Fengshen Yanyi: The Creation of the Gods and Mortals
The creation myths of Fengshen Yanyi, a Chinese epic novel, are an integral part of China's rich cultural heritage. These stories have been passed down for generations and continue to captivate readers with their imaginative tales of gods and mortals. In this article, we will delve into the world of Fengshen Yanyi and explore its significance in Chinese mythology.
The Birth of the Gods
According to Fengshen Yanyi, the universe was created by three primordial elements: heaven, earth, and water. From these elements emerged a group of powerful deities who ruled over various aspects of life. Among them were Yu Huang (the Jade Emperor), Chang'e (the Moon Goddess), Lei Gong (the God of Thunder), and many others.
Yu Huang was chosen as the supreme ruler due to his wisdom and benevolence. He established a celestial bureaucracy known as "Heavenly Officials" to govern the heavens. Each official had specific responsibilities such as governing stars, planets, seasons, weather conditions etc., ensuring harmony within the cosmos.
The Rise & Fall Of The Ten Suns
One day Yu Huang decided to create ten suns in order to illuminate both day & night equally thus ending all darkness on Earth; however this caused chaos among humans who found it difficult to distinguish between day & night leading them astray from their duties hence causing disorder on Earth.
In response Yu Huang asked Di Jun (a heavenly official) for help; he suggested that they use Yi Jing () or I Ching which is an ancient divination text used for guidance in decision-making based on patterns formed by 64 hexagrams derived from throwing coins six times each time representing one line either solid or broken creating 8 lines forming different combinations resulting in unique meanings for each combination.
Di Jun proposed using Yi Jing's principles along with astrology observations combined with human intuition would be most effective way solve this problem so that humans could live peacefully without being overwhelmed by daylight continuously throughout entire year round because otherwise they wouldn't know when it was time go home after work nor where they should go since no clear distinction existed anymore between daytime nighttime hours during those days before invention calendar system came around later centuries ago anyway enough about history let us get back main topic at hand now shall we?
