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Mythologie chinoise

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Mythology, Chinese --- Contes --- Mythologie chinoise --- Création

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Starting with a reevaluation of the critical scholarship done on the Chinese text, the "Mu T'ien-tzu chuan", the author challenges the view of the text as a product of historical composition. Porter then argues that the discursive structures of flood myths, elements of which appear in the "Mu T'ien-tzu chuan", have their origins in an attempt to mediate linguistically the frightening consequences of the falsification of cosmological truths. The heuristic potential of the psychoanalytical theory of the symbol is used to explain the specific cosmogonic intentions underlying the genesis of myth, as well as broader manifestations of historical, social, and cultural behavior, most particularly literary works like the "Mu T'ien-tzu chuan", The author explains how mythic symbols invested with cosmogonic and regenerative significance are appropriated in the literary resolution of a socio-political trauma analogous to those mediated by flood myths. Finally, she argues that not simply the "Mu T'ien-tzu chuan" but Chinese fictional discourse in general is most appropriately understood as a wholly symbolic form. "Not only does this book remedy major shortcomings of previous research on the "Mu T'ien-tzu chuan" in terms of textual criticism, bilbiography, and methodology, it also lays to rest the view of the text as a product of historical composition. This by itself would be a worthwhile contribution to Sinological scholarschip. But for the author this is only the starting point for a "tour de force" of literary and philological analysis of a problematical text in which a remarkable array of evidence is mobilized in establishing that the "Mu T'ien-tzu chuan is the linguistic expression of a symbolic operation : " a tale of crisis, of its collective transcendence, of the symbols that emanated from it, and of the memory that preserved it"". David W. Pankenier, Lehigh University.

Mythology, Chinese. --- Legends --- Chinese fiction --- Chinese mythology --- History and criticism. --- Mythologie chinoise.

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Folklore --- Ethnobotany --- Mulberry --- Mythology, Chinese --- Ethnobotanique --- Mûriers --- Mythologie chinoise --- History --- Histoire --- Mûriers --- China --- Symbolic aspects --- To 500

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'A Chinese Bestiary 'presents a fascinating pageant of mythical creatures from a unique and enduring cosmography written in ancient China. The 'Guideways through Mountains and Seas, 'compiled between the fourth and first centuries b.c.e., contains descriptions of hundreds of fantastic denizens of mountains, rivers, islands, and seas, along with minerals, flora, and medicine. The text also represents a wide range of beliefs held by the ancient Chinese. Richard Strassberg brings the 'Guideways 'to life for modern readers by weaving together translations from the work itself with information from other texts and recent archaeological finds to create a lavishly illustrated guide to the imaginative world of early China. Unlike the bestiaries of the late medieval period in Europe, the 'Guideways 'was not interpreted allegorically the strange creatures described in it were regarded as actual entities found throughout the landscape. The work was originally used as a sacred geography, as a guidebook for travelers, and as a book of omens. Today, it is regarded as the richest repository of ancient Chinese mythology and shamanistic wisdom. The 'Guideways 'may have been illustrated from the start, but the earliest surviving illustrations are woodblock engravings from a rare 1597 edition. Seventy-six of those plates are reproduced here for the first time, and they provide a fine example of the Chinese engraver's art during the late Ming dynasty. This beautiful volume, compiled by a well-known specialist in the field, provides a fascinating window on the thoughts and beliefs of an ancient people, and will delight specialists and general readers alike.

Mythology, Chinese. --- Folklore --- Mythologie chinoise --- Mythology, Chinese --- China --- Description and travel --- Description and travel. --- Chinese mythology --- Folklore - China --- China - Description and travel