Handbook of Chinese Mythology
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Yang, Lihui / An, Deming / Turner, Jessica Anderson, PUBLISHER: Oxford University Press, USA, Every year, at ong>theong> Wa Huang Gong temple in Hebei Province, China, people gaong>theong>r to worship ong>theong> great moong>theong>r, Nuwa, ong>theong> oldest deity in Chinese myth, praising her for bringing ong>theong>m a happy life. It is a vivid demonstration of both ong>theong> ancient reach and ong>theong> continuing relevance of mythology in ong>theong> lives of ong>theong> Chinese people. Compiled from ancient and scattered texts and based on groundbreaking new research, Handbook of Chinese Mythology is ong>theong> most comprehensive English-language work on ong>theong> subject ever written from an exclusively Chinese perspective. This work focuses on ong>theong> Han Chinese people but ranges across ong>theong> full spectrum of ancient and modern China, showing how key myths endured and evolved over time. A quick reference section covers all major deities, spirits, and demigods, as well as important places (Kunlun Mountain), mythical animals and plants (ong>theong> crow ong>withong> three feet; Fusang tree), and related items (Xirang-a kind of mythical soil; Bu Si Yao-mythical medicine for long life). No oong>theong>r work captures so well what Chinese mythology means to ong>theong> people who lived and continue to live ong>theong>ir lives by it. ong>Withong> more than 40 illustrations and photographs, fresh translations of primary sources, and insight based on ong>theong> authors' own field research, Handbook of Chinese Mythology offers an illuminating account of a fascinating corner of ong>theong> world of myth.