Shaoyuanshenhuaqun
01 · Historical Records
In Shaoyuan and its surroundings in Jiyuan, Henan, many creation myths circulate widely. In Shaoyuan town there are not only folk legends but a great many pictographic and prototypical objects corresponding to the myths; the story of Nüwa, Xuanyuan's sacrifice to heaven, the war god Chiyou and Shennong tasting the hundred herbs can all be traced in the marvellous peaks and waters and the ancient place names. The Shaoyuan myth cluster has now been collated and compiled into the Collection of Shaoyuan Folk Legends.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Shaoyuan and its surroundings in Henan have many widely current creation myths. The Shaoyuan myths are mostly stories about gods or half-human half-divine beings. In Shaoyuan town there are not only folk legends but a great many pictographic and prototypical objects corresponding to the myths, and such legends as the story of Nüwa, Xuanyuan's sacrifice to heaven, the war god Chiyou and Shennong tasting the hundred herbs can all be traced in the marvellous peaks and waters and the ancient place names. The myths are numerous, rich in content, and have a distinctive creation-myth character. Corroborated by the local pictographic and prototypical objects, the Shaoyuan myth cluster is precious living material for studying the creation myths of the Central Plains.
Nüwa Pats Earth to Make Man
One of the eight great myths of the Shaoyuan myth cluster.
Nüwa Smelts Stones to Patch the Sky
One of the eight great myths of the Shaoyuan myth cluster.
Xuanyuan's Sacrifice to Heaven and the War God Chiyou
One of the eight great myths of the Shaoyuan myth cluster.
The Collection of Shaoyuan Folk Legends
The collated and compiled result of the Shaoyuan myth cluster.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The Shaoyuan myth cluster circulates in Shaoyuan town and its surroundings in Jiyuan city, Henan, and is corroborated by the local hills and landforms, ancient place names and remote antiquity relics, forming a rich and varied body of legends centred on creation myths.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The myths are rich in content, including the eight great myths of Pan Gu splitting heaven and earth, Nüwa patting earth to make man, Nüwa smelting stones to patch the sky, Xuanyuan's sacrifice to heaven and the war god Chiyou, Fuxi working out the eight trigrams, Shennong tasting the hundred herbs and sowing the five grains, Zhuanxu and Gonggong, and Yu the Great controlling the waters, more than sixty stories in all (now collated and compiled into the Collection of Shaoyuan Folk Legends), with rich cultural content and very high academic research value. The mysterious link between the numinous landscape and the remote myths, especially corroborated by the relics and sites discovered in recent years, has made Shaoyuan a focus of many scholars of creation. Today, though the main content of the Shaoyuan myth cluster has been collated into a volume, many problems still face the carrying-forward of its cultural connotation, and notably the living transmission of this myth cluster lacks successors and urgently needs protection. It is important material for studying the creation myths and remote history of the Central Plains.
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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