ses
into the legendary period, and this again fades into the mythical,
and as all this is assuredly believed by the masses of the people,
it is obvious that in the national life of China there is no dearth
of heroes whose deeds of prowess will command the rapt attention of
the crowds who listen." [2]

The soul in China is everywhere in evidence, and if myths have "first
and foremost to do with the life of the soul" it would appear strange
that the Chinese, having spiritualized everything from a stone to the
sky, have not been creative of myth. Why they have not the foregoing
considerations show us clearly enough. We must take them and their
myths as we find them. Let us, then, note briefly the result of their
mental workings as reacted on by their environment.

Phases of Chinese Myth

We cannot identify the earliest mythology of the Chinese with that of
any primitive race. The myths, if any, of their place of origin may
have faded and been forgotten in their slow migration eastward. We
cannot say that when they came from the West (which they probably
did) they brought their myths with them, for in spite of certain
conjectural derivations from Babylon we do not find them possessed
of any which we can identify as imported by them at that time. But
research seems to have gone at least as far as this--namely, that
while we cannot say that Chinese myth was derived from Indian myth,
there is good reason to believe that Chinese and Indian myth had a
common origin, which was of course outside of China.

To set forth in detail the various phases through which Chinese myth
has passed would involve a technical description foreign to the purpose
of a popular work. It will sufficiently serve our present purpose to
outline its most prominent features.

In the earliest times there was an 'age of magic' followed by an
'heroic age,' but myths were very rare before 800 B.C., and what is
known as primitive mythology is said to have been invented or imitated
from foreign sources after 820 B.C. In the eighth century B.C. myths
of an astrological character began to attract attention. In the age
of Lao Tzu (604 B.C.), the reputed founder of the Taoist religion,
fresh legends appear, though Lao Tzu himself, absorbed in the abstract,
records none. Neither did Confucius (551-479 B.C.) nor Mencius, who
lived two hundred years later, add any legends to history. But in the
Period of the Warring States (500-100 B.C.) fresh stimuli and great