Implication Of The Chinese Creation Myth Element And Its Culture

Creation Myth is an academic term translated from the West, but creation myths do exist both in China and in the West. And scholars regard Creation Myth as the first fruit of human beings'thinking and the source of generating the later disciplines. Using the key motifs of Creation Myth as the research materials, and referring to Greek and Hebrew creation myths, the present dissertation attempts to explore the cultural significances of the Chinese creation myths from the angles of the three basic elements of"Emotion","Theme"and"Thinking". The author holds the view that the creation myths in the three cultures are not only the source of Religion, Philosophy and Literature, but also exert some potential or apparent influence upon the three disciplines.Firstly, from the point of view of the element of"Emotion", this dissertation investigates the religious significance of Creation Myth. The Emotion of Creation Myth presents as the feelings of reliance, worship, fear and amazement which are characteristic of the primordial religious emotions. The myth of"Human Beings Formed by Clay"and the myth of"The Creator"in Chinese and Hebrew creation myths embody different emotions for the clay and the Creator. The Jews'worship and fear for God originate from the feelings of worship and fear for the Creator in the Hebrew creation myth, while the feeling of worship contained in the Chinese creation myths affects the feeling of worship for"Shangdi"and"Tian"in the ancient religion.And then, this dissertation probes into the philosophical significance of Creation Myth from the angle of the element of"Theme", and argues that the key philosophical concepts in Chinese and Greek ancient philosophy have some relationship with Creation Myth. The myth of"Chaos"in Chinese creation myths influences Lao Tzu's Tao , and the myth of"Creation by World Parents"has some influence on the generation of another key concept"Yin-yang". The"arche"in ancient Greek philosophy comes from the myth of"Chaos"in Greek creation myths. The Chinese creation myths exert some potential influence on the ancient philosophical concepts, while the Greek creation myths give an apparent influence on the ancient philosophical concepts.And finally, from the point of view of the element of"Thinking", this dissertation discusses the literary significance of Creation Myth."Imagination"is the basic thinking pattern of all creation myths, but the Chinese creation myths are more characteristic of analogy imagination by way of"Analogy by Forms"and"Judging Objects by Oneself". The author holds that the two patterns of analogy imagination have some potential influence upon the ancient literary thinking patterns. The rich imagination of Greek creation myths becomes the direct fountain of the Greek and even the Western literature, and the Greek and Hebrew myths stimulate the generation and prosperity of the Western literature.Creation Myth can be seen as a primordial chaotic matrix of culture which carry with itself the religious emotions, the philosophical concepts and the literary thinking patterns. As for the themes narrated, Creation Myth is a primordial philosophy; in regard to the thinking patterns used, Creation Myth is a primordial literature; and as for the features of its emotions, Creation Myth is a primordial religion. Creation Myth thus serves as the important origin of Literature, Philosophy and Religion because of its profound cultural significances.This dissertation is neither a pure study of Creation Myth , nor of Literature,Philosophy and Religion, but a comprehensive study of exploring the relationship between Creation Myth and the later disciplines. This inter-discipline and cross-cultural study benefits to the understanding of the"pre-history"of Literature, Philosophy and Religion, and it also helps the mutual understanding of the cultural significances of creation myths from different cultures.