Chinese Myths

Pangu seperates the Sky
from the Earth

- by Eiky

The Story of the River God

Once upon a time, there was a village. There, people made a living by catching fish. One day, they couldn’t catch any fish in the river. So the fishermen went to a fortune teller. The fortune teller told them about a river full of fish. But each of them could only go there and catch fish once every day. Since then, the fishermen went to the river and caught fish every day. The river god found out that there was less and less fish. And he was not happy with the fortune teller. So he turned himself into a human and went to the fortune teller. The river god asked the fortune teller if it would rain the next day. The fortune teller told him it would rain for six hours the next day. The river god wanted to pick on the fortune teller so he said if it didn’t rain the next day, he would come back to smash his stall. When the river god went back home, he received an order from the Jade Emperor (the head of all the gods). It said it would rain for six hours the next day. The river god was very surprised. The fortune teller was right about the rain. So the river god decided not to obey the order and let it rain for ten hours the next day. The river god went back to the fortune teller and said he would smash his stall. The fortune teller said he had known he was the river god. And he warned the river god that he would be punished for changing the order. The river god went to a god for help. He played chess with this god and fell asleep during the game. He dreamt that he was turned into a human. But when he woke up the god was gone. In fact the god he played chess with was the Jade Emperor. The river god learned his lesson. Even a god can’t tell lies.

Mazu the Sea Goddess
- by Lilly

Chinese Myths
about the Sky

Home Life in Space Myths about the Universe Helpful Technologie ISS & Programs

Chang-O

The Story of the Moon Goddess

chango

Once upon a time, there were ten sun-birds. They took turns to rise every day. In this way, there was only one sun in the sky. One day, they got bored and decided to go to work at the same time. From that day on, there were ten suns in the sky. It became very, very hot. People were dying. Houyi the archer was asked to help. He shot down nine suns and saved all the people. Houyi was rewarded with a magic pill that could make him immortal. He hid the pill and started to lead a very bad life. Houyi’s wife, Chang-O, thought her husband was no longer a kind ruler. She didn’t want him to be immortal. So she found the pill. She swallowed it and her body became very light. She was so light and started to float. She flew all the way to the moon. And she stayed in the cold palace on the moon forever and ever.

Hou Yi shot down nine of the suns.
- by Kitty

Yue-Laou

Taiwanese Love God

In the western culture, you have several love gods, such as “Venus” , “Cupid”, “Eros” and “Aphrodite”. In Taiwanese culture, we have Yue-Laou (the old man under the moon). He has a book of marriages and red cords. He uses red cords to tie husband’s and wife’s feet. So when the time has come, they will find each other. In his book of marriages, there are names of couples. The couples are destined to be together and nothing can separate them.

Here is a story about Yue-Laou. Once upon a time, there was a man named Wei-Gu. He met an old man reading a book in the moonlight. He asked the old man what he was doing. The old man told him he was reading the book of marriages. The next day, the old man took Wei-Gu to see his “wife”. She was a little girl in the arms of a blind woman. Wei-Gu didn’t believe it, and ordered his servant to kill the little girl. Fourteen years later, Wei-Gu married a young lady. On her forehead was a big scar. He asked her about the scar. His wife told him she was stabbed by a man fourteen years ago. Wei-Gu was shocked and came to believe in Yue-Laou.

The Story of Qingshui

Qingshui left his family when he was very little. He became a monk at a temple. He had lots of potentials and worked very hard. He followed the chief monk and learned a lot. And after his mentor died, he became the chief monk of the temple.

qingshui

Qingshui Chief Monk travelled from place to place, and helped the poor and the sick. People respected him and built shrines to worship him. Once he visited a town called Qingshee (meaning clear brook). It hadn’t rained for a long time. Quinshui prayed to God and it rained afterwards. Everyone in the town was very happy. So the town people built a temple for him. There were rocks and a spring around the temple. So they named the temple “Qingshui Rock” (meaning fresh water rock). And people called him Qingshui Chief Monk.

Every time when there was a disaster coming. The nose of the sculpture of Qingshui Chief Monk would drop in order to warn people, so he aslo known as Dropping-Nose Chief Monk. Once four people wanted to challenge Qinghsui Chief Monk. They locked him up in the temple and set fire. The temple was on fire for seven nights and seven days. On the morning of the eighth day, the fire was put out. Qingshui Chief Monk didn’t get hurt. Only his face turned black. So Qingshui Chief Monk was also known as Black Faced Chief Monk. He forgave those four people and recruited them as four generals to work for him.

Nu Wa patches up the Sky
- by Patty

CREDITS:
Emma (HS)
Lily (HS)
Kitty (HS)
Eiky (HS)
Patty ((HS)
Marta (ICSA)