Chinese legend of a magical lake in English. The legend of Ritsa in English and Russian languages

Origin and paths The first Italian architects who followed the king's call and came to Krakow were closely connected with Florence. It can also be assumed that their route to Poland ran through Hungary, which could have been facilitated by the king’s personal contacts

The text retains the original spelling

The myth of Sui Ren who made fire

In ancient Chinese legends there are many smart, brave, strong-willed heroes who fought for the happiness of the people. Among them is Sui Ren.

In hoary antiquity, when humanity was still going through a barbaric period, people did not know what fire was and how to use it. When night fell, everything was shrouded in black darkness. The people, cowering, experienced cold and fear, and the threatening howls of wild animals could be heard around them every now and then. People had to eat raw food, they often got sick and died before reaching old age.

There lived one god in the sky named Fu Xi. Seeing people on earth suffering, he felt pain. He wanted people to learn to use fire. Then, with his magical power, he caused a strong hurricane with thunder and lightning, which rained down among the mountains and forests on earth. Thunder rumbled, lightning flashed and a loud crash was heard. Lightning struck the tree and ignited it; the flaring fire soon turned into a raging flame. People were very frightened by this phenomenon and fled in different directions. Then the rain stopped, everything was silent. It was very damp and cold. People came together again. They looked in surprise at the burning tree. One young man noticed that suddenly the usual howls of animals could no longer be heard around him. He wondered if the animals were really afraid of this bright sparkling fire. He came closer and felt warm. He shouted to the people in delight: “Don’t be afraid, come here. It’s light and warm here.” At this time they saw nearby animals burned by fire. A delicious smell emanated from them. The people sat around the fire and began to eat the meat of the animals. Before this they had never tasted such delicious food. Then they realized that fire was a treasure for them. They continually threw brushwood into the fire, and every day they stood guard around the fire, protecting it so that the fire would not go out. But one day the man on duty fell asleep and was unable to throw brushwood in time, and the fire went out. People again found themselves in cold and darkness.

God Fu Xi saw all this and decided to appear in a dream to the young man who was the first to notice the fire. He told him that in the far West there was one state, Suiming. There are sparks of fire there. You can go there and get some sparks. The young man woke up and remembered the words of the god Fu Xi. He decided to go to the country of Suiming and get fire.

He crossed high mountains, crossed fast rivers, walked through dense forests, endured many hardships and finally reached the country of Suiming. But there was no sun there, everything was shrouded in darkness, of course, there was no fire. The young man was very disappointed and sat down under the Suimu tree to rest for a while, broke off a twig and began to rub it on the bark of the tree. Suddenly something flashed before his eyes and illuminated everything around with a bright light. He immediately got up and went to the light. He saw several large birds on the Suima tree, which were pecking out bugs with their short and hard beaks. When they peck once, a spark flashes on the tree. The quick-witted young man immediately broke off several twigs and began to rub them against the bark. Sparks instantly flashed, but there was no fire. Then he collected the branches of several trees and began to rub them against different trees, and finally fire appeared. Tears of joy appeared in the young man's eyes.

The young man returned to his native land. He brought people eternal sparks of fire, which can be obtained by rubbing wooden sticks. And from that day on, people parted with cold and fear. People bowed to the courage and intelligence of the young man and nominated him as their leader. They began to respectfully call him Suizhen, which means the man who produced fire.

Fairy tale "Yao will give up the throne to Shun"

In long-term Chinese feudal history, it is always the emperor's son who takes the throne. But in Chinese myth, between the earliest emperors Yao, Shun, Yu, the cession of the throne was not based on family ties. Whoever has virtue and ability is recommended to take the throne.

In Chinese myth, Yao was the first emperor. When he grew old, he wanted to look for one heir. Therefore, he gathered tribal leaders to discuss this issue.

Some man Fang Chi said: “your son Dan Zhu is enlightened, it is expedient for him to ascend the throne.” Yao said seriously: “No, my son does not have good morals, he only likes to quarrel.” Another person said: “Gong Gong should take the throne, it is appropriate. He controls hydropower." Yao shook his head and said, “Gong Gong was eloquent, respectful in appearance, but different in heart.” This consultation ended without result. Yao continues to search for an heir.

Some time passed, Yao again gathered the tribal leaders. This time, several leaders recommended one common man - Shun. Yao nodded his head and said: “Oh! I also heard that this man is good. Can you tell me in detail about it?” All the people began to tell Shun's affairs: Shun's father, this is a stupid man. People call him "Gu Sou", that is, "blind old man." Shun's mother died long ago. The stepmother treated Shun badly. The stepmother's son's name is Xiang, he is very arrogant. But the blind old man adored Xiang very much. Shun lived in such a family, but he treats his father and brother well. Therefore, people consider him a virtuous person

Yao heard Shun's case and decided to observe Shun. He married his daughters Ye Huang and Nu Ying to Shun, also helped Shun build a food warehouse, and gave him many cows and sheep. Shun's stepmother and brother saw these things, they were both envious and jealous. They, together with the blind old man, repeatedly planned to harm Shun.

One day, a blind old man told Shun to repair the roof of a warehouse. When Shun climbed up the stairs to the roof, the blind old man below set fire to burn Shun. Fortunately, Shun took two wicker hats with him, he took the hats and jumped like a flying bird. With the help of the hat, Shun easily fell to the ground without injury.

The blind old man and Xiang did not leave, they ordered Shun to clean the well. When Shun was jumping, the Blind Old Man and Xiang threw stones from above to fill up the well. But Shun was digging a channel at the bottom of the well, he climbed out of the well and returned home safely.

Xiang does not know that Shun has already gotten out of the dangerous situation, he returned home contentedly and said to the blind old man: “This time Shun is definitely dead, now we can divide Shun’s property.” After that, he went into the room, unexpectedly, when he entered the room, Shun was already sitting on the bed playing the instrument. Xiang was very scared, he said embarrassedly, “Oh, I miss you so much!”

And Shun, as if nothing had happened, after Shun, as before, warmly addressed his parents and brother, the blind old man and Xiang no longer dared to harm Shun.

Then Yao observed Shun many times and considered Shun to be a virtuous and businesslike person. Deciding that he had given up the throne to Shun. The Chinese historian called this form of cession of the throne "Shan Zhan", that is, "abdicate the throne."

When Shun was the emperor, he was hard-working and humble, he worked like the common people, all the people believed in him. When Shun was old, he, too, thus chose the virtuous and intelligent Yu as his heir.

People became convinced that in the century of Yao, Shun, Yu there was no demand for rights and interests, the emperor and ordinary people lived well and modestly.

The Myth of the Five Sacred Mountains

Suddenly, one day, the mountains and forests were engulfed by a huge, fierce fire, the odes gushing from underground flooded the land, and the earth turned into a continuous ocean, the waves of which reached the sky. People could not escape from the ode that overtook them, and they were still in danger of death from various predatory animals and birds. It was real hell.

Nui-wa, seeing her children suffer, became very sad. Not knowing how to punish the evil instigator who was not destined to die, she began the hard work of repairing the sky. The work ahead of her was big and difficult. But this was necessary for the happiness of the people, and Nyu-wa, who dearly loved her children, was not at all afraid of the difficulties, and boldly took on the task alone.

First of all, she collected many stones of five different colors, melted them into a liquid mass on fire and used it to seal the holes in the sky. If you look closely, there seems to be some difference in the color of the sky, but from a distance it seems the same as before.

Although Nui-wa repaired the firmament well, she could not make it the same as before. They say that the northwestern part of the sky was slightly askew, so the sun, moon and stars began to move towards this part of the sky and set in the west. A deep depression formed in the southeast of the earth, so the flow of all the rivers rushed towards it, and seas and oceans are concentrated there.

A huge crab lived in the sea for a thousand years. The waters of all rivers, seas, oceans and even the heavenly river flow through it and maintain a constant level of water, without increasing or decreasing it.

In Guixu, there were five sacred mountains: Daiyu, Yuanjiao, Fanghu, Yingzhou, Penglai. The height and circumference of each of these mountains was thirty thousand li, the distance between them was seventy thousand li, on the tops of the mountains there were flat spaces of nine thousand li, on them stood golden palaces with stairs made of white jade. Immortals lived in these palaces.

Both the birds and animals there were white, and jade and pearl trees grew everywhere. After flowering, jade and pearl fruits appeared on the trees, which were good to eat and brought immortality to those who ate them. The immortals apparently wore white clothes and had small wings growing on their backs. Little immortals could often be seen flying freely in the azure blue sky above the sea like birds. They flew from mountain to mountain, looking for their relatives and friends. Their life was fun and happy.

And only one circumstance overshadowed her. The fact is that these five sacred mountains floated on the sea, without having any solid support under them. In calm weather this did not matter much, but when the waves rose, the mountains moved in uncertain directions, and for the immortals flying from mountain to mountain, this created a lot of inconvenience: they thought they would quickly fly somewhere, but their path unexpectedly lengthened; going to any place, they each discovered that it had disappeared, and they had to look for it. This put a lot of work into my head and took a lot of energy. All the residents suffered and in the end, after consulting, they sent several envoys with a complaint to Tian Di, the heavenly ruler. Tian Di ordered the spirit of the North Sea, Yu Qiang, to immediately figure out how to help them. When Yu-Qiang appeared in the form of the god of the sea, he was relatively kind and, like the “land fish,” had the body of a fish, arms, legs, and rode two dragons. Why did he have the body of a fish? The fact is that originally it was a fish in the great North Sea and its name was Gun, which means “whale fish.” The whale was huge, one cannot even say how many thousands it was. He could shake his friend and turn into a pen bird, a huge evil phoenix. He was so large that his back alone stretched for who knows how many thousands of miles. Angry, he flew away, and his two black wings darkened the sky like clouds stretching to the horizon. Every year in winter, when the currents of the seas change their direction, he went from the North Sea to the South Sea, from a fish he turned into a bird, from the god of the sea - the god of the wind. And when the roaring and groaning, chilling and bone-piercing northern wind rose, it meant that Yu-Qiang, the god of the sea, who had turned into a huge bird, blew. When he turned into a bird and flew out of the North Sea, with one flap of his wings he raised huge sea waves reaching the sky, three thousand li high. Pushing them with a hurricane wind, he climbed straight onto the ninety thousand li cloud. This cloud flew south for six months, and only after reaching the South Sea did Yu-Qiang descend to rest a little. It was this spirit of the sea and the spirit of the wind that the heavenly ruler ordered to find appropriate place for the immortals from the five sacred mountains.

Longbo, the land of giants, was tens of thousands of li north of the Kunlun Mountains. The people of this country apparently descended from dragons, which is why they were called “lunbo” - relatives of dragons. They say that among them lived one giant, who became sad from idleness and, taking a fishing rod with him, went to the large ocean, beyond the Eastern Sea, to fish. As soon as he stepped foot into the oda, he found himself in the area where the five sacred mountains were located. He took a few steps and walked around all five mountains. I cast the fishing rod once, twice, three times and pulled out six hungry turtles that had not eaten anything for a long time. Without thinking twice, he threw them on his back and ran home. He tore off their shells, began to heat them on fire and tell fortunes from the cracks. Unfortunately, two mountains - Daiyu and Yuanjiao - lost their support and the waves carried them to the Northern Limit, where they drowned in the great ocean. No matter how hard we try, we will not be able to find out how many immortals rushed back and forth across the sky with their belongings and how much sweat left them.

The heavenly lord, having learned about this, burst into mighty thunder, called upon his great magical powers and made the country of Lunbo become very small, and the inhabitants stunted, so that they would not deliriously go to other lands and do evil. Of the five sacred mountains of Guixue, only two sank, and the turtles holding the other three mountains on their heads began to fulfill their duty more conscientiously. They carried their load evenly, and from then on no misfortunes were heard of.

The Myth of the Great Pan Gu

They say that in hoary antiquity there was neither heaven nor earth in the world; the entire cosmos was like a huge egg, inside of which there was complete darkness and primordial chaos reigned.It was impossible to distinguish up from down, left from right; that is, there was no east, no west, no south, no north. However, inside this huge egg was a legendary hero, the famous Pan Gu, who managed to separate Heaven from Earth. Pan Gu was in the egg for no less than 18 thousand years, and one day, waking up from a deep sleep, he opened his eyes and saw that he was in pitch darkness. It was so hot inside that he had difficulty breathing. He wanted to rise and straighten up to his full height, but the egg shell so tightly bound him that he could not even stretch his arms and legs. This made Pan Gu very angry. He grabbed the large ax that had been with him since birth and hit the shell with all his might. There was a deafening roar. The huge egg split, and everything transparent and pure in it slowly rose high and was transformed into the sky, and everything dark and heavy sank down and became the earth.

Pan Gu separated Heaven and Earth, and this made him very happy. However, fearing that Heaven and Earth would close again. He supported the sky with his head and rested his feet on the ground; he took on a different form 9 times a day, using all his power. Every day he grew by one zhang - i.e. approximately 3.3 meters. Together with him, the Sky rose one zhang higher, and the earth, thus, became thicker by one zhang. So again 18 thousand years passed. Pan Gu turned into a large giant supporting the sky. The length of his body was 90 thousand li. It is unknown how much time passed, but finally the Earth hardened and could no longer merge with the Sky again. Only then did Pan Gu stop worrying. But by that time he was very exhausted, his energy was exhausted and his huge body suddenly crashed to the ground.

Before his death, his body underwent enormous changes. His left eye turned into a bright golden sun, and his right eye into a silvery moon. His last breath became wind and clouds, and the last sound he made became thunder. His hair and mustache scattered into a myriad of bright stars. The arms and legs became the four poles of the earth and high mountains. Pan Gu's blood spilled onto the Earth in rivers and lakes. His veins turned into roads, and his muscles into fertile lands. The skin and hair on the giant’s body turned into grass and trees, and teeth and bones into gold, silver, copper and iron, jade and other treasures of the earth’s bowels; the sweat turned to rain and dew. This is how the world was created.

The myth of Nu Wa, who blinded people

At the time when Pan Gu created Heaven and Earth, humanity had not yet been born. A heavenly goddess named Nu Wa discovered that this land lacked life. Once she walked the earth alone and sad, she intends to create more life for the earth.

Nu Wa walked on the ground. She loved wood and flowers, but preferred cute and lively birds and animals. Having observed nature, she believed that the world created by Pan Gu was not yet beautiful enough, and the minds of birds and animals were not satisfied with her. She is determined to create a smarter life.

She walked on the banks of the Yellow River, squatted down and, scooping up a handful of water, began to drink. Suddenly she saw her reflection in the water. Then she took some yellow clay from the river, mixed it with water and, looking at her reflection, began to carefully sculpt a figure. Soon a lovely little girl appeared in her arms. Nyu Wa breathed lightly on her, and the girl came to life. Then the goddess blinded her a boy friend, they were the first man and woman on earth. Nü Wa was very happy and began to quickly sculpt other little people.

She wanted to fill the whole world with them, but the world turned out to be incredibly huge. How could this process be accelerated? Nü Wa lowered the vine into the water, stirred the river clay with it, and when the clay stuck to the stem, she lashed it onto the ground. Where the lumps of clay fell, to her surprise. Thus the world was filled with people.

New people appeared. Soon the whole earth was filled with people. But a new problem arose: it occurred to the Goddess that people would still die. With the death of some, new others will have to be sculpted again. And this is too troublesome. And then Nu Wa called all the people to her and ordered them to create their own offspring. So people, by order of Nü Wa, took responsibility for the birth and upbringing of their children. Since that time, under this Heaven, on this Earth, people themselves have created their offspring. This continued from generation to generation. That's how it all happened.

Fairy tale "The Shepherd and the Weaver"

The shepherd was a poor and cheerful bachelor. He has only one old cow and one plow. Every day, he worked in the field, and after that, he himself cooked lunch and washed clothes. He lived very poorly. Suddenly, one day, a miracle appeared.

After work, the Shepherd returned home; as soon as he entered, he saw: the room was clean, the clothes were freshly washed, and there was also hot and tasty food on the table. The shepherd was surprised and widened his eyes, he thought: What is this? Did the saints come down from heaven? The shepherd could not understand this matter.

After that, in the last days, every day like this. The shepherd could not stand it, he decided to examine it so that everything would become clear. This day, as usual, the Shepherd left early, he hid not far from the house. Secretly observed the situation in the house.

After some time, one beautiful girl came. She entered the Shepherd's house and began to do housework. The shepherd could not stand it, and came out to ask: “Girl, why are you helping me with the housework?” The girl was scared, embarrassed and said quietly: “My name is Weaver, I saw that you lived poorly, and I came to help you.” The shepherd was very happy and boldly said: “Well, you will marry me, and we will work and live together, okay?” The weaver agreed. From that time on, the Shepherd and the Weaver got married. Every day, the Shepherd works in the field, the Weaver in the house weaves cloth and does housework. They have a happy life.

Some years passed, the Weaver gave birth to one son and one daughter. The whole family is cheerful.

One day, the sky was covered with dark clouds, two gods came to the Shepherd's house. They informed the Shepherd that the Weaver was the granddaughter of the heavenly king. Some years ago, she left home, the heavenly king searched for her non-stop. The two gods forcibly carried Weaver to the heavenly palace.

The shepherd, clutching two young children, looked at his forced wife, he was sad. He gave his beak to go to heaven and find the Weaver so that the whole family could meet. Well, an ordinary person, how can he get to heaven?

When the Shepherd was sad, the old cow, who had lived with him for a long time, said: “Kill me, wearing my skin, and you can fly to the heavenly palace to look for the Weaver.” The shepherd did not want to do this in any way, but he did not over-stubborn the cow, and because he had no other measures, finally, reluctantly and with tears, he did according to the words of the old cow.

The shepherd put on the skin of a cow, carrying the children in a basket and flying to the sky. But in the heavenly palace there is a strict rank, no one respects one poor ordinary person. The Heavenly King also did not allow the Shepherd to meet the Weaver.

The shepherd and the children repeatedly asked, and finally the heavenly king allowed them to meet briefly. The planted Weaver saw her husband and children, both sadly and cordially. Time passed quickly, the heavenly king gave the command that the Weaver was taken away again. The sad Shepherd was carrying two children and was chasing the Weaver. He fell repeatedly, and stood again when he would soon catch up with the Weaver, the evil heavenly empress pulling out a golden hairpin from the oxen and cutting one wide silver river between them. Since then, the Shepherd and the Weaver can only stand on the two banks, looking at each other far away. Only on June 7th of each year, the Shepherd and the Weaver are allowed to meet once. Then, thousands of magpies fly in and build one long magpie bridge over the silver river so that the Shepherd and the Weaver can meet.

Fairy tale "Kua Fu chases the sun"

In ancient times, a high mountain rose in the northern desert. In the depths of the forests, many giants live with great difficulty. Their head is called Kua Fu, two golden snakes weigh on his ears, and two golden snakes are clutched in his hands. Because his name is Kua Fu, this group of giants is called "Kua Fu Nation". They are good-natured, hardworking and courageous, they live blissfully and without struggle.

There is one year, the day is very hot, the sun is very hot, the forests are scorched, the river is dry. People endured it hard, and one after another they died. Kua Fu was very heartbroken for this. He looked up at the sun and said to his relatives: “The sun is very nasty! I will definitely guess the sun, capture it and make it submit to people.” Having heard his words, his relatives dissuaded him. Some said: “Under no circumstances should you go, the sun is far from us, you will be tired to death.” Some said: “The sun is so hot, you will warm yourself to death.” But Kua Fu had already decided so, looking at his sad, gloomy relatives, he said: “For the lives of people, I will definitely go.”

Kua Fu said goodbye to his relatives, in the direction of the sun, he ran with long strides like the wind. The sun in the sky is moving quickly, Kua Fu on the ground was running around headlong. He ran through many mountains, stepped over many rivers, the earth shook with a roar from his step. Kua Fu was tired from running, shook the dust out of his shoes, and a large mountain took shape. When Kua Fu was preparing dinner, he lifted three stones to support the pan, these three stones turned into three high opposing mountains, their height is a thousand meters.

Kua Fu ran after the sun without a break, and closer to the sun, his faith became stronger. Finally, Kua Fu caught up with the sun at the place where the sun fell. There is a red and light ball of fire in front of the eyes, thousands of golden lights shone on it. Kua Fu was very happy, he spread his arms, wanted to hug the sun, but the sun was so hot, he felt thirsty and tired. He reached the bank of the Yellow River, he drank all the water of the Yellow River in one breath. Then he ran to the bank of the “Uy River” and drank up all the water of this river. But that still didn't quench my thirst. Kua Fu ran to the north, there is big lakes, which stretch along and across for thousandths of li. The lakes have sufficient water to quench your thirst. But Kua Fu did not reach the large lakes and died halfway from thirst.

On the eve of death, his heart was filled with regret. He missed his family. He threw the staff from his hand, and a lush peach forest immediately appeared. This peach forest is lush all year round. The forest shields passers-by from the sun, fresh peaches quench their thirst, and allow people to eliminate fatigue and emerge with ebullient energy.

The fairy tale “Kua Fu chases the sun” reflects the desire of the ancient Chinese people to overcome drought. Even though Kua Fu died at the end, his persistent spirit always lives on. In many Chinese ancient books, the corresponding fairy tales “Kua Fu chases the sun” were written down. In some places in China, people call the mountains “Kua Fu Mountains”, in memory of Kua Fu.

Fight Huangdi with Chiyu

Several thousand years ago, many clans and tribes lived in the basins of the Yellow and Yangtze rivers, among which the most numerous was the tribe, the head of which was Huangdi (Yellow Emperor). There was also another no less numerous tribe, the head of which was called Yandi. Huangdi and Yandi were brothers. And in the Yangtze River basin lived the Jiuli tribe, whose head was called Chiyu. Chiyu was a dashing man. He had 81 brothers. Each of them had a human head, an animal body and iron hands. All 81 brothers, together with Chiyu, were engaged in the manufacture of knives, bows and arrows, and other weapons. Under the leadership of Chiyu, his formidable brothers often raided the lands of foreign tribes.

At that time it happened that Chiyu and his brothers attacked the Yandi tribe and seized their land. Yandi was forced to seek help from Huangdi, who lived in Zhuolu. Huangdi had long wanted to put an end to Chiyu and his brothers, who had already become the source of many disasters. Having united with other tribes, Huangdi fought a decisive battle with Chiyu on the plain near Zhuolu. This battle went down in history as the “Battle of Zhuolu”. At the beginning of the battle, Chiyu had the upper hand due to his sharp blades and his brave and strong army. Then Huangdi called for help from the dragon and other predatory animals to join the battle. Despite the valor and strength of Chiyu's troops, they were far inferior to Huangdi's forces. In the face of danger, Chiyu's army fled. At this time, the sky suddenly darkened, a terrible downpour began, and a strong wind blew. It was Chiyu who called the spirits of Wind and Rain to help. But Huangdi showed no weakness. He turned to the spirit of Drought. Instantly the wind stopped blowing and raining, and the scorching sun came out into the sky. Worried about his defeat, Chiyu began to cast a spell to create a strong fog. In the fog, Huangdi's soldiers became disorientated. Knowing that the constellation Ursa Major always points to the North, Huangdi immediately made an amazing chariot called “Jinanche”, which always rode strictly to the South. It was “Jinanche” that led the Huangdi army out of the fog. And Huangdi's troops eventually won. They killed Chiyu's 81 brothers and captured Chiyu. Chiyu was executed. In order for Chiyu's soul to find peace after death, the victors decided to bury Chiyu's head and body separately. In the place on the ground where Chiyu’s blood passed, a forest of thorny thickets grew. And drops of Chiyu’s blood turned into crimson leaves on the thorns.

After his death, Chiya was still considered a hero. Huangdi ordered that Chiyu be depicted on the flags of his troops to inspire the army and intimidate enemies. After defeating Chiyu, Huangdi received the support of many tribes and became their leader.

Huangdi had many talents. He invented a method for building a palace, a cart, and a boat. He also came up with a method for dyeing fabrics. Huangdi's wife, named Leizu, taught people to raise silkworms, produce silk thread, and weave. It was from that time that silk appeared in China. After a gazebo was built especially for Huangdi, Leizu invented a “singing”, movable gazebo in the form of an umbrella.

All ancient legends are filled with the spirit of respect for Huangdi. Huangdi is considered the founder of the Chinese nation. Due to the fact that Huangdi and Yandi were close relatives, and the unification of their tribes, the Chinese call themselves "descendants of Yandi and Huangdi." In honor of Huangdi, a tombstone and grave for Huangdi were built on Mount Qiaoshan in Huangling County, Shaanxi Province. Every spring, Chinese people from different parts of the world gather to perform the kneeling ceremony.

The Tale of Howe and

The Legend of Chang E on the Moon

Mid-Autumn Festival, Spring Festival and Duangwu Festival are old traditional Chinese national holidays.

On the eve of the Mid-Autumn Festival in China, according to tradition, the whole family gets together to admire the full moon in the night sky and taste festive foods: mooncakes “yuebin”, fresh fruits, various sweets and seeds. And now we will tell you in more detail about the origin of the Mid-Autumn Festival.

The beautiful Chang E in Chinese mythology is the goddess of the Moon. Her husband, Hou Yi, the brave God of War, was an exceptionally accurate shooter. At that time, there were many predatory animals in the Celestial Empire, which brought great harm and ruin to people. Therefore, the main lord, the Heavenly Emperor, sent Hou Yi to earth to destroy these malicious predators.

　　 And so, by order of the emperor, Hou Yi, taking with him his lovely wife Chang E, descended into the human world. Being unusually brave, he killed many disgusting monsters. When the order of the Heavenly Lord was almost completed, trouble happened - 10 suns suddenly appeared in the sky. These 10 suns were the sons of the Heavenly Emperor himself. For fun, they decided to all appear in the sky together at once. But under their hot rays, all life on earth suffered from unbearable heat: rivers dried up, forests and harvests in the fields began to burn, human corpses incinerated by the heat lay everywhere.

Hou Yi could no longer endure all this suffering and torment of the people. At first, he tried to persuade the emperor’s sons to appear in the sky one by one. However, the arrogant princes did not pay any attention to him. On the contrary, to spite him, they began to approach the Earth, which caused a huge fire. Seeing that the sun brothers did not give in to persuasion and were still destroying people, Hou Yi, in a fit of anger, pulled out his magic bow and arrows and began to shoot at the suns. One by one, he “extinguished” 9 suns with his well-aimed arrows. The last sun began to ask Hou Yi for mercy, and he, having forgiven him, lowered his bow.

For the sake of all life on Earth, Hou Yi destroyed 9 suns, which, of course, greatly angered the Heavenly Emperor. Having lost 9 of his sons, the Emperor angrily forbade Hou Yi and his wife to return to the heavenly abode where they lived.

And Hou Yi and his wife had to stay on earth. Hou Yi decided to do as much good as possible to people. However, his wife, the beautiful Chang E, suffered greatly from the complete hardships of life on Earth. Because of this, she never stopped complaining to Hou Yi for killing the sons of the Heavenly Emperor.

One day Hou Yi heard that on Mount Kunlun there lived a holy woman, the Goddess of the Western Region, Siwanmu, who had a magic potion. Anyone who drinks this medicine can go to heaven. Hou Yi decided to get that medicine at all costs. He overcame mountains and rivers, he experienced a lot of torment and anxiety on the road and finally reached the Kunlun Mountains, where Sivanmu lived. He asked Saint Sivanmu for a magic potion, but unfortunately, the magic elixir Sivanmu only had enough for one. Hou Yi could not ascend to the heavenly palace alone, leaving his beloved wife to live in anguish among people. He also did not want his wife to take to the skies alone, leaving him to live alone on Earth. Therefore, having taken the drug, he hid it well upon returning home.

A little time passed and one day Chang E finally discovered a magic elixir and, despite the fact that she loved her husband very much, she could not overcome the temptation to return to heaven. On the 15th of the 8th month according to the Lunar calendar there was a full moon, and Chang E, seizing the moment when her husband was not at home, drank the magic elixir Sivanmu. After drinking it, she felt extraordinary lightness throughout her body, and she, weightless, began to float, rising higher and higher towards the sky. Finally she reached the Moon, where she began to live in the great Guanghan Palace. Meanwhile, Hou Yi returned home and did not find his wife. He was greatly saddened, but the thought of injuring his beloved wife with his magic arrow did not even occur to him. He had to say goodbye to her forever.

Lonely Hou Yi remained to live on Earth, still doing good to people. He had many followers who learned archery from him. Among them was a man named Feng Meng, who mastered the art of archery so much that he was soon equal to his teacher. And an insidious thought crept into Feng Meng’s soul: while Hou Yi was alive, he would not be the first shooter in the Celestial Empire. And he killed Hou Yi when he was hungover.

And from the time when the beautiful Chang E flew to the moon, she lived in complete solitude. Only a small bunny, who was pounding cinnamon grains in a mortar, and one lumberjack kept her company. Chang E sat sadly in the lunar palace all day long. Especially on the day of the full moon - the 15th of the 8th month, when the Moon is especially beautiful, she recalled her happy past days on Earth.

There are many legends in Chinese folklore about the origin of the Mid-Autumn Festival. Over the centuries, many Chinese poets and writers have also composed many beautiful lines dedicated to this holiday. The great poet Su Shi in the 10th century wrote his subsequently famous immortal stanzas:

“And in ancient times this was the custom - after all, it was rare that the joy of the earth

And the shine of the renewed moon coincided over the years.

I want one thing - for people to be separated for a thousand miles

We preserved the beauty of souls and preserved the loyalty of hearts!”

Gun and Yu's fight against floods

In China, the legend of Yu's fight against the flood is very popular. Gun and Yu, father and son, were heroes who acted for the good of the people.

In ancient times, China experienced rapid river flooding for 22 years. The whole earth turned into huge rivers and lakes. The population lost their homes and was attacked by wild animals. Many people died due to natural disasters. The head of the Huaxia tribe, Yao, was very worried. He gathered the heads of all the tribes for a council to find a way to overcome the flood. In the end, they decided that Gun would shoulder this task on his own shoulders.

Upon learning of Yao's order, Gun racked his brains for a long time and finally decided that building dams would help control the floods. He developed a detailed plan. But Gunya did not have enough stones and earth to build dams. One day an old turtle crawled out of the water. She told Gunyu that there is an amazing gem in the sky called “Sizhan”. In the place where this Sizhan is thrown to the ground, it will sprout and instantly become a dam or a mountain. Hearing the words of the turtle, Gun, inspired by hope, went to the western region, where the heavenly paradise is located. He decided to turn to the Heavenly Emperor for help. Having reached the Kunlun Mountains, Gun saw the Heavenly Emperor and asked him for the magical “Sizhan”. But the emperor refused to give him the stone. Seizing the moment when the heavenly guards were not so vigilant, Gun grabbed the stone and returned with it to the East.

Gun threw Sizhan into the water and saw him grow. Soon a dam appeared from underground, stopping the flood. So the flood was tamed. The people returned to normal life.

Meanwhile, the Heavenly Emperor learned that Gun had stolen the magical “Sizhan” and immediately sent his heavenly soldiers to descend to earth to return the jewel. They took “Sizhan” from Gunya, and again the people began to live in poverty. The flood destroyed all the dams of Gunya and destroyed the rice fields. Many people died. Yao was furious. He said that Gun only knows how to stop the disaster, and the destruction of the dam led to even more tragic consequences. Yao believed that Gun fought against the flood for nine years, but could not achieve complete victory over it, so he should be executed. Then Gun was imprisoned in a cave in Mount Yushan. And three years later he was executed. Even when he was dying, Gun still thought about fighting the flood.

Twenty years later, Yao gave up his throne to Shun. Shun ordered Gong's son Yu to continue his father's work. This time, the Heavenly Emperor gave "Sizhan" to Yu. At first, Yu used his father's methods. But the results were disastrous. Learning from his father's actions, Yu realized that fencing is not the only way to deal with flooding. We need to drain the water. Yu invited the turtle to give him wise advice. On the back of a turtle, Yu traveled all over the Celestial Empire. He raised the low-lying areas with the help of the magical "Sizhan". At the same time, he called for the help of a dragon to show the way among the endless flood. Thus, Yu diverted the river beds, directing the water to the sea.

According to legend, Yu cut Mount Longmen (“Dragon Gate”) in two, through which the course of the Yellow River began to pass. This is how the Dragon Gate gorge was formed. And in the lower reaches of the river, Yu cut the mountain into several parts, resulting in the formation of the Sanmen (Three Gates) gorge. For thousands of years, the beauty of Longmen and Sanmen has attracted numerous tourists.

There are many legends among the people about Yuya's fight against floods. One of them is this: four days after the wedding, Yu left home to take office. During 13 years of fighting floods, he passed his house three times, but never entered it, he was so busy with work. Yu gave all his strength and wisdom to this long and intense struggle. Finally, his efforts were crowned with success, and he won victory over the water of the elements. To thank Yu, the people elected him as their ruler. Shun also willingly gave up the throne in favor of Yu for his merits.

In a primitive society, which is characterized by extreme low level development of productive forces, people have composed many legends that reflect the struggle between man and the elements. Gun and Yu are heroes created by the people themselves. In the process of fighting floods, the Chinese have accumulated a wealth of experience in the field of irrigation, that is, controlling floods through diversion and diversion. These legends also contain folk wisdom.

Hou Di and the Five Cereals

Ancient Chinese civilization is an agrarian civilization. Therefore, in China there are many legends that talk about agriculture.

After the appearance of man, he spent his days and nights worrying about his daily bread. Hunting, fishing and collecting wild fruits were the main activities of the early people.

Once upon a time in Yutai (name of the place) there lived a young girl whose name was Jiang Yuan. One day, when she was walking, on the way home she came across some large footprints on the road. These traces interested her very much. And she put her foot on one of the prints. After this, Jiang Yuan felt a trembling all over her body. A little time passed and she became pregnant. After the due date, Jiang Yuan gave birth to a child. Because the newborn boy did not have a father, people thought that he would be very unhappy. They took him away from his mother and threw him alone into the field. Everyone thought that the child would die of hunger. However, wild animals came to the aid of the baby and protected the boy with all their might. The females fed him with their milk, and the child survived. After he survived, evil people decided to leave the boy alone in the forest. But at that time, fortunately, there was a woodcutter in the forest who saved the child. So the evil people again failed to destroy the baby. Finally, people decided to leave it in the ice. And again a miracle happened. Out of nowhere, a darkness of birds flew in, they opened their wings, covering the boy with them from the cold wind. After this, people realized that this was an unusual boy. They returned him to his mother Jiang Yuan. Due to the fact that the child was always abandoned somewhere, he was nicknamed Chi (Thrown Away).

Growing up, little Chi had a great dream. Seeing that people’s lives are fraught with suffering, that every day they have to hunt wild animals and collect wild fruits, he thought: if people always had food, then life would become better. Then he began collecting seeds of wild wheat, rice, soybeans, kaoliang and various fruit trees. Having collected them, Chi sowed the seeds in the field, which he himself cultivated. He constantly irrigated and weeded, and in the fall a harvest appeared on the field. These fruits were tastier than wild ones. To make working in the field as good and convenient as possible, Chi made simple tools from wood and stone. And when Chi grew up, he had already accumulated a wealth of experience in agriculture and passed on his knowledge to people. After this, people changed their previous way of life and began to call Chi “Hou Di”. "Hou" means "ruler" and "Di" means "bread."

To honor Hou Di's achievements, after his death he was buried in a place called "Wide Field". This particular place had a beautiful landscape and fertile soil. Legend has it that the celestial staircase connecting Heaven and Earth is located very close to this field. According to legend, every autumn birds flocked to this place, led by the sacred phoenix.