Books with title Creatures of Myths and Legends

In this fascinating and comprehensive collection of Chinese myths and legends, E. T. C. Werner drew upon material readily available to him as a member of the Chinese government's' Historiographical Bureau in Peking. A former barrister and British consul in Foochow, Werner presents a wealth of information illuminating the ideas and beliefs that governed the daily lives of the Chinese people long before the revolutions of the 20th century.Offering a provocative glimpse into a world dominated by traditional rules of etiquette and inhabited by demons, dragon-gods, and spirits, the volume opens with an introductory chapter on the origins of the Chinese people. In succeeding chapters, Mr. Werner's readable, well-illustrated text considers the gods of China and myths of stars, thunder, lightning, wind and rain; of water and fire; of epidemics, medicine, and exorcism; as well as tales about the goddess of mercy, the guardian of the gate of heaven, accounts of how the Monkey became a god, and much more. In addition, 32 striking illustrations depict such traditional deities as the Spirit That Clears the Way, civilian and military Door Gods, the Kitchen-God, Dragon-Gods, the Gods of Happiness, Office, and Longevity, and others. Engrossing and informative, Myths and Legends of China will appeal not only to lovers of folklore but to anyone interested in Chinese art, culture, or philosophy.

Miss Judson has collected these myths and legends from many printed sources. She disclaims originality, but she has rendered a service that will be appreciated by the many who have sought in vain for legends of the Indians. There is an agreeable surprise in store for any lover of folk-lore who will read these books.Contents:PrefaceThe Raven MythThe FloodThe Origin Of The TidesHow The Rivers Were FormedThe Origin Of FireDuration Of WinterRaven's FeastCreation Of The PorcupineHow Raven Taught The ChilkatsRaven's MarriageRaven And The SealsRaven And PitchRaven's Dancing BlanketRaven And The GullsThe Land OtterRaven And CootRaven And MarmotThe Bringing Of The Light By RavenDaylight On The Nass RiverThe Naming Of The BirdsThe Origin Of The WindsDuration Of LifeGhost TownHow Raven Stole The LakeThe Killer WhaleOrigin Of The Chilkat BlanketOrigin Of Land And PeopleCreation Of The WorldOrigin Of MankindThe First WomanThe First TearsOrigin Of The WindsOrigin Of The WindNorth WindEast Wind And North WindCreation Of The Killer WhaleFuture LifeThe Land Of The DeadThe Ghost LandThe Sky CountryThe Lost LightThe Chief In The MoonThe Boy In The MoonThe Boy In The MoonThe Meteor (?)Sleep HouseCradle SongHow The Fox Became RedBeaver And Porcupine... and many more ...

This is a history of the fairy tales and folklore that originated out of Japan dating back millennia. From the intro:“Pierre Loti in Madame Chrysanthème, Gilbert and Sullivan in The Mikado, and Sir Edwin Arnold in Seas and Lands, gave us the impression that Japan was a real fairyland in the Far East. We were delighted with the prettiness and quaintness of that country, and still more with the prettiness and quaintness of the Japanese people. We laughed at their topsy-turvy ways, regarded the Japanese woman, in her rich-coloured kimono, as altogether charming and fascinating, and had a vague notion that the principal features of Nippon were the tea-houses, cherry-blossom, and geisha. Twenty years ago we did not take Japan very seriously. We still listen to the melodious music of The Mikado, but now we no longer regard Japan as a sort of glorified willow-pattern plate. The Land of the Rising Sun has become the Land of the Risen Sun, for we have learnt that her quaintness and prettiness, her fairy-like manners and customs, were but the outer signs of a great and progressive nation. To-day we recognise Japan as a power in the East, and her victory over the Russian has made her army and navy famous throughout the world.The Japanese have always been an imitative nation, quick to absorb and utilise the religion, art, and social life of China, and, having set their own national seal upon what they have borrowed from the Celestial Kingdom, to look elsewhere for material that should strengthen and advance their position. This imitative quality is one of Japan's most marked characteristics. She has ever been loath to impart information to others, but ready at all times to gain access to any form of knowledge likely to make for her advancement. In the fourteenth century Kenkō wrote in his Tsure-dzure-gusa:[Pg xii] "Nothing opens one's eyes so much as travel, no matter where," and the twentieth-century Japanese has put this excellent advice into practice. He has travelled far and wide, and has made good use of his varied observations. Japan's power of imitation amounts to genius. East and West have contributed to her greatness, and it is a matter of surprise to many of us that a country so long isolated and for so many years bound by feudalism should, within a comparatively short space of time, master our Western system of warfare, as well as many of our ethical and social ideas, and become a great world-power. But Japan's success has not been due entirely to clever imitation, neither has her place among the foremost nations been accomplished with such meteor-like rapidity as some would have us suppose.

As a member of the Chinese government's Historiographical Bureau in Peking, as well as a former barrister and British consul in Foochow, E.T.C. Werner published "Myths and Legends of China" in 1922 to elucidate the ideas and beliefs that governed the daily lives of the Chinese people prior to the 20th century. These provocative and fantastical tales of Chinese history, myth and legend draw from many ancient texts and offer a glimpse into a world dominated by tradition and superstition. These stories include the myths of stars, thunder, lightening, water and fire, and various gods, Dynasties and Emperors. It also explains the significance the Buddhism and Taoism, Confucius, yin and yang, dragons, New Year, Spirit Festivals, The Tao Te Ching and much more. Complete with an introductory chapter on the sociology of the Chinese, this fascinating and informative book will appeal to any reader who wishes to receive a true, undistorted image of Chinese mythology.

Nowadays Japan is seen as a modern and technologically innovative place, but in 1913, when Myths and Legends of Japan was first published, its culture seemed strange and exotic to the average Westerner. With this collection, F. Hadland Davis uses folklore to bring Japanese civilization to life and introduce this alien society to a Western audience. Davis arranges myths into 31 categories, including heroes and warriors, legends of Mount Fuji, animal legends, superstitions, and legends of the sea. Each chapter contains numerous examples of the genre, making for a volume packed with stories that will entertain both the Japan enthusiast and the mythology buff.FREDERICK HADLAND DAVIS is also the author of The Persian Mystics: Jalalu'd-Din Rumi (1907) and The Persian Mystics: Jami (1908), both available from Cosimo.

The chief literary sources of Chinese myths are the Li tai shên hsien t’ung chien, in thirty-two volumes, the Shên hsien lieh chuan, in eight volumes, the Fêng shên yen i, in eight volumes, and the Sou shên chi, in ten volumes. In writing the following pages I have translated or paraphrased largely from these works. I have also consulted and at times quoted from the excellent volumes on Chinese Superstitions by Père Henri Doré, comprised in the valuable series Variétés Sinologiques, published by the Catholic Mission Press at Shanghai. The native works contained in the Ssŭ K’u Ch’üan Shu, one of the few public libraries in Peking, have proved useful for purposes of reference. My heartiest thanks are due to my good friend Mr Mu Hsüeh-hsün, a scholar of wide learning and generous disposition, for having kindly allowed me to use his very large and useful library of Chinese books. The late Dr G.E. Morrison also, until he sold it to a Japanese baron, was good enough to let me consult his extensive collection of foreign works relating to China whenever I wished, but owing to the fact that so very little work has been done in Chinese mythology by Western writers I found it better in dealing with this subject to go direct to the original Chinese texts. I am indebted to Professor H.A. Giles, and to his publishers, Messrs Kelly and Walsh, Shanghai, for permission to reprint from Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio the fox legends given in Chapter XV.This is, so far as I know, the only monograph on Chinese mythology in any non-Chinese language. Nor do the native works include any scientific analysis or philosophical treatment of their myths.My aim, after summarizing the sociology of the Chinese as a prerequisite to the understanding of their ideas and sentiments, and dealing as fully as possible, consistently with limitations of space (limitations which have necessitated the presentation of a very large and intricate topic in a highly compressed form), with the philosophy of the subject, has been to set forth in English dress those myths which may be regarded as the accredited representatives of Chinese mythology—those which live in the minds of the people and are referred to most frequently in their literature, not those which are merely diverting without being typical or instructive—in short, a true, not a distorted image.Edward Theodore Chalmers WernerPekingFebruary 1922

Myths and Legends of China (Illustrated)- more than 50 unique color illustrations relevant to the book- designed for your reading enjoyment.- active Table of Contents"Myths and Legends of China" explores ancient myths of traditional Chinese folklore.It is a great reference text and wonderful collection of rarely translated stories.You can learn more and have fun with this detailed, beautifully and richly illustrated book.This timeless work includes:- "How the Monkey Became a God"- "Dragons"- "Dragon Gods"- "Fox Legends"- "A Battle of Gods"- "The Goddess of Mercy"- "The Guardian of the Gate of Heaven" - "The Eight Immortals" -"The Gods of China"- "Myths of the Stars" .....and many, many more

Example in this ebookTHE RAVEN MYTHEskimo (Bering Straits)It was in the time when there were no people on the earth plain. The first man for four days lay coiled up in the pod of the beach pea. On the fifth day he stretched out his feet and burst the pod. He fell to the ground and when he stood up he was a full-grown man. Man looked all around him and then at himself. He moved his hands and arms, his neck and legs. When he looked back he saw, still hanging to the vine, the pod of the beach pea, with a hole in the lower end out of which he had dropped. When he looked about him again, he saw that he was getting farther from his starting place. The ground seemed to move up and down under his feet, and it was very soft. After a while he had a strange feeling in his stomach, so he stooped down to drink some water from a small pool at his feet. Then he felt better.When Man looked up again he saw coming toward him, with a fluttering motion, something dark. He watched the dark thing until it stopped just in front of him. It was Raven.As soon as Raven stopped, he raised one of his wings and pushed up his beak, as though it were a mask, to the top of his head. Thus Raven changed at once into a man. Raven stared hard at Man, moving from side to side to see him better.Raven said, “What are you? Where did you come from? I have never seen anything like you.”Raven still stared at Man, surprised to find this new thing so much like himself. He made Man walk around a little, while he perked his head from side to side to see him better. Then Raven said again, in astonishment, “Where did you come from? I have never seen anything like you before.”Man said, “I came from the pea pod.” He pointed to the plant from which he came.“Ah, I made that vine,” said Raven. “But I did not know that anything like you would come from it. Come with me to the high ground over there; it is thicker and harder. This ground I made later and it is soft and thin.”So Man and Raven walked to the higher ground which was firm and hard. Raven asked Man if he had eaten anything. Man said he had taken some of the soft stuff from one of the pools.“Ah, you drank some water,” said Raven. “Now wait for me here.”Raven drew down his beak, as though it were a mask, over his face. He at once became a bird and flew far up into the sky—far out of sight. Man waited until the fourth day. Then Raven returned bringing four berries in his claws. He pushed up his beak and so became a man again. Then he gave to Man two salmon berries and two heath berries, saying, “Here is something I made for you to eat. I wish them to be plentiful on the earth. Eat them.”Man put the berries into his mouth, one after the other, and ate them. Then he felt better. Then Raven left Man near a small creek while he went to the edge of the water. He took two pieces of clay at the water’s edge, and shaped them like a pair of mountain sheep. He held them in his hand until they were dry, and then he called Man to come and see them. Man said they were pretty, so Raven told him to close his eyes. Man closed his eyes tightly. Then Raven pulled down his beak-mask, and waved his wings four times over the pieces of clay. At once they bounded away as full-grown mountain sheep. Raven told Man to look.To be continue in this ebook.................................................................................

Example in this ebookTHE RAVEN MYTHEskimo (Bering Straits)It was in the time when there were no people on the earth plain. The first man for four days lay coiled up in the pod of the beach pea. On the fifth day he stretched out his feet and burst the pod. He fell to the ground and when he stood up he was a full-grown man. Man looked all around him and then at himself. He moved his hands and arms, his neck and legs. When he looked back he saw, still hanging to the vine, the pod of the beach pea, with a hole in the lower end out of which he had dropped. When he looked about him again, he saw that he was getting farther from his starting place. The ground seemed to move up and down under his feet, and it was very soft. After a while he had a strange feeling in his stomach, so he stooped down to drink some water from a small pool at his feet. Then he felt better.When Man looked up again he saw coming toward him, with a fluttering motion, something dark. He watched the dark thing until it stopped just in front of him. It was Raven.As soon as Raven stopped, he raised one of his wings and pushed up his beak, as though it were a mask, to the top of his head. Thus Raven changed at once into a man. Raven stared hard at Man, moving from side to side to see him better.Raven said, “What are you? Where did you come from? I have never seen anything like you.”Raven still stared at Man, surprised to find this new thing so much like himself. He made Man walk around a little, while he perked his head from side to side to see him better. Then Raven said again, in astonishment, “Where did you come from? I have never seen anything like you before.”Man said, “I came from the pea pod.” He pointed to the plant from which he came.“Ah, I made that vine,” said Raven. “But I did not know that anything like you would come from it. Come with me to the high ground over there; it is thicker and harder. This ground I made later and it is soft and thin.”So Man and Raven walked to the higher ground which was firm and hard. Raven asked Man if he had eaten anything. Man said he had taken some of the soft stuff from one of the pools.“Ah, you drank some water,” said Raven. “Now wait for me here.”Raven drew down his beak, as though it were a mask, over his face. He at once became a bird and flew far up into the sky—far out of sight. Man waited until the fourth day. Then Raven returned bringing four berries in his claws. He pushed up his beak and so became a man again. Then he gave to Man two salmon berries and two heath berries, saying, “Here is something I made for you to eat. I wish them to be plentiful on the earth. Eat them.”Man put the berries into his mouth, one after the other, and ate them. Then he felt better. Then Raven left Man near a small creek while he went to the edge of the water. He took two pieces of clay at the water’s edge, and shaped them like a pair of mountain sheep. He held them in his hand until they were dry, and then he called Man to come and see them. Man said they were pretty, so Raven told him to close his eyes. Man closed his eyes tightly. Then Raven pulled down his beak-mask, and waved his wings four times over the pieces of clay. At once they bounded away as full-grown mountain sheep. Raven told Man to look.To be continue in this ebook.................................................................................

The most popular myths and legends of Japanese culture are charmingly retold in English in this handsomely illustrated book. Here are myths of gods, heroes and warriors; legends of Buddha, and of the goddess Benten and the god Daikoku; tales of the sea and of Mount Fuji; accounts of superstitions and supernatural beings; observations on the spiritual properties of fans, flowers, dolls and butterflies and much more.

The most popular myths and legends of Japanese culture are charmingly retold in English in this handsomely illustrated book. Here are myths of gods, heroes and warriors; legends of Buddha, and of the goddess Benten and the god Daikoku; tales of the sea and of Mount Fuji; accounts of superstitions and supernatural beings; observations on the spiritual properties of fans, flowers, dolls and butterflies and much more.