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The Commonalities of Mythical Beings
By CHRISTINE LIN
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Mysterious Chinese
Characters (17): Ru
Every culture has its myths—
tales of monsters and humanoids, spirits and apparitions both
friendly and fearsome. Some of
these oral traditions date back
centuries in each corner of the
globe. They evolve independently
of each other, yet they bear many
similarities.
The Hairy Humanoid
Canadians call it the Sasquatch,
Himalayans call it the Yeti, Mongolians and Russians call it the Almas, Americans call it Bigfoot, and
all of them claim they have seen it.
Photos have been taken of a large,
gorilla-like creature that walks on
two legs and is covered in brown,
black, or white fur. Disbelievers
insist that the photos are of some
genetic variant of a gorilla.
In 2007, nine U.S. producers
from Destination Truth, a paranormal research TV series, traveled to
Nepal where they found foot-long
footprints in the banks of a river.
The lead researcher, Josh Gates,
said he believed they are not prints
of a documented species.
Sherpas tell tales of yeti, whose
calls sound like those of the loon.
Native tribes in Southwest Alaska
also tell of a similar creature, called
Urayuli, with the same voice.
Human-Animal Hybrids
Many creatures from myths bear
some part of the human anatomy.
Mermaids, also called sirens, are
half-woman, half-fish. Minotaurs
and centaurs are half-man, halfbull and half-horse, respectively.
A faun is a man with the legs and
horns of a goat.
The Medieval Beastiary, a manual of medieval creatures both verified and unverified, cites a “manticore,” a “composite beast with a
man’s face, a lion’s body, and the
stinger of a scorpion.”
The above are specifically from
European tradition, but other cultures also have some version of human-animal hybrids. For example,
Egyptians have the Spinx, a lion,
with the head of a King, and Horus, a hawk-headed deity. Curiously, however, East Asian mythology lacks human-animal hybrids
though animal-animal hybrids are
common and humans are often
reincarnated into animals, as per
Buddhist tradition.
Dragons
Both Eastern and Western mythology contain creatures that
have come to be called “dragons,”
but the two serve different roles in
their respective worlds.
The Western dragon is a hell
ESSENTIAL: The Chinese character for “Confucianism” or “Confucian
scholar,” pronounced “ru” in the second tone. THE EPOCH TIMES
(SRFK7LPHV6WDൠ
GNO JOKE: An artist carves a garden gnome in his gnome-making factory. While gnomes have become cliche
landscaping accessories, they come from tales of little people common in myth. ENS-ULRICH KOCH/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
creature; a ferocious tyrannosaurus-rex with wings that often
breathes fire. In Western myth, it
is a creature that the protagonist
must slay, for the dragon holds a
heroine captive.
Teutonic mythology speaks of
the Firedrake, a fire-breathing
reptilian creature, occasionally
winged. The French Gargouille is
a serpentine creature that dwells in
the sea and terrorize boats. Other
sea dragons in Western lore also
play antagonizing roles.
The Eastern dragon, however, is
a protector of the heavens. It lacks
wings and is often depicted with a
scaly, elongated torso, antlers, talons, and whiskers. The Emperor
is seen as the direct descendant of
heaven and can exclusively wear
the dragon as his emblem. Chinese
people call themselves as descendants of the dragon. The thunder
dragon, or “druk” in Bhutanese
represents the Bhutanese royalty,
and it is featured on their flag.
Little People and Giants
The Scottish tell of the Pech or
Pict: miniature but very strong
people. They were rumored to
have built structures such as Stonehenge side by side the giants who
lived during the same period. One
of the Pech tribes, the Scotii, were
said to have invaded the area now
known as Scotland.
Recently, sightings of gnomes
were reported in Argentina. Notoriously, group of teenagers captured a gnome running down a
city street in General Guemes in
March 2008. Locals have reported
sightings before and since then.
Gnomes are described as extremely
small people with beards and cone
hats who live in the earth and have
an affinity for plants. The Americas are also the supposed home of
giants.
In Aztec mythology, Xelhua is
the name of one of the seven giants
who survived the Great Flood.
He was the architect who built
a memorial for the giants who
perished.
In Southeast Asia, locals have
sighted large humanoids they call
the Orang Mawa, and small humanoids they call Orang Pendek.
The Mawa are reportedly 10 feet
tall and wander in the Malaysian jungle in small family units.
“Orang Pendek” is Indonesian for
“short person.” Also a purported
jungle dweller, it stands up to 59
inches tall, according to sightings
reports dating back to the Dutch
occupancy of the region following
World War II.
Goliath of the Jewish tradition
measured anywhere from 6 to 9
feet tall, depending on the source.
“Rephaim” may be a name for a
race of giants believed to have lived
in Iron Age Israel and Palestine.
Spirits and the Undead
Virtually every culture has legends about the undead. Wandering spirits result from unnatural
or premature deaths and vengeful
spirits or corpses come back to life
to haunt the living.
The Norse classifies the undead
in two groups: those who can leave
their graves and enact revenge on
its enemies, and those who simply hover by their burial sites and
attack intruders. Several Native
American peoples, and some Eastern Europeans have stories about
skeletons that inhabit the forest.
ኵ (rú) is part of the character
for “Confucianism”, and is also
used for “Confucian scholar.”
The meaning becomes apparent
by looking at its composition,
the radical on the left, symbolizes man or person, while ᄔ
(xu) is the character for “need”
or “desire.” When one connects
these two characters then, ኵ
means “the need of a human
being.”
According to ancient Chinese
beliefs, people first and foremost
need nutrition, and immediately
after that, education. This was a
belief connected to their understanding of nature.
For example, newborns need
nutrients from the mother’s
milk: (͹Օ muru), and education must start while the child is
still very young (Ᏹʪ rúzi). ኵ
therefore reflects not only the
needs of a person, but is also
pronounced similarly to Օ (ru)
– “mother’s milk.” In this context, Chinese saw education as
vital to young life as milk from
the mother.
ኵ also refers to the teachings
of Confucius (551 BC – 479 BC),
who is said to be one of the most
famous and influential philosophers of ancient China. Confucianism contains in essence the
thoughts of: ˋ (rén) humanity;
ᔩ (lO) ritual; ˀજ (zhongyong)
the middle way; and ૥ (jiào)
and ዕ (xué), which refer to
teaching and learning, embracing topics like politics, ethics,
morality, and education. ˋ, or
“humanity” is the core teaching
of Confucianism, and is present
throughout all Confucian doctrine. Confucius said: “ˋ is
simply to love people.”
Specifically, ˋ contains five
attributes, namely: “respect,
tolerance, dependability, sensibility, generosity.” ᔩ (li) ritual, according to Confucius,
is the code of conduct everyone from emperor to farmer
should follow. It consists of inner spiritual alignment, as well
as outer form. Middle way, ˀજ
(zhongyong), means to recognize that in relating to the world
and the things in it, one should
not go to extremes. Confucius
said: “Learning without reluctance, teaching incessantly.”
Sapphire Arts Center
PLAYPAL: Llamas like this are common in Peru and other parts of South America, and often enough play the
role of human companions. JUAN MABROMATA/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Notes on the Peruvian Llama
By ABRAHAM VASQUEZ
(SRFK7LPHV6WDൠ
LIMA, Peru—Long before the
arrival of the Spanish conquistadores to Peru, and even before
the rise of the Incan Impire, there
lived in the Peruvian Andes a
quadruped of the genus camelid
considered a “miracle of nature.”
Living between 3,500 and 5,000
meters altitude, llamas are able to
endure the coldest temperatures.
At just a little over 3 feet tall,
they can transport inordinate
amounts of weight compared to
size. They posses a very acute
sense of measurement which en-
ables them to know exactly how
much weight they can carry—
when the weight surpasses the
physical capability, the lama will
sit on the ground and refuse to get
up until its load is diminished.
When carrying a load of reasonable weight the lama can walk
firmly for hours in the Andes
along very narrow paths, defying peaks, ravines and cliffs; a
challenge no other animal could
surmount.
Lamas are resistant and tame,
but also stubborn. Although not
very frequent, when upset, they
rise on their hind legs and spit saliva that can sting the skin.
The llama is the only native
South American animal that has
been domesticated, and since
time immemorial it has been the
inseparable companion to the Peruvians living in the Andes.
They are used for transporting loads, in milk production,
for their meat, wool, and hoofs;
they also fertilize the land. They
colors span whites, blacks and
reddish browns, and they not
only decorate the high plateaus of
Peru, but are also an inseparable
part of its landscape. Watching
them walk in lines, one can travel
through ages far away, as if time
had stood still.
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