This past week, on April 5, Mainland China celebrated Qingming Festival, which, although its name simply translates to “clear and bright holiday,” in English goes by the name “Tomb Sweeping Day.” That may conjure images of ghosts and graves, but in actuality it’s traditionally a day that comes from a long history of showing respect and deference to your ancestors and family.

In keeping with that theme, in a special two-part story, this week and next week on the Mythographist, we’ll look at the legend of a young man who is revered as being a very filial son — one who did everything right when it comes to respecting your family: Erlang Shen.

Join me, Jaer Christie, as I explore the hidden legends that shape the world on The Mythographist: Myths of Mainland China.

Written, narrated, and produced by Jaer Christie

Research by Jaer Christie & Elena Tung

Music:

"Dancing Abroad" by Shaoqing Luna Li - https://filmmusic.io/u/sqluna/music 

License CC BY 4.0 - (https://filmmusic.io/standard-license)

"Dance in the Moon," "Songs of Fishing Boats at Dusk," and "Homesick Melody" by China National Orchestra, used under CC fair use.

What makes you feel safe? Physical safety is one of our most fundamental needs, and generally speaking, we’re a lot safer now than we were a thousand years ago — most of us aren’t worrying about things like dirty water, disease, wild animal attacks, and the elements. But just as important as physical safety is emotional safety, the feeling of security that gives us peace of mind, and when it comes to feeling safe, something that’s often just as important as actual physical safety is the symbols we put stock in, the ideas that help us feel safe, secure, and comfortable.

Today, we’ll look at two pairs of symbols that, although they date back over a thousand years, are still a common sight all over modern China: the door gods and stone lions. Join me, Jaer Christie, as I explore the hidden legends that shape the world on The Mythographist: Myths of Mainland China.

Written, narrated, and produced by Jaer Christie

Research by Jaer Christie & Elena Tung

Music:

"Dancing Abroad" and "The Night" by Shaoqing Luna Li - https://filmmusic.io/u/sqluna/music 

License CC BY 4.0 - (https://filmmusic.io/standard-license)

"Spring by Lakeside," "A Flower is Not a Flower," and "Peony Khan" by China National Orchestra, used under CC fair use.

Exiled from civilized lands by Shun, the last sage king; feared by many for the curses that follow them, the Four Foul Fiends are wicked beasts, harbingers of times of darkness and vice, heeding the wishes of evildoers and spiteful toward the righteous. Beware of them, for exiled though they may be, what power has law over the lawless?

Join me, Jaer Christie, as I explore the hidden legends that shape the world on The Mythographist: Myths of Mainland China. This week, we come face to face with four creatures with evil reputations: the taotie (the monster in The Great Wall), the qiongqi, the hundun (Morris in Marvel's Shang Chi), and the taowu.

Written, narrated, and produced by Jaer Christie

Research by Jaer Christie & Elena Tung

Music:

"A Flower is Not a Flower" and "Peony Khan" by China National Orchestra, used under CC fair use.

This week on the Mythographist, we look at three stories that all make up parts of the most important flood myth in Chinese culture: the legend of Gonggong's fight against Zhuanxu; the story of how the goddess Nüwa fixed the hole in the sky; and the folktale of a brother and sister who survive a flood. This story is the basis for the 2021 Immortals: Fenyx Rising video game expansion, Myths of the Eastern Realm, and is one of the most well-known legends in all of Mainland China.

Join me, Jaer Christie, as I explore the hidden legends that shape the world on The Mythographist.

***Late release this week as my town was without electricity this weekend! :D***

Written, narrated, and produced by Jaer Christie

Research by Jaer Christie & Elena Tung

Music:

"Dancing Abroad" by Shaoqing Luna Li via https://filmmusic.io/u/sqluna/music

License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

"Homesick Melody" and "Dance in the Moon" by China National Orchestra, used under CC fair use.

What are the laws that govern the foundations of the universe? And what mysteries pass us by, day after day, perceived yet unknown and unseen by mere mortals like ourselves? The truth is deeper than we may ever grasp, but let us give names to the forces that we feel, that we might see the many shapes they take and better know them.

In this episode, we look at the Four Constellations, a group of foundationally important symbols in the folklore and mythology of Mainland China: the Qing Dragon, the Vermillion Bird, the White Tiger, and the Black Tortoise. Join me, Jaer Christie, as I explore the hidden legends that shape the world on The Mythographist.

Written, narrated, and produced by Jaer Christie

Research by Jaer Christie & Elena Tung

Music:

"Dancing Abroad" by Shaoqing Luna Li via https://filmmusic.io/u/sqluna/music

License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

"Orchid in Spring" by China National Orchestra, used under CC fair use.

All things must begin somewhere, but where did the world come from? All people have been born, but where did the first people come from? These are the questions we have asked since the dawn of humanity, and answered with stories. These are the tales of the first things, and how they came to be.

In this episode, we look at two of China's myths of creation: Pangu and the Creation of the Universe, and Fuxi & Nüwa Create People.

Join me, Jaer Christie, as I explore the hidden legends that shape the world on the Mythographist. Season one: The Myths of Mainland China.

Written, narrated, and produced by Jaer Christie

Research by Jaer Christie & Elena Tung

Music:

"Dancing Abroad" by Shaoqing Luna Li via https://filmmusic.io/u/sqluna/music

License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

"Roseate Clouds Chasing the Moon" and "The Love of My Land" by China National Orchestra, used under CC.

Near or far, wherever you may travel, whether upon the earth, through the skies, or over the seas, you will find creatures of strange forms and abilities. So in the heavens, too, are beasts of many different kinds. The Qilin, the Fenghuang, the Gui, and the Pixiu are creatures of mystical attributes that roam the skies and wild lands, heralds of luck, sought by kings and the wise and upright. May knowledge of them prepare you for what tidings and blessings follow in their wake, should you be fortunate enough to see one.

On this episode of The Mythographist, we answer questions like, "which one of these magical animals would make the best pet?" and, "why doesn't the pixiu poop out all the treasure he eats?"

Written, narrated, and produced by Jaer Christie

Research by Jaer Christie & Elena Tung

Music: "Dancing Abroad" by Shaoqing Luna Li - all via https://filmmusic.io/u/sqluna/music

License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Kings and warriors, epic battles and impossible challenges — these are, quite literally, the stuff of legend, and that’s where we’re going on today’s episode of the Mythographist. We’ll look at two stories that lie just past the misty edge of recorded history, set well over four thousand years ago, when China was just beginning to coalesce into a single nation-state: The story of Xing Tian, and the legend of the unstoppable, singleminded giant, Kuafu.

Written, narrated, and produced by Jaer Christie

Research by Jaer Christie & Elena Tung

Music by Shaoqing Luna Li - all via https://filmmusic.io/u/sqluna/music

Desert Liaison

The Night

Dancing Abroad

License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

In China, Spring Festival begins with Lunar New Year, when everybody frightens the monster Nianshou away, and lasts for the next two weeks. During that time, red lanterns are hung, riddles are written, and soup with balls of sticky rice is made, culminating on Lantern Festival, the final day of the festival, where dragons dance in the streets and paper lanterns are sent up into the sky, carrying wishes to heaven like little hot air balloons. This week, we’ll look at one of the many stories on how Lantern Festival came to be.

Written, narrated, and produced by Jaer Christie

Research by Jaer Christie & Elena Tung

Music by Shaoqing Luna Li - all via https://filmmusic.io/u/sqluna/music

Dancing Abroad

A Lost Map of Heaven

The Night

License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Even if you don’t care about astrology, odds are pretty good that you know your star sign — I’m a Gemini, which is twins, and Ocho the cat, my co-producer, is a Cancer, the crab. But you may have heard that we just entered the Year of the Rabbit, which is part of the shengxiao, or Chinese zodiac. Based on a twelve-year cycle that’s related to the lunar calendar, the Chinese zodiac and its relatives are increasingly common in Western culture. If you’ve heard of it, you probably know that a different animal represents each year — but did you know that behind that series of twelve animals is a legend of an ancient competition? This week, we’ll take a look at the story of the Zodiac Race.

Written, narrated, and produced by Jaer Christie

Research by Jaer Christie & Elena Tung

Music by Shaoqing Luna Li - all via https://filmmusic.io/u/sqluna/music

Dancing Abroad

Desert Liaison

License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license