Flood Mythology of China

Literary history The history of China as a continuously recorded literary tradition begins with the ancient documents transmitted for posterity through the Records of the Grand Historian. According to these, the great-grandson (or fourth successor) of the Yellow Emperor was Yao. Beginning with the reign of Yao, additional literary sources become available, including the Book of Documents (collected and edited by Confucius), which begins with the "Canon of Yao" (), describing the events of Yao's reign. Although, the "Canon of Yao" is problematic in regards to textual transmission (at best it seems to represent an early textual reconstruction and at worst a fabrication based on available knowledge or sources from the 3rd or 4th centuries AD). "The Counsels of Great Yu" is considered to be one of the reliably transmitted pre-Qin texts. In any case, these and other texts of the preserved literature mark the beginnings of the Chinese historical tradition. Other important texts include the poem Heavenly Questions collected in the Chu Ci which is attributed to Qu Yuan and the famous mythological compendium Classic of Mountains and Seas (Shanhaijing). Furthermore, centuries of scholarship have gone into piecing together a narrative from the bits, pieces, and occasionally longer sections found in these and other early sources, sometimes being subjected to heavy editorial handling in terms of viewpoint. Collected mythology Mythological stories besides having been preserved both in various literary forms, have also been collected from various oral traditions, some of these folktales are still told. Some of these sources are from people of the Han ethnicity and some from other ethnic groups. ==Struggles to control the flood==

The Zhou sources narrated struggles faced by heroes or deities in controlling the floods. Of all of these stories, the struggle of Yao, Gun, and Yu is the best example of a description of human effort to control the flood. Nuwa repairs heaven Another story tells that the goddess Nüwa created (molded) humanity from yellow clay, brought them into life, and gave them the ability to reproduce. Gonggong was banging his head into Mount Buzhou, which actually was the pillar to support the heaven. Nüwa then patched the sky with five-colored pebbles and piled up reeds ashes to stop the flood. The extinction of human race Chen Jianxian (1996) said that this theme was one of some popular legends which was still being told by more than 40 ethnics in China. There is a possibility that the myth is rather new because the oldest recorded sources about this myth were from Six Dynasties, save that the oral tradition may be much older. The theme was made into several versions, but the outline is about a great flood which was destroyed all the humans all over the world except a pair of brother and sister, or aunt and nephew. Both were forced to marry in order to repopulated the world. One version stated that their children were ordinary humans, while the others said it was a lump of meat, squash, melon, or grindstone; after they opened, cut, or destroyed it, humans emerged. Sinking city This theme have some specific characteristics: one or two people were survived, the statue which was crying blood, and the whole city along with its citizens were sinking. The survivor(s) was being saved by the gods because of his/her benevolent acts; may be an old lady or a devoted son. The blood crying statue was often a stone lion statue, or sometimes tortoise statue. ==Other flood myths==

East Sea and Mulberry Field A less widespread flood myth involves the goddess Magu: this myth involves the cyclic rise and fall of the ocean level over the eons: sometimes the sea floor is under water; at other times, it turns into mulberry fields. However, the material about Magu seems to be distinct from the idea of a great flood upon the land of China. ==See also==