Chapter I Chinese and Western Ocean Legends
Section?1 Legend of the Ocean Origins
Ⅰ Learning Objectives
1. To know the main compositions of the ocean origin in Chinese and Western legends.
2. To master the important characteristics of the ocean origin in Chinese and Western legends.
3. To explore the essential differences between Chinese and Western legends of ocean origin.
Lead-in Questions
1. There is such a story in Zhuangzi ? Responds to Emperors and Kings that Shu (Emperor of the Southern Sea) and Hu (Emperor of the Northern Sea) met quite a lot on the Central Heaven governed by Hundun, who treated them kindly. With a plan to repay Hundun’s kindness, they said: “Humans all have seven orifices, eyes to see, ears to hear, nose to breathe, and mouth to
eat. However, Hundun has none of them. Let’s create the openings for him.” They decided to fix Hundun with one orifice a day, and seven days later, Hundun fell and died. What do you make of the cause of Hundun’s death?
2. In ancient Greek mythology of ocean origins, Gaea, the mother of the Earth, took her son, Uranus, the god of the sky, as her first husband. Later she married her another son Pontus, the god of the sea, and gave birth to five children. Please look up other stories about Gaea, and find out which children she had with which gods.
Ⅲ Chinese Stories of Ocean Origin
1. The Story of Pangu
Before the universe was born, there was absolutely nothing but chaotic darkness. Over the course of 18,000 earth years, the chaos swirled and gathered into the shape of an egg. The opposing forces of yin and yang in the egg constantly battled and fought with one another until finally, they achieved balance. Pangu was formed from this first union of yin and yang. When Pangu was sleeping in the egg that held all the matter and forces of the universe, there was so little space that he had to curl up his body to fit inside of it. Pangu’s name, therefore, denotes both hi