The mythological creatures and monsters among the western and eastern histories

Halloween is right around the corner and I’m so excited about it since I’ve never had a chance to celebrate Halloween and curved a pumpkin before. I know that during Halloween, people would dress like supernatural figures like vampires, monsters, ghosts, skeletons, witches, and devils. I’ve always been fascinated by these magic creatures and the histories or meanings behind them. What’s the most interesting thing is these creatures have lots of similarities with those documented on Chinese historical books. Let’s take a look~

Phoenix

In western historical record, phoenix is an immortal bird that cyclically regenerates every 500 years. when it dies, bursts into flames, and then is reborn and rises gloriously from its own ashes. This legendary bird is brilliantly colored in red and yellow, which is associated with the rising sun and burning flame. Thus, phoenix is a symbol of renewal and resurrection and could represent many themes, such as the sun, time, the empire, life in the heavenly Paradise.

However, Chinese phoenix is called Fenghuang (凤凰). Actually Fenghuang is the combination of two phoenixes. The male one is called feng (凤) and the female is called huang（凰）. They also symbolize the union of Ying and Yang. Throughout Chinese 5000 years history, Fenghuang has vary positive connotations. According to some ancient documents, Fenghuang only perched on Firmiana simplex tree; only ate bamboo rice; only drink spring water. It is also believed that these legendary birds only appears in areas that are blessed with utmost peace and prosperity, so that they are the symbol of high virtue and grace. Moreover, because they always show up in pairs, they can also represent a blissful couple.

Zombie

no matter in western or eastern history, they both have a kind of creature ( seriously speaking, this “thing” can not be called creature) that have “died” technically but been supernaturally reanimated. Yes! they are zombies, will-less and speechless human corpses.

According to western folklore, the reanimation of the dead is due to some magic conjuration, voodoo, radiation, mental diseases, scientific accidents, or virus. They feed on human body, especially human brain and they look like these:

Well, in China, zombie is called Jiangshi, a kind of “hopping” stiff corpse wearing official garments from the Qing Dynasty with its arms outstretched, like this:

Unlike zombies in West, Jiangshi kills living creatures to absorb their “qi”, a “live force” at nights. The reason why corpses become reanimated is because they died with a grievance and resentment and were exposed to moonlight which could provide them with lots of Ying “qi”.

Snake with human head

Medusa

I always think Medusa is one of the most charming characters in Greek mythology, maybe because her tragic story or those venomous snakes in her hairs or her ability to turn onlookers to stone.

Nüwa

The Chinese version of Medusa is called Nüwa. However, she is the mother goddess of Chinese people instead of a monster.

“Nuwa loved peace and delighted in making things. She molded figures from the yellow earth and gave them life and the ability to bear children: this is how humanity was created. When demons fought a terrible war, they broke the pillars which held the heavens up. The firmament cracked open and the human world was put in mortal peril. To save the lives of those she had created, Nuwa worked unceasingly, melting down the five-colored stones to mend the breach. When the firmament was whole again, Nuwa, exhausted by her toil, lay down on the earth and was transformed into a vast mountain range. In this way, she nurtured the growth of the Chinese nation by providing a rich and fertile land. This well-known tale is known as Nuwa Mends The Firmament.”
(https://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/mitos_creacion/esp_mitoscreacion_4_a.htm)

Although there are obvious differences between Eastern and Western cultures, as I delve deeper into the culture origins, I find lots of these fascinating monsters or mythological creatures that existed in different cultures have great similarities. Maybe that is because no matter where are we from, we are all human beings who are always curious about this world and sometimes have some whimsical thoughts popping out. We are not that different right?