ASIAN
MYTHOLOGY
PRESENTATION BY:
Hernandez, Mary Ann B.
BSED English 2201
GODS AND GODESSES
FOX SPIRITS
•Also known as: Kitsune (Japan);
Kumiho (Korea)
•Origin: East Asia
Fox Spirits are not ordinary foxes. They are spirits whose true form is a fox
shape in the same way that other spirits take the form of humans, cats, snakes,
or birds, Fox Spirits may resemble ordinary foxes. The older a Fox Spirit gets, the
more powerful it becomes. Age and power may be displayed by additional tails.
The most powerful and ancient Fox Spirits are nine-tailed foxes.
Theoretically, ordinary foxes can eventually evolve into Fox Spirits in the way that
humans can evolve into spirits, too.
Most Fox Spirits are shape-shifters; they can take many forms, including that of
humans. Often they appear in the guise of seductive young women; however,
any form is possible. Fox Spirits can also shape-shift so that they appear identical
to a specific person. Thus, someone may recognize a friend or relative at the
door and open it, only to admit the Fox Spirit in disguise.
Fox Spirits, seductive, sneaky, and often treacherous, are staples of modern
manga, anime, and other forms of entertainment. Once upon a time, Fox Spirits
were considered protectors, teachers, providers, and sponsors of the occult and
alchemical arts. Even now, some Fox Spirits are saintly and helpful.
The foxes that serve as Inari’s messengers are
miracle workers, understood as sacred and
godly.
In China, their reputation is somewhat
milder, although some sexual associations
exist.
Fox Spirits cause illness and misfortune.
They possess victims, similar to possession
by demons or dybbuks.
KWAN YIN
The Goddess of Mercy
She Who Hears the Cries of the World
Also known as: Guan Yin, Kuan Shih Yin, Phat Ba
Quan Am, Sung-Tzu-Niang-Niang
Alternative spellings: Quan Yin, Guan Yin, Kuan
Yin,
Kwan Yin is the very essence of mercy and
compassion; among the most beloved and well
known of all spirits. Technically, Kwan Yin is
considered a Bodhisattva, venerated as such
throughout the Buddhist world but she also
possesses the stature of a goddess and many
consider her to be one, not just modern
Western goddess devotees but also in East Asian
folk religion.
Kwan Yin has many forms. She is
typically depicted as a kind, beautiful
woman dressed in white. In her
fertility goddess path, she carries at
least one child. These statues closely
resemble images of Isis or the
Madonna. Kwan Yin is depicted with
one-thousand eyes and one
thousand arms indicating her ability
to see all and help all. Kwan Yin may
be accompanied by her acolytes, a
small girl and boy.
Sir Fish
Also known as: Ca Ong; Mr. Fish; Grandfather
Fish; Lord Fish
Origin: Vietnam
Favored people: Fishermen and men in general;
Sir Fish is a men’s deity.
Sir Fish is not exactly a fish: he’s a whale. Sir Fish,
King of the Sea, is a guardian deity in the form of a
whale. He is the patron of fishermen whom he
protects out on open waters.
FUJI- GODESS OF FIRE
Goddess Fuji, also known as Fuchi, is a
powerful and almighty goddess of fire. The
ancient people of Japan depended on her
favor and her strength. The majestic
mountain, Fuji was even named after her.
Both seem beautiful and soft like a light
breeze, but their fire can be very powerful
and destructive. Fuji is the goddess of fire;
honor her and release her into your life.
Dragon King of the Sea
The Dragon King is the lord of water; he
controls precipitation and thus helps or
hinders agriculture. He controls sea
waters, stilling them as desired or raising
storms. He remains an important deity
for sailors and those who fish or
otherwise ply the waters. He is not
limited to salt water but has dominion
over rivers, too.
FAMOUS ASIAN
MYTHOLOGY STORIES
BUDDHIST MYHTOLOGY
“THE BIRTH OF BUDDHA”
Siddhartha Gautama (Sakyamuni Buddha): The main character
of the Buddha series and prince of the Shakya tribe
Queen Māyā of Sakya ( Pali: Māyādevī) was the birth mother of
Gautama Buddha, the sage on whose teachings Buddhism was
founded.
King Suddhodana –Budha’s father
SUMMARY
One of Buddhism's main myths and stories is the story of the birth of the Buddha. The story
goes as such:
King Suddhodana and his wife, Queen Maya, ruled a land close to the Himalayan Mountains
twenty five centuries ago. One day, Queen Maya went to sleep in her quarters, only to dream
of four angels carrying her up into mountain peaks colored white, and covered her completely
in flowers. A white bull elephant then appeared, carrying a white colored Lotus in its trunk. It
circled around her three times before hitting her on the right side and disappearing into her
body. She awoke and told her husband, who ordered 64 Brahmans to interpret and help her to
understand what this dream signified. She was told that she would give birth to a boy, and that
if he did not leave the household, he would become a conqueror, however if he did, he was to
become a Buddha. Buddhist myths and stories are highly based upon finding enlightenment
and enriching ourselves. They are about individual understanding of oneself, and of finding
contentment and happiness inside ourselves.
CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
“Hou-Yi Shooting the Suns ( 后羿射日 , Hòu yì shè rì)”
Hou-Yi is a legendary hero and a skillful archer. Legend has it
that there were originally ten suns in the sky in the ancient
time. Hou-Yi, seeing the people suffer from the scorching
suns as well as the withering plants and land, decided to
shoot down the suns with his superb archery skills.
Therefore, Hou-Yi shot down nine suns one by one and keep
the last one to nurture the land and bright the day. Since
then, Hou-Yi is well-known as a heroic archer, and with his
wife Chang E ( 嫦娥 , Cháng’é) created the most romantic
but sad story as Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival
Pan Gu
Split the Heavens and Earth / NuWa Made Men
“The beginning of
Chinese universe: Pan
Gu Split the Heavens
and Earth.”
The creation of the universe is one of the most classic Chinese legends. At the
very beginning, the universe was a mess like a gigantic egg. Everything was in
chaos. Pan Gu ( 盘古 ) is the giant who split the heaven and earth apart with
his great power after he awake from this “gigantic egg.” Pan Gu then prop up
and guard this universe after the heaven and earth grew higher, thicker and
more steady.
After he died, Pan Gu’s left eye turned into Sun, right eye turned into Moon;
his hair and mustache became the stars in the sky and his limbs became the
four cardinal directions and huge mountains. His blood became the lakes and
streams; teeth and bones became underground mineral, his fine hair became
the trees and grass in the world and his muscles became the fertile soil. His
sweat became the dew and rain, and finally, his soul scattered and became
human beings.
Black and White Impermanence
Yama ( 阎罗王 , Yánluó wáng), also known as
King of Hell or King Yan, is the judge of the
Underworld. In Chinese belief, the souls would
go to Yama for the trials of how many good
things and bad things they did when alive. Yama
would decide whether the souls can go to the
heaven, hell, or reincarnation.
Their job is to escort the spirits to Yama. Some might say that Black and White Impermanence also help
punish the evil people, but normally they just bring the souls of the deceased to the trials, regardless of
they are good people or bad.
Black and White Impermanence include the white guard named Xie Bi’an ( 谢必安 , Xièbì’ān) and the
black guard Fan Wujiu ( 范无救 , Fàn wú jiù). The features of their appearances, the white guard is tall
and white, with his tongue sticking out of his mouth because he hung himself to death; the black guard
is short and black.
Legend has it that Black and White guards were good friends since childhood when they were alive.
One day, they hung out but suddenly encountered heavy rain. The White guard asked his friend to wait
under the bridge and he’ll go back to take umbrellas. The Black guard waited as he promised; however,
the heavy rain became out of control and almost flooded over the short Black guard.
The Black guard didn’t want to break his promise and waited there until he was drowned by the rain.
After the White guard came back and found his friend dead, he was so grief and regretted that he hung
himself. The Yama was impressed by their deep friendship and thus hired them to escort newly-dead
spirits to his trials.
“Shennong, the hundred-herb taster”
The father of Chinese medicine, herbal, and agriculture:
In prehistoric China, people didn’t know how to cure their disease with herbs or medicine, nor
did they know which plant was edible or poisonous. Shennong invented farming tools and
taught people to farm and plant. In addition, the most famous of Shennong is his tasting
hundred kinds of herbs in person. He went deep into the mountain, tasted different kinds of
herbs in the daytime, and recorded them down at night. He recorded down details about the
herbs. Which one is edible, able to cure illness, or which one is poisonous to cause some
symptoms. Later was published as The Classic of Herbal Medicine ( 神农本草经 , Shénnóng
běncǎo jīng) as people’s important references.
It’s a dangerous job for sure because it’s easy for him to get poisoned by the unknown herbs.
Every time he feels sick due to poisoning, he asked his entourages to cure him with another
medicine herb. Shennong insisted to discover and taste more herbs as he can in order to make
his people benefit from the herbs. It’s been said that Shennong died from poisoning of the herb
during his tasting job.
VIETNAM MYTHOLOGY
“The Descendant of Dragon and Fairy – Con Rong Chau Tien”
The Descendant of Dragon and Fairy is a legend
about the origin of the Vietnamese people. Lac
Long Quan was the grandson of the Dragon King
of the sea and Au Co was the daughter of the
Holy Bird in the high mountain. She is also
known as a fairy. They met each other and fell in
love. After their marriage, Au Co bore a pack of
one hundred eggs, then they hatched into one
hundred sons. This large family lived happily on
the mountain.
The Descendant of Dragon and Fairy is a legend about the origin
of the Vietnamese people. Lac Long Quan was the grandson of the
Dragon King of the sea and Au Co was the daughter of the Holy
Bird in the high mountain. She is also known as a fairy. They met
each other and fell in love. After their marriage, Au Co bore a pack
of one hundred eggs, then they hatched into one hundred sons.
This large family lived happily on the mountain.
THAILAND:
“mae nak”
Thailand has its fair share of spooky stories, and perhaps none is more terrifying
than that of Mae Nak. Nak was pregnant and very much in love when her husband
was conscripted to fight in a war. During his absence, both Nak and her baby died
in childbirth.
The husband returned from the war, however, to find both his wife and child
waiting for him at home. Villagers were killed by Nak before they could warn the
husband, and he later only found out when he saw her stretch out her bony arms
to the floor to pick up a lime. He fled, hiding firstly in a plant that ghosts are afraid
of, and secondly to the temple, where ghosts can’t enter.
Mae Nak was eventually exorcised twice; firstly into a jar, and secondly into the
waistband of a monk. To this day, it’s said that the Thai royal family are the ones in
possession of the waistband that contains her spirit.
“Krasue”
The Krasue (Thai: กระสอ ื , pronounced [krā.sɯ̌ ː]),
known as Ahp in Cambodia and as Kasu in Laos, is
a nocturnal female spirit of Southeast Asian
folklore. It manifests itself as a woman, usually
young and beautiful, with her internal organs
hanging down from the neck, trailing below the
head.
This spirit moves about by hovering in the air above the ground, for it has no
lower body. The throat may be represented in different ways, either as only the
trachea or with the whole neck.[4] The organs below the head usually include the
heart and the stomach with a length of intestine,[5] the intestinal tract
emphasizing the ghost's voracious nature. In the Thai movie Krasue Valentine,
this ghost is represented with more internal organs, such as lungs and liver, but
much reduced in size and anatomically out of proportion with the head.[6] The
viscera are sometimes represented freshly daubed with blood,[7] as well as
glowing.[8] In contemporary representations her teeth often include pointed
fangs in yakkha (Thai: ยักษ์ ) or vampire fashion.[9] In the movie Ghosts of Guts
Eater she has a halo around her head.
PHILIPPINES:
“THE MYTH OF GRACIOUS
MARIA MAKILING”
Maria Makiling in Philippine mythology is a
diwata or lambana (fairy) associated with
Mount Makiling in Laguna, Philippines. She is
the most widely known diwata in Philippine
mythology [1] and was venerated in pre-colonial
Philippines as a goddess known as Dayang
Masalanta or Dian Masalanta who was invoked
to stop deluges, storms, and earthquakes.
The summary of THE LEGEND OF MARIA MAKILING start inoccently with this beautiful
goddess maiden that lives in the mountain. She is known to everyone as Maria Makiling she
was a very caring and loving individual and regularly helped people by giving fruits to the
poor. It is said that these fruits turned into gold once they we're taken home, thereby helping
the people financially
One day some hunters went up the forest and accidentally found Maria's home. While they
were there, they ransacked the place, stealing her gems and killing many animals in the
process
This of course angered her which caused her to distrust people from then on. She saw this
violation as an affront to everything she held dear and soon after she placed a curse upon
those who would disrespect the forest again.
INDONESIA: THE STORY of NYI RORO KIDUL
Pajajaran kingdom lied in West Java from 1333 AD to
1630 AD and it was conquered by the Islamic kingdom of
Mataram from Central Java.
Pajajaran's greatest ruler was Prabu (King) Siliwangi. He
had a bride in his harems and a very beautiful daughter
was born between he and the bride. The girl was called
Dewi Kadita and the beauties of Dewi Kadita and her
mother made other harems jealous, and they had a
conspiracy against them.
The harems used some kind of black magic to make the bodies of Dewi Kadita and her mother to be
filthy and they turn to be so ugly and disgusting. Prabu Siliwangi got angry against the mother and the
daughter and forced them to get out of the palace, as they were thought to be bad luck for the
kingdom.
They were wandering around the country and one day the mother died. Dewi Kadita was walking in
deep sadness, until she reached the Southern Shore (the shore of Indian Ocean) .She sat above a rock
in a stove shape and when she was sleeping, she had a vision that
she must have to jump into the water to help herself out of the curse.
When she woke up, with no second thought, Dewi Kadita jumped into the sea. She returned to a
beautiful lady as she was but then she realized that she was not a human anymore. She turned into a
supernatural form of life. Since then, she ruled all creatures in the southern coast of Java Island, and
she was known as Nyi Roro Kidul (Javanese of "Lady of South Sea"). To avenge her father, she became
the primary bride for Mataram kings , the rival of Pajajaran kingdom. It's believed for centuries, even
until now.
The river of Bengawan Solo, which started from the mystical mountain of Merapi in Central Java and
leads to Indian Ocean, is said as the tunnel used by Nyi Roro Kidul to access Java.
Belief in the existence of the Krasue is shared across Southeast
Asia, and its origin is difficult to verify. However, it likely originates
from folklore. In Thailand, the Krasue is believed to be a cursed
individual (usually a female) who engaged in various sins and
fraudulent conducts during her previous life. After she dies, her
sins cause her to be reborn as a phuti (Thai: ภูต)ิ that has to live off
wasted, uncooked or rotten food.
REFERENCES
https://shirleytwofeathers.com/The_Blog/powers-that-be/category/asian-gods/
ttps://religiousworlds.weebly.com/myths-and-sacred-stories.html#:
https://www.tutormandarin.net/en/famous-chinese-myth/#:~:text=These%20famous%20Chinese%20myths
%20are%20common%20and%20interesting,universe%3A%20Pan%20Gu%20Split%20the%20Heavens%20and
%20Earth.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krasue
https://guide.cmego.com/vietnamese-myths-and-legends/
https://theculturetrip.com/asia/thailand/articles/10-popular-thai-myths-legends/
https://brainly.ph/question/5638988
https://folklore-lover.blogspot.com/2002/01/story-of-nyi-roro-kidul.html
