Author : E. T. C. Werner
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781973574781
Total Pages : 229 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (747 download)
Book Synopsis Myths and Legends of China (Annotated) by : E. T. C. Werner
Download or read book Myths and Legends of China (Annotated) written by E. T. C. Werner and published by . This book was released on 2017-12-18 with total page 229 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is an annotated version of the book1. contains an updated biography of the author at the end of the book for a better understanding of the text.2. This book has been checked and corrected for spelling errorsThe chief literary sources of Chinese myths are the _Li tai shên hsient'ung chien_, in thirty-two volumes, the _Shên hsien lieh chuan_,in eight volumes, the _Fêng shên yen i_, in eight volumes, and the_Sou shên chi_, in ten volumes. In writing the following pages Ihave translated or paraphrased largely from these works. I have alsoconsulted and at times quoted from the excellent volumes on ChineseSuperstitions by Père Henri Doré, comprised in the valuable series_Variétés Sinologiques_, published by the Catholic Mission Pressat Shanghai. The native works contained in the Ssu K'u Ch'üan Shu,one of the few public libraries in Peking, have proved useful forpurposes of reference. My heartiest thanks are due to my good friendMr Mu Hsüeh-hsün, a scholar of wide learning and generous disposition,for having kindly allowed me to use his very large and useful libraryof Chinese books. The late Dr G.E. Morrison also, until he sold itto a Japanese baron, was good enough to let me consult his extensivecollection of foreign works relating to China whenever I wished, butowing to the fact that so very little work has been done in Chinesemythology by Western writers I found it better in dealing with thissubject to go direct to the original Chinese texts. I am indebted toProfessor H.A. Giles, and to his publishers, Messrs Kelly and Walsh,Shanghai, for permission to reprint from _Strange Stories from aChinese Studio_ the fox legends given in Chapter XV.This is, so far as I know, the only monograph on Chinese mythologyin any non-Chinese language. Nor do the native works include anyscientific analysis or philosophical treatment of their myths.My aim, after summarizing the sociology of the Chinese as aprerequisite to the understanding of their ideas and sentiments,and dealing as fully as possible, consistently with limitations ofspace (limitations which have necessitated the presentation of avery large and intricate topic in a highly compressed form), withthe philosophy of the subject, has been to set forth in English dressthose myths which may be regarded as the accredited representativesof Chinese mythology--those which live in the minds of the people andare referred to most frequently in their literature, not those whichare merely diverting without being typical or instructive--in short,a true, not a distorted image.
