Throughout the history of ancient China, each myth and religion which spread throughout had a social impact it left on the country, some even to the modern era. In this week’s discussion thread, there was the common theme of the social impacts of myths in China.
First, let’s talk about ancient China. During the Zhou dynasty Confucianism was prevalent throughout the country. This was a system of social and ethical philosophy which placed strict standards on people. It focused on moral correctness in behavior such as accepting authority and the order of hierarchy. This brought upon women being seen as a lower social class then men.
Now I mention this era since it contrasts the social change in the Tang dynasty with the introduction of Buddhism. When Wu Zetian took the throne she used her authority to influence the spread of Buddhism. She sanctioned Buddhism and built several Buddhist temples within the country. This caused Buddhism to overtake Taoism in popularity. As a group member pointed out, Buddhism is about the individual’s path to enlightenment and salvation, it allows them to find happiness in their own life regardless of status. This in turn changed society to be more equal in gender. Confucianism and Buddhism each established different social values and moral philosophy, both of which brought social impacts to ancient Chinese society.
A Tang Dynasty Empress Wu Zetian
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_Tang_Dynasty_Empress_Wu_Zetian.JPG
As described in Leontovich – Chinese narratives: content, characters and social impact, in Chinese mythology there is an emphasis on personification to comprehend nature with different animals representing different human qualities. “in art and sculpture the fictional characters always preserve the physiological features of the chinese people” This can be seen today through the Chinese Zodiacs. Being born on a certain year associates people with different animals. It also predicts things such as luck, personality traits, the future, etc.
Next let’s look at how creation stories helped shape society and help us understand particular worldviews. Consider the myth ‘Brahma Creates the World’. In it, Brahma created a series of spiritual emotions. So how can this help us understand worldviews? Well consider ancient India. For it’s time, India was a fairly developed country. Since the people were relatively rich, they begin to pursue a high level of spirituality. Even in modern India, the pursuit of the spiritual realm is still present in its people. By reading ‘Brahma Creates the World’ we better understood ancient India.
That’s not all, consider the myth of Izanami and Izanagi. The children of Izanami and Izanagi are all material things, such as the islands and agriculture, metal, fire, etc. Since Japan is an island country, they have a limited access to resources so the local religion (Shinto) is dominated by natural worship. Thus they had a great respect for what little they did have. This helps us understand the Japanese worldview and why they respected nature so much.
As for which theories are effective for analyzing these myths, I would go with Levi Strauss’s Structuralism Theory. I think that ‘Brahma Creates the World’ and ‘Izanami and Izanagi’ can be analyzed by looking through the lens of ancient India and ancient Japan to see how it relates to the society around it.
References:
Hindu : Brahma Creates the World – D2L
Origin of the Japanese islands and the legend of Amaterasu – D2L
Leontovich – Chinese narratives: content, characters and social impact – D2L
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wu_Zetian
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