Japan Versus China: The Origin of Myths: Literature & Language Essay

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Japan Versus China: The Origin of Myths
Every nation has a different creation story, where the myths from the past up to the present generation originated. The myths become the countries’ landmark, and some cultures and beliefs that have been recognized up to now depend on the mythical stories. Some of the well-known stories originated from Japan and China. The classic stories of these two have more similarities differences. They have the concepts of hierarchy where the higher beings made the land and waters, but how the “superior beings” shaped our lands and the people living on these differences. Specifically, the two mythologies are similar in the concept of heaven and earth and differ in the purpose of creation, planning, hierarchy, and the process of creation.
Before introducing the superior beings, it should be noted that the creation of the world in Chinese mythology was carefully planned while the creation of the world, which was mainly just Japan, seemed to be an unexpected result of the shedding of their deities’ parts or parting of souls. Next, the superior beings in the Chinese and Japanese mythology control heaven, and the land, waters, and living things that the higher beings’ have created reside on earth, except for a few exceptions.
The main difference lies with who the creators are and their purpose in life. There is one giant, Pan Gu, whose principal goal is to eliminate the chaos in the swirling world inside an egg in Chinese mythology. To do this, he waited for 18,000 years to grow enough to separate heaven and earth through his height. As soon as he woke up, he stretched himself, thereby separating the elements within the egg. Like currently, the concept of heaven during this time was associated with purity. Thus, the purer the element, the more likely it will drift upward. Conversely, the less natural elements fell downwards and consisted of the earth. After ensuring that the two entities are stable, Pan Gu died (Leontovich).
By contrast, in Japanese mythology, the world was already made of heaven and earth, and the former is led by the three invisible deities, namely, the Spirit Master of the Center of Heaven, the Divine Wondrously Producing Ancestor, and the August Wondrously Producing Spirit. The last deities created were Izanagi and Izanami. Here, the world began naturally as if the seeds were already embedded on the soil waiting to bloom. The process reflects nature, where one lives to make a living for others, and one dies to give way to others. Once fully developed, the seeds will plant their roots and become deities who will flee to manifest as part of Japan’s land (Ashkenazi). Unlike Chinese mythology, the world’s origin does not seem to have a purpose in the Japanese counterpart.
Another difference is related to the concept of fertility. In Chinese mythology, people were created via non-sexual reproduction through the use of mud and vines. On the contrary, Japanese mythology was based on non-sexual and sexual reproduction. The former is done through the detachment of an area from the deity, while the latter was through the unity between Izanami and Izanagi.
Lastly, although feminism was evident...