In Chinese mythology, Chang'e is the goddess of the moon who was married to the famous archer Hou Yi. Legend goes that there were originally ten suns. Tired of taking turns to cross the sky they decided to appear together causing excess heat and... #LegendaryWednesday 1/5
...destruction. Hou Yi shot down nine of the suns leaving just one to sustain life on earth. As a result, he was given the elixir of immortality. But he stored it in his home because he didn't want to become immortal & be separated from his beloved wife. There are several... 2/5
...versions of this tale. In one, his wife Chang-e takes the elixir herself and rises to live on the moon as an immortal goddess. In another, thieves try to steal the elixir and so she drinks it instead thus gaining immortality. Her grief-stricken husband stares up at the... 3/5
...moon pining for her and leaves out her favourite cakes. This myth is the origin of the Mid-Autumn moon festival celebrated in China each year. Today people still eat moon cakes and gaze at the full moon where the goddess Chang'e is believed to reside with the Jade Rabbit. 4/5
🎨1. 'Moon Goddess Chang E with Rabbits' - Kimpodo, 1831 2. 'Houyi' depicted in Xiao Yuncong's Illustrated 'Inquiry of the Heavens', 1645 3. 'Chang-E Flees to the Moon' from the series '100 Aspects of the Moon' - Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, 1885 5. 'Chang E' - unknown, 14th C. 5/5
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In #JapaneseFolklore there are many prophetic #yokai and in this thread I'll share just a small selection of them. They often appear to warn of impending disasters and in some cases just carrying or displaying their image can protect you from misfortune.
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One of my favourite prophetic #yokai is the two-headed crow known as yogen no tori.
In #JapaneseFolklore there is a very strange tale of an older brother and his younger sister. The brother had noticed some unusual things about his sister and one night when she crept out of bed he followed her down to the river bank. He watched as she wet...
#FolkloreSunday
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...her hair and started to beat it against the trunk of a willow tree and say ‘please make me into a snake.’ Shocked, he ran back to tell his parents. He tried to convince them that she was going to kill them and the only solution was for him to kill her immediately in...
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...order to save them all. As you might imagine, his parents were outraged by this idea. Despite his pleading they remained angry and so he gave up. He packed a bag and fled the house for good. He wandered for many years before marrying and settling down. At this time he...
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Utagawa Kuniyoshi was a prolific Japanese #ukiyoe artist who also had a passion for cats. His studio was overrun with them and he often worked with a cat on his lap. I'm also passionate about cats so thought I've put together a thread of Kuniyoshi's cats for #FolkloreSunday.
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'Four Cats in Poses' is one of my favourites Kuniyoshi cat prints.
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'Ouch! That hurts!' is from the series 'Celebrated Treasures of Mountains and Seas' in 1852.
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For today's #ArtWednesday mountain theme I've put together a collection of #ukiyoe prints featuring Mount Fuji, Japan's most iconic & sacred mountain.
🎨1. Katsushika Hokusai, 1828 2. Utagawa Hiroshige, 1852 3. Katsushika Hokusai, 1830 4. Utagawa Hiroshige, 1852 #JapaneseArt 1/5
Here are two upright prints by Utagawa Hiroshige from 1855 and 1858 offering two different perspectives of Mount Fuji. The first is titled 'Yoshiwara' and the second is 'In the Mountains of Izu Province' from the series 'Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji.' #ArtWednesday#ukiyoe 2/5
Four more modern prints featuring Mount Fuji.
🎨1. 'Mt.Fuji from Hakone Highway' - Okada Koichi, c. 1950s 2. 'Mt. Fuji from Tagonoura Bay' - Ito Yuhan, c. 1930s 3. 'Mt. Fuji and Red Torii' - Kawase Hasui, c. 1930s 4. 'Fuji from Tago Bay' - Tsuchiya Koitsu, 1936 #ArtWednesday 3/5
Dragons feature prominently in East Asian folklore & mythology. They have different characteristics to the fire breathing dragons found in the west. In Asia dragons are considered auspicious & represent vitality & power. They are also connected to the weather. #WyrdWednesday
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In this thread I will share some of my earlier threads with dragon info and tales from #JapaneseFolklore. In Japan, dragons are known as wani and feature in many folktales. Firstly, here is some info about wani.
One of my favourite tales is about the goddess Benzaiten and her encounter with a five headed dragon off the coast of Kanagawa. This tale first shows the dragon as a villain, but then later as a protective guardian.
This is a thread about my thoughts on Twitter, Mastodon and Curious Ordinary moving forward. Firstly, I am not planning to leave Twitter at this stage. However, the recent changes and subsequent discussions have got me thinking. Knowing that the future of this platform is... 1/8
...in the hands of one person is very unsettling. I really enjoy my experience of Twitter and I like being connected to the folklore community here and would not like to lose those connections. From the kind words and feedback I so often receive, I feel like the content I...
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...share is of value to some of you as well. So I've explored Mastodon and started an account there (@curiousordinary@mas.to) but have not started posting yet. I have also started a personal account (@angela@zerk.us) in order to explore and understand the platform a bit more.
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