Jin Jiaqin Li Zhihua: From the perspective of flood myth, what are the similarities and differences between China and the West?

The flood myth with the theme and background of "Great Flood" is one of the most widely spread and influential myth types in the world. Judging from the existing literature, the myth of flood appears in almost all the oldest human literature. China, Mesopotamia, Greece, India, Maya and other civilizations all have myths and stories related to floods, such as "Noah's Ark" in Genesis and the legend of water control in China. Mark Isaac recorded in Flood Stories Around the World that there are 18 1 countries and nations that spread flood myths, and there are more than 500 known flood legends in the world.

The universality of flood myth proves that all ethnic groups have the same values of exploring nature, thinking about themselves and perfecting themselves in their struggle with nature. At the same time, through the comparative study of specific stories of various flood myths, we can find different cultural characteristics and values of each nation. This provides a practical basis for exploring the origin and development of different national cultures.

The myth of flood is circulated all over the world.

1872, george smith, a researcher at the British Museum, read a flood story very similar to "Noah's Ark" in Genesis from a cuneiform tablet in Babylon. Before that, people had known that the flood myth was circulating in some ethnic groups and regions, but it was simply regarded as a variant of Noah's Ark story.

After this great discovery, people began to look for and record countless flood myth texts all over the world with great interest and clear purpose. However, although western scholars have done a lot of research on the flood myth in the world, they have done little research on the flood myth in China. From 65438 to 0898, the Frenchman Paul Weil described a flood myth of the Yi people in China. This is the earliest record of the flood myth of ethnic minorities in China by western scholars. James george frazer, a British scholar, extensively collected recorded government reports and oral descriptions of missionaries, and published the folklores in the Old Testament in 19 18. It records three volumes of flood story texts. However, the record of China's flood story in the book is blank. 1988, Allen Dundis compiled the international research achievements of 100 years into a collection of works, which not only included the classical studies of ancient flood myths in Hebrew, Babylonian, Indian and Greek places, but also made new achievements in the study of oral flood myths in America, Africa, Australia, Southeast Asia and Central Asia. China's flood myth is still absent from this masterpiece "Study on Flood Myth".

China people's own flood myth research started late. On the basis of summarizing the research results of flood myth, some scholars believe that "the research of flood myth in the 20th century has roughly experienced the embryonic period of the 20s, the initial prosperity period from the late 1930s to the 40s, the depression period from the 1950s to the mid-1970s, the recovery period from the late 1970s to the early 1980s, and the prosperity period from the late 1980s to the 1990s". In the 1920s, after Liang Qichao tried to find flood records from ancient books, China scholars began to make targeted research on flood myths. 1937, Rui Yifu recorded the flood story of the Miao nationality in the article "The Story of the Miao Nationality and the Legend of Fuxi Nuwa". Starting from the central content that "modern human beings are descendants inherited from the spouses of brothers and sisters who survived the flood", he further proved that "Fuxi Nuwa is a southern or eastern nation". During the period of 1942, Wen Yiduo quoted the flood myths of Miao, Yao and Yi nationalities in southwest China in detail in his myths and poems, and collected nearly 50 stories and folk information about floods and rebuilding human beings.

Generally speaking, China is a country rich in flood myths. As an ancient agricultural country, we have suffered floods and are threatened by floods from time to time. Therefore, there have been a lot of myths and legends about floods since ancient times, and even today they are widely circulated among some ethnic minorities in the vivid form of word of mouth. Some scholars point out that the flood myth is a compound myth, which consists of prototype flood myth, aquatic myth, gourd monster myth and brother-sister marriage myth. Gun Yu's flood control is a typical prototype flood myth.

In addition to the well-known story of Yu's flood control, there are several different subtypes of China's flood myth: Oracle Bone Inscriptions's strange omen subtype, Leigong's revenge subtype, Tiannv subtype, and brother and sister's land reclamation subtype. Various subtypes of flood myth reflect the different social life and cultural character of all ethnic groups, and record the cultural exchange and integration among all ethnic groups while embodying distinctive national characteristics. For example, there is a common motif at the end of these flood myths, that is, many nationalities come from the same ancestor, all born after the flood, or come out of the same gourd.

There are four story circles in the world.

The flood myth texts are widely distributed all over the world and all ethnic groups. The international flood myth texts generally include Mediterranean flood story circle, Indian flood story circle, Southeast Asian flood story circle, American Indian flood story circle and so on.

The Mediterranean flood story circle is the part that people first discovered and studied the most. The Mediterranean flood story circle is dominated by the flood stories of Hebrew, Greece, Babylon and Mesopotamia, and is often called the western flood myth. In western works on flood myth, the usual academic term is "world destruction and eschatological myth". The typical western flood myth consists of two parts: flood extinction and human regeneration. For example, in Noah's Ark, the evil deeds of human beings and ungodly angered the creator Jehovah. The Lord wanted to destroy the world, so he launched a devastating flood, destroying everything on the earth, leaving only Noah's family, and husband and wife combined to breed human beings. For another example, in the Greek flood myth, King lycaon angered Zeus, and Zeus sent down heavy rain, which flooded everything on the ground. After the flood, only deucalion and his wife were left. The couple recreated human beings by throwing stones. In a word, the basic logic of western flood stories is "human sin-flood punishment-human regeneration".

The flood myth in India was formed around 10 century BC, and it was first seen in Brahms. At present, the known flood stories in ancient India are, on the one hand, ancient documents with the theme of Manu's creation, and on the other hand, oral legends of some non-Hindu tribes. The story of Manu's creation tells the general meaning that Manu saved a fish and raised it. When the flood came, the big fish pulled Manu to the north mountain. After Manu landed, she and the woman had children together. Some people think that the Indian flood myth does not happen independently, but is the product of the prototype of the flood story in West Asia in Indian culture. This kind of cultural communication is not copied, and the core content of Indian culture-the theme of karma has made an important transformation to the prototype. This theme was directly inherited by later Buddhist thoughts, and was introduced into China, East Asia and Southeast Asia through Buddhism.

Flood stories widely exist in Southeast Asian countries. People have found many "different languages" in the Philippines, Malaysia, Myanmar, Vietnam and Thailand. The story of the Ifugao people in the Philippines tells that one year there was a drought, and people dug under the river bed to find the spirit of the river. As a result, they angered the river god and launched a flood. Everyone drowned, except one brother and sister. In 1930s, Rui Yifu put forward the concept of "Southeast Asian Cultural Zone", which consists of three cultural elements: bronze drum, lusheng and flood myth.

In the western hemisphere, flood stories abound. Western anthropologists have made a detailed investigation and study on the well-preserved primitive cultural forms of indigenous Indians, and found that there are also a large number of flood stories among the indigenous people in North and South America. In addition, many flood stories have been found in other continents. Some scholars have found that some sub-types of stories in a region are very similar to those of some ethnic groups in southwest China. For example, there is a flood story in Wamans, New Guinea, Oceania. The main idea is that one day, a big fish swam into the harbor. A good man told his children not to prey on the fish and advised others not to eat it. But everyone wouldn't listen and divided the fish. Good people drive all kinds of animals to trees and climb coconut trees with their families. After the flood receded, the kind family came down from the tree to rebuild their home. This story is exactly the same as the story in China's ancient books that people in Chao Gu county ate giant fish, which led to the groundwater sinking the city into the lake.

"Flood" and "regeneration" are closely related.

As a matter of fact, China culture can be found everywhere in East myths such as Southeast Asian myths and Japanese myths.

Since ancient times, the Chinese nation has established close ethnic relations with many ethnic groups in Southeast Asia. Through ethnic migration, cultural exchange and religious communication, China's ancient myths and legends, as well as religious myths and legends and folk myths and legends formed in later generations, have exerted great influence on the myths and legends in Southeast Asia. The myth of "brother and sister marriage" shared by China and Southeast Asia is not only identical in motif and story, but also strikingly similar in details such as "gourd worship". It can be seen that the flood myth in China and the flood myth in Southeast Asia have a long-standing "blood relationship".

According to Fu Guangyu's Yunnan Ethnic Literature and Southeast Asia, Yunnan and Southeast Asia are connected by mountains and rivers, and there is a "Yunnan-Southeast Asia" flood myth chain. Some myths in Southeast Asian countries even directly describe their northern mountainous areas and Yunnan as a whole, which embodies the cultural phenomena of the same origin and different flows, factor transplantation, multi-integration and * * * co-creation.

China and Japan, separated only by a strip of water, have had contacts since ancient times. Japanese culture is deeply influenced by China culture, and its flood myth story is similar to that of China. There are signs that the China flood myth is the origin of the Japanese flood myth. For example, some scholars analyzed the Japanese myth of national birth, and investigated and analyzed the flood myth of ethnic minorities in southern China, especially the Dong nationality. The results show that there are striking similarities between them.

"Dayu Harnessing Water" is the most famous flood myth in China, which originated in wuyue and spread to the Central Plains. Dayu was regarded as the "land king" and sacrificed by the people, commonly known as "Yu Festival". There is a similar myth in Japan. The hero is called "the mother of the earth god", commonly known as "mud sacrifice". Some scholars pointed out that "Yu Sacrifice" was born out of "Yu Sacrifice" and "Mother Earth's Water Control" originated from "Dayu's Water Control".

In fact, the flood myth in China is similar to that in the West. In particular, "the world was destroyed by floods" and "human regeneration" are eternal themes. Of course, the legends of different nationalities also have their own characteristics in plot and specific content. In the flood myths of Babylon, Hebrew, Greece and India, people used people to build ships to avoid floods; Among several representative flood myth types of ethnic minorities in China, the tools to avoid water are natural objects such as gourds and cowhide, or the protection of gods (stone turtles and stone lions).

Why is the myth of flood closely related to the myth of rebirth? The reason is simple: after the flood destroyed the world, the natural course of human beings became the primary problem. Wen Yiduo pointed out in Fuxi Kao that the detailed title of flood myth should be "the story of flood making people". "Making man" here refers to the regeneration and reconstruction of man. From this perspective, the flood myth answers the question of where people come from and is a new understanding of the relationship between people and society.

Reflects three differences between Chinese and western cultures.

Due to the differences in geographical environment, mode of production, national character and way of thinking, Chinese and western flood myths also reflect different cultural characteristics. From the perspective of comparative mythology, Liang Qichao compared the flood records in China's ancient books with the flood myths in Genesis, India, Greece, Northern Europe and the South Pacific Islands, and pointed out that the flood myths in China have their own national characteristics, such as the religious concept that there is no god punishment, and Nu Wa, * * * Gong, Kun Yu, etc. do not give in to nature, showing that they are "always willing to fight with their strength".

Specifically, the cultural differences between Chinese and western flood myths are as follows:

The first is the national psychological difference between "governance" and "avoidance".

Fan Wenlan said: "Many ancient peoples said that there was a flood in ancient times, which was an irresistible natural disaster;" Huangyan myth says that the flood was leveled by it. This great spirit that man can conquer nature and man can conquer nature is the true meaning of Yu Hong's myth. "

Furthermore, according to the cultural and psychological division of human beings in the face of flood disasters, flood myths can be divided into two categories: flood myths with "governance" as the core and flood myths with "avoidance" as the core. In the face of the disaster of the great flood, the flood myths abroad are basically based on the view of avoiding escape and saving lives. China's flood myth takes the attitude of "governance" and always emphasizes the theme of water control.

In many myths that hold the view of "avoidance", the main reason for the flood is that God wants to punish mankind. In the basic plot, Hebrew mythology is very close to Sumerian and Babylonian mythology, but the names of the God who initiated the flood and the savior are different. If the reasons for the floods caused by geographical proximity in the above areas are similar, then the myth that the Indians on the northwest coast of the Pacific Ocean in America angered the gods and the fishermen on Rayatya Island in Oceania angered the sea gods and led to the floods better explained the universality of the causes of the floods.

Although China's flood myth is scattered and incoherent, many records do not particularly emphasize that the flood is God's punishment, nor do they explain that the cause of the flood is to destroy or test mankind. In our ancient legend, the flood is only a natural disaster, which has nothing to do with divine power, at least human beings have no original sin.

In the western flood myth, people usually have to wait passively for the help of the gods in the face of floods. Before the gods, human beings are small, unable to resist God's punishment, and completely in a passive position. In the face of the flood, instead of actively fighting, we can only rely on the Oracle to avoid disaster.

China's flood myth mainly expounds that human beings should adopt the method of "treating" natural disasters. Yu inherited his father's legacy and adopted a sparse method. Despite all the hardships, he stayed out of it several times and finally managed to control water for more than ten years.

China's flood myth highlights the spirit of active struggle, from which we can see the dauntless spirit of ancient working people in order to overcome disasters.

The second is the difference between "deism" and "humanism".

In the flood myth in the west, all who survived were "good people" blessed by God. However, from the humanitarian point of view, Noah in Hebrew mythology obeyed God, had no objection to the disasters caused by God to mankind, and actively defended God's actions. In Noah's Ark, there is a contractual relationship between man and God, and man must absolutely obey God's arrangement and act according to God's will.

China people's attitude towards flood is a unique "governance" attitude. After the disaster, immortals from all walks of life sent by Nvwa 、 Fuxi and Tiandi came down to help Dayu control water. This is completely different from the nature of the western flood myth. The Chinese nation has long formed a world view of the trinity of heaven, earth and man, emphasizing that the universe is the carrier of the life movement of all things, and that all things in the universe are closely related, blend with each other and live in harmony, so man and god are consistent and integrated. Therefore, in the face of catastrophe, the flood myth in China often appears the scene of people and gods co-managing floods.

Of course, the Emperor of Heaven also punished the herring who stole the fertile field, but the reason was not to prohibit using the fertile field to control water, but to prohibit stealing. After the gun died, I was born. The Emperor of Heaven also ordered Jade to come down to earth with the remaining soil and distribute it to control the flood in Kyushu. From the content, the god in China's flood myth is a mythical reflection of the view that "the monarch is people-oriented".

The gods tried their best to control floods with the world, which embodied the "Great Wall Spirit" of the Chinese nation and emphasized the collective role. Although Yu has made great contributions, without the help of many immortals and figures, I am afraid it is difficult to complete the great cause of water control.

The third is the difference between "oriental civilization" and "western civilization".

China is located in East Asia, with a temperate monsoon climate, and its precipitation and temperature values are suitable for agricultural development. From north to south, the Yellow River system, the Yangtze River system and the Pearl River system provide water sources for ancestors who have lived in this fertile land for generations, so that they can live a stable and quiet life as a whole. In this traditional civilization dominated by farming, human beings are used to transforming the natural ecological environment with their own abilities.

Ancient Greece, one of the sources of western civilization, is located on the Aegean coast, surrounded by the sea on three sides, and belongs to a typical Mediterranean climate. The hot climate and barren land are not conducive to agricultural development. Because of the convenient maritime traffic, they have developed the thinking of advocating mobility, adventure and innovation. Another source of western civilization, Hebrew, is a typical nomadic civilization. Their initial life field was the two river basins, which were close to rivers and suffered more floods. The myth of Noah's Ark inherited the Sumerian-Babylonian flood myth. Its background is the repeated floods in the two river basins.

Due to the harsh living environment and social unrest, believing in God has become the spiritual pillar of the suffering Jewish nation. God saved Noah's family, kept the righteous alive, and gave the Jews great psychological comfort and spiritual strength. Let them believe that as long as they convert to God, they can get happiness. This profoundly shows the western ethics.

In a word, the western flood myth is mainly based on deism, while China's flood myth is more based on humanism. The former emphasizes the strength of divinity, while the latter pays more attention to the greatness of human nature. In China's mythology, God helped mankind to resist disasters by himself, which reflected the equal and harmonious relationship between man and God. God in China's mythology is not supreme, and may even make mistakes, just like * * *. In the traditional culture of China, the relationship between people has always been the object of people's attention.

Source: Jiefang Daily; Authors: Jin Jiaqin and Li Zhihua.