Categories of Myths

Scholars divide myths into different categories on the basis of their themes.Anne Birrell introduces a classification system of cosmogonic myths，creation myths，etiological myths，myths of divine birth，mythic metamorphoses，myths of strange places，peoples，plants，birds and animals，myths of the primeval and the lesser gods，mythical figures，myths of the semidivine heroes who founded their tribe，city，or dynasty at the dawn of history.[13] Another writer Lewis Spence，in his An Introduction to Mythology，classifies myths into 21 categories，namely creation myths（creation of the earth and man），myths of the origin of man，flood myths，myths of a place of reward，myths of a place of punishment，sun myths，moon myths，hero myths，beast myths，myths to account for customs or rites，myths of journeys or adventures through the Underworld or place of the dead，myths regarding the birth of gods，fire myth，star myths，myths of death，food of the dead formula，myths regarding taboo，“dismemberment” myths（in which a god is dismembered），dualistic myths（the good god fighting the bad），myths of the origin of the arts of life and soul myths.[14]

However，repetition occurs when myths are strictly consistent with the categories above.As in Birrell’s mythic metamorphoses and plants，birds and animals，the former overlap with the latter.To be specific，Chiyou’s fetters turned into maple trees after his death，and Kuafu’s walking stick transformed into peach trees.So are Ovid’s Metamorphoses，in which many people or gods transform into plants or animals.For instance，the nymph Daphne became the laurel；Clytie，being infatuated with Apollo，turned into a sunflower；the weaver Arachne offended Athena and was consequently transformed into a spider.Moreover，myths of the underworld and of death are also bewilderingly similar.

Based on the previous efforts，the editors have arranged this textbook in eleven chapters：myths of cosmogony，emergence of human beings，flood myths，myths of water deities，plants，animals，myths of punishment，myths of the underworld，myths of love gods，heroes，and women in myths，hopefully crystallizing the motifs per se，sorting out stories of the same motif in Chinese and Greek myths and serving as a great carrier of Chinese culture to aliens and beyond.

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[1] Catherine A.White，The Student’s Mythology，New York：A.C.Armstrong & Son，1890，p.15.

[2] Karl Marx，A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy，trans.by N.I.Stone，Chicago：Charles H.Kerr & Company，1904，pp.310-311.

[3] Northrop Frye，Anatomy of Criticism：Four Essays，Princeton and Oxford：Princeton University Press，2000，p.366.

[4] Lewis Spence，An Introduction to Mythology，New York：Moffat Yard and Company，1921，pp.11-12.

[5] Robert A.Segal，Myth：A Very Short Introduction，Oxford：Oxford University Press，2004，p.4.

[6] Lu Hsun，A Brief History of Chinese Fiction，trans.by Yang Xianyi and Gladys Yang，Beijing：Foreign Languages Press，2009，p.9.

[7] Lu Hsun，A Brief History of Chinese Fiction，p.9.

[8] 茅盾：《中国神话研究初探》，江苏文艺出版社2009年版，第3页。

[9] Yang Lihui，An Deming and Jessica Anderson Turner，Handbook of Chinese Mythology，Santa Barbara：ABC-CLIO，Inc.，2005，p.1.

[10] Yang Lihui，An Deming and Jessica Anderson Turner，Handbook of Chinese Mythology，p.4.

[11] Yang Lihui，An Deming and Jessica Anderson Turner，Handbook of Chinese Mythology，p.6.

[12] Anne Birrell，Chinese Mythology：An Introduction，Baltimore and London：The Johns Hopkins University Press，1993，p.17.

[13] Anne Birrell，Chinese Mythology：An Introduction，p.1.

[14] Lewis Spence，An Introduction to Mythology，p.138.