In the summer of 2024, Caramel took an online course on Asian myths and legends and as part of this course, he read several books on the topic. He has already reviewed a couple of these for the book bunnies blog; see these here and here. Today he picked up a third book from that summer experience and is talking to Sprinkles about Chinese Myths and Legends: The Monkey King and Other Adventures, retold by Shelley Fu, illustrated by Patrick Yee, and published originally in 2018.
Sprinkles: So Caramel, I see you have for us another book about Asian myths and legends today.
Caramel: Yeah, and it is a very good one at that.
S: Please do tell us a bit about the book.
C: It is about Chinese myths. There are seven stories in it. The first one is “Pan Gu and The Creation of the Universe.”
S: That is quite sensible, to start at the beginning with a universal creation myth.
C: Yeah, it’s also cool, it’s a cool concept.
S: So how was the universe formed according to this story?
C: This guy named Pan Gu was holding the universe in a ball away from the earth or something similar, and he became satisfied and lay down and became part of the earth.
S: Hmm, you say some guy, but if he was holding the universe, he is probably not just a regular person. Maybe a giant.
C: Yeah, he is a god.
S: Interesting! In Greek mythology, too, there is a giant deity named Atlas who carries the world on his shoulders.
C: Yeah, that is interesting. I guess a lot of people thought about how the world began.
S: It is an interesting question after all, no? Anyways, there is a long and detailed Wikipedia article on Pan Gu too, if our readers want to know more. We can maybe move on. You said there were six more stories in the book.
C: Yes, let me see. The next one is “Nu Wo: The Mother of Mankind.” It is told in six parts, and it is about the creator of humans, Nu Wo.
S: That is interesting. So the universe was created by one deity and humans were created by another. Or are these competing theories of creation?
C: Yup, there are two creators, one of earth, and the other of humans.
S: That is very interesting. In the three Abrahamic religions Judaism, Christianity and Islam, there is one creator who created everything. But Chinese mythology takes a different path.
C: Yeah, it’s cool, isn’t it?
S: Yes, very much so. I looked it up and will link to the Wikipedia article for Nu Wo (apparently more typically called NuWa) in case some of our readers want to learn more about her.
C: Good idea!
S: So that makes two stories. What comes after?
C: Then the next is “Ho Yi the Archer,” about a god loving another god. Ho Yi himself is an archer and a god, and he is married to a goddess of the moon. This story has five parts.
S: That is neat Caramel. I looked up this character, too, and the Wikipedia article about him made me realize we watched an animated movie that retold the story of Ho Yi and his wife, the lunar deity Chang’e. Do you remember it?
C: Yes, I do! It was called Over the Moon! It was a really good movie, and a bit strange. Can we maybe put a link to the trailer so our readers can see it a bit too?
S: Sure: here it is:
C: Thank you, and now for the next one! This one is a bit longer, and has nine parts. It is about the Monkey King, who is a monkey that becomes immortal and angers the gods.
S: Yes, I see that this chapter is titled “Journey to the West”. It is the story of the Monkey King, who angers the gods because of his impetuousness, and then travels to the West to find some scrolls of wisdom. There is a whole Wikipedia article about the classical version of the story too.
C: Yes, the book version is also neat. And we watched a TV series about it a while back; maybe you remember?
S: Yeah! When you said that I looked it up, and apparently there are many movies animated and not, about the Monkey King. But the one we watched was really funny.
C: Though it did get violent and a bit scary sometimes.
S: True. But we can still put a link to the trailer of The New Legends of Monkey!
C: Yes, good idea!
S: Okay, here goes:
S: So what other stories are there in the book? You told us about four so far. There should be three more.
C: Well, there is one called “The Man in the Moon” and it is one of the shorter stories. It is about a kid who saved a bird and he got rewarded with treasure, and another boy is angry and is bad and gets punished with being sent to the moon.
S: Hmm, the moon sounds like it could be lonely and cold.
C: yeah but he is busy attempting to cut a tree down, and guess who else is there?
S: Who?
C: Ho Yi’s wife!
S: Oh cool! Small world! Or rather, small solar system, I guess!
C: Exactly.
S: Does she teach the boy a lesson or help him somehow?
C: No, he ignores her.
S: That is not a good idea, to ignore a goddess.
C: Yeah, but she was in trouble too, so it’s most likely fine.
S: So interesting that the stories are kind of intertwined! Okay, so there are two more stories left.
C: Yes, the sixth one is “The Story of the White Snake,” and this is one of the longest stories in the book. It has twelve parts. It is about two snakes or snake spirits, one who wants to see humans and their world, and another one who wants to complete their training in immortality. But they do go into the human world and the first snake spirit falls in love with a human. And then it all goes wrong.
S: I remember this story! Here is the Wikipedia article about it in case our readers are curious to read more. I also remember we watched a Chinese opera about this legend!
C: Yes, that was also kind of different. Maybe we can put a link to that video, too.
S: Sure, why not? Here it is:
C: Thanks. It is very long. This video is only one part of two and it is already one and a half hours, but it will still give people an idea of the story.
S: And also they will get an idea of what classical Chinese opera is like, if they don’t already know.
C: Yeah, that is a good point. Anyways the last story is “The Heavenly River” and it is also one of the shorter stories. It is about a cowherd who is treated badly by his sister-in-law. When he comes into some money, she wants some of it, and he doesn’t want to give any money, so he asks some gods and goddesses for guidance. He meets a weaver girl, who is not just a girl but maybe a deity herself. When they try to run away from their duties, they are separated and sent to the two opposite sides of the Milky Way. They can only see each other every seven years.
S: Hmm, a sad story. I think I found the relevant Wikipedia article here, in case anyone wants to read up about this story.
C: Well, they can also just read this book! I mean it is really a neat book. And it has really cool illustrations on each page. And if you really want, there are notes in the back about each story, so curious bunnies could learn even more about them.
S: Yes, of course. Our readers can just read this book! It seems like you really enjoyed it. This is one of our longest reviews so far!
C: Yup, I did like it and there was a lot to talk about. A lot of interesting stories that I had not heard before.
S: This sounds like a good place to end this post then, upbeat and enthusiastic.
C: Yup, I agree.
S: So what do you want to tell our readers?
C: Stay tuned for more book bunny reviews!
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