The East has always been for Westerners a mysterious and beautiful land of beautiful landscapes and very diverse and ancient cultures. One of the countries that has always aroused the greatest fascination in this sense and which in turn has had the greatest impact and relationship with Europe throughout history is China, since the time of Marco Polo and even since the Ancient Age.

This country has an ancient culture in which great myths and traditions have been developed over time. In order to exemplify this wealth and understand a little more of its idiosyncrasy throughout this article we will see several Chinese legends , with their explanation.

10 great Chinese legends

Below is a small selection of a dozen well-known Chinese legends.

1. The Legend of the Monkey King

One of the great legends of China, and probably one of the best known worldwide, is the legend of the Monkey King. This character has a very long history, which tells us about the search for immortality.

Monkey King Sun Wukong was born of a magical stone, from chaos, in the mountains Huāguǒ-shān. After joining a clan of apes, Sun Wokong proved his courage by throwing himself over a waterfall and finding a new home for the apes , who named him king. However, the Monkey King became aware after the death of a fellow monkey that his time would come, so he decided to leave in search of immortality, disguising himself in human clothes.

After leaving he would find a great Buddhist master, who despite his initial reticence ended up taking him in, giving him his name and showing him great abilities such as the ability to transform himself or to make impressive jumps of almost a hundred kilometres.

But one day, after seeing how the Monkey King used his gifts as a show, the master decided to throw him out of the temple. After finishing his training this being made numerous trips in order to reach immortality . Among them was a trip to the Palace of the Dragon King of the East Sea, from where he would steal the Ru Yi Bang rod that maintained the balance of the seas that would later become his weapon (something that generated serious cataclysms) and with which he forced the great Dragon Kings to give him magical equipment. He also traveled to Hell to cross his name and the name of the rest of the monkeys out of the book of life and death.

It is then that to try to control him the Jade Emperor decides to take him to grant him a noble title. First he grants him the title of Protector of the Horses of the Imperial Stables, but after a conflict he decides to add the title of Guardian of the Peach Orchard of Immortality. However, when he is denied access to a banquet in honor of Empress Sun Wukong, he is furious and decides to steal the peaches of immortality and the pills of immortality from Lord Daoist Laozi, destroying the orchard as well.

Then the emperor sends one hundred thousand warriors to stop him, but the Monkey King manages to defeat them . Finally he is captured and ordered to be executed, but after consuming the pills and peaches of immortality, nothing could kill him. Sun Wukong was locked up in the Oven of Eight Trigrams, where he burned until the instrument exploded. But that was not enough to finish him off.

The emperor requested the help of the Buddha, who challenged the Monkey King and bet with him that he was unable to jump beyond the palm of his hand. If he succeeded, he would be appointed emperor, and if not, he would be locked up. Sun Wukong accepted the bet and jumped , until what he believed was the end of the Universe in which he could only see five columns. He pissed on them to mark how far he had come. On his way down, however, he discovered that those pillars were the fingers of Buddha; he had lost his bet. He tried to escape, but Buddha sealed him in the Mountain of the Five Elements for all eternity.

Centuries later he would be freed by the monk Tang, whom he would help on his journey to retrieve the sacred scriptures for China (with the help of a magic band, however, which enabled the monk to generate great pain in case of need).

2. The legend of the dragon’s pearl

Dragons are much admired creatures in China. In this country they are usually creatures of great power but also of great wisdom, often linked to the climate. However, they can also find pleasure in material possessions, some of which have been coveted by man. Just as in this legend.

Legend has it that once upon a time there was a dragon living on the island Kinabalu , which was generally peaceful and wanted to and played with throwing in the air and picking up a huge pearl which was its most valuable possession.

This was coveted by many, and there came a time when the emperor wanted to incorporate it into his treasury. To do so, he entrusted his first-born son with the task of taking it over, embarking with his crew. The young prince drew up a plan to get hold of the pearl , asking his men to make him a kite capable of supporting the weight of a grown man and a lantern.

When the kite was built, the prince waited until it was night before the dragon fell asleep and with the help of the kite he was able to fly to the dragon’s position and exchange the pearl for the lamp. After that he was picked up by the crew. However, the dragon soon woke up and made a future and pounced on the prince’s ship in order to claim possession of it .

The prince and his sailors, desperate at the attack of the serpent, decided to load the cannons and fire. With the first shot the dragon thought they were throwing his pearl, so he ran to catch it, but the weight of the bullet dragged him down, falling into the sea. The prince managed to return home with the jewel, which became part of the imperial treasury, and in time he would become the new emperor.

3. The legend of the butterfly lovers

Some of the existing legends in China tell us about a more modern vision of the traditional one for the time when they were written. They tell us about the search for true love above family impositions , as well as the search for knowledge in a population that at that time was not allowed to go to school: women.

Legend has it that there was a young woman in ancient times named Zhu Yingtai who had a deep desire to learn, get an education and gain knowledge. But at that time the woman was not allowed access to education beyond that received in the parental home, so the intelligent girl decided to disguise herself as a man in order to fulfill her dream.

In this way, and with the consent of her parent, the young woman was able to begin her studies. During her training she met another young man, Liang Shanbo , with whom she would share a room for years and with whom she would start a friendship that would gradually grow deeper and deeper. So much so that Zhu Yingtai ended up falling in love.

However, one day Zhu Yingtai would receive the news that his father had fallen ill and was to return home. The young woman gave one of her trainers a fan so that when the time came she would give it to Liang Shanbo and tell him she wanted to marry him.

After that, the young woman prepared to go home, and Liang Shanbo accompanied her. Zhu Yingtai tried on the road to make her see who she really was, without success. Not knowing what to do, the young woman tried to convince him to marry a supposed twin sister. The young man eventually agreed to meet her some time later, and after having accompanied Zhu Yingtai for a while, he separated from her to return to his studies.

When she arrived at the home, the young woman saw that her father had recovered. But she also found some bad news: her father had arranged a marriage for her . Some time later Liang Shanbo received the fan and guessed who Zhu Yingtai was, so he rushed to visit Zhu Yingtai and his family. However, there the young woman told him what had happened. Both of them cried and swore to each other eternal love, which the father ended up throwing the young man out. Liang Shanbo returned home and after a short time he became ill and died.

When the date arrived Zhu Yingtai had to prepare for her arranged wedding, and while she was being carried in a palanquin to the place where the retinue would officiate she found a grave. A grave with the name of Liang Shanbo. The woman approached and wept for the lost love, but suddenly the tomb opened as a great storm came. Zhu Yingtai smiled and threw himself into the pit.

When it did, the sudden storm subsided, and the members of the bridal party could see two beautiful butterflies emerge from the tomb, in which the souls of Zhu Yingtai and Liang Shanbo lived, and which flew away together forever.

4. The Creation of the Universe

One of the types of myths that we can observe in almost all mythologies and cultures refers to something that has awakened the curiosity of humanity since the beginning of time: how the universe was formed. In this sense, Chinese mythology offers us the legend of Pangu or P’an-Ku as a possible explanation.

Legend says that in the beginning there was only chaos, with heaven and earth being united and the universe concentrated in a black egg. Inside it slept a single being, Pangu or P’an-Ku . When this being woke up he found himself trapped in the egg, which he proceeded to break. This caused part of the egg, the lighter and whiter one, to be thrown out and conform to the sky, while the lower and darker part would conform to the Earth. The giant being would have its head in Heaven and its feet on Earth, and with the passage of the millennia both would grow larger.

After that, four beings were also born: the Dragon, the Feng Huang (similar to the phoenix), the Tortoise and the Qilin. Joining forces with Pangu, they formed the seasons and the five elements.

But P’an-Ku was not immortal, and there came a time when he died. His death would give birth to a great number of elements of the world : from his breath came the wind and his eyes would become the Sun and the Moon. His beard the stars and his bones the minerals. His extremities would form the pillars that separate Heaven and Earth, and his blood the seas.

5. Nüwa and the Creation of Man

In ancient times China also had a number of ancient creator gods, often related to the imperial hierarchy. One of them is Nüwa, the first deity , a female entity that among its many attributes some legends consider the creator of humanity.

However, one day Zhu Yingtai would receive the news that his father had fallen ill and was to return home. The young woman gave one of her trainers a fan so that when the time came she would give it to Liang Shanbo and tell him she wanted to marry him.

After that, the young woman prepared to go home, and Liang Shanbo accompanied her.
Zhu Yingtai tried on the road to make her see who she really was, without success. Not knowing what to do, the young woman tried to convince him to marry a supposed twin sister. The young man eventually agreed to meet her some time later, and after having accompanied Zhu Yingtai for a while, he separated from her to return to his studies.

When she arrived at the home, the young woman saw that her father had recovered.
But she also found some bad news: her father had arranged a marriage for her .
Some time later Liang Shanbo received the fan and guessed who Zhu Yingtai was, so he rushed to visit Zhu Yingtai and his family. However, there the young woman told him what had happened. Both of them cried and swore to each other eternal love, which the father ended up throwing the young man out.
Liang Shanbo returned home and after a short time he became ill and died.

When the date arrived Zhu Yingtai had to prepare for her arranged wedding, and while she was being carried in a palanquin to the place where the retinue would officiate she found a grave.
A grave with the name of Liang Shanbo. The woman approached and wept for the lost love, but suddenly the tomb opened as a great storm came. Zhu Yingtai smiled and threw himself into the pit.

When it did, the sudden storm subsided, and the members of the bridal party could see two beautiful butterflies emerge from the tomb, in which the souls of Zhu Yingtai and Liang Shanbo lived, and which flew away together forever.

4.
The Creation of the Universe

One of the types of myths that we can observe in almost all mythologies and cultures refers to something that has awakened the curiosity of humanity since the beginning of time: how the universe was formed. In this sense, Chinese mythology offers us the legend of Pangu or P’an-Ku as a possible explanation.

Legend says that in the beginning there was only chaos, with heaven and earth being united and the universe concentrated in a black egg.
Inside it slept a single being, Pangu or P’an-Ku .
When this being woke up he found himself trapped in the egg, which he proceeded to break. This caused part of the egg, the lighter and whiter one, to be thrown out and conform to the sky, while the lower and darker part would conform to the Earth. The giant being would have its head in Heaven and its feet on Earth, and with the passage of the millennia both would grow larger.

After that, four beings were also born: the Dragon, the Feng Huang (similar to the phoenix), the Tortoise and the Qilin. Joining forces with Pangu, they formed the seasons and the five elements.

But P’an-Ku was not immortal, and there came a time when he died.

The legend says that on Mount Emei lived two great serpents, one white and one green, which had magical powers. With them they transformed into women and explored the region. One day White Snake, taking the name of Bai Suzhen, found a young man named Xu Xien on the road . The contact between the two gave rise to a deep love, marrying both in a short time and opening an apothecary’s shop between them.

But one day, a priest named Fa Hai pointed out to Xu Xien that his wife was a snake demon. Initially he did not believe him, but during some celebrations the woman agreed to drink wine so as not to upset her husband. This made him lose control, something that caused him to run to his room and there he was transformed. When Xu Xien entered and saw her as White Snake, she died of terror. This made the great snake begin the search for magical herbs capable of bringing her back to life, herbs that the god of longevity granted her when he took pity on her situation.

Back to life, Xu Xien initially thought he had experienced a hallucination, but he ended up going to Fa Hai temple and becoming a priest. Bai Suzhen went with her sister to look for her husband, something that after Fa Hai refused triggered a magical fight in which the ladies made the waters flood the temple while the monk generated land that prevented this from happening. With the White Serpent pregnant and his forces dwindling, the White and Green Ladies retreated.

But the time came when Bai Suzhen gave birth and Xu Xian decided to visit her and meet her son. There the woman confessed to her husband the truth. Taking advantage of the moment Fa Hai cast a spell that caused the White Lady to be trapped in a golden vessel , arguing that her union with a mortal was forbidden.

However, as time went by the White Lady’s sister, the Green Lady (her human form called Xiao Qing) gained greater power and managed to free her sister and have the priest eaten by a crab. With this, the couple was able to meet again, this time accepting and loving each other as they were.

8. The Legend of Jing Wei

Some Chinese legends have a sad background, but at the same time they speak of effort and perseverance. An example of this is the legend of Jing Wei, a mythological being who learned to hate the sea and tried to dry it up by all means .

Legend has it that there was once a young princess named Nu Wa (after the deity), daughter of the Emperor Shen Nong. The young woman loved the sea and sailing its waters, something she did with skill and passion and with the confidence that nothing bad would happen to her in them. But one day the current carried away her boat, with such luck that a storm broke out and the big waves caused her to sink and die.

However, his soul returned to the world in the form of Jing Wei, a beautiful bird in which the old love of the sea had been transformed into a deep hatred by killing it. And he wanted revenge. He went to the sea and told it that he intended to kill it, something which the latter mocked. The bird then went to land, and there collected everything it could to throw it into the waters and thus fill the sea so that no one else could drown, ready to spend as much time as necessary, even if it was thousands of years. And this is something that the young woman continues to do day by day, carrying and throwing away with great perseverance all the stones, branches and elements that she can in order to dry it up.

9. The legend of the four dragons

The dragon is a mythological animal of great popularity in China, being a being deeply associated with the culture and linked to the rains and the river. Besides the legend of the pearl of the dragon these beings are part of many others, including some that refer to the origin of the main rivers of China .

Legend has it that in ancient times there were no rivers or lakes in China, only the sea. In it lived four great dragons: the Black which worshipped flying through the air, the Pearl which owned the fire, the Yellow which focused on the earth and the Great Dragon which worshipped water.

These beings flew and were happy, until one day they saw how on earth human beings begged the gods for rain, without which they could not obtain crops to feed themselves. The dragons, in sorrow, decided to go to the Jade Emperor and asked him to make it rain. He was irritated by their interference, but promised to make it rain the next day and told them to go back to the sea.

However, neither the next day nor many days later did a single drop of rain fall, something that increased the despair of humanity. The dragons were saddened by the emperor’s lack of action and his lack of concern for man. Since the emperor was not going to do it, the dragons decided to take action. The Great Dragon proposed taking the water from the sea and throwing it from the sky to irrigate the fields , something that the four did in a hurry.

But the sea god warned the Jade emperor, who was enraged at not having his permission, and sent for the dragons. The emperor ordered the god of the mountains to put a mountain over each of them in order to imprison them forever. Not regretting their actions, the dragons transformed the Yangtze, Heilongjiang, Huanghe, and Zhujiang rivers.

10. The legend of the tears of Meng Jiang Nü

A famous traditional Chinese legend tells us about the power of love and anger in the face of the death of loved ones, as well as referring to the harsh conditions and risks faced by the builders of the Great Wall of China.

Legend has it that at the time when the Qin dynasty held power in China and the Great Wall was under construction, two families were separated by it: the Meng and the Jiang . In order to symbolize their friendship, they planted two climbing plants (one on each side) so that they could meet at the top. Once the plants were united, both families saw that this union had produced enormous fruit.

Both families discussed who it was, but decided to split it in half equally. However, inside the fruit they found a girl, who they decided to raise jointly under the name of Meng Jiang Nü . This girl grew up and became a woman, and one day she met a man named Wan Xiliang who was being persecuted for execution (since a wise man had told the emperor that sacrificing ten thousand men would prevent parts of the wall from collapsing, and the name Wan means precisely ten thousand). After telling him about the situation she decided to hide her case from him, but as time went by both fell in love and finally got married.

But it was precisely on the day of the wedding that Wan Xiliang was captured. At first he was forced to do forced labour: to participate in the construction of the Great Wall of China. Meng Jiang Nü did not lose hope and waited for her husband to return to it. However, when winter came, he did not return. The woman proceeded to weave clothes so that her husband could take shelter from the cold, and then took her to the place of the Great Wall where Wan Xiliang was supposed to be.

However, when he arrived a very bad news awaited him: during the construction, the man had died and had been buried somewhere on the Great Wall. The woman wept and wept for three days and nights with such force that the Wall took pity on her, leaving about 400 kilometres of it to sink. Among them was the place where Wan Xiliang was buried , which allowed the woman to see her beloved again.

Bibliographic references:

  • Christie, Anthony (1968). Chinese Mythology. Feltham: Hamlyn Publishing.
  • Wu, K. C. (1982). The Chinese Heritage. New York: Crown Publishers.
  • Yang, Lihui and Deming An, with Jessica Anderson Turner (2005). Handbook of Chinese Mythology. New York: Oxford University Press.