Myths Legends of China.doc

The Project Gutenberg EBook of Myths and Legends of China, by E. T. C. Werner This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at Title: Myths and Legends of China Author: E. T. C. Werner Release Date: March 4, 2005 [EBook #15250] Language: English Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MYTHS AND LEGENDS OF CHINA *** Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Jeroen Hellingman and the PG Online Distributed Proofreading Team. Confucius: Teacher and Philosopher Myths Legends of China ByE.T.C. WernerH.B.M. Consul Foochow (Retired) Barrister-at-law Middle Temple Late Member of The Chinese Government Historiographical Bureau Peking Author of “Descriptive Sociology: Chinese” “China of the Chinese” Etc.With Thirty-two Illustrations In Colours By Chinese Artists George G. Harrap Co. Ltd.London Bombay Sydney In Memoriam Gladys Nina Chalmers Werner Page 7 Preface The chief literary sources of Chinese myths are the Li tai shên hsien t’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 I have translated or paraphrased largely from these works. I have also consulted and at times quoted from the excellent volumes on Chinese Superstitions by Père Henri Doré, comprised in the valuable series Variétés Sinologiques, published by the Catholic Mission Press at Shanghai. The native works contained in the Ss? K’u Ch’üan Shu, one of the few public libraries in Peking, have proved useful for purposes of reference. My heartiest thanks are due to my good friend Mr Mu Hsüeh-hsün, a scholar of wide learning and generous disposition, for having kindly allowed me to use his very large and useful library of Chinese books. The late Dr G.E. Morrison also, u