Insight of “Myth of Lightning, Thunder, and Rain” and “The Chinese Myth of the Immortal White Snake”
The Cambodian “Myth of Lightning, Thunder, and Rain” is a narration of a dance symbolized by the fight between the characters, Reamesor and Moni MeKhala. The two protagonists fight over the control of a crystal ball allegedly owned by Moni Mekhala (Takayama 272). The Chinese Myth of the “Immortal White Snake” is about a boy named Xu Xian who bought some “Tangyuan” from Lu Dongbin, who is among the eight immortals. Xu Xian did not know that the pills were immortal, and after eating them, he was not hungry for three days. He goes back to Lu Dongbin, where he is made to vomit the drugs and gets hungry again. The two myths have a religious basis characterized by fictional beliefs explaining the mystery of the universe. Characters portray emotionally supernatural powers of nature, gods, and goddesses. The stories revolve around magic, for example, Moni Mekhala’s crystal ball and Xu Xian’s pills (Takayama 270). The two tales are taught in the past tense and have a moral lesson for the audience.
Value of Using and Explaining the World through Myths and Parables
Myths and parables were the cradles for western civilization and are applicable in modern societies in defining the consequences of making wrong decisions. Characters in mythological tales teach morality and antagonism and shape contemporary social, political, and economic ideas. Current critical topics of climate change, social changes, and technology feature mythological tale styles. The narratives and tales are relevant to the many topics of today. Modern action movies also act mythological stories and report high sales because they are in demand. The myths share common elements of intense symbolism, a stylistic device used to address current issues (Takayama 265). Myths develop the other stories for the contemporary narrative genres. Myths are relevant today because they fulfill the purpose of entertaining and educating people, which are some of their main functions.
Work Cited
Takayama, Keita. “Imagining East Asian Education Otherwise: Neither Caricature, nor Scandalization.” Asia Pacific Journal of Education, vol. 37, no. 2, 2017, pp. 262-274.