Creation Stories in Chinese Mythology

Get Surfshark VPN at surfshark.deal... Enter promo code ZHAO for 83% off and 4 extra months for FREE! This video is sponsored by SurfShark.
Shout out to my Patreon GUARDIAN LIONS:
Benji Sudolcan
Cooper Malamute
Curious Madcat
Darion
do-it-out-of-spite
Eduardo Aguirre
Ehryn
Jakob Persson
Jose Velazquez
Kakuga
Kytes Universe
Molly McAllister
Nick Helf
Robin Kyrisith Darmagsine
My thread of looted Chinese artifacts still in Western museums: Xi...
Store I got my earrings from: studiothebe.bi... (support indie businesses!)
Books References:
中国神话传说 by 袁珂
图说天下 - 传说时代夏商西周 by 龚书铎 & 刘德麟
Animations Used:
中国神话故事 by 广州音像出版社www.bilibili.c...
女娲补天 by 上海美术电影制片厂 (Shanghai Animation Film Studio)
Story of the Chu Silk Manuscript: www.nytimes.co...
Order my #1 NYT bestselling debut novel IRON WIDOW, a sci-fi reimagining of China's only female emperor Wu Zetian (with giant mechas!), out now!! ironwidow.com/
Add it on Goodreads: / iron-widow
My upcoming Chinese Percy Jackson meets Yugioh book, ZACHARY YING AND THE DRAGON EMPEROR, is now also available for preorder! zacharyying.com/
Add it on Goodreads: www.goodreads....
Wanna vote on video topics, join my private Discord server, and get a shout-out in my future videos? Support me on Patreon! / xiranjayzhao
Or tip me on Ko-Fi! ko-fi.com/xira...
My Instagram: / xiranjayzhao
My Twitter: / xiranjayzhao
My TikTok: / xiranjayzhao
My Chinese History & Culture Tweet Collections: xiranjayzhao.co...

[@XiranJayZhao]

BTW Iron Widow has been nominated for best young adult sci-fi & fantasy book in the 2021 Goodreads choice awards! Give it a vote, y'all 😘✌ www.goodreads.com/choiceawards/best-young-adult-fantasy-books-2021

[@paisleesheppard5629]

As a Novice of Traction I offer the sacrament of Like.

[@janet0613.]

It was so amazing! Looking forward to the sequel 💕

[@Ancusohm]

That's awesome! It's great.

[@PurpleQueen3]

Congrats 🎊🍾🎉🎈 you more than deserved it

[@Eva-qc5ov]

I'm reading it right now and I love it so much! It's so much fun to read, there have been few books that I have a hard time putting down, and this is one of them.

[@DS-wp2dj]

Snakes: *exist* Humans: We could make a religion out of this

[@giratina6665]

Or many

[@shadownightdragon6524]

The one true religion.

[@MrDalisclock]

Snake? Snake! Snnnnnnnaaaaaakkkkkeeeeee

[@themortician3186]

@@shadownightdragon6524 There isn't one true religion.

[@taylie673]

I mean with how big they were would you think they are a god.

[@TheEquus92]

I would love to see an entire series on Chinese mythology

[@jesterfairy3845]

Yeah same. I would like a Romance of the Three Kingdoms summary (no pressure tho. I know it's insufferably long)

[@TheEquus92]

@@jesterfairy3845 And Journey to the West

[@jesterfairy3845]

@@TheEquus92 yeah definitely. Although OSP has a pretty neat summary, I'd still like to know the story from an actual Chinese creator's perspective

[@TheEquus92]

@@jesterfairy3845 I agree.

[@lokimemes4694]

YES PLEASE! I love mythology and I love their channel

[@kevinthejace8511]

Okay, but are we gonna talk about the dad from the flood myth? This man captured a thunder god with nothing but a spear and a cage, almost ate said god, then proceeded to survive a world ending flood by just building a boat, and when he showed up on heaven’s doorstep, the gods deadass shit themselves out of fear. What a legend.

[@johannesstephanusroos4969]

He must have been an ancestor of Lü Bu

[@PaintedHoundie]

How did he get away with so much shit

[@johannesstephanusroos4969]

@Jack der Hauptsturmführer This is a fantastic post, but your spelling leaves much to be desired

[@johannesstephanusroos4969]

@Jack der Hauptsturmführer English is my second of four languages, so what's your excuse again?

[@johannesstephanusroos4969]

@Jack der Hauptsturmführer gentleman*, singular. That's one, lol

[@karppiss9637]

Apparently, in Finnish mythology snakes have been known as creatures that bring luck for the house, so people usually kept them as "pets", giving them milk and food (it was believed that snakes enjoyed milk for some reason). If you treated them well, your livestock would be succesful etc., but if you mistreated or killed them, you'd become very unlucky. Later, when Finland started to have more biblical influences, snakes became known as evil creations of satan, or even the embodiment of the devil. Sad really ): Edit: There are speculations that people thought of snakes as luckycharms because they were useful in getting rid of pests, such as rats

[@pokeypoker6208]

I can't believe they went from give lucky noodl boi mmmmilk to *k i l S a t a n s n e k* 😔 😔 😔

[@PatriciaKerri]

At this point, I think you could use the insult of 'rat' to the religious authorities, and it'd be sortof accurate in the sense that all the ratcatchers got demonized.

[@karnohell]

this also happens in the baltic states i believe!!! or atleast in lithuania

[@metallicmistake242]

A lot of folklore across Europe has the practice of living milk out for creatures, supernatural or not. This is the first time I've heard of milk being offered to snakes though!

[@rrrddd7653]

In rural China there’s a saying that every house has a big snake hiding on the ceiling and it protests the family. It is called a house dragon and if you hurt the snake it will be really bad luck.

[@SaszaDerRoyt]

Humans being shaped from clay and having life breathed into them is a very common mytheme across cultures, I wonder if it's one of those stories that is incredibly ancient and spread long before the divergence of many cultural and language groups. I think the first use of ceramics was in the upper paleolithic to create human/humanoid figurines (such as the Venus of Dolní Věstonice), long before pottery came to be, I wonder if there is a link there? I'm sure people before me have speculated the same, I'll look into it

[@SaszaDerRoyt]

Lo and behold there is a wikipedia article about it! Unfortunately there is nothing about how they might be linked, but I still reckon there's something worth investigating here en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creation_of_life_from_clay

[@nonniperkl6273]

Bet the logic just pretty much was “this stuff can be formed into shapes…maybe somebody formed my ancestors to this shape for the same stuff@

[@A_Black_Sheep94]

It all stems from the tower of babel, every civilization has a different unique take on that event and the flood that had changed over time, sometimes slightly, sometimes greatly, due to losing contact with each other and no written record.

[@santsi7306]

@@A_Black_Sheep94 whoa what's that light on your channel tho?

[@A_Black_Sheep94]

@@santsi7306 Dunno. I have other videos I need to upload that are even weirder.

[@russergee49]

“You know how common incest is in these myth stories!” My Greek ass is thinking “oh thank god it’s not only our stories!” 😆

[@TheKrispyfort]

Most of Greek mythology stories of angry gods seem to be because "Zeus couldn't keep it in his pants" (admittedly i was raised in Australia with no real exposure to mythologies outside of dreamtime stories and the worship of footy & cricket)

[@luveniwai]

My Polynesian people over here nodding

[@lilithium3940]

isnt technically every christian person of the belief they, and every single human, is a product of incest not once but twice? Eve is of Adam's flesh so they'd share the same DNA, and then the whole only letting Noah's family repopulate after the flood thing

[@DarkBooGaming]

@@lilithium3940 Yup, and it isn't even like Eve is Adam's sister...she IS a part of him. So it's self-cest to some degree, which is arguably worse. I really like the figure of Lilith, the true first woman who was born alongside Adam and was cast out for not willing to submit to him (get it Queen!)

[@DarkBooGaming]

But off the top of my head: Jormungandr, The Snake in the Garden (widely Satan), Shesha, and Quetzalcoatl.

[@abthedragon4921]

"This was the birth of Furries" Lmao, I wasn't expecting to hear that in a Xiran video 🤣

[@connorscorner443]

Honestly I feel like it's pretty in character

[@abthedragon4921]

@@connorscorner443 Yeah I can kinda see it too

[@Squossifrage]

Have you seen their author portrait? 🐄

[@MrDalisclock]

Ancient Egypt wants to know your location. No doubt to share furry myths.

[@theblackbaron4119]

@@MrDalisclock I mean furries are pretty degenerate, but Egyptians did something worse. Do you want to know why female mummies are always more rotten than male ones? ;) Exactly, they let the female corpses putrify on purpose more before giving it to the embalmers, because apparently there were lots of necrophiles among those guys...

[@roselover411]

I love how specific the creation myth with Pangu is. It details down to the muscles and *bone marrow* in his body to explain what pieces became what.

[@MrDalisclock]

Never waste part of a primordial entity when stripping him for parts

[@ThundernuggetTheTerrible]

It's actually pretty similar to Ymir from Norse mythology.

[@codyofathens3397]

@@ThundernuggetTheTerrible Was going to say the same

[@sophye788]

@@ThundernuggetTheTerrible thought the same

[@HollyHummingbirdriver]

@@ThundernuggetTheTerrible that’s what I thought the whole time

[@mikehunt2805]

Since you asked, here's a Lithuanian creation myth involving snakes. "Eglė the Queen of Serpents" A young maiden named Eglė discovers a grass snake in the sleeve of her blouse after bathing with her two sisters. Speaking in a human voice, the grass snake repeatedly agrees to go away only after Eglė pledges herself to him in exchange for him leaving her clothes. Eglė agrees to marry, while not fully understanding the potential consequences and the gravity of her situation. Then after three days, thousands of grass snakes march into the yard of her parents' house. They come to claim Eglė as their master's bride and their future queen and take her to the bottom of the sea lagoon to their king. Instead of seeing a serpent or a grass snake on the seashore, Eglė meets her bridegroom Žilvinas, who appears to be a handsome man - the Grass Snake Prince. Eglė bears four children (three sons (Ąžuolas (Oak), Uosis (Ash) and Beržas (Birch)) and one youngest daughter Drebulė (Aspen)). Eglė almost forgets about her homeland, but one day, after being questioned by her oldest son Ąžuolas about her parents, she decides to visit her home. In order to be allowed to visit home, Eglė is required to fulfill three impossible tasks: to spin a never-ending tuft of silk, wear down a pair of iron shoes and to bake a pie with no utensils. After she gets an advice from the sorceress and succeeds in completing these three tasks, Žilvinas reluctantly lets Eglė and the children go. Prior to their departure, he instructs them how to call him from the depths of the sea and asks not to tell this secret to anyone else. After meeting the long lost family member, Eglė's relatives do not wish to let her return to the sea and decide to kill Žilvinas. First, his sons are threatened and beaten with the scourge by their uncles, in attempt to make them disclose how to summon their father; however, they remain silent and do not betray him. Finally, a frightened daughter tells them the grass snake summoning chant. All twelve brothers of Eglė call Žilvinas the Grass Snake from the sea and kill him using scythes. After nine days, Eglė arrives at the seashore and calls her husband, but unfortunately only the foams of blood return from the sea. When Eglė hears her dead husband's voice and discovers how her beloved has died, as a punishment for betrayal she whispers an enchantment, which turns her fragile fearful daughter into a quaking aspen. Thereafter she turns her sons into strong trees - an oak, an ash and a birch. Finally, Eglė herself turns into a spruce.

[@16poetisa]

So many tropes! The animal husband. The three impossible tasks. The twelve brothers. And of course breaking the ONE rule you were told not to. This reminds me of East of the Sun, West of the Moon.

[@stevenhuntley8706]

@@16poetisa i was thinking the trees, and the connection to the three brothers, who have connections to trees, Thor to oak, Odin to ash, but idk enough about birch to speak to that. Likewise the shared mother being a tree with needles, not unlike Loki, brother of Odins, mother.

[@ThefrenziedMercury]

It kind of reminded me of the Persephone's story since it has some similiarities about how the world of the deads interacts with the world of the living. As infact, Persephone was stolen by Hades who was shot by Cupid under Aphrodite's order and fell in love with the daughter of Zeus. Hades would then steal her and Demeter would be so heartbroken she would research her daughter for 9 days and nights only to find out the 10th day by the Sun God Helios that her daughter was stolen by Hades and that she ate half fruit from the Dead's land. She would then refuse to continue her job as fertility goddess due to Hades' refusal of bringing Persephone back, and in the time she would even bring some miracles to Eleusis people would sing in her hymn. Afterwards, Zeus would be forced to have them at his tribunal to decide the matter of fact since humams were going extinct without life (Demeter) working, and so the decision would be that of make Persephone staying in the lands of her husband and mother only for half the year, creating the seasons. Seems the underworld is always seen in every culture as a place of difficulties which is harshly connected to life through an intermediary.

[@franb0l]

I was adopted from China and have felt very isolated from my chinese culture. I didn't get the chinese myth dvds but when you tell these stories it fills a big gap in my heart.

[@刘成-x9r]

永远不要去找你的血缘父母

[@Leslie_Smith]

"Mental gymnastics to claim that Nuwa was a male god" Most of creation myths are due to goddesses...I mean... *gestures at women's roles in reproduction and child rearing, as well as lots of worship towards fertility in the past.* Those mental gymnastics are better than the Olympics. XD

[@Dargonhuman]

I mean, we're talking about a set of myths that includes a golden silkworm turning into a talking dog after being placed in a gourd, then the talking dog turning into a human being to marry a Chinese princess so a transsexual god/dess isn't that strange by comparison. I do agree though that it makes a ton more sense when gods of creation are female for the reasons of maternal reproduction.

[@Pooky1991]

Makes me wonder how many goddess roles in mythology changed due to patriarchal societies downplaying women.

[@avencree]

I work at a high school library and we recently got a new batch of books. I was processing them and saw your book was on the list my librarian had ordered. I’m almost certain I scared the kids in the library at the time with how loud I literally fangirl squeed.

[@TheKrispyfort]

ah, the Skwee (squee, sqwee, sqkwee, squwee, there's various spellings), the true sign of jovial celebration to unexpected good news

[@coolcactus8861]

The bit about snake deities in every culture is no joke, in prehispanic mexico there was Quetzalcoatl, a feathered snake god and his axolotl brother Xolotl (who originally was a man with a dog head but turned into an axolotl to avoid getting killed by the other gods beacuse he didnt want to kill himself and got cursed to stay as an axolotl forever) Edit: decided to re-check the legend, turns out the gods capured him in his axolotl form. He needed to be sacrificed in order for the stars, sun and moon to move and finish the creation of the universe, also thanks to that legend the axolotl became a fancy snack for aztec princes.

[@tartnouveau3652]

I’d say being an axolotl is an improvement to having a dog head

[@killertruth186]

Ironically in the Christian Bible (including the other Christian branches) has something similar story like Xirian had experienced (there's no right and wrong with the way culture had depicted the dieties and what not). Snake was involved, same with human made from dirt. I am perfectly fine if people would believe in the stories that they had been listening to since childhood.

[@ataventurine7515]

And in Vietnam, we have a dragon father-ancestor (our dragons are Asians, so they look like snakes) and a fairy bird mother-ancestor.

[@coolcactus8861]

@@tartnouveau3652 before xolotl became an axolotl he disguised first as a corn cob and then as an agave plant so he had worse options

[@normal6483]

@@killertruth186 It goes even further. In Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, the highest order of angels is the Seraphim, which are 6 winged angels with bodies made of fire. But ancient Jewish art depicts the bodies of Seraphim as being serpentine - the angels were originally considered winged fire snakes! This never made it into the literary descriptions of them, so it's only through the study of ancient art that one would find out, but it shows another way that snakes are considered powerful and potent in mythologies across the world.

[@Rikmach]

It's weird, Pangu is startling similar to the myth of Ymir in Norse mythology, whose body became parts of the world when he was slain.

[@jessicaclakley3691]

Thanks, I was struck by the similarities too!

[@bananabanana484]

A lot of religions have myths like that. I wonder why so many of them looked at the earth and were like “that’s a dead thing”.

[@Rikmach]

@@bananabanana484 My guess? Decomposing bodies all eventually turn into what's effectively dirt. Maybe they figured the whole world was created in a similar process on a much grander scale.

[@yestermorrow3223]

That’s pretty common in mythology, actually; having the land made of somebodies body. Such as the Greek Gaia or Babylonian Tiamat.

[@donnguyen1107]

Not to mention the whole keeping earth and sky from colliding bit being soo Atlas in Greek mythology. Vietnam has a similar story with Khong Lo the creator giant who actually creates the earth and sky and builds a pillar to support it until things calm down and the pillar breaks to become the mountains, hills, etc. Khong Lo is also sometimes said to later become Ong Troi the Skyfather and king of the gods, later equated with the Jade Emperor and renamed Ngoc Hoang via Chinese influence.

[@user-gt5dq1lm3q]

I recently played Shin Megami Tensei, a JRPG where the main plot is that the apocalypse has wiped out most of humanity and various figures of world mythologies are in constant arms in order to recreate the world as they see fit. Most of the figures fall into three main factions: Law (represents order and stability), Chaos (represents freedom and individuality), and Neutral (balances between the two). Nuwa is featured in this game and she represents the Neutral faction, with her end goal being to recreate the world such that humanity, her favored creation, can thrive on its own without the interference of gods or demons.

[@Scorpio7500]

Ooh which one

[@FacelessPorcelain]

@@Scorpio7500 The latest one. Shin Megami Tensei 5.

[@fuckinghugepablo]

(remembers Quetzalcoatl is literally a feathered serpent) holy shit, snakes hold the meaning of the universe!!!

[@mochhhhee]

HOLY SHIT I WAS THINKING nah we don't have em BUT HM WE DO QUETZALCOATL PAPI PERDÓN

[@TeroTheShortOne]

That’s where my mind went to immediately!

[@anonymousfellow8879]

I swear OSP Red has ranted about ALWAYS SNAKES?! at least once xD

[@ddraven3180]

Isn't Quetzalcoatl the second Tezcatlipoca, with Tezcatlipoca as the first?

[@georgeoldsterd8994]

In greco-roman mythology and philosophy, snakes were the symbol of wisdom. Strangely enough, i don't actually remember any depictions of the native greco-roman gods with snakes (outside, maybe, Asclepios, who had snake familiars).

[@childofwonder.8]

I’m currently reading a book called “Salt Fish Girl” and it’s written by a Chinese Canadian author and the main characters are Nu Wa and then her reincarnated as a young girl in 2044. It’s actually really good and the writing and story are beautiful. I highly recommend it and I understand the book better because of this video

[@tenderpr3y]

Man I love finding stuff like this out though comments. I'm gonna read it asap

[@rx500android]

Omg it sounds amazing

[@marie-lisecouillard7263]

Holy Shit, I remember reading that book when I was doing my bachelor degree in English literrature and I had completely forgotten about it! I might have to dig it out!

[@heidehho6191]

I remember reading this in Uni! it's a great book!

[@childofwonder.8]

@@liljamariasaeboe4745 no I haven’t. But it’s really worth the read

[@lillithcollins5192]

I find it interesting that myths in general seem to have a theme of punishing youthful (and typically female) curiosity and kindness but then "redeeming" them by the end of the story. I've also seen a trope (can I call it that?) in many mythologies of a wise woman, typically a wife or at least a mature woman who gives practical and realistic advice but is then ignored by the men of the story who then bring disaster to themselves. Think Cassandra from Greek myth who was cursed to only tell the true future but never be believed.

[@A_Black_Sheep94]

I'm sure a salty woman was behind those myths. " I told him to bring the salted pork but no he brought another heavy set of chainmail"

[@A_Black_Sheep94]

@@inkubator320 Learn how commenting works.

[@maapauu4282]

@@A_Black_Sheep94 I mean, can you eat chainmail? Pork is better than chainmail any day, also why a salty woman specifically? There are also salty men, but we seem to find a lack of the opposite

[@A_Black_Sheep94]

@@maapauu4282 If you smashed it into tiny pieces and have a fearsome anus.

[@viviennely5036]

OMG the creation story between Nuwa and Fuxi is basically the creation story of the eighteen Hmong tribes! I never thought I’d be hearing such a similar story in Chinese mythology. Although I am not from the Hmong people of China, my family and relatives are White Hmong (“white,” as in a dialect of the Hmong language). I was born in the US and my parents and grandparents immigrated to the US from Laos during the Vietnamese War. From what I read online, the Hmong creation myth plays out the same way as Nuwa’s and Fuxi’s, except the baby was a gourd and did not include the second trial. The gourd was lumpy and deformed. The brother and sister decided to cut the gourd into different pieces. As the gourd was cut, it bounced outside all around their home. Some bounced on the roof of the house, some bounced into the garden and elsewhere. Depending on where the pieces fell, they were given different names, thus the eighteen Hmong clans were born. I was just excited to hear of any representation of my culture, even if Nuwa’s and Fuxi’s is originally of Chinese culture and doesn’t even make sense in the context of Nuwa’s and Fuxi’s original legends. I’m also a bit surprised to hear that the Hmong is much more prevalent than I thought in China and in Chinese mythology, which is pretty cool to find out!

[@nesiwatson]

I'm really happy that I (being Ukrainian) actually remember the things you're saying because I read about Chinese mythology (along with Native American, Japanese and Persian) when I was a kid. I think we should all tell kids stories from all around the world

[@IconiqueBloomie]

As always, Nüwa is a total icon that can’t be diminished. As she should, honestly. In relation to Nüwa, I hope you one day talk about Daji & the nine-tailed fox spirit.

[@misslangleysoryuisiconic]

👀👀👀👀

[@bowmanc.7439]

Of course, her most famous disciple. I second this suggestion

[@Scorpio7500]

Is this a specific fox spirit

[@NickIsMe171]

@@Scorpio7500 Daji was a specific figure, who may or may not have lent a hand in bringing down the Shang dynasty. Folklore often depicts her as a fox spirit disguised as human to bring down the tyrannical King Zhou of Shang. Some other stories would further depict her as Nuwa's disciple, sent down by the goddess to end the failing Shang Dynasty. Some other stories say this fox spirit is simply a malevolent entity, who brought calamity to many dynasties. Tamamo no Mae from Japan is told to be the same fox spirit as Daji, just in different disguise.

[@johnsatan117]

Are Kitsunes explicitly Japanese?

[@Leevhq]

When you said "They left me with DVDs while they were out working" I felt that. This is exactly how most chinese kids end up learning really random stuff lol.

[@austin.luther]

I'm from Hawaii, and there aren't any snakes. The closest I can think of is the myth of Maui killing an eel (I think it attacked his wife?) and burying the corpse which grew the first coconut tree. Yes, this is in the "You're Welcome" song in Moana. The creation myth is also mentioned. Maui took his brothers out in a canoe and paddled far out into the ocean. He told his brothers to turn their backs and not to look until he said so. Maui dropped his fishook on a line into the ocean and started to pull up a massive continent. Just as the tops of the highest mountains were pulled above the ocean, Maui's youngest brother turned to look. The fishook snapped off and flew into the sky and became the constellation Maui's Fishook (which is the same as the tail of Scorpio). The mountaintops that were above the ocean's surface were the Hawaiian Islands.

[@anonymousfellow8879]

I was wondering if Maui’s Fishhook was a real constellation! Thanks for sharing

[@crowolf3862]

There are the Mo’o stories though. The big ones got turned into small islands, while the lady ones tend to guard springs and fishponds.

[@joneyC]

You should look up Kihawahine. Lizards aren't native to Hawai'i, but there are mo'olelo of shape-shifting mo'o wāhine. They're similar to the ones mentioned in legends from S Asia and SE Asia, associated with water sources.

[@KTJMProductions]

@@joneyC I saw this comment and looked it up and... wow that's literally a monitor lizard. I have so many questions....

[@Genjonable]

In one of Cambodia's creation myths, our kingdom was founded on the union between a Native Naga (sacred serpent) Princess, Soma/Neang Neak, and an Indian merchant Brahmin, Kaundinya/Preah Thong. Also, it would be interesting if you could make videos on ancient Chinese relations with the kingdoms in Southeast Asia :D

[@aaronpoole5531]

Oh god the idea of a gourd filled with teeth made my teeth hurt... sounds like a stress dream I'd have 😂 Also, love that you go straight for calling them tomb robbers cos I'm so sick of museums and media calling people explorers when they just robbed graves.

[@Awesome_Pichu]

Imagine capturing a god and deciding, "Imma eat it"

[@AntediluvianRomance]

If you eat a god, you'll gain properties of a god, duh.

[@MrDalisclock]

Must not make euchrist joke.....

[@johannesstephanusroos4969]

@@MrDalisclock While it would be funny, try spelling 'eucharist' correctly

[@MrDalisclock]

@@johannesstephanusroos4969 my bad.

[@johannesstephanusroos4969]

@@MrDalisclock No problem, my apologies for being an ass as well

[@yokomomochi]

Tbh you could go off about a single Chinese dude that did absolutely nothing his whole life and I'd listen excitedly

[@madisonstoner7405]

"did you ever see an old picture of a smiling man eating rice and decide to make a video on it? That's me."

[@MegaCalypto]

Māori Myth doesn't feature any snakes, as there aren't any in our country, although Taniwha (creatures similar to dragons) are often depicted as serpentine. We do also have a deity, Tāne, separating the sky and earth. Ranginui and Papatūānuku, sky father and earth mother, embraced each other so tightly that their children lived in cramped darkness between them. Tāne resolved to fix the situation, and, lying on his back, pushed with his legs to separate his parents, creating space in between for people to live. He then put down poles or planted trees in order to keep them apart.

[@Joyride37]

Nuwa being the sole creator mother goddess in the oldest Chinese tales reminds me of the Sumerian creator goddess Nammu/Namma. She had the idea of creating humanity by herself or giving the idea to her son Enki and using his help. In later version it was attributed more and more to male gods, but Nammu is the earliest. We don't know a lot about her though because most of our current knowledge is through linguistic reconstruction, comparative primary source literature, some archaeology, and inference.

[@pandaman1677]

I was thinking the same thing. Enki = Serpent. Enlil = Eagle. War Between the Serpent and Eagle

[@kaliwin6619]

Listening to you explaining how the two siblings repopulated the earth reminded me of my history classes. I’m of Hmong descent and listening to the similarities and differences between all of the creation myths interests me! Thank you for your time and effort, and thank you for making me reminisce about Hmong history lessons~!

[@Caitlin_TheGreat]

9:51 I know that sound. A cat getting ready to throw up a hairball. And probably in the worst spot it could find. I genuinely enjoyed the video, different cultures' mythologies are always fun to learn about and Chinese mythology has a lot going on. I get quite irritated by missionaries (for a number of reasons) since part of their goal is to erase these sorts of things in the more vulnerable (and thus usually lesser known) cultures they go after. I think it's very important to preserve these things because it not only gives us great insight into the way a culture thought about things (especially over time if you're able to track down ways the myths have changed) but it also can give the person learning about it a different perspective to consider as well.

[@Youmama187]

Cat or small dog they sound about the same, that is definitely what they saw

[@hironyx]

a lot of the time i can sleep through loud bangs and door knocks, but when my cat makes that sound, i will wake up from my sleep to see where he's gonna puke on

[@jovindsouza3407]

They have two cats, so that's definitely what happened here.

[@tleigh878787]

I also thought of a cat throwing up 😂 came to the comments to confirm

[@Youmama187]

@@tleigh878787 you have confirmation. I am guessing since they stayed on camera nothing important was damaged, but that is what it was lol

[@RyzelSama]

A good book on Chinese Mythology that is in English that I would recommend would be "Dragons, Gods & Spirits from Chinese Mythology" with text written by Tao Tao Liu Sanders and Illustrations by Johnny Pau. It has alot of the myths and legends you mentioned here in your video. Hope that helps a little bit. I originally found it in a library a long time ago and I loved the art and stories from it so much that I bought the book years later from a site that sold old library copies.

[@AnkhAnanku]

I’ve heard Nü Wa’s story before. I always like to think it has roots in some great period of ecological disaster and Neolithic strife. That the mother of humanity and the architect of the world is specifically a goddess (and a snakey one at that) is also extremely interesting.

[@GuyWithAnAmazingHat]

The first time I heard of Pangu and Nuwa were from "My Date with a Vampire" (我和僵尸有个约会), for some reason a tv show about vampires and hunters ended up with the creation myth and pangu being the OG vampire. Also about stolen artifacts my Chinese friend who's a tea enthusiast says her favourite museum is the British Museum because it has the world's largest collection of stolen Chinese tea ware. Having seen it myself, those are some really rare and beautiful items.

[@daltongibson1033]

Creation myths are so interesting, no matter the culture. I love learning about things like this!

[@SpeciesXCV]

God I love Folklore, so many stories feel like beautiful fever dreams with some seeds of "explanations" of what people tried to make sense of their surroundings. It's always a fun ride

[@g0lddustt29]

It's interesting to me how many culture's mythologies for creation myths all start with the idea of a "cosmic egg."

[@SomasAcademy]

The Pangu story reminds me strongly of the Norse myth of Ymir, who similarly was a giant whose various body parts became elements of the world after his death, and of the Hindu with of Purusha, who was sacrificed at the dawn of time with certain animals and gods springing forth from his death, his breath becoming the wind, and his other body parts becoming the atmosphere, sun, and different Castes. I wonder if there's any possibility of a common origin for these myths?

[@timothymclean]

There are a _lot_ of myths about the bodies of big creatures being turned into the world or significant parts thereof. (Usually not humanoid ones, but still.) A common origin is possible, but it would be difficult to prove.

[@louiseharpth1267]

The era where the mongol empire invaded the entire eurasian continental plane could maybe have happened once before but way earlier in history

[@SomasAcademy]

@@louiseharpth1267 That's highly improbable, when I say I wonder if there's a connection I'm thinking about possible cultural exchange between Indo-European and Chinese populations, or some common third group that might've influenced both, not something like an Empire.

[@Kadukunahaluu]

In Chamorro mythology (Pacific islander), a goddess uses her dead brother's body to make the Earth, sun, and moon. The Goddess then uses her own body to create humans after turning herself into stone. They both died and their bodies were both used to make something

[@SadhviJenn]

13:05 oooh another story about cutting a body up and scattering it across the land. This is the third one I hear of. (Osiris was the first story I learned. Then Sati was the second, and this is the third.) My mind has been noticing when different myths have the same events even though they are all epochs away from each other!

[@infiniteideassquared9102]

Tsalagi here, my people's creation myth about humans didn't involve snakes. However, the story of how we'd grow to govern amongst ourselves certainly does. Way back when, my people had an autocratic priestly clan, and because of the nonsense they pulled we'd end up overthrowing them. What did the priestly clan do that was so bad we threw the whole club out? The assassination attempt they made on the sun, of course! Or rather, the *failed* assassination attempt on the sun, *that killed her daughter instead.* All because the priestly clan thought the big warm ball of light shone too bright... yeah... Many assassins were handcrafted to turn the star into a chalk outline, but the rattlesnake and an overpowered serpant that operates by Medusa rules - as in, you directly look and you're instantly dead - were the duo that did the deed. Weirdly enough it was the rattlesnake who pulled it off, by accident, and they both promptly fled the scene, the rattlesnake being undertandably shaken after that and so we leave them alone, and the serpent slinking off to a cave somewhere and fizzled in anger so much its blood became acid. When Mama Sun found the lifeless body of her precious baby girl, she was obviously upset - so much so that she refused to go out in the open again and locked herself away, thusly plunging the world into darkness. It got really difficult for anyone to navigate through the pitch black environment that the outside suddenly was, not to mention that everyone was freezing and all sources of food were beginning to die because of the frost beginning to form. Bodies began to drop like flies, and the priestly clan got the hint that their resources would run out sooner rather than later. That's kind of a problem. So the priestly clan consulted spirits who were beings of great wisdom about how to save their skins. The beings of great wisdom handed the bunch a bat and a box and logically instructed them to knock out the daughter's spirit and smuggle her back. How does that make sense? Because there's a realm of the dead. There was also an ominous warning that once she was in there to not open the lid before reaching the living world again, no matter what she said. On that note, the priestly clan snuck down in the cold through a cave to the realm of the dead, where seasons are opposite, so they got toasty really fast as they descended. There was a party of spirits enjoying the great weather. In the crowd the priestly clan found their target amongst the dancers, bonked her on the head, shoved her in the container, and with the side quest shenanigans seemingly finished the group began to march home. Eventually though, part way back up to the surface, the Sun's pride and joy woke up *and was infuriated.* She was punching the top of the box, screaming at the top of her lungs, hollering she couldn't breathe, insisting her captors let her out. For a while the priestly clan pretty much covered their ears and went "la la la," but then she went dead silent. The preistly clan collectively went "oh no, did we kill her?" Curiosity compelled them to crack the lid to check, and instantly the daughter of the sun flew out of the box in the form of a redbird and sped away from her killers, who had just remembered that she was already dead in the first place. They returned to the above world empty handed, and hunkered down in secrecy. Meanwhile everyone else was still starving and freezing, practically clinging to the fires they were using to feel warmth. Suddenly, either because someone had snapped or decided to make the most of the situation, one of the people stood up and began to dance. Then a few more stood, and then more joined, and soon all of the common people subjected to the elements were dancing in the dark near the fire. It was at this time that the Sun looked upon the dancing people, and in seeing such ardent reaching for hope, she was motivated to rise and give my people peace again. So she returned to the path in the sky she'd always taken and the world sprang to life again. Crops were able to grow, the common people able to relax a bit since people stopped dying of solar neglect, and the Sun promptly began processing her grief. As for the priestly clan, the murder incels were assaulting women now and that angered the seven other clans enough that we executed the offending clan, and ruled as a collective unit from that point on... All because the powerful got aggravated, and the snakes hired to do the dirty work messed up big-time. So, that was my poorly summed-up telling of a story snakes did a lot of damage in. The names of all the characters/entities I'm leaving unsaid (partly due to debate amongst ourselves about what the priestly clan was properly called, and partly due to the names of the sun and the serpent and beings of great wisdom not to be taken lightly). Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading this. Southeast Turtle-Island Woodlander stories can get wild!

[@bbittercoffee]

Wait wait wait, what happened to the daughter of the sun that flew off as a red bird? Did she just, do exactly that? And now every red bird could be her or something?

[@smrtfasizmu7242]

Thank you for sharing this part of your culture with us

[@infiniteideassquared9102]

@@bbittercoffee Cardinals specifically

[@infiniteideassquared9102]

@@smrtfasizmu7242 thanks!

[@bbittercoffee]

@@infiniteideassquared9102 Woooah! Cool!

[@eherowingman]

Xiran Jay Zhao: Talking about the Panhu story Xiran Jay Zhao: (shows Mr Peanut Butter and Diane 5:41) Me: *WHEEZE*

[@diosundoro5019]

In Javanese-Balinese pre-Hindu mythology of Indonesia, there was a great snake named Antaboga who did exist during the creation of the world. In Central Java, there is a folklore of the great snake of Baru Klinthing and the legend of Rawapening Lake.

[@ninjakeks9326]

This first story is VERY similar to Nordic mythology. The Edda starts fairly similar. It's so interesting how different people that probably never heard from each other had the same base idea.(Or the Vikings reached China at some point and they had a serious conversation about that, ikd.)

[@mizimith3570]

This was incredibly fascinating. I'm German and this made me want to learn about the old Germanic stories .......... only to find out that we don't really know any. I suppose the closest would be the creation story of our Nordic cousins.

[@jazzo7340]

It is likely that myths from central Europe (mainland, not Ireland or Britain) no longer exist because the Celts and probably other peoples from that area did not write down the stories. They have told the myths through songs and tales in poetic form. Although they later used the written word (through the influence of Scandinavia and later Rome), they did not write down their stories.

[@timothymclean]

Most pre-Christian legends in Europe were either written down by monks (who had to de-paganize the stories to make them palatable to the church) or lost completely (which is worse). Some evolved into folklore that persists to this day, but in the process they changed into stories that likely have little to do with the originals, which we can't really compare them to, because they've been lost.

[@valvadis2360]

Snake Myth's in my country don't involve the creation of humanity, but there's is one about the creation of day and night itself. Funny how snakes are important to a ton of mythologies.

[@aylbdrmadison1051]

Mine does involve snakes.. But then so does my government.

[@AntediluvianRomance]

Some snake cult is theorized to be among the oldest beliefs of humanity. It may stem from the idea that snakes are eternal because they shed their skins and "rejuvenate" and humsns are mortal because they can't do that. ETA. OK, that's almost what Xiran said. What's interesting is how snakes are also often connected to thunder gods.

[@Korthian]

The story of Pangu reminds me greatly of the Norse myth of Ymir the giant.

[@nadiazahiraputrirachmadi734]

He kinda also remind me of Atlas, the Greek Sky God.

[@rbck8826]

@@nadiazahiraputrirachmadi734 not really for me, atlas did not create the world, he only holds up the sky as a punishent.

[@Korthian]

@@rbck8826 the Greeks and romans did adopt a lot of different cultures gods as their own so it wouldn’t surprise me if their was some story integration during from the trade routes.

[@misslangleysoryuisiconic]

@@rbck8826 u mean Chaos? Not Atlas????

[@rbck8826]

@@misslangleysoryuisiconic what? No? I have no idea what uou mean.

[@WireMosasaur]

-Shipping- Pairing Nuwa up with a random husband god who vaguely fit the bill was definitely a way of lessening female power in mythology, but I feel like it's also an appealing concept if you're really into the yin-yang balance thing and want everything to have a male and female side, that's probably another reason why it persisted so hard lol

[@BajaBlastBoy]

Si yu’os ma’åse (thank you in my language) for making this video! I am so excited to learn about Chinese history and culture. I’m also totally nerding out because part of our creation stories are the same! I am both Chinese and CHamoru, and in our CHamoru creation myth, the brother Puntan’s right eye becomes the moon and his left eye becomes the sun! So amazing 🇬🇺🇨🇳🇭🇰

[@uriel578]

Ok, I haven't read any of your books, but if they have even half of the power of your storytelling here on this channel, they are well deserving of any accolades and awards they recieve or can be nominated for. I get swept up in it and want more when the videos end. Well done.

[@AMoniqueOcampo]

Now I seriously need to do a deep dive into Filipino creation mythology. Can't wait to see how this factors into Zachary Ying!

[@JustAStranger2840]

Have fun, there's a lot of them between different ethnic groups and regions, you won't find any shortage of content!

[@IronycheinPain]

oh my goodness, that is QUITE the rabbit hole. I can tell you that half of the creation stories told to kids there were Christian-appropriated, so finding the actual myths are a challenge

[@blondiefabricante9094]

Si malakas at si maganda

[@eltucuyo518]

@SpacedPanini so much fun???? well if its exist it might be fun but sadly you will find no record of philippine history, myths or folk lore. What ridiculous is phiiis are fantasizing they have same rich culture as Chinese did because theirs are so boring, empty , corrupted and almost non existent

[@bubzee9177]

Lol good luck. There's a lot of them and they differ from each ethnic groups and regions.

[@Laladust]

Why is Xiran looking so pretty tonight. They always look pretty but tonight in particular they look exceptionally pretty.

[@abc_jv_xyz]

Xiran is non-binary?

[@Laladust]

@@abc_jv_xyz 4 minutes and 40 seconds into Anti Asian Hate Crime video is where they first says they're nonbinary. Edit: This one kzbin.info/www/bejne/l4qol2uBbMh4qrM

[@fireafire]

@@abc_jv_xyz Their instagram also has their pronouns :)

[@abc_jv_xyz]

@@Laladust oh, I'm a new subscribber and I think I didn't watch this video yet. Thanks for telling me.

[@abc_jv_xyz]

@@fireafire Well, I don't have an Instagram account. Also, are you brazilian?

[@GrandArchPriestOfTheAlgorithm]

As the Grand Archpriest of the Church of the Algorithm, I comment you to engage with this video.

[@eldorados_lost_searcher]

I was going to question your credentials, but then I saw your name. Checks out. All hail the mighty Algo.

[@LemonDove]

And with your spirit, or whatever is said now

[@dominicbarnes712]

Thank you for including the chinese characters for the main proper nouns you talk about. This is so helpful for my Chinese studies as most videos don't do this and many of them aren't in the dictionary.

[@Kadukunahaluu]

I am Chamorro, Pacific Islander from Micronesia. In our creation story, we have Pontan (Pungu) and Fo'na (Nüwa). Pontan and Fo'na were brother and sister, and they drifted endlessly in "space" until Pontan got sick. He told his sister to use his body to create the universe after he dies from his illness. After he died, Fo'na uses his eyes as the sun and moon, and she uses his body as the Earth. Realizing she was alone, she cried. After creating the ocean with her tears, she didn't want to live anymore, so on the shore of a small island, she turned herself into stone. As her body crumbled away, the pieces of stone that fell became the humans and animals. Chamorros are said to have come from the same people that the Chinese came from, so maybe this is a connection?

[@georgeoldsterd8994]

Much as I've always scoffed at the biblical flood story, i can't help but notice similar stories in other mythologies. The native Americans had flood myths, the Greeks and Romans, some African cultures, the Polynesian cultures, now i learn the Chinese version. It's crazy, but in a good way.

[@singmeunder]

I came across a couple different studies on flood myths. Basically, sometime after the end of the last ice age, melted ice created great floods. This may have happened in a couple different regions in different points in time, but regardless of which was the origin of myths, the Great Flood(s) seared itself in the memories of the people who survived. While there aren’t any floods that covered the world, there were definitely floods that can cover a whole country’s worth of land area and then some. I suggest looking into the Biblical Flood. Historians that study events in the Bible are pretty widespread and there’s a lot of content.

[@manospondylus]

Many settled cultures have flood stories because for their agriculture these cultures settle next to big bodies of water out of necessity, which can catastrophically flood from time to time and leave a lasting impact on folk memory.

[@sarahcoleman5269]

Same with powerful gods who control lightning, giant beasts who shake the earth, and drought and famine being a curse from the gods. It's called "Shared Human Experience".

[@resurgingflame]

Islam & Hindu has flood story as well.

[@patax144]

floods and snakes, in the culture of the indigenous people from my country the humanity creation myth goes like this: a young woman and a child came out of a lake after a great flood searching for a place to live, the kid grew up they had children and their children had children, however when they grew old after watching their people grow they went back to the lake from where they came from and as soon as they touched the water they turned into snakes and then dissapeared into the water.

[@Owlcoconut]

Indigenous Australians have stories about a serpent too, which you can find out more below from Mikayla Morgan's response. (Comment edited to reflect below reply!)

[@ZETA14.88]

Is it Yurlungur? I remember it thanks to megami tensei series

[@ladyredl3210]

That sounds like Tiamat! Snakes are everyone in creation myths! She was also downgraded to a monster, once the goddess religions were eradicated. So,that's the same too.

[@SunJamzee]

I'm not sure which Northern Native American nation it is, but there's one that says something about a black snake giving it's life for humanity to survive. Also, the Mexika eagle and snake can also be talked about! Some see the eagle as a representation of our ancestors, and the snake as pure energy and the will to live on. When the Mexika were chased by warring tribes they ran to Coatepetl(name might differ slightly?) which was a mountain infested with snakes. The other tribes cut off their supplies and isolated them, but the Mexika decided to eat the snakes to survive, and once they had regained their strength they descended the mountain and escaped, eventually they were chased to the only area no one had inhabited, the Moon Lake and there they built Tenochtitlan, the Land of the Prickly Pear Fruit.

[@mikimorgz]

As someone from an Indigenous Australian tribe the Wiradjuri our legend is the serpent was a brown snake symbolic of the Murrumbidgee river due to its colour and length Also even though some would say indigenous dream time stories are mythos, which would be an incorrect term for it doesn't really explain it. With mythologies such as the Greek, Chinese and many others, it does have a specific time period the dream time stories are always everywhere never in one specific time frame and we do not know the exact time for which it took place. It could have been the past, present or future. Some explain an event the rainbow serpent story wasn't as much a creation myth as a story on how our earth was made but not the people. For in the story it explains how birds were created. It wasn't seen as a god more as a teacher turned villain. when British settlers first arrived in western Australia where the story of the rainbow serpent originates they saw a painting of the serpent on a rock at a beach. They thought it to be one of three things a sea monster, dragon or God. So that's where the idea of the serpent being worshipped came from. When in reality it was a way of saying help those but don't betray them for they will betray you.

[@Owlcoconut]

@@mikimorgz Ahh, thank you for the corrections! I appreciate you taking the time to comment. I've edited my original comment to direct others to your explanation :)

[@raychances6251]

I went to the comments expecting plenty of people who, like me, are Chinese but not Chinese enough to go and read these myths ourselves (my parents aren't interested in this stuff). Since I see none, I'm here to say - I was ecstatic when I saw your video in my feed. I love your storytelling style and I've wanted to know the Chinese creation myths for ages. I really hope you'll make more of these videos.

[@dotdotdot...176]

It's so fascinating that creation stories or just mythology/folklore in general from all around the world can have common/similar themes, events and characters. Huge world-ending floods and boats, snakes, an entity holding up the sky, humans being created in a god/goddess's image, deities and/or other beings with part animal appearances, etc.

[@licoricecookieswife4079]

There is a snake in Aboriginal Australian mythology (I think it’s called.) It’s the Rainbow Serpent, which when it slithered around, created the rivers and mountains (I could be wrong, I am not aboriginal myself and have been informed through school and others. Sorry If I’m wrong)

[@ParadiseLordRyu]

Yurlungur

[@obxyacuajun_official2531]

The creation story from the Yao-Hmong ethnic groups is fascinating, hearing similarities and difference like you said. Growing up Hmong-American, I was told that the creation of the world started with a farmer, the only person left in the world, who's land was unfortunatly burned down by some natural disaster. He found a white gourd, the last of his crops, that was burnt on one side, but fresh on the other. He goes near probably to collect the seeds and eat, but then hears voices inside the gourd, and cuts it open. To his surprise, he saw little people come out in different shades of the color of the gourd. There's another story but with the same outcome that began with the two siblings. Started with a flood and it was just the two left. They married and had a child together, but it was deformed; no limbs and no face. The child resembles a gourd (a lot of gourds in these stories). The gourd child later, shoots out little people everywhere in the farm. Wherever the little people landed determined their clan. And that's how the 18 clans (xeem, like Xìng 姓) of the Hmong were formed. Perhaps this was how the Hmong got their Chinese name (Miao苗). 🤔

[@nolaray1062]

You could literally tell me about a Chinese phone book and I would find it interesting as hell. Love your videos!!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️ much love from New Orleans!

[@Pr1est0fDoom]

lmao same

[@danha3107]

this lmaoo

[@Whosaskin]

x2

[@TylerTremaglio]

9:50 Only Nuwa knows what a cat vomiting sounds like 🤣

[@Alaninjas]

Yup 🤣

[@Nerdygoddess]

How bad is it that I heard it and automatically started looking for my cats?

[@r3bel758]

Not really a creation story, but the whole "snakes are lesser dragons" thing made me think of this one Welsh myth This one day Celtic king tried to build a castle in this one spot but the castle kept collapsing. Merlin told the King that the reason it couldn't be built was because two dragons were sleeping under that spot. The King dug down, awakening the dragons. The dragons started fighting, and although the white dragon was more powerful, the red dragon won. It was supposed to be a "fuck you" myth to the Anglo-Saxons who were invading the Celts at the time and started being used in later rebellions of Welsh independence against the English. Henry VII, who was actually Welsh, also used the red dragon after he won the Wars of the Roses as symbolism for how the Yorkists killed all the Lancastrians but he, the Lancastrian heir, emerged victorious and his red dragon flag eventually became the modern flag of Wales.

[@Lambda_Ovine]

In Aztec mythology, Quetzalcoatl is the patron god and was involved in the creation of mankind. He is a feathered serpent and that's literally what his name means

[@desanipt]

I would tell you what is the original native Celtiberian creation myth, hadn't the Romans not fully destroyed their religion (for Christianism to do the same to the Roman religion later on)

[@OCanalDaMa]

Them tell us, I'd loved to hear it! I've searched for many years about celtiberian culture and religion but never found any thing consistent... Could you tell how you know this? im really curious :)

[@mayaravictorio9510]

@@OCanalDaMa unfortunately that’s exactly what op means, you can’t find anything consistent because the Romans destroyed everything about it to force christianity into them

[@PaintedHoundie]

So much cool shit lost to time cause people felt burning and destroying shit they disagree with.

[@sellmoon]

YES! I was thinking the exact same thing! it's so sad that we can't even translate the very few things written :(

[@OCanalDaMa]

@@mayaravictorio9510 oh I thought he actually found information about it... :( the ones I've read didn't focus on ancient History and it's a shame pre- roman culture isn't a big interest in the iberian Peninsula (I'm portuguese by the way), the Romans were the first colonizers of Europe and I don't think we should celebrate em without remembering that

[@phoenixshadow6633]

The best thing about mythology is that it is inconsistent. That's where the fun of it all exists.

[@CoolHistoryBros]

Great video, Xiran! By the way, a very interesting phenomenon called euhemerization happened to early Chinese historical records such as Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian (史記). In it, creator gods such as Nuwa and Fuxi are reinterpreted as historical figures and clans. The same goes for the Yellow Emperor, Huang Di, who was worshipped as a god and he was connected with Laozi in the Huang-Lao school of thought. Traditional Chinese historiography is considered to be over four thousand years old because they count those mythical figures as historical people. But archeology can only verify traditional Chinese historiography as far back as late Shang dynasty. Just over three thousand years ago.

[@lolypoppp7]

China culture have at least 5000 year history and its have certificaton by archeological discovery of Liangzhu culture. In Unesco also have info about Liangzhu city

[@lkl1392]

@@lolypoppp7 Han Chinese began in Longshan culture

[@disordermental3084]

@@lkl1392 China culture is mixed

[@ThefrenziedMercury]

Really good video and appreciate your strong and determined voice and tones for narration! But talking about the snakes part for the creation myth i'd say it is not as much grounded in biological fear as it was in sight of their biology. The fact snakes mute to abandon their old skin and live with a new one alongside the help of contorsions and rocks inspired the cultures of many times to think about the themes of reincarnation and rejunuvation like for example the pythagorics or poems such as the Gilgamesh's epic and Ovid's Metamorphosis. Infact, they both talk about the same identical thing in different stories: in the Gilgamesh's poem the serpent mutes to lose his own past skin after eating an immortality giving erb which Gilgamesh had lost in his return, and Heracles dies and becomes a God in the 9th book of Metamorphosis with the process being described as a serpent muting its skin! And for the cultural question yes, but only in Orphic myth. As before the egg of things is opened a serpent tries to warm it with its own long body. And to think these two poems are more than 2000 years distant from eachother makes realize how feared yet venerated were the serpents in general human culture. By the way, which book would you suggest to people who know nothing about chinese myth but are akin to myth sources?

[@Me_and_also_me]

In Australian Aboriginal mythology, we also have a creation snake story!! It’s called the Rainbow Serpent. Basically, when the land was still new and it was plain and empty, there was a giant snake that roamed the lands. When she moved, her tracks became rivers and when she slept, she created lakes. Wherever she went she created water and with water comes mud. From the mud of the river banks, animals and plants were formed. The Rainbow Serpent looked after the animals and taught them right from wrong. All the animals that committed evil were turned into rocks and eventually became mountains and hills. All the animals that did especially good however, were turned into something completely different, humans. All the animals that didn’t stand out as particularly good or evil just stayed as animals. There’s even a story that takes place much later where two human brothers try to kill the Rainbow Serpent so she eats them, and when they come back out (either by cutting her open from the inside or she spits them back out, there’s two versions) they turn into cockatoos as punishment.

[@pathsafer7828]

A tribe in Colombia also has one, of the creation of humanity a golden serpent that decend from the skyes transfroming into a woman called Bachue, she give birth to everyone

[@Me_and_also_me]

@ That’s so cool!

[@Djinn_Entonic]

The only deity we need to know is xiran jay zhao, I heard that the Chinese government has so much fear of their powers that they ban it, but the power of the Bi pi en are too much. Other myths says that their books are arriving after much effort but it will be worth it

[@peekaboopeekaboo1165]

Xiran might be an Gov asset attempting to operate inside the PROC.

[@PaintSplashProductions]

There’s this weird thing in mythology I’ve noticed where there’s always an important human-like snake, either half human - half-snake or just a very intelligent snake that’s on the same level as human. I just find it interesting how every culture, myths and religions all have that in common for some reason

[@Jimmy_Biscuit1999]

Did you hear about when Xiran stopped shopping at hot topic? They were never scene again. Edit: they

[@lahmiahoque7822]

*they were never seen again (xiran is nonbinary and use they/them pronouns)

[@Laladust]

That is a knee slapper. Puns are always humourous 😂

[@georgeoldsterd8994]

@@lahmiahoque7822 what does that even mean anyway?

[@PaintedHoundie]

@@lahmiahoque7822 *scene again

[@Jimmy_Biscuit1999]

@@lahmiahoque7822 thanks for catching that. I forgot

[@misersmakeup-nguoihatien2316]

I'm so excited that I recognized so many familiar elements in all versions of the Chinese creation myth you mentioned. I read them from books that document creation myths as told by the Yao, Tai, Miao, and many other ethnic groups in Vietnam. The stories where I find similarities with what you mentioned in the video naturally come from the ethnic groups that migrated South from lands that would eventually be unified and become modern China. I think that's quite interesting angle of research to look into as well, I wonder if one goes around Southeast Asia to find these ethnic groups, collect their stories and compare that to the stories told by the same ethnic groups versus the more modern, mainstream, Han Chinese version, would a clearer picture and pattern of how these stories emerge and evolve? Anyway, to the fun parts! The version of the capture of the Thunder God told by Yao people in Vietnam is even more _hardcore_ in that 1/it's not 1 brother and 1 sister, both children were either grown adults or youthful, strong men and here it comes 2/ they wanted to capture the Thunder God so they (or their king, my memory is hazy) *CAN EAT HIS FLESH*. The Thunder God was kept in a home built from mud, so once he tricked the kids into giving him water, he just spat it at the walls and the house collapsed (which must be part of the reason why people were probably sick of the Thunder God bringing rain and ruining their homes, as he is considered to be the bringer of rain, not another separate deity). He still did give the 2 youths a tooth and told them to plant it, and it also did grow into a gourd. This gourd here thankfully is *not* full of teeth 🤣 it is just full seeds. The 2 brothers still did use the gourd as a vessel to survive the flood, and subsisted by eating the seeds, and then shared the remaining seeds with everyone in their village and even people outside of the village and other ethnic groups, so everyone can enjoy delicious gourds. The father also did not meet such a gruesome end in this story. In this version, he survived the flood by opening his umbrella, turned it upside down and sat on it, rising with the water all the way up to heaven, where the Thunder God had run back to. As the Thunder God answered the door, he recognized his captor and fled, also stopping the flood per the father's threat to recapture him. The father didn't made it all the way down back to earth though, he was stuck on the branches of a banyan tree that grew in heaven. I don't remember what happened to him. But the takeaway of the story (as well as with quite a lot of creation myths for various fruits, trees and other crops) is the exchange of agricultural knowledge amongst different ethnic groups within Vietnam. Somehow there's a lot of varieties of gourds involved there as well??? People were really excited about gourds probably because they are generally easily to cultivate, endure harsh weather well, certain gourds' flesh and seeds are edible, for some whole hard shell can be used as water/alcohol container. Particularly fibrous gourd's innards can also be dried and used as body scrub (like a loofah). The edible ones usually need a lot of water, so I guess that make people not mad at the frequent rain caused by the Thunder God anymore. The joy that gourds bring makes everyone's forget about their previous appetite for the flesh of a literal deity 😂 there's also a creation myth about how all the different ethnicities in Vietnam and they all came out from a gourd too 😂 we just really like gourds I guess.

[@alissaneneve9938]

In brazil the natives had a myth about a snake called "boitatá", this snake turned itself into a peace of wood on fire to scared the hunters and protect the forest

[@amanderps970]

I've read through Iron Widow three times now and each time I pick up on something new.

[@alexandreturcotte6411]

Japan: A cute couple makes island and the first baby made was a blob because the ladies took "the first step" the lady became the LITTERAL GODESS OF DEATH. China: Snek ladies makes human with crayola model magic after a big hairy guy died. Pangu maybe created our world physically, but it's still snek mama Nüwa who modeled us after mud.

[@alexandraburton232]

Who's already loving this within the first 10secs? Me! Your intros are fantastic! I had never heard much Chinese mythology except for the snake goddess creating humans but this was so fascinating! Thanks for the video!

[@dharvinar.k4750]

In Hinduism, Nagini( A goddess who had a snake lower body and human upper body ) is worshipped as a fertility goddess.

[@bogwitchburke]

I'm listening while doing work and thought you said "... And they asked the Kevins for guidance" and had to rewind 🤣 Great video! Your work is always so quality and those animations were beautiful! Looks similar to the animation from those Hungarian folklore videos on KZbin, GORGEOUS!

[@thecrazyonegirl]

The first creation myth you described reminds me a lot about the creation myth of Norse mythology! The giant Ymer was slain by the gods Odin, Vile and Ve and his body made up the world. His body became the Earth, his blood became the water, his meat/muscles became ground, his bones became the mountains, and his teeth and broken bones became stones. His head was stretched out over the earth and became the sky. It’s interesting that the myths can be so similar coming from different places!

[@krisselissan6539]

Thank you so much for these videos, they’re absolutely amazing! I love learning about other cultures’ folklore, but it’s sometimes hard to find good sources on it if you don’t speak the language the stories originate from. Btw, In Finnish mythology the creation story also includes an egg! The world was hatched from an egg, laid by some type of bird, and the sky is the dome of the egg. Beyond the edges of the world there is Lintukoto (rough translation: Birds’ home) a region where the birds spend their winters. The milky way is also called Linnunrata (rough translation: birds’ path) and birds in general were sort of a symbolic representation of human souls.

[@esczaman1299]

Chinese mythology is mysterious yet super intriguing to learn to enjoy! I ❤️ mythology!

[@SadhviJenn]

10:30 Imagine a snake in its mega fauna form. Amazing!

[@fornamnefternamn1532]

It's fascinating how common the great giant becoming the Earth myth is. In Norse mythology he, Ymer, was slain by Odin and his brothers. They created the world basically with the same bodyparts as Pangu. It's a bit like with Chaoskampf, when the thundergod slays the see serpent, themes that are spread around parts of the world. In some old Judean myths the world seems created by the Leviathan, slain by Javeh.

[@KittenLove536]

"what's a creation myth in your culture?" me: *sweats in american ex-catholic*

[@eldorados_lost_searcher]

And people wonder why wine is a prominent part of Mass?

[@o0BlackSand0o]

I'm a white, Australian, aethist... I have no cultural myths

[@cervid_appreciator]

*sweats in African-Chinese-Anglo-American agnostic*

[@janibii_608]

Look into ur ancestry, u'll probably find some rly cool stuff!

[@o0BlackSand0o]

@@janibii_608 my ancestry is Irish and Scottish convict and German that cane over just before WW1. But I'm not those things, I'm Aussie. My family is far removed from those things now and what we do know of our Germany ancestry isn't great for obvious reasons.

[@LunDruid]

Sadly whatever the "original" creation stories of my Irish ancestors might have been, they've been fully lost to time. But given that snakes aren't actually native to Ireland, they were probably not involved. Unless the stories continued to include elements of whatever their Iberian ancestors had, of which I don't think there's even a single dot of information. We just have to settle for the dude who chased the non-existent snakes off the island.

[@eldorados_lost_searcher]

Isn't there a story about beings created from light and darkness?

[@peterwindhorst5775]

"Tuath(a) Dé Danann" can be translated as "Tóthail Nathrach" (Descendants of the Snake, Descendants of the Dragon) They were Immortal beings created by a great serpent, the Green Dragon of Erin: Ireland Danu: Water from Heaven that can appear small or large through magic. They invaded Ireland’s energy field through Sliabh an Iarainn: Iron Mountain in County Leitrim.

[@LunDruid]

@@peterwindhorst5775 Source?

[@LunDruid]

@@eldorados_lost_searcher There might be newer stories like that, but afaik the oldest sources mention nothing of the sort.

[@fossilfighters101]

y'all have fin maccool, right?

[@auroraourania7161]

I can't believe how clueless I was on Chinese mythology considering my love of so many other mythologies, I really appreciate this being so accessible and approachable. My culture's creation story (going with the historical one, since the Christianity one isn't nearly as interesting, and I don't relate it all that much) includes some snakes in a few stories adapted from Greece, but they don't play a central role to my knowledge. I'm not sure how much Apollo's conflict with Python mattered in his Roman interpretation, considering that that was intrinsically linked to a location in Greece.

[@noclue4108]

Speak for yourself. Look into other interpretations of the Jewish creation myth as well as the context of the original myth. You could also apply Hegelian Dialects to it for another interesting reading.

[@Cunnilinguistics69]

The Norse creation myth is very similar to Pangu! The world was created when a giant died, with his various body parts becoming different parts of nature. As for snakes there is Jörmungardr, one of Loke’s children by the giantess Angrboda, which was thrown into the ocean and circled the edge of the world, and he has a part to play in the end of days, Ragnarök. And there’s a myth about how fishing nets came to be too! Loke had transformed into a fish and jumped in a pond in a last ditch escape attempt from the wrath of the other gods after confessing (during a rap battle he started at a party he crashed) to killing the god Balder. In order to catch fish Loke, one of the gods created a fishing net. And part of Loke’s punishment for the crime was to be chained to a rock with a giant serpent (snakes again!) dripping venom into his eyes until Ragnarök. And the first humans, Ask and Embla, were created by Oden out of the trees they’re named after. Ask and Embla, thankfully, were not siblings. Them being made out of trees sort of calls back to the world tree Yggdrasil - every one of the different “worlds” (ours being one of them) rest on its branches. There is a divine squirrel running up and down the world tree trunk called Ratatosk that carries messages between a dragon living at the bottom of the tree and an eagle living at the top. That part of the world myth doesn’t really explain anything about why the world is as it is or answer any existential questions, it’s just a delightful little squirrel that’s likely lived on in retellings because it’s every kid’s favourite part🐿

[@AbishaHealfdene]

I'm of Irish descent, but unfortunately, we don't have snakes in our creation stories because snakes aren't native to Ireland. Some people like to say Saint Patrick drew the serpents from Ireland, but that's supposed to just be a metaphor for him making Ireland Christian.

[@kotaniyumiko]

Your point about snakes is so interesting Xiran! South Asia where I am from has two very opposite views of the snake. They are revered in Hinduism, where they represent the cycle of death, rebirth and creation but in Islam snakes are seen more negatively probably due to the story of Adam and Eve's fall from heaven, where Satan (or Iblis as he is called in Islam) tricks the first humans in to eating the forbidden fruit disguised as a snake. You'll often see Hindu gods with snakes, Vishnu the preserver sleeps on Sheshnag the most poisonous snake, while Shiva the destroyer god has another serpent king Vasuki wrapped around his neck.

[@chewxieyang4677]

It certainly does not help that snakes are a considerable hazard in the deserts of Arabia. I even recall that one of the moments when it's okay to stop in the middle of your prayers in Islam, is to kill a snake in your vicinity.

[@kotaniyumiko]

@@chewxieyang4677 I wouldn't be surprised if that was a factor in Islam's view of snakes, all three of the Abrahamic religions originated in the Middle East where a lot of the land is hot, arid, desert. Islam considers itself a continuation of Jesus and Moses message.

[@meandkitty8387]

@Kotani Yumiko I think the reason why Islam sees snakes more negatively has more to do with zoroastrianism (the main religion in ancient iran), since Iblis bears a lot of similarities with Ahriman, who is the evil counterpart of Ahura Mazda -and who created snakes and has since been associated with them! Also Islam is not a continuation of Jesus and Moses message?? They're really not the most important figures at all

[@kotaniyumiko]

@@meandkitty8387 Jesus and Moses are considered prophets, messengers of God in Islam, they're even mentioned in the Quran as "Isah" and "Musa". The prophet Muhammed is considered to be last in the line of those messengers. The Abrahamic religion have a lot of influences from Zoroastrianism as well as other ancient myths from the Middle East, the channel here's a great video about it kzbin.info/www/bejne/kGSTi2iZhLdoeKM

[@manospondylus]

@@meandkitty8387 Jesus is considered the second-most important prophet in Islam and Moses is mentioned more often in the Quran than Jesus and Mohammed combined, making him the most named person in the scripture.

[@cherryjello777]

I'm working on learning Chinese so that I can learn more about the culture in the words of the people. I wish I could do this for every country, but I'll be occupied with Chinese history and info for the rest of my life since there's just so much to learn 🤠

[@BattyButtercup]

Nüwa! I first learnt my chinese mythology through watching my family play [Legend of Sword & Fairy] & asking them to translate for me. My favourite character was Zhao Ling'er, a magical girl who dual-wielded daggers and wore her hair in twin bun+tails style. Later in the story, it's revealed what KIND of fairy she is - a powerful witch with the lower body of a snake, descended from Nüwa herself! In the second half of the game, Ling'er wears [a santa claus-esque hooded cloak] and wields a double snake-headed staff to REALLY highlight her status as a powerful sorceress - her AOE lightning attacks were a particular favourite of mine. The game has multiple endings, being an RPG, but all of them involve a climactic flood that Ling'er alone can fend off. The game was adapted to the cdrama "Chinese Paladin", where Ling'er was played... by the actor who went on to be Disney's live-action Mulan. i grew up obsessed with the Chinese Paladin games & my VHS of Disney's Mulan: no one was more Shooketh when these two worlds collided, then again through Xiran Jay Zhao: if they ever do a video on CRPGs, SOFTSTAR's [Legend of Sword & Fairy] is where to start - it's considered to be one of if not THE first game of the genre, and now has 8+ sequels, an MMORPG, and at least 2 other cdramas to its name.

[@nathanwaters8586]

It is everywhere! I found your book at my little local bookstore in Australia!

[@Rowan-gt3ik]

I think that story about Panhu was used in Fuse: Memoirs of a Hunter Girl! It bears striking similarities to the myth and is used as an explanation for the birth of the Fuse.

[@AtrumDelorox]

I would love to see this video's story being told with OverlySarcasticProductions' art. They already do Journey to the West, so maybe? What a dream collab team

[@samminden1058]

One of the funniest stories I have found in my research was about how 17th-18th century European scholars, on first interacting with sources about Chinese history and mythology (usually through reading Jesuit writings about China) and immediately began to try to force Chinese mythology to fit into Christianity. One result was some linguists saying that Chinese was the sole surviving pre-babel language because apparently the people of China weren't involved in building the Tower of Babel? But more related to this, they kept trying to say various figures from Chinese folk religion and mythology were actually Biblical figures all along, for example that Fuxi was Enoch, Sage King Yao was Noah, and in particular Nuwa as Eve because one Prussian Classicist named Siegfried Bayer did some...questionable etymology in reading her name and concluded it meant "Woman who Reaches and is Punished" and therefore she was Eve, which is just hilariously absurd and wrong on so many levels. Others (including Gottfried Leibniz) tried to argue that Fuxi was Hermes Trismagestus, the syncretic fusion of Hermes and Thoth who was a key figure in Classical and Early Modern mysticism and alchemy, because both were associated with languages and symbols. The levels of mental gymanstics involved in all of this is quite frankly hilarious and concerning. For more info, I highly recommend Umberto Eco's The Search for the Perfect Language and David Porter's Ideographia: The Chinese Cipher in Early Modern Europe.

[@fossilfighters101]

interesting!

[@lkl1392]

At least they were willing to admit, Huangdi predates Abraham by almost a millennia

[@CptNemo-l3s]

That's hilarious! I'm guessing these were people before the 19th century? There are some crazy theories about various people around the world, but I think the Chinese have fascinated and sparked the imagination of Europeans for a long time.

[@samminden1058]

@@CptNemo-l3s A lot of these were 18th century, from the 19th century things became a lot more demeaning and racist (well more racist than they had been).

[@crowdemon_archives]

Lmao that's like trying to force a Japanese creation god lore into... Nordic creation myth?

[@AKWatchX]

I'm loving how much I'm learning watching your breakdowns. Kind of glad Mulan 2020 pissed you off lol. Now we get this awesome content. You're a gem my lady.

[@johnnywoodson4231]

Lots of people are talking about how Pangu's story is similar to other creation myths, but I'm genuinely stunned by Panhu (the dog)'s story because there are a LOT of later Japanese folklores with almost the EXACT premise (a dog killing an enemy for its ruler in exchange for the ruler's daughter).

[@alex-fs9yt]

floods 🤝 snakes: *being central to several different religions, mythologies and cultural origin stories*