Chinese myths

Chinese mythology refers to those myths found in the historical geographic area of China: these include myths in Chinese and other languages, as transmitted by Han Chinese and other ethnic groups, which have their own languages and myths. Along with Chinese folklore, Chinese mythology forms an important part of Chinese folk religion. Chinese mythology includes creation myths and legends, such as myths concerning the founding of Chinese culture and the Chinese state. Chinese mythology was long believed to be, at least in part, a factual recording of history. Thus, many stories regarding characters and events of the distant past have a double tradition: one which presents a more historicized and one which presents a more mythological version.

Historians have written evidence of Chinese mythological symbolism from the 12th century BCE in the Oracle bone script. Legends were passed down for over a thousand years before being written in books such as Classic of Mountains and Seas (山海經) and the Taiping Yulan. Other myths were passed down through oral traditions, such as theater and song before being recorded as novels such as Epic of Darkness. Historical documents and philosophical canons such as Book of Rites, Records of the Grand Historian, Book of Documents, and Lüshi Chunqiu all contain Chinese myths.

Some myths survive in theatrical or literary formats as plays or novels. Books in the shenmo genre of vernacular fiction revolve around gods and monsters. Important mythological fiction, seen as definitive records of these myths, include:

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