China News Agency, Xining, June 27th: Why did the majestic Kunlun become the "origin" of Chinese civilization?
——Interview with E Chongrong, Director of the Institute of Ethnicity and Religion, Qinghai Academy of Social Sciences
China News Agency reporter Pan Yujie
The Kunlun Mountains, which traverse the western part of China, are known as the "Sect of Ten Thousand Mountains", not only referring to the natural height, but also the coordinates of oriental spiritual culture.
Kunlun mythology can be regarded as the main body of Chinese classical mythology, and it and Greek mythology respectively represent the source of Eastern and Western civilizations.
How do myths reflect the similarities and differences between Eastern and Western cultures?
What are the spiritual qualities of the Chinese nation reflected in the Kunlun myth?
What implications does it have for the revival of Chinese civilization and modern life?
China News Agency's "East and West Questions" recently interviewed E Chongrong, director and researcher of the Institute of Ethnicity and Religion at the Qinghai Academy of Social Sciences, to answer the above questions.
The following is a summary of the interview transcript:
China News Service reporter: What are the characteristics of the Kunlun myth?
How to understand its influence?
E Chongrong: Myths permeate the experiences and feelings of human childhood, vividly preserve the cosmology and life attitudes of the ancestors, and reflect the spiritual character, way of thinking and survival philosophy of different ethnic groups.
The Kunlun Mountains traverse the western part of China and are the mountain system with the highest average altitude and the largest extension area on the earth.
It is on a par with Mount Olympus, where "hundreds of gods live" in Greece. Kunlun mythology and Greek mythology represent the source of Eastern and Western civilizations respectively.
Historically, the myth of Kunlun was not only known to women and children in China, but also spread to other parts of Asia and continued to evolve.
For example, during the Wei, Jin and Tang dynasties, the Kunlun mythology represented by "Kunlun Mountains" and "Yao Pond" and Indian Buddhist culture spread and merged with each other; and the image of the "Queen Mother of the West" was introduced to the Parthian Kingdom (now in the Han Dynasty) as early as the Han Dynasty. Northeast of the Iranian Plateau), and also merged with the ancient Babylonian (now Iraq) moon goddess, and is still worshipped by people in Central Asia, Southeast Asia and other regions.
In addition to "Queen Mother of the West" and "Yaochi", there are also stories in Kunlun mythology, such as Pangu opening up the world, Nuwa mending the sky, Kuafu chasing the sun, and Chang'e flying to the moon, all of which are full of oriental self-sacrifice and the will to explore nature.
"Kunlun" has become a mobile cultural symbol, the common "spiritual hometown" of the descendants of Yan and Huang at home and abroad and a bond of mutual connection.
Every year, the worship ceremony held at the foot of Mount Jade Everest in Kunlun Mountain attracts people from all over the world to go to find their ancestors, worship and look up to Kunlun.
2017 Kunlun Mountain Worship Ceremony.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Sun Rui
China News Agency reporter: How do myths reflect the similarities and differences between Eastern and Western cultures?
E Chongrong: For example, there are flood myths in the East and the West, and the Kunlun myth of "Gun Yu to control the flood". Gun was Dayu's father. To quell the flood disaster, Dayu used the method of persuasion and finally succeeded; in the West, Noah relied on God's revelation and used the ark to escape the flood disaster that God sent to man.
The story of the father and son's water control from "blocking" to "sparse" is actually a continuous update, improvement and progress. It can be seen that the Chinese people pursue "inner sage and outer king". "Inner sage"; while the West tends to the idea of "original sin", which believes that human behavior needs to be regulated by external punishment.
Whether it is "Gun Yu's water control" in China or Prometheus stealing fire in Greek mythology, they all sacrifice themselves for the benefit of others with compassion for the common people.
Whether in the East or the West, the vicissitudes of life, the human consciousness that respects life, and the beauty of human nature that human beings have experienced in the long years are common.
The drama "Da Yu Controls the Water".
Photo by Yang Yanmin issued by China News Agency
China News Service reporter: What is the relationship between the myth of Kunlun and the myths of other parts of China?
E Chongrong: Academia generally believes that Kunlun, Penglai, and Chu Ci are the three mythological systems in China.
Professor Zhao Zongfu, former dean of Qinghai Academy of Social Sciences, after systematically sorting out the system structure of Kunlun mythology, proposed that it can be called the main body of Chinese classical mythology; Gu Jiegang, Jian Bozan and other historians have pointed out that Penglai and Chuci mythology are influenced by Kunlun mythology. This phenomenon may be related to the migration of the Qiang people in history.
The Qiang people are distributed in today's Gansu and Qinghai areas.
According to research, before the Qin and Han Dynasties, Qiang people continued to go to the Central Plains and integrate into the Chinese ethnic group.
During the Spring and Autumn Period, "Mandarin Zhouyu": "Qi, Xu, Shen, Lu Yutai Jiang", that is, the four countries all originated from the Qiang people with the surname Jiang; with the rise of the Qin Dynasty, some Qiang people were forced to move to the more remote Xinjiang ,Southwest Region.
The Qiang People's "Zuanshan Meeting" praying ceremony.
Photo by China News Agency Zeng Yun
According to research, more than one third of the fifty-six ethnic groups, including the Han nationality, are inextricably linked with the ancient Qiang people who once lived in the Gansu-Qingdao region.
The Kunlun mythology, which originated from the top of the snow-capped mountains on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, has radiated and influenced all ethnic groups for thousands of years to imagine and find the "Kunlun Mountains" and "Yaochi" in their hearts.
Among them, there is what Qu Yuan said in "Li Sao", "I traveled with Chonghua to the garden of Yao, and climbed Kunlun to eat jade", and in the eyes of Tibetan Buddhist believers, Gang Rinpoche, the main peak of Gangdise Mountain in Tibet, and the foot of the mountain There are also ethnic origin migration legends based on the motif of "Kunlun" that have been passed down to the present day by ethnic minorities such as Yi, Pumi, Naxi and Jingpo in southwest China.
It can be said that as a symbol of the root and mother culture of the Chinese nation, Kunlun culture has witnessed the grand pattern of the ancestors of the members of the big family of the Chinese nation, you come and go, you have me, the blood is connected, and the diversity is one.
China News Agency reporter: Is myth just a fictional story?
How does the Kunlun myth continue in literature, thought and art?
E Chongrong: Although myths are illusory fairy tales, they are also the prototype of literature and art, and the source of humanistic spirit.
According to the statistics of Takeo Hiraoka, a professor at Kyoto University in Japan, there are more than 120 poems involving the Queen Mother of the West and the Qiang people in "The Complete Tang Poems"; the Monkey King and the monsters with human heads and beast bodies in the classical masterpiece "Journey to the West" are mostly inspired by the Kunlun myth; The mysterious and lofty Kunlun Mountains have been mentioned many times in popular novels.
In literary and artistic works, the images of mythological characters will continue to evolve.
For example, the well-known "Queen Mother" - the Queen Mother of the West, was originally described in the "Shan Hai Jing" as "like a human being, with leopard tail and tiger teeth and good howl, and her hair hoopoe." Spouse, leading female fairy, holding a peach meeting, and owning Yaochi fairy grass.
The painted bricks of the Queen Mother in Wei and Jin Dynasties in the Hexi Corridor.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Tian Yuhao
However, the spirit of not being afraid of difficulties, daring to pursue dreams, and selfishness in the Kunlun mythology is the core of inheritance for thousands of years.
During the May 4th Movement, writers traced their origins and found inspiration from myths. Guo Moruo's "Goddess", Lu Xun's "Mending the Sky" and "Flying to the Moon" and other works were combined with national peril, inspiring people's wisdom and inspiring the spirit of resistance.
China News Service reporter: How to realize the active utilization and "re-creation" of Kunlun myths at present?
E Chongrong: Influenced by multi-ethnic migration, exchanges and interactions in history, Kunlun culture is extremely inclusive and divergent, and it is still evolving so far.
However, at the same time, Kunlun culture also presents the characteristics of fragmentation and fracture. Although its shadow can be seen in many places, the living inheritance has not become a system. It is mainly used as a cultural image and material library, which plays an intangible value.
In recent years, many creators of intangible cultural heritage skills, literary works, animation films and television have used the image of "Kunlun", which has enhanced the popularity and influence of Kunlun culture at home and abroad from different forms and angles.
As long as the core spirit embodied in the myth is not discarded, it should be recreated in a flexible form in combination with the current media communication methods.
For example, 3D digital technology can be used to reconstruct and restore the Kunlun mythology, so that the characters in the story can enter the young group, cultivate values in a subtle way, and germinate the cultural confidence of the Chinese nation.
At the same time, it is necessary to actively communicate with foreign countries, attract, resonate with, and be inclusive of the diverse cultures in other parts of the world, and continuously expand the connotation and extension of Kunlun culture.
China News Agency reporter: Do primitive and simple myths still inspire modern society with highly developed technology?
How to perceive the future with mythological thinking?
E Chongrong: "The present is always in the palm of the past." In each era, the development of new culture requires the perspective of spiritual values from the known traditional culture.
Myth is the "root" of national culture. The unique spiritual and cultural character of the Chinese nation is rooted in the mountains and water sources, passed down for thousands of years, and integrated into the blood of Chinese culture and the genes of the Chinese nation.
In the five thousand years of history and civilization in China, the continuous integration of various ethnic groups and the alternating evolution of various ideological trends have had a profound impact on national culture and values. Some primitive and simple qualities of the Chinese nation's character may gradually degenerate and lose. Today, we have already far from the origin.
Qinghai Kunlun Mountain Hubei Ice Peak.
Photo by Li Quanju issued by China News Agency
There is a saying, "Don't forget why you set out because you have gone too far." I believe that people living in modern society should maintain a cultural awareness, not abandon or despise myths, but understand and respect myths. Only by figuring out the profound connotations contained in it, and realizing the poetry and spirituality of those stories, the inseparability of man and nature, and the original romance and sublime of human nature, can you be enlightened in the current life.
In cultural exchanges and mutual learning, a nation must maintain a sense of theme and ontology culture, otherwise it will lose itself.
The great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation should look at the origin in a timely and appropriate manner, seek profound cultural connections from the most primitive, most core, and most distant, and explore the value and significance of cultural resources for the future.
(Finish)
Interviewee Profile:
E Chongrong, Tu nationality, doctor of philosophy, director and researcher of the Institute of Ethnicity and Religion, Qinghai Academy of Social Sciences.
He has long been devoted to the research of ethnic and religious fields in Qinghai, and independently and cooperatively published 10 academic works such as "Qinghai Folk Beliefs"; presided over, cooperated, and participated in the completion of national and provincial-level projects such as "Kunlun Culture and the Revival of Chinese Culture"; He has published more than 80 papers and reports in various newspapers and academic journals, of which more than 30 have been published in CSSCI source journals; he has presided over or co-authored more than 40 research reports and advisors.