The Kojiki/Nihon Shoki Mythology and Chinese Mythology: Theme, Structure, and Meaning
Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC 28608, USA
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Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Academic Editor: Jeffrey L. Richey
Religions 2021, 12(10), 896; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12100896
Received: 14 September 2021
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Revised: 13 October 2021
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Accepted: 14 October 2021
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Published: 18 October 2021
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Chinese Influences on Japanese Religious Traditions)
This essay will compare myths found in the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki with thematically and structurally similar Chinese myths, and other Japanese texts, in order to shed light on the meanings of both Japanese and Chinese mythology. The authors’ approach is partly in the critical textual study tradition that traces back to Gu Jiegang and Tsuda Sokichi, and partly informed by comparative mythologists, such as Matsumae Takeshi, Nelly Naumann, and Antonio Klaus, with attention to Proppian and Levi-Straussian motifs in structural studies. First, we shall discuss some common themes in Chinese and Kojiki/Nihon Shoki myths. Second, we shall point out common structures in both Chinese and Japanese myths. Finally, we shall try to show how such common themes and structures could potentially help us understand the meanings of the myths in discussion.
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Keywords:
mythology; China; Japan; Kojiki; Nihon Shoki
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
MDPI and ACS Style
Tu, X.; Xie, W. The Kojiki/Nihon Shoki Mythology and Chinese Mythology: Theme, Structure, and Meaning. Religions 2021, 12, 896. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12100896
AMA Style
Tu X, Xie W. The Kojiki/Nihon Shoki Mythology and Chinese Mythology: Theme, Structure, and Meaning. Religions. 2021; 12(10):896. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12100896
Chicago/Turabian StyleTu, Xiaofei, and Wendy Xie. 2021. "The Kojiki/Nihon Shoki Mythology and Chinese Mythology: Theme, Structure, and Meaning" Religions 12, no. 10: 896. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12100896
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