Information about the origin of mankind
The myth about the origin of human beings can be said to be the most troublesome problem in academic circles. Anthropologists, archaeologists, historians, biologists, chemists and even philosophers and religious scholars have studied the origin of human beings from various angles. However, there is still no most convincing statement.
There are many myths and legends about the origin of human beings, some of which are very similar, but of course there are many differences. In these myths, it is very interesting that we can find similarities with evolution. Summarizing all kinds of myths, the origin of human beings can be divided into five kinds: "ready to come out", primitive existence, plant change, animal change and clay sculpture creation, which are now described separately.
"Egyptian mythology" says that human beings are called by God. Egypt has been a mysterious place since ancient times. She is the most self-enclosed of all ancient countries. She has her own way of life, and it is difficult for external civilization to influence her. Therefore, her views on the origin of human beings are different from others.
Egyptians believe that the omnipotent Nu existed long before Egypt appeared in the world. He created the universe and everything in it. When he called Soapy, it was windy. Call Taifuna, there will be rain; Call Habib. The Nile flows through Egypt. He called again and again, and everything appeared. Finally, he told men and women. In a blink of an eye, Egypt is full of people.
When the creation work was completed, Nu turned himself into a man and became the first Pharaoh, ruling the earth and creating a peaceful and prosperous scene. Myths that exist in human beings are scattered in North American Indians and New Zealand Maori. In Indian mythology, it is said that God created heaven and earth, and then led mankind to come up from the ground and live on the earth.
According to Maori mythology, "Ranchi" and "Baba" are heaven and earth and the source of all things. At that time, heaven and earth were inseparable, and it was dark everywhere. His son longed for the light, so he pushed it away and it appeared. Humans hidden in the dark were discovered. It turns out that they were born in the sky and underground. It is a Germanic myth that man is a plant. It is said that Odin walked along the seaside with other gods one day.
Seeing two trees growing on the sandbar, one majestic and the other graceful, I ordered them to be cut down, resulting in male and female. Odin gave life first, and other gods gave reason, language, blood, skin color and so on. , respectively, become the ancestors of the germans.
The myth that human beings evolved from animals is quite common. In Australian mythology, people are changed by lizards; American mythology says that people are coyotes, beavers, apes and so on; Greek mythology also says that a certain ethnic group is changed by swans and a certain ethnic group is changed by cows. From the myth of "animals change into people", we can find that it is very close to the theory of evolution, especially in American mythology, people are changed from apes.
There are several myths about the origin of human beings in China. The spirit of Huai Nan Zi is earlier: "Er Shen (Yin and God) are mixed, and the qi in the sky is a worm (an adult with turbid qi, fish and birds and animals), and a refined person (an adult with pure qi). This statement has not received much attention. Later, it meant that Pangu was dying, and when he became everything, the parasite on him became a human being.
It has never been spread to Pangu. A bug in his body became a Li Tuo person because of the wind. Another way of saying this is that human beings were created by the Yellow Emperor, and then endowed with the five senses of limbs by other gods, namely, Pian and Sanglin. See the article on Lin in Huai Nan Zi: "Yellow Emperor gives birth to Yin and Yang, Pian gives birth to ears and mulberry gives birth to arms and hands.
This statement is very interesting, very similar to what the Germans said. Unfortunately, what kind of gods are Shangqing and Sanglin? Other ancient books have not described them, leaving only a mystery. Of all the myths, how earth made us's statement is the most popular. For example, New Zealand mythology says that man is a god, made of red soil and his own blood; That's what melanesians said.
According to Greek mythology, God took out the earth and fire, sent Prometheus and Epimetheus's brother Er Shen to create animals and humans respectively, and endowed human beings with various personalities and wisdom. Maidu Indians in western North America thought that after the "earth pioneers" created trees, birds and beasts, they said, "I want to make people.
He took some dark red soil and mixed it with water to make a man and a woman. Among all the myths, the most fascinating story about making people out of clay is Nu Wa in our country and God in Jewish mythology (Bible).
It is said that after Pangu opened heaven and earth, I don't know how many years passed, and Nu Wa suddenly appeared between heaven and earth. Nu Wa feels lonely in this desolate world. One day, she looked at the water and saw herself. How wonderful it would be. She unconsciously grabbed the dirt and got into the water. Squeeze out a clay doll according to its own shape, put it on the ground, blow it in the wind, and it becomes a living thing, so it is named Ren.
Originally, Nu Wa kept making people one after another, but the progress was slow, and finally she felt hard. When he thought of how to make people fill the vast land quickly, he leaned against the cliff, took off the rattan conveniently, stirred it lazily in the mud mixed with water, and then threw it out, and there were more people on the earth. The story of God creating man in the Bible is recorded in Genesis of the Old Testament.
It took God five days to create everything on the earth. On the sixth day, he said: We should make people according to our image and style. So he made man out of the dust on the ground, blew his anger into his nostrils and became a living man. Soon, one of Adam's ribs was removed and a woman was created. Adam said, "This is the bone of my bones and the flesh of my flesh, so I can call her a woman.
With the progress of modern science and technology and archaeology, the mystery of human evolution has gradually become clear, and Darwin's theory of evolution has been challenged more and more. No matter how different the mainstream schools of evolution are, their imagination of human ancestors' figure is very similar.