Mythical Mountains: Crash Course World Mythology #33

Our mythical places series continues, and this week Mike Rugnetta is talking about some stories that revolve around mountains. Mountains loom large in human stories, not least because mountains are, well, large. So ascend with us to the lofty peaks of The Ten Thousand Treasure Mountain in China, and Mount Fuji in Japan.
Crash Course is made with Adobe Creative Cloud. Get a free trial here: www.adobe.com/creativecloud.html
Crash Course is on Patreon! You can support us directly by signing up at / crashcourse
Thanks to the following Patrons for their generous monthly contributions that help keep Crash Course free for everyone forever:
Mark Brouwer, Divonne Holmes à Court, Brian Thomas Gossett, Khaled El Shalakany, Indika Siriwardena, Robert Kunz, SR Foxley, Sam Ferguson, Yasenia Cruz, Daniel Baulig, Eric Koslow, Caleb Weeks, Tim Curwick, Jessica Wode, Cami Wilson, Eric Prestemon, Evren Türkmenoğlu, Alexander Tamas, Justin Zingsheim, D.A. Noe, Shawn Arnold, Tom Trval, mark austin, Ruth Perez, Malcolm Callis, Kathrin Janßen, Ken Penttinen, Advait Shinde, Cody Carpenter, Annamaria Herrera, Nathan Taylor, William McGraw, Bader AlGhamdi, Vaso, Melissa Briski, Joey Quek, Andrei Krishkevich, Rachel Bright, Alex S, Mayumi Maeda, Kathy & Tim Philip, Montather, Jirat, Eric Kitchen, Moritz Schmidt, Ian Dundore, Chris Peters, Sandra Aft, Jason A Saslow, Steve Marshall
--
Want to find Crash Course elsewhere on the internet?
Facebook - / youtubecrashcourse
Twitter - / thecrashcourse
Tumblr - / thecrashcourse
Support Crash Course on Patreon: / crashcourse
CC Kids: / crashcoursekids

[@kennymartin5976]

The idea of mountains beating each other senseless with sticks is hilarious!!

[@atheistickhan7216]

Kenny Martin I think that must be a pretty big stick . But yeah funny.

[@GnarledStaff]

Until you realize they are way bigger than you...

[@DeMarrJames]

I love John Green.. But this guy has a great story voice.

[@whiteflagstoo]

The ten thousand treasure mountain is such a pleasant story. I am quite happy having heard it here first.

[@kimone6831]

'Thinky face... emoji.' - Mike Rugnetta.

[@leelicayan2180]

I just had to stop and comment because of that too

[@AbhijayPaul]

🤔

[@frzferdinand72]

Fellas??

[@timothymclean]

Fun fact about Ten Thousand Treasure Mountain: "Ten thousand" in Chinese is a number that gets used to represent arbitrarily large numbers or everything (much like how the Bible uses forty [whatever] to denote a long period of time). So it's essentially the mountain with all the treasure. (For fans of Avatar the Last Airbender: This means Wan Shi Tong metaphorically claims omniscience.)

[@frankhuang4767]

I am Chinese and we use “ten thousand” as a mathematical unit, like “thousand”.

[@mraj8372]

Mike your videos, your voice, this series calms my anxiety down so much you have no idea. Love it, thank you! please keep creating more amazing content. Also shout out to John Green doing history

[@ReligionForBreakfast]

Woot, I love Shintoism. Such a fascinating religion. Glad to see some discussion on the cultural context.

[@Xagzan]

Ko-Li and the 10,000 Treasure Mountain I smell the next Uncharted game

[@QUARTERMASTEREMI6]

@Xagzan Yes, I do!

[@akrybion]

It's nice to see some nice myths with happy endings for a change.

[@yaldabaoth2]

All you americans asking about corn: It can mean maize, yes, but it is also used as a more general term for ALL cereal crops. Oats, millet, wheat, barley etc.

[@culwin]

For all you non-Americans asking about corn, it's been answered 50 times already.

[@Suite_annamite]

Sadly though, it's not only Americans making these redundant comments, *but also non-Americans who had been brainwashed by American English and American-centric assumptions.*

[@thepieguy7277]

Although I will say it was rather confusing that they used maize as the visual in this

[@unclejoeoakland]

@@Suite_annamite look. It's not our fault that we outnumber the british by about 4 to 1. It's also not our fault that all of these terms are in reference to what is basically cultivated freakish grass.

[@doomstadt2371]

Please don't lump all the fools under some American banner. I'm American and I knew wtf they were talking about without explanation. The middle of the country drags our average down, I know, but we can be pretty clever near the coasts.

[@maria-lz3he]

The myth of the mt fuji goddess is so cute!

[@haperawehiwehi8661]

in maori mythology, the four peaks at the centre of the north island (Tongariro, Ngauruhoe, Ruapehu, and Taranaki), originally lived in harmony and peace. that is until a fair, beautiful mountain called Pihanga arrived from the north.The mountains all immediately fell for her, and a war broke out, where every mountain fought for the right to sleep next to Pihanga. In the end, Ngauruhoe won, and the mountains split up, with Ngauruhoe being able to cuddle up next to Pihanga, Tongariro to the immediate south of him, then at the furthest point south, stood Ruapehu. Taranaki, who truly loved Pihanga, chose to flee as far as he could from the mountains he once called brothers. He eventually came to rest at the far west coast of the north island, and his journey was marked by a series of deep valleys and rivers. In his shame, he cloaked himself in cloud, and chose never to look upon his brothers or Pihanga ever again.

[@ThoughtSpin]

Illustrating "corn" with maize is a bit misleading as maize originates in America and was not known to the ancient Chinese. This seems like the result of a typical confusion of the different meaning of "corn" in British and American English.

[@cOmAtOrAn]

Yeah, thought cafe done goofed. Oh well.

[@son0of0the0beast]

Is it different between Canadian English and British English?

[@ThoughtSpin]

According to wiktionary, USA, Canada, and Australia use corn to refer exclusively to maize, while in British English it refers to the main cereal of a given region.

[@wormswithteeth]

Two lovely stories.

[@AFreakingAxeCH]

Look, nobody gets weirded out by a boy getting in love with a mountain. Everybody is questioning whether there is really corn or not in ancient China.

[@jackgude3969]

4:17 - I been there bro. Stay strong

[@MegaChickenfish]

1:30 And you can't forget the legend of the Super Solver and the Treasure Mountain. That was one of my favorites as a kid.

[@utkarshed]

There's a Hindu myth from the Ramayana where Hanuman needed to bring a medicinal herb called the Sanjeevani Booti from a mountain. He flew over, but couldn't figure out which one was the Sanjeevani. So he lifted the entire mountain and flew it back to Lanka.

[@SoxyPoxy]

Utkarsh Bansal this is the version I have heard. My grandpa told me so! Man I loved his stories!!

[@caridadchang7895]

seems reasonable

[@lockyourdoors5886]

So... can't find the plant? Take the whole mountain Also, booti

[@avimohan6738]

+ Wong Ian: Good one.

[@otomackena7610]

so you've never heard of stories Mount Meru, mount Kailash sacred to Hindus,Bhuddist and Jains?

[@ssppeellll]

The story about water from Fujisan (Mount Fuji) has a practical connection to the non-mythical world. The water that flows from Fuji, percolating downhill for many miles (and years) through permeable layers in the ground, when it finally surfaces, provides some of the most delicious water in Japan.

[@greatdslayarr]

This sounds quite similar to a Georgian myth that I heard. Instead of an old man, there's a magic raven king, who offers a poor farmer help after he feeds him and his raven guests if the farmer came to his kingdom. The farmer went to the raven king's domain several times, retrieved several magical items, but then the local lord takes away what the farmer was given by the raven king. At the end, the raven king gives the farmer a chest, and says to keep it in his house. When the lord comes to take away what's inside the chest, he opens it to find an enchanted bat that starts beating him. The king returns all of the farmer's magical item and he lives happily ever after

[@eight-cloudspurple5871]

It is said that if you wander the deep forest of Yatsugatake mountain ranges at night, or finding that one abandonded ancient shrine deep within the region, there is a ever so small chance that you will be able to see the original Yatsugatake before it was smashed by Fuji...

[@Infantry12345]

That thinky face emoji line was well delivered. Good job Mike!

[@santiago24601]

*magical grindr

[@garykearney416]

well, gay wizards need to hook up somehow

[@13gudadod]

I only noticed that now i-

[@13gudadod]

😂

[@DuranmanX]

“Seize the hoe” I thought this was supposed to be family-friendly?

[@idodo32]

Damnit you beat me to it XD

[@idodo32]

Insert "thats the joke" clip here

[@Healermain15]

That's what happens when Emperor's try to firmly seize the means of production.

[@mrpiggy4903]

Adrian Duran I

[@EdmundSetsu]

...To be frank as a Chinese, I haven't heard the K'o-Li myth until now

[@waffle2434]

*Minor Correction/Clarification:* 6:40 Shintoism itself is not the pre-animistic religion that existed before Heian Era Japan (6th century), but a combination of these animistic elements mixed with Buddhist ideas that were imported during this period. So while yes many of the traditions within Shintoism have their roots in the practices of this animistic religion, it is not that religion. This early religion does not have an official English name, since it was completely absorbed by Shintoism, in fact, in some books this "pre-Shintoism" is just portrayed as an earlier version of Shintoism itself, but this idea completely minimizes the enormous influence Chinese culture and ideas had on Japanese ideas and concepts during the Heian period. . This influence is seen throughout many things that are considered Japanese, like the entire Japanese written language which is a direct result of Chinese influence on Japan, with Kanji being a direct importation of the Chinese writing system, with Hiragana and Katakana being simplified versions of those characters which were made by Buddhist monks, another thing imported from China. I bring this up just to illustrate the complex relationship between Chinese and Japanese culture during this period, showing how many aspects of Japanese culture were completely defined or reimagined during this period. . I understand why Crash Course cut this explanation from the video because if not done fully it may imply to viewers who are unfamiliar with this topic that this pre-existing animistic religion was somehow primitive compared to Shintoism, which is simply not the case, it was just a different religion that was then absorbed by Shintoism, a similar thing happened in India when Buddhism was absorbed into Hinduism. So I am not mad with Crash Course, I just wanted to give this explanation here in case some of you are interested.

[@mustbeaweful2504]

Those were some cool stories. Thanks for sharing them.

[@ashanti1438]

I love these videos.

[@annikboyer3395]

great video! Love it! Can't wait for the next one!

[@sylviahouston7536]

I love all of these videos.

[@LilyHandmaiden]

I'd really love a list of all your sources when this series is over. Every time you tell a story, I think, "I want to read that!"

[@typemasters2871]

I can imagine mt Everest coming across the two arguing mountains and go "pfh, now sweet, they think they're tall"

[@manospondylus4896]

Type Masters *Olympus Mons laughing in the distance*

[@marcopohl4875]

Dissapointed Turtle- the HUGE distance

[@ufukyilmaznet]

I kept getting distracted by the fact that the grinder was used upside down :) The round, ball-y part is the handle and should face upwards :) Love CC and Rugnetta's narration!

[@theokchannel2081]

Everything gets anthropomorphized on the internet

[@Armendicus]

And Ruled 34-ed.

[@wardogs667]

let's keep the train rolling then!!!

[@asielsmith6007]

*in humanity, mythology, Cartoons, Pixar (lol) etc... Humans tend to anthropomorphize in general.

[@user-fl1fn5gr6k]

do one on mythological forests(!!)

[@kennymartin5976]

brudermüll /// given that hint at the end, I think he just might do so.

[@genesischaparro8954]

Yay myths about forests! I'm trying to write a story center on a forest so next one will be useful!

[@morganjackson8993]

Are you going to do a crash course mythology on the Irish myths... Such as the tain, the battles of moytura, tir na nog, the story of the fishing brothers or even of stringy Jack

[@trying-to-learn]

I can't help but feel that Tolkein's mythology would have been relevant here : p

[@TreeHairedGingerAle]

I'm enjoying this series so much! n_n

[@operationgoddess]

Lol! Thinky emoji! How cute! I love these! Thank you so much for so much fun learning and info!

[@GKS225]

I've never heard any stories or legend about the Ten Thousand Treasure Mountain nor can I search any source material on Google. Where did this story came from?

[@Onychoprion27]

On the topic of mountains, I'd love to see you do an episode on the Multnomah Tribe's origin for the local volcanoes Wy'east, Pahto, and Loowit.

[@SilentTrip]

Wish you guys talked to my professor before making this video, he made a very extensive research about mountains, their myths from so many countries (Middle East, Africa, Asia) and their significance. I could link you to his Facebook if you want to make another video about mountains :)

[@YourAverageJoe1000]

Idea for an episode that could overlap with Crash Course Big History: how ancient oral storytelling traditions sometimes overlap with huge geologic events. The Great Flood stories of course come to mind, but another one that comes to mind is the story of Skell and Llao from the Klamath Indians, who witnessed the formation of Crater Lake after the Eruption of Mount Mazama. The formation of the lake is thought to be the basis for the legend.

[@KenPapara]

So cool!

[@SorenK0]

Love this show!

[@michalvosyka9897]

Some myths are even hard to imagine, a mountain that destroys another mountain´s peak with a stick or stone grinder producing corn. How did people imagine such things?

[@yaldabaoth2]

Drugs. Inhaling "holy" smoke has a long history in all cultures around the world.

[@manospondylus4896]

Michal Vosyka Nobody can imagine this kind of stuff. It must've happened for real.

[@Wallyworld30]

That would be one hell of a stick to reach from mountain to mountain.

[@popcorn_consumer]

Gloriously bad puns. Man, I love this series. ❤

[@camiloiribarren1450]

I love the thinking face... emoji🤔. Keep the myths coming

[@Catski0]

Hi, considering how vast China is & how many notable mountains there are, could you mention roughly which part this myth/mountain is from please? Seriously have never heard of it & can't even think of anything that broadly matches...

[@tristanroberts]

The Ten-Thousand-Treasure-Mountain reminds me of the Sampo from Finnish myth (best known from the Kalevala). its description varies a fair bit but in the Kalevala and later sources it's usually described as a mill that produces flour, salt, and gold without raw material. It's thought to have originally been a world pillar. Could be a relevant/interesting example for a future episode.

[@lougert]

Did anyone else spot a little similarity to the story in Holes, where the young man carries the old person up the mountain for a mystical boon?

[@PlushLordOfTheSeas]

that stick attack was great

[@wormswithteeth]

Would love to see a video on Warner's Ring Cycle and it's use of mythology I'm it's variety. Your thoughts on your music would also be ace! 👌

[@rkpetry]

...Gilgamesh walked 12 hours in the dark of the lips/rift in the Persian range east of Edin... ...Enoch, Horus, was taken up the same mountain, on a white horse in whirlwind and hail- and there taught the sons of Enosh Anu Ilu 'god', And witnessed a mountain top shaking... ...Daniel too visited Shushan up the Persian mountain range and had some visions there...

[@Kayclau]

In Mapuche myths , volcanoes are prisons for Pillan (a kind of god) and the lava pouring out are their arms, fighting to get out. Ngen-winkul are the guardian spirits of mountains and volcanoes and they are the ones in charge of protect their inhabitants. There's also that story about the time Peri-Pillan wanted the most beautiful woman of a village and she throw herself into the volcano because no one was willing to do it and they were all going to die otherwise.

[@geoffreywinn4031]

Educational!

[@wardogs667]

we anthropomorphize everything!! and it may very well be a good thing, let's not stop.

[@melissalai8173]

I really have to give props to thought cafe for the beautiful thumbnail!

[@thomasslopnick7647]

Surely the corn would be millet, not maize.

[@Wolfsgeist]

Millet or wheat, yes, but surely nor maize. Didn't we have an episode about the Columbian exchange guys? ^^

[@bobemmerson1580]

Corn in British English is merely the chief cereal crop of a district, in England wheat or in Scotland oats. In North American English it is used as another term for maize

[@Wolfsgeist]

And in German, 'Korn' can mean grain, corn or kernel, but never maize (at least on it's own), very confusing ^^

[@Larweigan]

Same in Swedish!

[@culwin]

Maybe it was the band Korn

[@davidgusquiloor2665]

Why did the king starve? Couldn't he use some of the magical tools in the mountain to create water and food?

[@matsujonen]

David Gusqui Loor it was shown that only those who are hard working and honest could use the treasures. So the king more than likely died

[@MultiBylla]

i have a question. I thought that corn was native from america but it is present in that myth from China. Am i wrong about the origin of corn or what?

[@bobemmerson1580]

Corn noun mass noun British: The chief cereal crop of a district, especially (in England) wheat or (in Scotland) oats. ‘fields of corn’ North American: another term for maize

[@MultiBylla]

Bob Emmerson , It was a leanguage problem then.Thank you for the explanation. (I'm not a native english speaker)

[@Nilguiri]

8:30 He looks like Shin from "Life Where I'm From".

[@sonlam1047]

Vietnam has a similar "golden treasure " place in mythology, except it's actually and island.

[@onaughto]

You had me at Excelsior.

[@sanaaelmajid8421]

i lovveeeeeeee this cours

[@sararobinson4106]

you should write a book on mythology i would really be interested in reading it or maybe suggesting some book we could read or textbooks

[@Tsukiko.97]

The graphics on the thumbnail are beautiful.

[@legarconelegant]

In Puerto Rico there's a sacred mountain (not the tallest) where the natives said the god Yucayu lives and from where he fought the god of destruction, Yurakan.

[@Ins4n1ty_]

the story about ko li sounds a lot like a folktale from japan... nice

[@punlovincriminal5564]

I wish I had a magic weed grinder.

[@andrewmurphy2109]

Top shelf puns

[@deedadee2]

I'm very surprised at the complete lack of mention of Mount Sinai

[@patrickbuckley7259]

Well they do often bring up Judeo-Christian stuff, they simply chose not to on this, likely do to it correlating more with other mythical tropes they will want to explore later. Or they just plain forgot.

[@daphnamelnick5971]

Surprised as well

[@raminhafezi472]

Mt. Damavand in Iran. In Persian mythology it's a magical mountain where the demon King Zahak was imprisoned. Zahak had snakes growing out of his shoulders that ate human brains.

[@jonathanirvine2147]

Can you guys do one on tree worship? Is tree or plant worship a thing?

[@alextulandi]

I like this mythical stuff, it's feels real

[@nBasedAce]

I'm gonna act like a leaf and change colors!

[@BlackRose-px2iw]

They should have featured Mount Olympus and Mount Sinai.

[@ThomasAllen90]

Needed to end on a cliffhanger.

[@ilikebreathingtoo]

Would appreciate some love for Macchu Picchu, but nonetheless, great content and insights!

[@MultivectorAnalysis]

@7:02...Is that the "no roughhousing" mountain from Adventure Time?

[@rkpetry]

...there's an ancient Japanese saying that, he-who never climbed Mt. Fuji in his lifetime was a fool and he who climbed Mt. Fuji twice was a fool...

[@cherrychan7847]

how come I've never heard this ten thousand treasure mountains myth before. Anyone enlightens me?

[@dylantennant6594]

I kinda wish they talked about Kaguya for Mt Fuji. Speaking of which do Kaguya for an episode.

[@friggy1899]

What about Popo and Ixy from Aztec mythology?

[@rebekahcastro5430]

Remi Wesnofske I was thinking the same thing! What about Popocateptl and Ixtalcihuatl?

[@simbaonsteroids8836]

Remi Wesnofske the first rule of mr popo’s training. Don’t talk about mr. Popo’s trainingz

[@marcopohl4875]

how 'bout Quetzaquatel and his brother? also: pecking order!

[@travelsworld7920]

Well said historical.

[@KomodoDojo]

Please more mountain myths

[@kanejung7180]

The tale of 10000 treasure mountain is not a "Chinese" Chinese folklore, it actually belongs to the Yao people, an ethnical minority now lives in the southwestern part of PRC who speaks an entirely different language. Also in the original myth (at least the version I was told by a 60-years-old local man several years ago) it was indeed about corn. Maize was brought to that part of the world not earlier than 400 years ago, not very long but still long enough for the locals to write a story about it.

[@GKS225]

So it's an oral lore? because I can't find it any where else from the internet

[@kanejung7180]

well if you look hard enough you'll find on the internet some 20th-century academic books on Miao-Yao people and their traditions, which did mentioned this particular kind of 'archetype' myth being popular among the locals, but apart from that there's not much you could find.

[@GKS225]

Thanks, would you mind providing the link to it?

[@sapphirewingthefurrycritic985]

How does a mountain hold a stick or get one that big? Or should I not question it since its a story?

[@m00rtin4]

CABRAKEN-Destroyer of Mountains!

[@CSHallo]

Crash Course Mythology is improved with all of the Dad Jokes!

[@Sephirajo]

The corn HAS to be a recent addition to the Chinese myth, would it have been wheat or turnips originally?

[@_serkancetinkaya]

There is a whole episode on mountains and no mention to Mt. Ararat or Tengri Mountains whatsoever. And I expected a "Open Sesame!" joke when that king was locked up in the mountain.

[@noninobatana2245]

I have never been so early !

[@SuviTuuliAllan]

Excelsior! But what about K'un-Lun?

[@immilsap]

I feel like the book Holes was inspired by a lot of these.

[@tanyarodriguez9899]

Just FYI: Episodes #28-33 are not associated with the World Mythology playlist... You may wish to add them!

[@booktendersclub1110]

No mention of Slap Mountain? It is a dislappoinment.

[@machetedonttweet1343]

@ Crash Course OK not to nit pick but it is my understanding that corn was introduced to Asia in the 1500s. Just how old is this story or where you taking liberties ,or was I mistaken?