david_dawei Posted January 18, 2007 Report Share Posted January 18, 2007 This part covers cosmology and creation myths. There are hundreds of stories and even more deities that existed at one time or another. I cannot take the time to describe deities that have no current meaning to most. Certainly, research that if you want. I had read somewhere that the chinese never thought of a creation myth of man and those that exist are really imported... maybe... either it helps to support their non-deity position as we see in the present, or someone is trying to support that position with such statements. Instead, I present a few stories as they relate to the primary topic of Daoism (the final part), but also show what I think would be of interest; parallels to western stories (chaos, flood, etc). Purely for a convenience I discovered (not because it is convention) I break the following stories into those which do not mention Yin Yang and those that do. This will at least give one the relationship between Dao, Tai Ji and Yin Yang... although I think a case can be made that this was a while in the making and is a rare example of Daoist and Confucians embracing the same belief. III. CosmologyWithout reference to Yin Yang--Nu Wa myth--Jade Emperor myth--Daoist texts--Hun-Tun myth (chaos)--The Spiritual Sovereign With reference to Yin Yang--Pan Gu myth--Tai Yi myth--Tai Zhao myth--Wu Ji / Tai Ji myth Terms--Tai Ji--Yin Yang--Tai Ji Du Symbol (Yin Yang symbol) Terms for God--Shang Di--Tian--Shen Link to comment
david_dawei Posted January 18, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2007 III. COSMOLOGY COSMOLOGY WITHOUT REFERENCE TO YIN YANG: Nu Wa (Å®æ´) was a mythological character with multiple creation stories and feats. The following is a comparison of acts attributed to her; compared to the Western Bible:- Name close to Noah- existed before the earth- chaos element- demon¡¯s fought (breaking the pillars of heaven)- creator of all things, giving man and woman procreative powers- flood element (after the four poles of heaven broke; survival of two after flood)- Adam-Eve element (she was first woman, married her brother)- Body covering element; fan as a covering- Rainbow element (five-seven colored stone used to mend the sky after the flood)- 7 days of creation element Nu Wa & Fu Xi: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d...Nuwa%26fuxi.jpg Nu Wa Creation Story, one variation:N¨¹ wa existed in the beginning of the world. She felt lonely as there were no animals so she began the creation of animals and humans. On the first day she created chickens. On the second day she created dogs. On the third day she created sheep. On the fourth day she created pigs. On the fifth day she created cows. On the sixth day she created horses. On the seventh day she began creating men from yellow clay, sculpting each one individually, yet after she had created hundreds of figures in this way she still had more to make but had grown tired of the laborious process. So instead of hand crafting each figure, she dipped a rope in clay and flicked it so blobs of clay landed everywhere; each of these blobs became a person. In this way, the story relates, were nobles and commoners created from the hand crafted figures and the blobs respectively. Another variation on this story relates that some of the figures melted in the rain as N¨¹wa was waiting for them to dry and in this way sickness and physical abnormalities came into existence. Nu Wa Sacrificial Story:Due to the floods, Nuwa rose to heaven (as a half man) and stopped the floods. The sacrifice of the body is the origin of the water splashing celebration as practiced by majority groups in Northwest China. Jade Emperor: (Yu Huang -Óñ»Ê ; Yu Di -ÓñµÛ , Tian Gong - Ì칫 ¨C heavenly grandfather; Yu Huang ShangdiÓñ»ÊÉϵÛor Yu Huang Dadi- Óñ»Ê´óµÛ) - The ruler of heaven and earth and patron deity of the imperial court.- Daoist story relates he took almost 10,000,000,000 years to cultivate Dao and was able to fight off the demons who attacked heaven. He was then anointed Supreme Sovereign of all.- Created man from clay (similar to Nu wa story)- In one version of The Princess and the Cowherd, the weaver girl is the daughter of the Jade Emperor. This story is the basis of Chinese Valentine¡¯s day. - His birthday is celebrated in Taoist Temples and at New Years some will burn incense to him. Jade Emperor on Hell Bank Note:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/t...llgreenback.jpg The Laozi (Dao De Ching/Tao Te Ching/The Way and it¡¯s Power) (600 BC ?) µÀÉúÒ»Ò»Éú¶þ¶þÉúÈýÈýÉúÈfÎï The Dao begets the OneThe One begets the Two The Two begets the Three The Three begets the myriad things. There is no mention of Yin Yang, although later interpretations see it in either the Two (Yin, Yang) or sometimes put in the Three (Yin, Yang, Qi, others have Man, Earth, Heaven). Laozi only mentions Yin Yang once in this book; He did not even want to give Dao a name, except that he felt compelled to use a word: ¡°I do not know its name, but if forced to, I'll call it DAO; if forced to, I'll name it "Great". . This can be understood as follows: The Dao (nothingness, yet inclusive of being and non-being) gives birth to a beginning (of space-time). Space-time gives rise to two separate movements, described as Yin Yang. The movements of Yin Yang gives rise to an energy force, Qi [the three are interdependent, as a twosome they are Yin-Qi and Yang-Qi]. These three forces transform movement into Heaven, Earth, and Man; These three give birth to the ten thousand things. Zhuangzi relates the story of the death of chaos as the beginning of the world: (320 BC ?) The emperor god of the Northern Sea, Hu, and the emperor of the Southern Sea, Shu, used to meet, on occasion, halfway between their respective confines in the territory of Hun-tun, the emperor god of the Center (Chaos). Hun-tun, although being most welcoming, differed from the others in that he did not possess the seven orifices (that is, mouth, ears, nose, and eyes). Hu and Shu were most grateful for Hun-tun¡¯s hospitality, so they resolved to bore the orifices required for sight, hearing, eating, and breathing into Hun-tun. This they did, boring one hole a day. On the seventh day, as the final orifice was completed, Hun-tun died. With the death of chaos, the world came into being. Ming dynasty story:, The Spiritual Sovereign (1500 AD ?)In the beginning there was confusion and chaos. The five elements had not yet began to transform, nor did the sun and the moon began to shine. In the midst of this there existed neither forms nor sound. Then the Spiritual Sovereign came forth, and began to separate the purer from the grosser parts. He created the heavens, He created earth, He created man. All things with reproductive powers received their being. The beginning of all things was the result of His Kind Act. All things received His Great Love. All of the myriad things are found lacking compared with His Great Virtue. Link to comment
david_dawei Posted January 18, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2007 COSMOLOGY WITH REFERENCE TO YIN YANG: What should be seen is that originally, Yin Yang were not considered a dichotomy or a duality; there is no pure Yin nor Yang since neither can exist without the other (denoted in the popular Tai Ji symbol by the dots). The Pangu myth ¨C An Egg myth, common among many culturesWritten during the three kingdoms (240 AD ?) but thought to originate during Zhou (700 BC?)In the beginning there was nothing in the universe except a formless chaos. However this chaos began to coalesce into a cosmic egg for eighteen thousand years. Within it, the perfectly opposed principles of yin and yang became balanced and Pangu emerged (or woke up) from the egg. (Pangu is usually depicted as a primitive, hairy giant with horns on his head (like the Greek Pan) and clad in furs). Pangu set about the task of creating the world: he separated Yin from Yang with a swing of his giant axe, creating the Earth (murky Yin) and the Sky (clear Yang). To keep them separated, Pangu stood between them and pushed up the Sky. This task took eighteen thousand years, with each day the sky grew ten feet higher, the Earth ten feet wider, and Pangu ten feet taller. In some versions of the story, Pangu is aided in this task by the four most prominent beasts, namely the Turtle, the Qilin the Phoenix, and the Dragon.After the eighteen thousand years had elapsed, Pangu was laid to rest. His breath became the wind; his voice the thunder; left eye the sun and right eye the moon; his body became the mountains and extremes of the world; his blood formed rivers; his muscles the fertile lands; his facial hair the stars and milky way; his fur the bushes and forests; his bones the valuable minerals; his bone marrows sacred diamonds; his sweat fell as rain; and the little creatures on his body carried by the wind became human beings all over the world.Pangu: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pangu TAI YI: Discovered in 1993 in Hubei, Jingmen; written on bamboo strips. One of the oldest creation myths in written form. Ì«Ò»ÉúË®£¬Ë®·´ÝoÌ«Ò»£¬ÊÇÒÔ³ÉÌì¡£Ìì·´ÝoÌ«Ò»£¬ÊÇÒԳɵء£ÌìµØÒ²£¬ÊÇÒÔ³ÉÉñÃ÷¡£ÉñÃ÷ÍÏàÝoÒ²£¬ÊÇÒÔ³ÉêŽê–êŽê–ÍÏàÝoÒ²£¬ÊÇÒÔ³ÉËÄ•r¡£ Tai Yi begets Water. Water returns to assist Tai Yi, forming heaven. Heaven returns to assist Tai Yi, forming earth. Heaven and earth as well, forming divinities. Divinities assist one another, forming Yin Yang. Yin Yang assist one another, forming four seasons. Huainanzi (130 BC) , Tai Zhao Ì쉋δÐΣ¬ñTñTÒíÒí£¬¶´¶´ž¯ž¯£¬¹ÊԻ̫ÕÑ¡£µÀʼÓÚÌ“ìH£¬Ì“ìHÉúÓîÖ棬ÓîÖæÉúšâšâÓÐÑÄÛó.Çåê–Õß±¡ÃÒ¶øžéÌ죬ÖØáÕßÄýœþ¶øžéµØ¡£ÇåÃîÖ®ºÏŒ£Ò×£¬ÖØáÖ®Äý½ßëy£¬¹ÊÌìÏȳɶøµØáᶨ¡£ÌìµØÖ®Òu¾«žéêŽê–£¬êŽê–Ö®Œ£¾«žéËÄ•r£¬ËÄ•r֮ɢ¾«žéÈfÎï¡£ Heaven and Earth yet unformed,All things are in motion (ascending, descending)This is called Tai ZhaoDao began in Void.Void produced Space [time];Space [time] produced Qi.Qi has a boundary [of space].That which was pure and bright is Heaven;The heavy and impure is Earth.It is easy for that which is pure and subtle to converge,But difficult for the heavy and dirty to congeal.Therefore Heaven was completed first, and Earth afterwards.The combined essences of Heaven and Earth produced Yin Yang.The concentrated essences of Yin Yang caused the four seasons.The scattered essences of the four seasons created all things. WU JI / TAI JI: From the appendix of the Yi Jing, I Ching (Book of Change); this version justifies the book¡¯s message, that changes brought about by the interactive forces of Yin Yang are the origin of all the possible changes that can affect the universe. These changes are the basis of Yi Jing¡¯s formulation of trigrams into hexagrams. Although the source for the concepts as found in the Yi Jing are considered to come from Daoism, the appendix was edited by Confucians. The Limitless (Wu Ji) produces the delimited, and this is the Absolute (Tai Ji).Ta Ji produces two forms: Yin Yang.Yin Yang produce four phenomena: lesser yang (Shao Yang), great yang (Tai Yang=Sun), lesser yin (Shao Yin), great yin (Tai Yin=Moon).The four phenomena act on the eight trigrams (ba gua), eight eights are sixty-four hexagrams. Neo Confucianism: 'From Wu Ji comes Tai Ji. When Tai Ji moves it creates Yang. When movement reaches its extreme, stillness emerges. In stillness Yin is born. Thus movement and stillness follow each other...' Cosmological Chart: Neo Confucian explanation for Yi Jing Appendix Version:http://qi-journal.com/PhilosophyArticles/P...WuJiDiagram.gif Link to comment
david_dawei Posted January 18, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2007 TERMS: Dao, Wu Ji, Tai Yi, Chaos, and Tai Ji are not easily resolved based on any one account. Dao: Dao is the way of and the sum total of the processes of the movements and changes affecting the universe. Dao is the overall process; The source of all things; the way. Tai Yi: Singularity; containing all things. Was worshiped as a personified diety. Part of the three ONES (San Yi). Some will consider this the same as Dao. Wu Ji: is like empty space itself, going infinitely in all directions. It can hold everything within, yet is emptiness itself. An empty state of Dao with all the potential energy to effect movement; An empty chaos; Primeval state of the universe. Wu Ji -ÎÞ¼« (traditional: Ÿo˜O) , without extremes/poles, the unlimited, limitlessness Chaos: a form of potential emptiness, it contains the original energy; a pre-heaven Qi. Chaos is the ¡®way¡¯ of Wu Ji. Hun Dun - »ëãç (traditional: œ†ãç) - Chaos Tai Ji: The energy stored in Chaos is released in Tai Ji. Tai Ji is the movement of Chaos. Tai Ji - Ì«¼« (traditional: Ì«˜O) , extremes/poles, the Great Ultimate. Tai Chi in the west. At rest, it reunites; in movement it divides. It is like the essence of Dao: Wu Ji¡¯s energy put to use, manifesting itself in Yin Yang. Yin Yang: Tai Ji begets Yin Yang: The energy from Tai Ji is divided between Yin Yang so as to make them interdependent. Yin - Òõ ¨C (traditional: ꎣ©- Shady side of wall, hill, mountain; North side of the mountain. Symbolically the moon (Ô ¨C yue). Yin represents: moon, female, cold, darkness, earth, etc Yang - Ñô ¨C (traditional: ê–) ¨C Sunny side of wall, hill, mountain; South side of the mountain. Symbolically the sun (ÈÕ ¨C ri). Yang represents: sun, male, heat, light, heaven, etc The Dao De Jing (The Way and it¡¯s Power) says, "all life embodies yin and embraces yang." The first written usage as found on oracle bones shows sunlight=yang or lack of sunlight=yin. An early dictionary shows the Yin and Yang characters depicted as the same hill at one time shaded and at another time lighted; so not always polar opposites or dualistic as some explain, but fundamentally one and the same item having undergone a ¡®change¡¯ in relation to the environment (a hill, just at different times of a day). Yin Yang represents a state of harmony based on balance; disharmony based on imbalance. The interaction between the two interdependent forces generates the changes in the universe. The two are said to proceed from the Supreme Ultimate, Tai Ji. Tai Ji Du (Yin Yang Symbol as a graphical interpretation) That darkness (Yin) and lightness (Yang) comes and goes with the rise and fall of the sun, it was natural that Yin Yang would be graphically represented, as a plot of lightness and darkness, waxing and waning. By using a 8 foot pole to observe the sun¡¯s shadow in combination with the position of the Dipper at night, seasonal changes were recorded and the length of the year was determined to be 365.25 days. Sun Post: http://www.chinesefortunecalendar.com/CLC/Images/SunPost.jpg To chart the changes, six concentric circles marked with an annual cycle divided into 24 segments (about every 15 days) represent the length of the Sun¡¯s shadow (shortest in summer solstice, most sunshine; longest in winter solstice, least sunshine). The 24 shadow lines are moved into a chart to produce the original likeness of the Tai Ji Du Symbol. These 24 solar segments would also become the solar basis of the Chinese lunar calendar (the segments eventually named according to ancient farmer¡¯s use); The lunar basis is the new moon day is the first day of a lunar month and the length of the lunar month would be the time between the two moon days. The resulting combination of Yin Yang is graphically shown as the Yin Yang Symbol; In the east as Tai Ji Du. The small dots in each one [of the other] is to reflect that neither Yin nor Yang are pure; each depends on the other. Sun Shadow Charted to create Tai Ji Du (see write-up on classic texts)http://www.chinesefortunecalendar.com/Images/YYLines.gif Typical Tai Ji Du / Yin Yang Symbolhttp://re3.mm-a2.yimg.com/image/2394811012v TERMS FOR GOD: Shangdi, (ÉϵÛ), God, has it¡¯s earliest reference in Oracle Bones but within literature it is first found in all of the ¡°five classics¡±; The Classic of history. Although this is the most common term used in classical times, the references in literature diminishes over time, which may be an indication of the diminishing deity-centric belief (see Shang-Zhou dynasty transition). No creation narrative exists in early writings but it might be inferred. Tian, (Ìì) was later used synonymously with Shangdi (probably due to the Shang-Zhou dynasty transition of worship), and sometimes in combination ; it can also mean heaven, sky, nature or some combination. In the Temple of Heaven in Beijing (built 1420 AD, Ming dynasty) is written: Huang Tian Shang Di (Supreme Sovereign God of Heaven). Shen, (Éñ), Confucius also used this term which can translate to spirits or god. Also used in protestant Chinese bibles. Phrases: ÕæÖ÷, Zhen Zhu , ¡°True Lord¡±, used by the first missionaries Ì츸, Tian Fu, ¡°Heavenly Father¡± ÌìÖ÷ , Tian Zhu, ¡°Lord of Heaven¡±, used by Chinese Catholics ÐþÌìÉϵÛ; Yuan Tian Shang Di, ¡°Heavenly Emperor¡±. A Chinese Temple in Singapore. ÉϵÛÌ«Ò»Éñ, Shang Di Tai Yi Shen, is sometimes the personification of "the Supreme Ultimate" ·²È˽ÔÌìÖ®×Ó, Fan Ren Jie Tian Zhi Zi, "Everyone is a child of Heaven" Link to comment
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