When I chose to take the class “China’s Magical Creatures” I was honestly unsure of what I was going to learn or what the class would be like at all. Despite my initial skepticism and confusion about the class curriculum, I have learned a great deal of valuable information about current and ancient Chinese culture. This objective has been achieved through reading texts such as The Classic of Mountains and Seas and the Tribute of Yu. Through reading and analyzing these texts along with weekly class discussions, I realized that there is a long history of belief in magical creatures in China. It seems strange to me now that I have never heard of the belief in mythical foxes and monkeys and made up creatures considering I have heard countless tales of goblins and fairies. While the class is mostly focused on ancient China, the myths/beliefs in these fantastical creatures still permeates in modern Chinese society. This is one of the many times this class has made me think about cultural comparisons between the U.S. and China. Before taking this class I thought that reading children’s stories about fairies, goblins, witches, and vampires was a universal experience. I did not realize that different versions, or completely new types, of these made up creatures exist in different cultures around the world.
Another cultural comparison that has stuck with me after taking this class is the belief in luck in Chinese culture compared to that of the United States. Both cultures have seemingly strange ideas about what is lucky and what is not such as the number 13 and especially Friday the 13th being unlucky in the U.S. In China. the year of the dragon is especially lucky, and it is a sign of luck if people were born in that year. While at the surface these ideas seem trivial, this class has made me want to further explore the history behind these concepts and see what they say about each culture.
While I may never call myself a Chinese historian, I am glad that this class has made me more aware of both past and present Chinese culture and that it opened my eyes to the many comparisons one can make between various aspects of different cultures.
