Dog is an important motif in Chinese mythology . This motive includes certain dogs that accompany heroes, dogs as one of the twelve totem beings that are years old to be named, a dog that provides the first grain stock that allows the current farm, and claims to have a magical dog as the native ancestor in the case certain ethnic groups.
Video Dog in Chinese mythology
Mitos versus riwayat
Chinese mythology is a myth found in a geographical region called China, which of course has evolved and changed throughout its history. These include myths in Chinese and other languages, such as those transmitted by Han Chinese as well as other ethnic groups (of which fifty-six are officially recognized by the current Chinese administration). (The 2005: 4)
In the study of Chinese historical culture, many of the stories that have been told about characters and events that have been written or told about distant past have a double tradition: a tradition that presents more history and that presents more version mythology. (Yang 2005: 12-13) This also applies to some accounts pertaining to mythological dogs in China.
Historical and anecdotal records of dogs from ancient China and so on are in the literary works that still exist, for example in Shiji , by Sima Qian. Archaeological studies provide substantial support and additional knowledge in this regard.
Maps Dog in Chinese mythology
Name in cross-cultural comparison
Wolfram Eberhard points out that compared to other cultures, "surprising" that Chinese literature rarely gives a name to the dog. (Eberhard 2003: 82) This means that in the context of Chinese mythology, often the dog will play an important role, but it will not be given the proper name, but more commonly referred to as "dog".
Because Chinese grammar does not require the use of definite or indeterminate articles or tags for singular or plural numbers, there may be ambiguity as to whether the references to dogs mean "Dog" (proper name), "dog" "dog", "dog", "some dog", or "dog".
Zodiac Dog
For thousands of years, a twelve-year cycle named after various real animals or mythology has been used in Southeast Asia. This twelve-year cycle, sometimes referred to as the "Chinese zodiac," associates each year with a particular creature, in the order of twelve animals, after which it returns to the first order, Rat. The eleventh in the cycle is the Dog.
One account is that the order of creatures-of-the-year is due to their order in a racing contest involving swimming across the river, in what is called the Great Race. The reason Dogs finish the second race from the last although generally talented swimmers are described for their pleasant nature: Dogs play and play along the way, thus delaying completing the course and reaching the finish line.
In 2012, the next Dog Year in the Chinese calendar is February 16, 2018 to February 4, 2019 (Year of the Dog Yang Yang). Personality of people born in Dog years is generally expected to share certain attributes related to Dogs, such as loyalty or joy; However, this will be modified according to other considerations of Chinese astrology, such as the influence of the moon, day and hour of birth, according to the traditional system of the Earth Branch, where the zodiac animals are also associated with the moon and time. day (and night), in twelve hours two hours.
Dog Clock is 7 to 9 nights, and Dogs are associated with the ninth lunar month.
Panhu
There are various myths and legends in which various ethnic groups claim or claim to have a divine dog as an ancestor, one of which is the story of Panhu. A legendary Chinese ruler, Di Ku, is said to have a dog named Panhu. Panhu helped him win the war by killing enemy generals and bringing his head and ending by marrying the emperor's daughter as a gift.
The dog brings his bride to the mountains of the south, where they produce many offspring. Because of their self-identification as the offspring of this native ancestor, Panhu has been worshiped by the people of Yao and the She's, often as King Pan, and eating dog meat is taboo. (Yang 2005: 52-53) This ancestral myth has also been found among the Miao and Li people (Yang 2005: 100 and 180)
The earliest documentary source for Pan-hu's original myth is by the Jin dynasty (265-420) author Gan Bao, who records this myth of origin for the southern ethnic group (ie, south of the Yangzi River) which he refers to as "Man" (Mair) October, 1998: 3-5 and notes 3, 31-32).
Variations
There are various variations of Panhu mythology. According to one version, the Emperor had promised his daughter in marriage as a gift to the man who brought back the enemy's chief general, but due to the perceived difficulties of the dog's marriage to the bride (especially the imperial princess), the dog proposed to miraculously transform into a human, where it will be sequestered under the bell for 280 days.
However, the curious emperor, unable to restrain himself, raised the bell ring on the 279th day: the spell broke down before the transformation was complete, and, though the whole body had been transformed into a human, the head was not yet (Christie 1968: 121-122).
Inter-relative interpretation
Victor Mair (Oct. 1998) points out that the idea of ​​being derived from dogs may have disdainful connotations or connotations. Whether this will be the case or not will be relative to the cultural evaluation that dogs assume versus humans.
Erlang Dog
One of the heroic supernatural beings with a strong martial force in Chinese culture is Erlang, a character in Journey to the West. Erlang has been said to have a dog. In epic novel, Travel to the West Erlang's dog helped him in his struggle against evolved monkey heroes, Sun Wukong, critically biting his legs.
Then in the story (Chapter 63), Sun Wukong with Erlang (now both on the same side) and their friendship battle against the Nine-headed Insect monster, when, once again, the little dog Erlang comes to the rescue and loses by biting the monster's head. drawn, that appears in and out of its body: the monster then runs away, drips blood, goes to an unknown place.
The author of Journey to the West commented that this was the origin of the "nine-headed birds dripping with blood", and that this trait was passed on to the offspring. Anthony C. Yu, editor and translator Journey to the West associates this bird with Chinese mythology (1980: Volume III, 441, note 5 in chapter 63).
Tiangou
Tiangou ("Celestial Dog") has been said to resemble a black dog or a meteor, which supposedly feeds the sun or moon during an eclipse, except fear.
Gaining grain
According to the myths of various ethnic groups, a dog gives man the first grain seed that allows the seasonal cycles of planting, harvesting, and replanting of basic agricultural products by storing some grains to be replanted, thereby explaining the origin of the cereals which is cultivated.. This myth is common in the people of Buyi, Gelao, Hani, Miao, Shui, Tibet, Tujia, and Zhuang. (The 2005: 53)
The version of myth collected from the Tibetan ethnic group in Sichuan says that in ancient times the wheat was high and abundant, but it was not grateful that many people even used it for personal hygiene after a bowel movement, which angered the Lord of Heaven that he descended to earth to take back everything.
However, a dog grasps the legs of his trousers, lovingly crying, and thus moves the God of Heaven to leave some seeds of each kind of grain with the dog, thus providing a stock of today's plant seeds. Thus it is said that because humans owe their ownership of grain stock to a dog, people have to share some of their food with dogs. (The 2005: 53-54)
Another myth, from the Miao people, tells of the time from a distant distant time when the dog has nine tails, until a dog goes to steal the grain from heaven, and loses eight of its tail to a celestial keeper's weapon while fleeing, but brings back the grain of wheat sticking to his living tail. According to this, when the Miao people hold their harvest festival festival, the dogs are the first to be fed. (Yang 2005: 54) The Zhuang and Gelao tribes have the same myth explaining why it is the head of a mature, curly, bushy, curved grain stalk - just like a dog's tail. (The 2005: 54)
Ritual
Paper dog
In northern China, dog images made with paper cuts are thrown into the water as part of the Fifth Dual ritual of the holiday (Duanwu Festival), celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, as apotropaic magical acts intended to ward off evil spirits. Paper dogs are also provided to protect the dead. (Eberhard, 2003: 80)
"Dog Foo"
Many Chinese guardian lion statues exist, often called " Dog Fu " " Foo Dog ", " Fu Lions ", " Fo Lions ", and" Lion Dog ". The modern lion is not original in the Chinese region, except perhaps the western extremes; However, their existence is very famous, and the symbolism and related ideas about lions are familiar; However, in China, artistic representations of lions tend to be like dogs. Indeed, "[t] he 'lion' we saw depicted in Chinese paintings and in a bear statue little resemblance to a real animal, which, however, plays a big role in Chinese folklore." (Eberhard, 2003: 164) The reason for referring to the "protective lion" as a "dog" in Western culture may not be clear, but this phenomenon is well known.
Original and legendary dog ​​
Although there is a fantastic myth of China about dogs, native dogs have been known throughout China since prehistoric times (unlike certain exotic animals, such as lions or other creatures, whose original attributes may only be known indirectly).
Dogs are also featured in various stories or stories of history and legend, which are found in the extensive Chinese literary record, although in some cases the line between myth and ancient history is uncertain. However, in many myths, legends, or other reports about dogs in Chinese literature, dogs or dogs are presented in a way that does not have a fantastic or fantastic appearance (as opposed to the way other creatures may be handled in mythology, as in the case of turtles , snakes, dragons, or even horses.
Other canida in Chinese mythology
Other members of the canidae family are also figures in Chinese mythology, including wolves and foxes. This depiction is usually very different from the case of dogs.
The stories and literature on foxes are very broad, with foxes often having magical qualities, such as being able to shift backward and into human form, live for remarkable life spans, and grow supernumerary tails (common nine).
See also
References
The work cited
- Christie, Anthony (1968). Chinese Mythology . Feltham: Hamlyn Publishing. ISBN: 0600006379.
- Eberhard, Wolfram (2003 [1986 (German Version 1983)]), Chinese Symbol Dictionary: Hidden Symbols in Chinese Life and Thought . London, New York: Routledge. ISBNÃ, 0-415-00228-1
- Yang, Lihui, et al. (2005). Chinese Mythology Handbook . New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-533263-6
- Mair, Victor H. (October, 1998). "Canine Conundrums: Eurasian Dog Ancestors Myth in Historical and Ethnic Perspective", in Sino-Platonic Papers 87. New Haven: Yale. & lt; Stable URL: www.sino-platonic.org/complete/spp087_dog_myths.pdf & gt;
- Sima Qian Records Historian: Chapter of Shih Chi Ssu-ma Ch'ien . Translated by Burton Watson (1969). New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN: 978-0231033213.
- Yu, Anthony C., editor, translator, and introduction (1980 [1977]). Journey to the West . Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-97150-6
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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