Creation of the Gods

by Xu Zhonglin, Gu Zhizong (Translator), Dai Hongjie (Illustrator)

Creation of the Gods, published in the Ming Dynasty (11368-1644), is the most popular and one of the best, if not also the best-written, Chinese classics of mythical literature.

It begins with the grand pilgrimage of King Zhou of the Shang Dynasty (1700 B.C.-1100 B.C.), the most notorious tyrant in Chinese legend, to worship the Goddess Nüwa, the creator of mankind in Chinese mythology, on her birthday. The beauty of the goddess completely bewitched the monarch and set him on fire with lust. His poem written on the wall to express his deep love for the goddess infuriated her. She decided to punish the king and bring an end to the Shang Dynasty. The novel culminates with the crowning of King Wu of Zhou Dynasty (1066 B.C.256 B.C.) and the canonization of gods by his prime minister Jiang Ziya.

However, the Chinese was a nation mostly composed of polytheists, who believed that there were numerous gods in the Three Realms—Heaven, World, and Hell—that rule over everything in this world and created various deities to suit their varied desires and needs. Most of the gods and deities were posthumously canonized historical national heroes and upright officials who were believed to have been heavenly deities sent to this world to deliver mankind from misery. In fact the roots of many of such popular beliefs and legend are found in Creation of the Gods.

Therefore, the novel is not simply a piece of literature, but very much an agglomeration of folk beliefs and religion. It is in fact a valuable and indispensable tool in understanding the Chinese folk culture.

Genres: Mythology, China

479 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1550

About the author

Xu Zhonglin (1567-1619/1620) was a Chinese writer who lived in the Ming Dynasty. He is best known as the author of the novel Fengshen Yanyi.

Reviews

[David Keffer · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are Five Classic Chinese Novels that stand above all other Chinese novels and "Creation of the Gods" is one of them. All are available in at least one English translation.

Five Classic Chinese Novels

1. Outlaws of the Marsh (aka The Marshes of Mt. Liang, aka All Men Are Brothers)
2. Three Kingdoms
3. Journey to the West (aka Monkey)
4. The Story of the Stone (aka The Dream of the Red Chamber)
5. Creation of the Gods

All of these are magificent, epic novels. They are all worth the investment of the considerable time it takes to read them.

As one review noted above, they lack indices and reference material for the English reader.

For three of these novels, I have created a set of reader aides that include indices, notes on the appearance of characters, consistency between translations and chapter-by-chapter outlines and synopses.

These reading aides are called "The Somewhat Less Than Critical Commentaries" because my target audience is the reader who approaches these books as entertainment. The websites exist for "Outlaws of the Marsh", "Creation of the Gods", and "Three Kingdoms".
They are hosted by the Poison Pie Publishing House and are available free of charge here.

On a related note, the Poison Pie Publishing House has recently published a novel, "The Sutra of Reverse Possession", which includes as a major character, Earth Traveler Sun, one of the 365 gods created in "Creation of the Gods". More information on "The Sutra of Reverse Possession" is available here.

[E. Kahn · Rating 5 out of 5]

As another reviewer noted, this is one of the five great classic Chinese novels. I read them all on a Chinese culture kick, and at the risk of sounding like a philistine, Three Kingdoms and Outlaws of the Marsh were each a bit of a slog, Dream of the Red Chamber was too foreign to my experience for me to relate to the characters, and Journey to the West was didactic and repetitive.

Creation of the Gods is as close to perfection as any book I've read.

Let's put aside the whole cultural aspect of this work, because it's completely unnecessary to recommend it for that reason and it might actually turn some people off. This story is just so damn entertaining. There's midair kung-fu fights, heroes and villains who are believably motivated, comic interludes that are actually funny, all set against a backdrop of realpolitik and shifting allegiances and telling a truly epic story that is (very loosely) based on historical events. Timeless, authentic-feeling vignettes of domestic life introduce many of the characters in memorable ways (lecherous King Zhou, King Wu's dutiful sons, Nezha's relationships with his father and mother and Jiang Ziya's commercial misfortune and short-lived marriage will all resonate with a modern reader, I think). And when it's all over, you'll find yourself pondering the ruler and the ruled's obligations to each other, God's (or Gods'?) relationship to humankind, the nature of duty, rights and morals and what this whole "good and evil" thing really means.

I got the Beijing University Press edition (two volumes, hardback) and I'm very happy with it. The translation is excellent, with none of the archaic or purposely foreign-sounding phrasing that is sometimes used in translations of this sort, presumably to make things more exotic or "authentic." The book is nicely illustrated and designed and just so well made that it makes contemporary Western hardcovers hang their heads in shame. Seriously, this is an heirloom quality edition.

Did I mention I really like this book? Because I really like this book.

[Helmut · Rating 5 out of 5]

Meine Rezension ist unter Band 1 (Creation of the Gods) zu finden.