A Brief History of Chinese Mythology: from the Age of Witches and Ghosts to Novels About Gods and Demons

Pangu split chaos, Nuwa molded earth to create humans, Houyi shot the sun... We have heard great myths and stories since childhood. What are they talking about? Are they really "superstitions", or are they a set of languages ​​used by ancient people to explain the world and establish order? "A Brief History of Chinese Mythology: From the Age of Witches and Gods to Novels of Gods and Demons" follows the timeline of Chinese mythology starting from the Age of Witches and Gods when "people and gods came and went", through the imperial narratives of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, the spatial imagination of "The Classic of Mountains and Seas", the rewriting of myths in the fables of the philosophers, to the upsurge of telepathy and immortality in the Han Dynasty, to the confluence of Buddhism and Taoism in the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the formation of the underworld and reincarnation, and finally to the grand divine world of the Ming and Qing gods and demons novels. Perhaps the meaning of myth has never been to give standard answers, but to constantly ask questions: Why do we believe in order, the origin, and tomorrow.