RATIONAL MYTHOS AND IRRATIONAL LOGOS: THE NARRATIVE FORMS OF CHINA’S ‘SHE’ PEOPLE

Abstract

This article considers the myths of China’s She people in the light of the distinction made by western mythographers between mythos and logos.  In the analysis of ancient Greek myths, mythos and logos have been seen as standing for irrational and rational elements, respectively. Within the Chinese education system, however, myths and history are not rigorously separated, and people believe that myths tell of real events that happened in prehistoric times.  By examining my collections of She narrative epics and graphic depictions of these stories, I will suggest that the association of logos with the rational and mythos with the irrational is reversed in the She case, and that the effective transmission of the epics down the generations has required the adoption of rational elements to the oral tradition or mythos, whilst the sacred or irrational component of the stories is preserved in the graphic depictions or logos.