Eastern Mythology

When trying to understand any culture or civilization, experts look to the myths of their ancestors to help them understand their beliefs and behaviors through the study of the archetypes and ceremonies recorded within their literature. Mythologies typically began as ancient folklores that were passed down orally. These stories were passed down through the generations sometimes being aided by music and dance, to tell the tales of great ancestors and powerful deities. While studying the folklore, fairytales, and myths of a civilization, it is of upmost importance to examine them within the context of their time and culture in order to avoid making inaccurate judgments about a society. Many civilizations share similar archetypes within their
The social norm for the eastern culture is to “take one for the team,” meaning that the individuals within these society feel obligated to fulfill roles in order to bring their family honor, and/or financial stability. This sense of selflessness can also be traced back to an eastern mythology called, The Ballad of Mulan. This early Chinese legend is about a valiant, young girl who rebels against societal norms by disguising herself as a man in order to take her elderly father’s place in the army, when he was called upon. The Chinese story begins with news of war reaching Mulan’s village, which leads the village elders to draft one male soldier from every household. Mulan eventually brought victory and honor to her family as well as her people, after she spent ten years fighting the war. After 12 long years, Mulan reveals her gender to her comrades, and within the last four lines of The Ballad of Mulan she offers her perplexed and confused comrpanions just one
Myths are effective tools for teaching society norms. The children of the world, no matter what culture they are from, hear such legends and fables throughout their lives. Once they hit adolescent and adulthood, the corresponding stories within their respected culture pervade, guiding morals and behaviors throughout the rest of their lives. These tales also evoke critical thinking and the story-teller or listener to interpret the moral of the story and how it applies to them, or their daily life. Structured laws and rules that tell the society what is good and bad, limit the amount of thought people put into beliefs and behavior. The lack of thought severely reduces the capacity for reasoning and logical thinking when real life issues arise and the options are not black and white, or “good” and “bad” like the rules that are