East Vs West The Truth Behind Their Myths

Interview by Simon Edward Smith Translation by Madeline Weng Photos by Haolun Zhang

1. Bronze gilding lioness in front of Qianqing Gate, the Forbidden City. The lioness caresses a lionet. Her hair has 13 curves, which shows supremacy and is a symbol exclusive to the imperial palace.故宮乾清門前的鎏金銅雌獅爪下躺著一小獅，表示親昵與母愛。獅頭上有鬃卷，13卷為至尊，為皇宮專用。2. Bronze feng bird in front of the Hall of Benevolence and Longevity, Summer Palace頤和園仁壽殿鳳雕3. Monkey King

NIHAO: How aware is the west of Chinese mythical creatures?

S: Western scholars have long been interested in Chinese mythical creatures from a variety of viewpoints, especially those involved with the study of Chinese literature, folklore, religion, art, and archaeology. Serious research dates mostly from the 19th century onwards. The first dictionary of Chinese mythology - by an English professor - was published in the 1920s, and many more books and articles have been produced since.

However, I doubt it if the general public know of many Chinese mythical creatures apart from dragons, which usually appeared as a Chinese national symbol from decorative images on imported products and Chinese restaurants in the west. Another, perhaps, is the mythical creature Monkey King (Sun Wukong), who was first introduced to the west through an English translation of the Ming Dynasty novel Journey to the West and has recently been reintroduced through some films that have been shown abroad.

Also, the knowledge of Chinese mythical animals encounters misinterpretation and misrepresentation in the west. For instance, in English, the “feng”bird is widely mistranslated as “phoenix”, and the “foo” dog is actually based on a lion. Among a more educated reading public, academics, art collectors, and those who live in cities with Chinese populations, there is doubtless more awareness, but the degree of knowledge would be based on the kind of contact they have had with these images in each case.

NIHAO: What are the main differences

between western and Chinese mythology?

S: There are hundreds of Chinese mythical creatures, so many that encyclopaedic books like the ancient Guideways Through Mountains and Seas from 4th cent. BCE – 1st cent. CE werecompiled to identify them.

I would say that in China, mythical creatures played an important role in local culture, religious worship (Daoism, Buddhism, and local cults), literature, opera, visual art, and were also used for political purposes by the imperial government.

However, in the west, mythical creatures especially those from ancient Greece and Rome, were relegated to local folklore, subjects for artistic creativity, or used as symbolic and allegorical figures as Christianity spread. Increasingly, they were no longer regarded as real while belief in the existence of mythical creatures continued in many parts of China, and can still be found in some places today.

NIHAO: What are the main features in common between Chinese and western mythical creatures?

S: There really aren't very many common features. The western dragon is quite different from the

standard Chinese dragon, and the phoenix is also quite different from the “feng” bird.

Both cultures have traditionally believed in classes of creatures called “goblins,” “ghosts” and so forth in the west; in China these are generally referred to as “guishen” (ghosts and spirits) or as “guaiwu”(strange creatures), but these are usually conceived of different in their details. And it was thought in China that they inhabited everyplace, including dwelling secretly among people with whom they often came into confl ict.

In the west, a lot of these creatures were regarded as dwelling in forests or separate from densely populated areas. China also regarded mountains, forests, lakes, rivers, and oceans as places where such creatures dwelled, but some were also found in towns, cities, and in people's houses.

There are, however, stories of certain dragons in China that are harmful to humans and that have to be killed in order for humans to live peacefully, and this is similar to the Western dragon, which is usually an evil, menacing creature.

Also, the feng bird is an auspicious bird in China with a positive meaning when it appears (usually, that the country is well-governed), and the phoenix is also regarded as a positive symbol, though for other reasons (it rises from the ashes and represents a renewal of life). These kinds of folk beliefs have lasted longer in China than in the West.

外國人是否只認(rèn)識(shí)龍？

Interviewee:

Richard E. Strassberg, Professor of Chinese specializing in premodern Chinese literature and culture at UCLA, author of A Chinese Bestiary: Strange Creatures from the Guideways through Mountains and Seas.

加州大學(xué)洛杉磯分校中文系教授，著有《山海經(jīng)編引》

NIHAO：現(xiàn)今西方對(duì)中國神獸的理解程度如何？

S：第一本由西方教授編撰而成的中國神話字典于1920年代出版。自那以后，更多的西方學(xué)者才開始了對(duì)中國神獸的正式研究。然而，絕大部分西方人對(duì)于中國神獸的認(rèn)知依然局限于中國龍和孫悟空，其接觸渠道主要來源于電影、中餐館、華人街以及中國引進(jìn)產(chǎn)品上的圖案。同時(shí)，中國神獸還面臨著被西方誤解的情況。比如中國“鳳”通常被錯(cuò)譯為西方傳說中“phoenix”，而最常見的神獸獅子卻被誤譯為“foo dog”。

NIHAO: 中西方神獸的主要不同在哪？

S：中國神獸影響著人民的生活習(xí)俗、戲劇文學(xué)、宗教信仰，甚至皇權(quán)統(tǒng)治；而西方神獸，以古希臘和古羅馬為例，通常只能在地方民俗傳說、語言故事和藝術(shù)作品中尋到蹤影。神獸已不再影響現(xiàn)今西方人的生活，而在中國很大一片地區(qū)，神獸依然占據(jù)重要地位。

NIHAO: 中西方神獸是否有共通之處？

S：共同點(diǎn)甚少。西方的龍鳳與中國的龍鳳皆不一樣。中國龍通常是瑞獸，只有一小部分品種對(duì)人類有害；而大部分西方龍都是邪惡的。至于鳳凰，不管是在西方還是東方，都是吉獸。在中國傳說中，鳳凰為人民預(yù)示著繁榮昌盛；在西方，鳳凰浴火重生，意味著新生。

在西方神話中，神獸／精靈通常住在森林里，遠(yuǎn)離人類。而中國神獸也一樣，大部分都住在山川河流之中；然而，不同的是，部分中國神獸還會(huì)出現(xiàn)在城鎮(zhèn)，甚至人們的家中。