Launch of the book, China’s Creation and Origin Myths: Cross-Cultural Explorations in Oral and Written Traditions, edited by Mineke Schipper, Ye Shuxian and Yin Hubin (Boston and Leiden: Brill Publishers 2011).
Venue: IIAS, Rapenburg 59 (conference room), Leiden, the Netherlands
It is our pleasure to invite you to the launch of the book, China’s Creation and Origin Myths. Cross-Cultural Explorations in Oral and Written Traditions, edited by Mineke Schipper, Ye Shuxian and Yin Hubin (Boston and Leiden: Brill Publishers 2011).
How did the world begin, how and why were the first people created? No less than myths in other parts of the world China’s creation and origin myths explain how man created order out of chaos, and imposed culture on nature. However, the idea that China had no creation myths has been quite stubborn among Western sinologists, and Chinese scholars often repeated the same idea. Nonetheless, those who look for creation myths will find them in ancient Chinese texts as well as in contemporary oral traditions from all over China.
In China academic activities in the field of mythology on a larger scale did not start before the founding of the Chinese Mythology Association in 1985. This association has organized or engaged in several mythology conferences over the past 25 years. One of the most remarkable of those conferences was the International Symposium on Creation Myths (Beijing, October 2008), sponsored by the Institute of Ethnic Literature of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) and the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW). This small scale and high level event was the first to concentrate exclusively on Chinese origin myths in the context of and with a comparative perspective on creation myths worldwide.
The International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS) in Leiden offered a warm welcome and hospitality to Professor Ye Shuxian and Dr. Yin Hubin during their stay in The Netherlands in the spring of 2010. Without its efficient support the editorial work for this project would hardly have been possible. The resulting book will be launched on 26 May 2011 at the IIAS.
Drinks afterwards.
Information and Registration: Ms. Martina van den Haak at m.c.van.den.haak@iias.nl