flood 洪水神话.docx

flood 洪水神话.docx

《flood 洪水神话.docx》由会员分享，可在线阅读，更多相关《flood 洪水神话.docx（8页珍藏版）》请在冰点文库上搜索。

1

Runninghead:

WESTERNANDEASTERNFLOODMYTH

CompareandContrasttheFloodMythbetweenwestandeast

GuchuanChang（Jetty）Group8

MattHildebrandApril1,2015

8

WESTERNANDEASTERNFLOODMYTH

Abstract

Almosteveryculturehavemythstoryaboutflood.However,partcontentofthosearesimilar,partiallyaredifferent.Theyaresameintheyallescapetohighplaceandhumanreproductionaftertheflood.Thedifferencesareaboutthecauseofthegreatfloodandanotheroneiswhatgodplayedintheflood.

Currently,moreandmorepeoplepaymuchmoreattentiontoanassumptionthattherewasauniversalfloodsweeptheglobeinancienttime.It’saverystrangeandmysteriousphenomenonthateveryculturehadatleastonefloodmyth.Lookingatallofthefloodmythsovertheworld,theycanbedividedintwolargedivisions:

thefloodmythsofwesterncultureandthefloodmythsofeasterncultures.Again,accordingtodifferentareas,westernfloodmythscanbedividedintomanydifferentspecificstories:

Babylonian,Biblical,Sumerian,Mesopotamianandonandon.Also,easternfloodmythcanbedividedinIndianfloodmythandthefloodmythinChina.Therearemanyinterestingdifferencesandsimilaritiesinthefloodmythbetweenwesternandtheothercountries.Therearedifferentinsofarasthecauseofthegreatfloodandwhatrolegodplayintheflood,theyarethesameintheyallescapetohighplaceandhuman’sreproductionaftertheflood.

Thereasonofthegreatfloodcomingisdifferentbetweenwesternculturesandeasterncultures.Inwesternculture,thefloodcomingallbecausehumandoalotofbadthings,thenfloodcomingbecauseofgod’sangry.ThebestknownstoriesinthewestisthestoryoftheNoah’sArkintheBible,butitislookslikeacopyofthefloodstoriesofMesopotamiarecordedintheEpicofGilgamesh.Inthesetwostories,humanevilleadsgodtowanttogiveapunishmenttohumankind,thengoddeterminestousethefloodtowipeouthumanity.

AccordingtoHabel（1971）,inhisbookLiterarycriticismoftheoldtestament,“Inverses5-8theproblemwhichgodfacesistheevilofman.Thisevilexistsbecauseofthe“evil”inthe“heart”ofman”（p.13）.Inotherwords,inthewesternfloodmyth,floodcomingisbecausetheevilofthehuman,andgodfeelveryangrythathumandonnothavemorality,theirmoralbottomlinelowermuchthanpeopleinnowadays.Thushumancrimeistheonlyreasontocausethegreatfloodingcominginwesternculture.

Incontrast,thefloodineasternmythisnotbecauseofthesinofthehumanity,itisbecauseofthenaturaldisaster.Becausetheworldisoutofbalance,thefloodisneededforcreatinganewworldfromtheold,sotheheaviestflashfloodrusheddownthemountainanddestroyeverything.AccordingtoKoppers（1940-1941）,inhisarticle“Bhagwan,thesupremedeityofbhils:

AcontributiontothehistoryofIndiaandIndo-europeanreligions”,“Manu[…]bringsabouttheriseofanewhumanity,ofnewgods,infactofanentirelynewworld”（p.289）.InChinathereareawellknownstoryaboutthegodNvGuatellusthatinDongseatherearefourenormouspillarssupporttheworld.Oneday,thesupportisbrokenbytwogodfighttogether;theworldwilldestroyedbecausethereareagapinthesky.FortunatelythegodNvGuasacrificeherlifeforcollectthefivecoloredstonestofixthegapintheskytoavoidthecomingflood.AccordingtoLewisinhisbookThefloodmythsofearlyChina,“Infusingthesestones,Nvguaisrestoringordertoskybybringingthephasesbackintotheharmonythatwouldunderlinetheregularmovementofthecelestiallight”（p.111）.Consequently,thereasonoffloodinwesternculturemorelikelytofocusonhumancrime,however;thefloodmythineasternculturetendtodepictdisasterasthereasonofthegreatflood.

Godplaysdifferentrolebetweenwesterncultureandeasternculture.Inwesternculturegodisthedecider,whodeterminethefloodtopunishhuman.Inotherwords,theydo“bad”thingstohumankind;theykilleveryoneexceptthemostloyalbelieveroftheirs.AccordingtoHabel（1971）:

1.SoYahwehsaidtoNoah,“goaboardtheark,youandallyourhousehold,forIhaveseenthatyouarerighteousbeforemeinthisgeneration.2.Takewithyousevenpairsofallcleananimals,themaleandhismate,andonepairoftheanimalsthatarenotclean,themaleandhismate[…].4.ForinsevendaystimeIwillcauseittorainupontheearth

40daysand40nights,andIwillblotouteverythinganimatedwhichImade,fromthefaceoftheground（p.19）.

ChristiangodYahwehtoldNoahwhoistruthfulandhonesttohimheplansafloodtoextinctviciouspeople.HealsosaidhewantNoahseparatehimselffromthepunishmentbecauseNoahisagoodperson.Sowecansaythefloodinwesternmythasactofgod.Thefloodcomingisbecauseofgoddecided.

Ontheotherhand,godsinthefloodmythofeasterncultureplaythehelper’srole.

Easterngodhelpspeopletoresistnaturaldisaster.Godteachhumanhowtosavingtheirlifeintheupcomingcatastropheindifferentwayssuchastrainingrivertocontrolflood.AccordingtoLewis,“Thesesuperhumanbeingsrecognizedthepatternsimplicitinthenaturalorder,andfromthesebroughtforththetools,technicalprocedures,virtues,andinstitutionsthatseparatedmenfrombeasts”.（p.16）.TheChinesekingYuwhosacrificehiswholelife,includinghismarriage,useshisknowledgetoteachpeoplehowtodredgingoldriveraimsatkeepingtherivercoursesmoothandwaterclean;Andhealsouseshispowerfulenergytoopenmanyfreshriverchannelsdirectlyforawaytheflood;finallyheusehismagicpowertotreattheinjuredpeoplefromflood.Inconclusion,easterngodplaysamorekindlyrolethanwesterngodbetweenwesternfloodmythandeasternfloodmyth.

Bothsurvivorsinwesternfloodmythandeasternfloodmythescapetohighplace.Theybothhavesomemysteriouspersontellthemtoprepareandcopewiththecatastropheeventheyneedsametool（boat）tomovefarawayfromdeath.AmagicfishtoldkingManutherewillbeaupcomingfloodthatwilldestroytheworldandheneedprepareaboattoescapetoahighplaceinIndianfloodmyth.Noahconstructsthearktosavetheirlifeaftergodtoldthem.AccordingtoKvanvig（2011）writesinhisbookPrimevalhistory:

Babylonian,Biblical,andenochic:

An

intertexualreading,“Westartwiththecovenant.GodmakesacovenantwithNoahaftertheflood.Thecontentofthecovenantisgodspromiseneveragaintodestroyhiscreationinaflood”（p.192）.BeforethefloodcomethegodtellsNoahtobuildavesseltogotothehighplacetosurvive.AndafterthefloodthegodpromiseNoahhewillnotexterminatehiscreationagain.

Thesamethinghappensineasternmyths;Manuuseavesseltomovefarfromtheflood.AccordingtoKoppers（1940-1941）,“NordoestheHindumentalityseemtobetroubledbythefactthatsevenholyRsisembarkwithManuonhisrescueship”（p.288）.Afterafishtoldhimafloodwillcome,Manubuildsavesseltoescapetohighplacewithoutanotherpersonoranimals;onlyhefledfromthedisaster.Inconclusion,bothfloodmythbetweenwesterncultureandeasternculturehaveamysteriousroletotellsurvivalsescapetohighplaceandthesepeoplesurvivedeventually.

Bothmythtraditionshavehumanreproductionaftertheflood.Bothfloodmythinwesternandeasternculturedescribethat,aftertheflood,thesurvivorsbecomeaneworiginofhumanity.Inwesternfloodmythstoriesaftertheflood,Noah’sfamilylivesinthenewworld,thentheymultiplygenerationbygeneration;Noahandhisfamilybecomethenew“AdamandEve”ofhumanity.AccordingtoBaggettinhisarticle“Thefloodmyth”,“Dundesalsoseesthefloodmotifasrelatedtomythsofmalebirthingandcreating,asculturallylinkedtomale-dominatedsocieties”（para.5）.Similarly,thesurvivalwhonamedManuisthekingofancientIndiacreateanewworldandnewhumanbirthafterflooddestroyedtheoldworld.AccordingtoKoppers（1940-1941）,“Manubecomesthe（new）firstparentalthoughthereisnoquestionofwifeorchildren”（p.288）.Manucreateanewcleanwonderfulworld.Newhumanisbetterthanbeforethefloodcoming;theyhavemoremoralconcept.Thesamereproductionphenomenon

afterthegreatfloodmaybeisbecauseofinhumanthoughtdestructionmeansrebirth.Inconclusion,bothfloodmythinwesterncultureandeasternculturehavehumanreproductionplot.

Inconclusion,therearemanysimilaritiesanddifferencesbetweenthefloodmythofwesterncultureandtheeasternculture.Humanevilleadgodfeelangryistheuniquereasonwhyfloodcominginthemythofwesternculture,ontheotherhand;thefloodineasternmythcomebynaturaldisaster.Godplaysdeciderofthefloodtopunishhumaninwesternmyth;however,easterngodalwaysplaytherescuerfromtheflooddisaster.Bothwesternandeasternmythdescribeonesimilarplotthattherearesomeonetoldsurvivalstoprepareandescapetohighplacebeforethefloodcomingandallsurvivalsusevesselsastooltofarawayfromthepunishment.Bothwesternandeasternmythdescribeshumanreproductionafterflood,andhumanarebetterthanbefore.Soalthoughtherearesomesimilarplotsbetweenwesternandeasternfloodmyth,buttheyaredifferentbasically.Sotherehavenotaworldwidefloodintheancienttime.Butaccordingtobothwesternandeasternmythhavefloodstory,wecansee

ancienthumanovertheworldallfearthefloodandallofthemthoughtfloodismysteriousmagic,itcanconnecttogod.

References

Kvanvig,H.S.（2011）.Primevalhistory:

Babylonian,Biblicl,andenochi