10
votes
Accepted
Map of Guan Yu crossing 5 passes?
I thought I'd do this using a mapping tool. So the map and list of locations for Guan Yu's journey (at least before he diverted for Runan) is:
Xuchang
Dongling Pass (south of modern day Dengfeng)
...
- 2,494
8
votes
Accepted
What are the "Treasures of the Dragon Kings"?
This comes from the Journey to the West, when the monkey king Sun Wukong "visited" the Dragon King of the East Seas for a weapon. Each of the dragon kings produced a treasure to appease him into ...
- 7,786
8
votes
Why does Indian mythology not have humongous beasts like that of Chinese dragon?
Even though the geographical locations might be very near, it has to be noticed that there hasn't been a considerable mixture of both the cultures due to the following reasons:
The Himalayas acted as ...
- 714
7
votes
Accepted
How do people become immortal as per Taoism?
Sun Wukong used multiple methods. These included gobbling up a bunch of Laozi's elixer pills, gobbling down all of the magic peaches before the big banquet he wasn't invited to, and slugging down all ...
- 14.1k
7
votes
Are Kitsune and Huli jing the same?
'The Cult of the Fox' by Xiaofei Kang, is a good reflection on how the 'Huxian'/'Huli Jing' myths predate the popular kitsune myth, and shows the establishment of a lot of the concepts taken for ...
- 71
6
votes
Accepted
What is he fishing for?
This is Chinese, not Japanese.
The handwriting is too squiggly for me to read the middle characters but I think it says:
高山 High Mountain
?? ??
三石 Three Rocks
Searching by these characters I found ...
- 5,354
6
votes
Accepted
How was the reputation of Zhuge Liang established, before joining Liu Bei?
There are two ways to answer this: the reputation according to the highly-romanticised ROTK, and the historical person. According to fiction, he is completely without achievement yet his greatness ...
- 2,494
6
votes
What kind of god was the Yellow Emperor?
First I think that's important look for the beginning of the myth of Yellow Emperor, based in literary evidences.
He's referenced as an "divine hero" by Birell in the book Chinese Mythology: An ...
- 623
6
votes
Accepted
Did the dragons of Chinese mythology originate from tornadoes?
The origin of dragons in the Eastern tradition is disputed. The leading explanation is perhaps that the dragon was originally crocodiles. However, one proposed alternative does argue that dragons (龍) ...
- 7,786
6
votes
Accepted
What is the original story of Fox Spirit/Nine tails fox in India's myths?
The Dakini connection
Here is an extract of Chinese Magical Medicine by Michel Strickmann implying the direct connection between the Inari and the Dakini (p. 272).
The “Dakini” or “Dagini” for ...
- 3,501
6
votes
Accepted
Can anyone identify what Chinese mythology creature this is?
Since it has hooves (not paws), scales, and horns, it is almost certainly a qilin or "Chinese unicorn". I don't know why it is standing on four turtles, except that the turtle and qilin were two of ...
- 1,613
5
votes
How do people become immortal as per Taoism?
Here is a list of how the 8 Immortals did it:
He Xiangu "When she was about 14 or 15, a divine personage appeared to her in a dream and instructed her to eat powdered mica so that her body might ...
- 14.1k
4
votes
How do people become immortal as per Taoism?
Legend of the White Snake is definitely worth mentioning, as it is one of the most well known Chinese folk tales. Madame Whitesnake has been the subject of numerous traditional operas, and widely ...
- 14.1k
4
votes
To what degree is the villainization of Cao Cao a function of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms?
The narrative villifying Cao Cao predates Luo Guanzhong's work by a wide margin. His slant against Cao Wei is a product of his culture's bias, rather than the cause of it (though it likely did serve ...
- 9,188
4
votes
Accepted
Is there a passage about white hair in Chinese mythology?
If you mean something like this:
that's actually a case of "retroactive incorporation" of a fairly recent story into movies about much older stories. White-Haired in Chinese is called 白髮 baifa, and ...
- 5,354
4
votes
Accepted
Who is the Queen of Heaven in the The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl?
To answer my own question: the Weaver girl is the daughter of the Jade Emperor therefore his wife must be the Jade Empress, the Queen Mother of the West, even though it's not stated in the story ...
- 525
4
votes
Accepted
How did you survive my 100-step punch?
This reminded me of the unique "Kill Bill" (Vols. I & II) movies. Found the following on Pinterest:
Pai Mei played by Kung Fu movie legend Gordon Liu in Kill Bill -
character is based off of ...
- 709
3
votes
Why did Li Po carry a sword?
Yes, there is an Asian tradition of warrior poets, but the historical Li Bai is not one of them. The myth of Li Bai the wandering swordsman is a fairly recent invention. The strongest historical ...
- 5,354
3
votes
What do all the treasures Sun Wukong got from the Dragon Kings do?
The cloud walking boots allow him to fly (although Wukong doesn't strictly need them to fly, having cultivated formidable powers of his own, and being able to cover 108,000 li in a single leap;)
...
- 14.1k
3
votes
When were European and Asian dragons first associated?
Well, Marco Polo (scan down to Chapter XLIX) describes "vast serpents" that are found in the province of "Carajan" (probably Yunnan). He didn't say he actually saw them and didn't call them "dragons".
...
- 1,613
2
votes
What were popular magical focuses in Chinese Mythology?
In contemporary culture, one tends to see objects like the "Bagua Fengshui Mirror" which is supposed to scare away evil spirits, or the "Coin Sword" which has similar spiritual powers. Swords made of ...
- 14.1k
2
votes
Are Kitsune and Huli jing the same?
As an addendum: While kitsune are associated with Japanese Shinto deities Inari and Ukanomitama, as well as the Buddhist-originated Dakini-ten; Huxian or Huli Jing are, meanwhile, associated with the ...
- 21
2
votes
How did you survive my 100-step punch?
The movie that you are referring to is called "Fists of the White Lotus" it stars Gordon Liu and Lo Leih.
The monk Hung Wen-Ting (Gordon Liu)fights against the evil priest White Lotus(Lo ...
2
votes
Are there any folklore references to the following elements found in Xianxia i.e. modern Chinese High Fantasy fiction?
No - this is a gross "gamification" of Qi to something similar like mana in other RPGs. You cannot "start with zero Qi" in Daoism, believed to be a vital force forming part of any ...
- 5,354
1
vote
Are there any non-European versions of "Elves" in Indian/Persian/Arabic/Chinese/Meso-American folklore/fairy tales?
As @Codosaur pointed out in his answer, your description has more to do with post-Tolkien fantasy elves, rather than the supernatural beings featured in Germanic mythology and folklore (see the ...
- 1,689
1
vote
Are there any non-European versions of "Elves" in Indian/Persian/Arabic/Chinese/Meso-American folklore/fairy tales?
Many such. Most, like the genuine folkloric elf, have a lot more variation. They may have monstrously ugly members, but they are often very close to the elf, and folktale may switch out the type as ...
- 903
1
vote
Are there any non-European versions of "Elves" in Indian/Persian/Arabic/Chinese/Meso-American folklore/fairy tales?
Not all depictions of elves in European mythology correspond to your criteria. Would it be correct to assume these criteria are solely based on the works of Tolkien?
Elves has been depicted as nasty ...
- 5,354
1
vote
Why did Li Po carry a sword?
The question derives from oral & written history, and an autobiographical quote attributed to the poet himself:
When I was fifteen, I was fond of sword play, and with that art I challenged quite ...
- 14.1k
1
vote
School in the Sky?
Indo-European deities are generally considered all-knowing (there are exceptions, most commonly knowing the future). There would be little use for an Olympic or Asgardian academy.
It's very ...
- 5,354
1
vote
What is the original story of Fox Spirit/Nine tails fox in India's myths?
There are actually Japanese kitsune with 9 tails known as Kyubi no Kitsune. However, not all kitsune have 9. A Kitsune gains its tails about 1 per century, and only attains 9 (Kyu) after 1,000 years. ...
- 11
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible