mythology A to Z Celtic Mythology A to Z Chinese Mythology A to Z Egyptian Mythology A to Z Japanese Mythology A to Z Greek and Roman Mythology A to Z Native American Mythology A to Z Norse Mythology A to Z South and Meso-American Mythology A to Z
MYTHOLOGY A TO Z
Chinese Mythology A to Z Second Edition
8 Jeremy Roberts
[ Chinese Mythology A to Z, Second Edition Copyright © 2010 by Jim DeFelice All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher. For information contact: Chelsea House An imprint of Infobase Publishing 132 West 31st Street New York NY 10001 ISBN-13: 978-1-60413-436-0 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Roberts, Jeremy, 1956– Chinese mythology, A to Z / Jeremy Roberts. — 2nd ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-60413-436-0 (hc : alk. paper) ISBN 978-1-4381-2799-6 (e-book) 1. Mythology, Chinese—Juvenile literature. I. Title. BL1825.R575 2009 299.5'111303—dc22 2009010176 Chelsea House books are available at special discounts when purchased in bulk quantities for businesses, associations, institutions, or sales promotions. Please call our Special Sales Department in New York at (212) 967-8800 or (800) 322-8755. You can find Chelsea House on the World Wide Web at http://www.chelseahouse.com Text design by Lina Farinella Cover design by Alicia Post Maps by Patricia Meschino Printed in the United States of America Bang EJB 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Contents
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Acknowledgments Introduction Map of China A-to-Z Entries
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Important Gods and Mythic Figures Selected Bibliography Index
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Acknowledgments
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I wish to thank my wife, Debra Scacciaferro, for her help in researching and preparing this book. Also I would like to thank Dorothy Cummings; Jeff Soloway; Miranda Ganzer; and everyone else at Facts On File and Chelsea House who helped prepare this volume.
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Introduction
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China covers nearly 4 billion square miles in Asia, roughly 14 percent of the world’s landmass. It has grasslands and deserts, a long coastline, and some of the highest mountains in the world. Its rich river valleys have hosted civilizations for thousands and thousands of years. When Rome was still young, China’s ancestors were wrestling with the problems of governing an empire as populous and diverse as any ever known. When Europe was struggling to recover from the Dark Ages, China was outfitting merchant vessels to sail across the oceans. So it is not surprising that China has a long history, rich with events and achievements. This long history has produced a tapestry of interwoven myths, religious stories, legends, and folk beliefs, which have all changed over time. Even today, as the stories are told to a new generation, the tellers transform them in the very process of preserving them—one more reminder that myths and mythmaking are a vital part of the human experience.
First Civilizations One of humankind’s oldest ancestors, Homo erectus, was discovered in China during the early part of the 20th century. Named “Peking man” or “Beijing man” in honor of the city near where the remains were found, this forerunner of present-day Homo sapiens roamed China between 400,000 and 200,000 years ago. (Peking is an old way of saying Beijing, the capital city of China.) Archaeologists learned a great deal from digging up artifacts in what is now called the Peking Man World Heritage S