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Tutorial 2d
World Geography and Culture in Creation Stories
As the scientific perspectives of Astronomy, Geology, Paleontology, and Anthropology revealed in tutorial 2c, humans have been a part of much larger forces, chains-of-events, and chains-of-life for hundreds-of-thousands and even hundreds-of-millions of years. Human history from the Astronomer's lens shows up as a barely discernible line in a huge expanse of stellar movement and formations across the universe over at least 15 billion of years. From the lenses of Geology and Paleontology, the history of human life is connected to the chain of life spanning hundreds of millions of years on the earth's 5 billion year history. And from the anthropologist's lens, human history becomes the main focus as humans have become distinguished from other human-like life-forms over the last five million years. But even before these disciplines could reveal such awesome forces and complexity, humans use their senses and their minds to realize such things. The conclusions they reached regarding the perpetual mysteries of creation and life are evident in their creation stories. There are examples such stories from peoples living in almost every environment on the earth. The stories often provide clues regarding human relationships to the local and regional flora and fauna over thousands of years, and early clues regarding the social structure of the culture. Since one of the issues in world history is human relationship to the environment and the culture that develops from that relationship, creation stories are a good place. A wide selection of the stories also provide a good review of world geography too as we look for look for hints as to human relationships to the local and regional environments.
1) Make four copies each of a variety of
abbreviated or full length stories (below), depending on time available, and
pass out to groups of four for reading and discussion. Keep in mind the
following questions while you are reading for discussion afterward: 1) In what
type of environment (tundra, tropical rainforest, steppe, subtropical forest,
desert, river valley etc.) does the story originate? 2) What sort of
relationship do humans have in this environment, including the relationship with
local fauna and flora, according to the story? 3) What does the story reveal
about the social structure or culture at large (does it appear warlike,
peaceful, agricultural, nomadic etc.)?
2) Discuss in your group the possible analytical interpretations of the story,
referring back to the questions for ideas (you should also find other things to
say about the story); and then, design a brief 5 minute skit, including parts
for each group member (including narration) to perform in front of the class
with simple props if possible (this could be done the following day).
3) Before the skit, show the region and describe the environment to the class.
4) After the skit, conduct a brief discussion regarding the potential
environmental and cultural interpretations of the story.
5) Class should take notes and become familiar with each of the regions/cultures
represented
6) As a follow-up activity, find other creation stories in books and on the
internet and contribute them to a classroom (or personal) collection.
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Here are two impromptu skits of the Japanese and the Mongolian stories, conducted by students at Walton High School in Cobb County GA in 2001:
On-line real-audio version
here.
CD ROM real-audio version here.
Sample questions for further analysis and discussion:
1) What did twentieth
century figure is linked to the sun goddess in the creation story? How could
this linkage become dangerous during the second world war? What is the modern
day symbol for Japan on their current flag?
transcript part A
2) How can Izanami and Izanagi be related
to the Chinese creation story entities, Yin and Yang?
transcript part A
3) What do we mean when we say that a story
can help to legitimize something in society?
transcript part A
4) Describe the
environment of the "steppe," which includes the area of modern-day
Mongolia.
transcript part B
5) How does the story potentially reflect
the interdependence between humans and dogs on the steppe?
transcript part B
6) Who leads the humans to one of the gods
of the Upper-world?
transcript part B
7) Power Project Question: Use the internet and the library to find more creation stories of peoples in various regions of the world, analyze them and write brief interpretations of them.
Transcript
T. (Teacher) Where are we going today?
Where are you all taking us?
S. (Students) We're going to Japan?
T. Where is Japan and what kind of landform?
(student points to Japan on the map)
S. An island
T. Its a string of islands, and therefore it's an . (pausing for
student response) . . archipelago. Can you say that?
S. In the beginning the earth was a shapeless mass. Then the god Izanagi and the
goddess Izanami were given the job of stirring this mass with a long, jeweled
spear. As they stirred, the mixture thickened and dropped off the spear point
and hardened into an island. On the island the god and goddess were married and
had children. These offspring included the eight islands of Japan, many gods and
goddesses, and finally the sun-goddess Amaterasu. From her descended the
emperors of Japan.
T. O.K., stay there for just a second. What is the sun there (referring to the
puppet one of the three students is holding)?, I didn't catch all of your props.
S. It's the sun goddess.
T. It's the sun goddess? I hope she's a little better looking than that. O.K.,
great. What's under her?
S. Her eyes, her nose and eyes. . .
T. I thought that was a mask and then her face was underneath.
T. O.K. stay there. . . . What can we gather from this story
about the environment of Japan or society? What can we say? How is [this story]
comparable to the Chinese story of Pan Ku with Yin and Yang?
S. One more time?
T. What does Yin and Yang represent?
S. Opposites.
T. Opposites, including male and female, right? Do we have male and female here
[in this story]? Aren't the creators both a male and a female entities here?
Don't we have a male and a female working together?
S. Yes.
T. O.K. that might be significant. O.K. what else do we have? We have a "mud
thing" where things come out of the water. What about finally; in the end, what
did he say about the sun goddess and the emperor?
S. Some response.
T. The emperor comes from . . . [or is]
S. Descendant from the sun goddess.
T. O.K. what does that [part of the story] do; or, how would you explain that
significance, in a sentence, Jenna?
S. The emperor probably made-up the story?
T. Well, maybe it came from tradition, but it's hard to say who made-up what;
but at least the emperor is, [or] has legitimacy -- can everyone say legitimacy?
S. Everyone: Legitimacy
T. The emperor has legitimacy from the story. He has justification, right; in
his being the emperor. His being the emporer is justified through the story,
right? So it's legitimated. It has legitimacy.
S. So is China's
back to questions
***Mongolian skit begins here
from 3:20 of the tape
T. Show us on the map. What sort of terrain are we talking
about? Show us another map too. Tell us what sort of terrain that is.
S. Desert
T. No, it's not [only] desert.
S. Tundra.
T. O.K. Tundra, yes. What is the other term for . . .
S. Steppe.
T. Steppe, which includes, and more importantly, because they're raising sheep,
what sort of terrain do they have?
S. Plains
T. Plains yes, and grasslands -- rolling hills and not many trees; so it's good
cowboy country; and that's where the first horses were domesticated. Kids
[there] can ride horses by the time they're six years old. Let's see what kind
of story we've got.
S. (self introductions) Narrator quickly reads story while two students act out
parts:
Long ago Father Heaven had two sons, Ulgen Tenger and Erleg Khan, Ulgen
became the lord of the upper world and Erleg Khan became the lord of the lower
world. At that time the earth was covered with water, there was no land. Ulgen
Tenger asked the loon to bring up mud from below the water to create land, he
was not able to do so, and he was punished by having his legs broken so he could
not walk, and the goldeneye duck was called next to bring up land. The duck
created a small piece of land that Ulgen was able to lay on. Erleg Khan seeing
that his brother had fallen asleep on the new land, tried to pull the land out
from under him, but instead the land stretched out in all directions as he
pulled it. Next, Ulgen Tenger created animals and humans out of mud and he
spread them out to dry. He created the dog to keep watch over the bodies of the
new humans while he was gone. Erleg Khan, unhappy to see that his brother was
creating humans, came to see the new bodies. The dog would not let him come
close, at that time the dog could talk but had no fur. It was cold, and snowing,
so Erleg Khan tempted him, saying that if the dog allowed him to see the humans'
bodies he would give him a beautiful fur coat. The dog agreed, and was given a
shiny beautiful coat. Erleg Khan then spat on the bodies so that humans would
have diseases and not be immortal. When Ulgen returned he saw that the dog had
fur and that the humans had been damaged, so he punished the dog by making his
coat smelly, taking away his voice, and by making the dog follow humans in order
to get its food. The end.
T. Stop please. How about some interpretations from you all. You all have read
the story more times that we have heard it; so, what does it say about Mongolia,
people, animals, the environment? What can you interpret from this story?
S. They don't like dogs. (laughter)
T. Well, . . . [Is it] necessarily [so]?
S. They punished the dog, and they tricked it and they weren't nice to it.
T. Who wasn't?
S. (one of the actors responds) I wasn't.
T. Was it god?
S. Yes, I spat on the humans [too].
T. So, god -- he didn't like the humans either. But then to make it up to them,
he took something away from the dogs? So this shows a pretty strong relationship
between man and dogs?
S. Yes, they use dogs to herd the sheep.
T. O.K., great, great, that's possible. Umm., so [do you] see this relationship
between man and animals not necessarily as man above the animals, but not
extremely so, right?
S. Right.
T. They are still subject to god in the same way, right?
S. They were all made from mud.
T. O.K. right, before there was land, there was mud and water. And what other
animals came up in it.
S. The golden-eyed duck and the loon.
T. Can a loon walk? Do you know if that has some relationship to the story? A
loon is like a duck isn't it? And it makes a really strange sound? We'll have to
find out if there's any significance in the story to [present day] reality.
We'll have to see if it walks in a strange way. Maybe it can't. [Maybe] it can
only swim.
S. Well, I don't get why [the story] says [the loon] could walk when there
wasn't any land to walk on?
S. (Narrator) [The loon] was supposed to bring up mud and he couldn't. They
wanted the bird to go down under water.
T. But she said that because there wasn't any land, there wasn't anything to
walk on anyway. Right?
S. But it was a bird.
T. O.K., it's a punishment anyway. Who was rewarded. Wasn't the dog rewarded for
doing something?
S. He got hair.
T. For what.
S. For leading, me, Erleg ([god of the Upper-world]), to the humans.
T. Leading god to the humans. O.K., great. Interesting.
back to questions
Abbreviated stories
for classroom and personal use
Japan Creation Myth:
In the beginning the earth was a shapeless mass. Then the god Izanagi and
the goddess Izanami were given the job of stirring this mass with a long,
jeweled spear. As they stirred, the mixture thickened and dropped off the spear
point and hardened into an island. On the island the god and goddess were
married and had children. These offspring included the eight islands of Japan,
many gods and goddesses, and finally the sun-goddess Amaterasu. From her
descended the emperors of Japan.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
China Creation Myth
In the beginning was a huge egg containing chaos and a mixture of yin-yang
(female-male, cold-heat, dark-light, wet-dry, etc). Also within this yin-yang
was Phan Ku who broke forth from the egg as a giant who separated the yin-yang
into many opposites, including earth and sky. With a great chisel and a huge
hammer, Phan Ku carved out the mountains, rivers, valleys, and oceans. He also
made the sun, moon, and stars. When he died, after 18,000 years, it is said that
the fleas in his hair became human beings. In summation, the Chinese say that
everything that is is Phan Ku and everything that Phan Ku is is yin-yang.
Another version of the same myth
Pangu Separates the Sky from the Earth:
The sky and the earth were at first one blurred entity like an egg. Pangu was
born into it. The separation of the sky and the earth took eighteen thousand
years-the yang which was light and pure rose to become the sky, and the yin
which was heavy and murky sank to form the earth. Between them was Pangu, who
went through nine changes every day, his wisdom greater than that of the sky and
his ability greater than that of the earth. Every day the sky rose ten feet
higher, the earth became ten feet thicker, and Pangu grew ten feet taller.
Another eighteen thousand years passed, and there was an extremely high sky, an
extremely thick earth, and an extremely tall Pangu.
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China Creation of Mankind Myth
Nü Wa Makes Men:
It is said that there were no men when the sky and the earth were separated. It
was Nü Wa (Emperor Yandi's youngest daughter) who made men by molding yellow
clay. The work was so taxing that her strength was not equal to it. So she
dipped a rope into the mud and then lifted it. The mud that dripped from the
rope also became men. Those made by moulding yellow clay were rich and noble,
while those made by lifting the rope were poor and low.
Note: From Tai ping yu lan (Taiping Anthologies for the Emperor)
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India Creation Myth
(The Dhammai are from northern India. They are a non-Hindu people.) Before
there was anything, there existed Shuzanghu and his wife, Zumaing-Nui. In time
she gave birth to a girl (earth) and a boy (sky). Sky and earth mated and gave
birth to the mountains. Then they produced two frogs who married and made the
first humans. These humans were covered with thick hair, but when they mated
they produced people as they are now.
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Assyria Creation Myth
The Annunaki [sky gods: Anu (sky), Enlil (earth), Shamash (sun), and Ea
(water)], created the earth and the heavens. When they were finished, they
looked carefully at their creation and concluded that something was missing.
They decided that mankind was needed to till the fields and celebrate religious
festivals. So it was that the first humans [Ulligarra (abundance) and Zalgarra
(plenty)] were created. Aruru, the "lady of the gods", was given sway over their
destinies.
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Romania Creation Myth:
God made Heaven, and then, after measuring the space underneath with a ball
of thread, he began to form the earth. A mole asked to help, and God gave him
the thread to hold while he wove the patterns of the earth. Sometimes the mole
would let out too much thread, and finally the earth grew too large for the
space under heaven. The mole was so upset that he hid under the earth. God sent
the bee to look for him; he wanted the mole's advice on what to do about the
mistake. The bee found the mole and the mole just laughed at the idea of
advising God. The bee, however, hid in a flower and overheard the mole mumbling
to himself about what he would do if he were God. 'I would squeeze the earth,'
he said. 'That would make mountains and valleys it is true, but it would make
the earth smaller at the same time.' When the bee heard this, he went directly
to God and told him. God did what the mole had said, and everything fit fine.
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Mongol Creation Myth:
Ewenki:
Long ago Father Heaven had two sons, Ulgen Tenger and Erleg Khan, Ulgen became
the lord of the upper world and Erleg Khan became the lord of the lower world.
At that time the earth was covered with water, there was no land. Ulgen Tenger
asked the loon to bring up mud from below the water to create land, he was not
able to do so, and he was punished by having his legs broken so he could not
walk, and the goldeneye duck was called next to bring up land. The duck created
a small piece of land that Ulgen was able to lay on. Erleg Khan seeing that his
brother had fallen asleep on the new land, tried to pull the land out from under
him, but instead the land stretched out in all directions as he pulled it. Next,
Ulgen Tenger created animals and humans out of mud and he spread them out to
dry. He created the dog to keep watch over the bodies of the new humans while he
was gone. Erleg Khan, unhappy to see that his brother was creating humans, came
to see the new bodies. The dog would not let him come close, at that time the
dog could talk but had no fur. It was cold, and snowing, so Erleg Khan tempted
him, saying that if the dog allowed him to see the humans' bodies he would give
him a beautiful fur coat. The dog agreed, and was given a shiny beautiful coat.
Erleg Khan then spat on the bodies so that humans would have diseases and not be
immortal. When Ulgen returned he saw that the dog had fur and that the humans
had been damaged, so he punished the dog by making his coat smelly, taking away
his voice, and by making the dog follow humans in order to get its food.
Note: I can't recall/find from which resource I got the foregoing myth and its
accreditation as Slavic, so I can't check out the following message that I was
E-mailed: "The creation myth of ancient slavs, doesn't linguistically correspond
to slavic languages. It more likely reflects the myth of ancient mongols who are
not considered to belong either to slavic culture or ethnicity."-Grigoriy
Titiyevskiy - Sounds to me as if Mr. Titiyevskiy knows what he is talking about.
Any ideas or comments? **Received following message as a result of the
foregoing: Comment by Mr. Titievsky is correct. Evenki is a native siberian
people, related to Altaic and Mongolian culture. Slavic mythology is entirely
different. (signed) I.M. So I have changed the heading from "Slavic Creation
Myth" to "Mongol Creation Myth".
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Maori Creation Myth: (New Zealand)
At the creation, the Earth goddess, Papa, and her husband Rangi, the sky
god, were so much in love that they hugged each other and would not let go. This
meant that the earth and the sky were always joined solidly together, and no
light could come into the world. Papa gave birth to several children, but they
were stuck between their parents and could not escape. Finally the children
decided that they had to get out. One of them, Tane, suggested that they force
their parents apart. All of the children agreed that this was a good idea. One
by one they tried, without success to push their parents apart. Finally Tane had
a try. He folded himself up very small and slipped between his parents. With his
feet against Rangi and his shoulders against Papa, he pushed. He pushed for
hours, he pushed for days, he pushed for weeks, he pushed for years and years.
And very, very slowly Tane managed to uncurl his body, straighten himself, and
finally push his parents apart. Light came into the world, and for the first
time since the world was created, plants started to grow. But Rangi and Papa
were so sad to be apart that they cried and cried. Rangi's tears ran into
rivers. They became a sea. They even threatened to flood the whole world.
Something had to be done. One of the children turned Papa over so that Rangi
could not see her face. Now he doesn't cry so much. But you can still see his
tears every morning; they are the dewdrops on the grass. And the mists that rise
from the ground are Papa's sighs.
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