Blog #4

Have you ever heard of myth called The Love Legend of Zhou Mu-King and Xiwangmu? Well even if you haven't, it's one of my favorites.  So you guys  can  understand it  easier I am going to break it up, and each post I make will be about a different part of the myth. Today I am going to write about setting. This myth is set in the 10th Century B.C.  Zhou Mu-King commands 6 armies and sends them on an expedition to  Chu (楚) State which was a southern state. It is described in this line where a warrior wrote these lines to his wife, “I miss you and my beautiful hometown, but I can’t return, because of Xianyun.”  The setting is seen as beautiful.  To people living there they saw it as that, but on the outside it seemed wartorn. They at war with the Huns.  In a second main setting, when he is with me in the Kunlun Mountains it is described as there being white clouds in the sky, and the reflection of the mountain being  spectacular. The way was remote, and separated by many mountains and rivers The aroma of the outside air, dirt, and other natural scents filled their noses. Zhou Mu-King, could smell the salty sea air, as he visited the different seas. Since his mode of transportation was in a chariot pulled by horses. one may also imagine the scents he smelled from the animals pulling him. The smell of the animal itself and the droppings that came from it. The sounds of horses feet clopping along the road, as they took Zhou Mu-king to his varied destinations, and  sounds of warfare between Quan-rong and Zhou Mu-King. With all the traveling he did heheard all the sounds of nature, rushing water, animals scurrying in the bushes, rustling of leaves. One last sound that is memorable in this myth is the sound of the blade on the tree as Zhou Mu-king engraves-“The Mountain of Xiwangmu” (西王母之山) with his sword. Again if you were to lay your hand down on the setting you would most likely feel things in nature. For Zhou Mu-King he felt the warmth of my body during his time in the Kunlun Mt. The inhabitants of the area, felt the suns warmth. At one setting where he is with me, a banquet is put on, where you could taste all the delicious food I presented to him.

My next post will be on characters....