Taiwei Chang

 Resources: 1. Introduction of Hundun (Dijiang).  / Wikipedia (Chinese Version) 2. Hundun lived in the  Celestial Mountain . Description of Hundun:  Hundun is one kind of divine bird, was like a yellow sack with an aura of cinnabar; People described it as bright red. It had six legs and four wings, but it has no eyes or facial features, living in a perpetual state of confusion. It was also fond of singing and dancing. It homeland called Celestial Mountain in ancient, now, people called that Tien Shan mountain. One of the biggest mountain ranges in the world.  About the plot:  According to the information from the Classics of Mountains and Seas and Wikipedia, I realized that Hundun is one kind of creature that represents fierce and scary, although they look lovely. In my storybook, it would stand at the opposite side of the Peach Blossom Paradise. For the citizens who live in the village, they uphold virtue, peace, and kindness. They hold totally differ...

This story is part of the Blackfoot unit . Story source: Blackfeet Indian Stories by George Bird Grinnell (1915). At this part, the most excellent story would be the  Bobcat and Birch Tree . In this part, several things have grabbed my attention. When the man met the prairie-dogs, when he go find the bobcat, and finally, when he was saved by a Birch tree, all those plots are funny and interesting for me. I think this is the reason that I could enjoy reading the story. At the beginning of this semester, I said that I would like to find the reason why mythologies and folk myths could exist for hundreds, even thousands of years. To some extent, I think this story could explain this question to us. For instance, it connects the story itself to reality. The man beat the bobcats' face and made that flat. The author mentioned, "It is for this reason that the lynxes to-day look like that". Next, when the man was saved by the Birch tree, he gashed the tree's bark and thank f...

This story is part of the Blackfoot unit . Story source: Blackfeet Indian Stories by George Bird Grinnell (1915). I really enjoy the story - The Wolf Man in this part. This little story is full of fantastic and impressive plots. Although there are no elegant or elaborate exist in this folklore, it still shows us some valuable contentions. The man's two wives tried him, and they tried to kill him. The man was saved by wolves, then the two women got punished.  Most importantly, the story reflects several profound points. First, wives chose to kill the men and get freedom. Also, at the beginning of the story, the author has mentioned that the two women are not kind people. I think this plot could be connected to reality, some people would choose to realize their desire by betraying the people around them. At the end of the story, the author put a classic good ending. Those two women had been punished, although such an end may not happen in the real world.  Second, the man had be...

Long times ago, a human's spirit had been separated by a witch into two parts. Half is a brave soul, another one is a coward soul. He asked the witch to move the brave soul into his body and keep his coward soul in a box.  In this era, people were suffering from rampant monsters. He decided to kill every monster and bring peace to humans. Since the part of his soul which represents the coward had been eliminated by the witch, he had no fear when he faces any of the monsters.  When his sword was cut out, his cloak was dyed red by monsters' blood, tranquility returns to the human's society. People eulogized him and thanked him for his bravery.  However, one day, someone told him, "There is a temple in the mountains, a monster transferred itself into a monk. It eats every people who stay in the temple." He had no hesitated and went to that temple.  In the temple, he saw that monk and said, "Do not struggle, and I will kill you in one second". But, the monk ...

This story is part of the Japanese Fairy Tales (Ozaki) unit . Story source: Japanese Fairy Tales by Yei Theodora Ozaki (1908). Today, I have been read the story -  The Ogre of Rashomon . I am marveled at the protagonist's brave and power and the wonderful plot. For the plot, Watanabe could not kill the ogre when he first met it. He tried but failed. Even at the end of the story, he still could not kill the ogre. This plot set gives me an inspiration that I do not need to eliminate the evil in my own storybook. Nevertheless, I still could get a happy ending. Just like the story, the ogre escapes from Wantanabe's house, and it would never trouble Kyoto again.  Next, descriptions of the character's actions in this story are also excellent. For instance, "he seized his sword, drew it out of its sheath in a flash, and tried to cut the ogre down". This sentence is so vivid and immersive since the detailed depiction of the behavior of Watanabe. After reading this, I re...

This story is part of the Japanese Fairy Tales (Ozaki) unit . Story source: Japanese Fairy Tales by Yei Theodora Ozaki (1908). This is a very interesting and impressive story. Actually, this is the first time that I read the Japanese myth. The story tells that a brave warrior Hidesato helps the Drago King of the lake to kill his enemy - a huge centipede. I was shocked by the story's depiction of different scenes. For example, when Hidesato first met the dragon, the story said, "Its body was so big that it looked like the trunk of a large pine tree, and it took up the whole width of the bridge. One of its huge claws rested on the parapet of one side of the bridge, while its tail lay right against the other. The monster seemed to be asleep, and as it breathed, fire and smoke came out of its nostrils." I would say that this paragraph gives me many inspirations about how to describe a specific object. First, the author compares the dragon's body to a pine tree. This proc...

 I am proud of myself that I finish all the homework in this class so far. I have a weekly routine now, and I am glad that I could follow that each week. The project assignment would the most enjoyable assignment. For now, I do not use any extra credit options. My blog and website are going well.  I think the most important thing for me would be to keep going. Keep it up! I am sure that I have the ability and determination to get a perfect score at the end of the semester.  Feedback Cat. Web Source: Blogspot .

 I think I got many useful and inspirational comments so far. The comments which could give me some suggestions and correct some of my mistakes would be the most helpful one.  I have found some good strategies to help others get better off. For example, I prefer to point out shortcomings and errors, but not just praise others work. I combine them together and provide my detailed suggestion.  I think blog comment is a really important tool for us to get to know each other. Especially for the online course, we could not talk with others, but the comments provide a window for us.  Besides, I should read others' blogs and stories more carefully in the following semester. This would help me to share more instructive comments with others.  Feedback Cats. Web Source: Blogspot .

Overall, I think I do a good job of reading and writing assignments. I enjoy finishing them and improving myself. I am happy with my blog and my project website. Trying something new is always attractive to me, in this class, I have learned how to create my own blog and website which is so excited.  I can do better in the future. During this semester, I realized that we always could get some new writing strategies when we read a new story or read others' blogs.  Looking forward: I am sure I want to read more and write more in this class. This course provides me many interesting experiences, and I am loving them.  This is my favorite picture. Sindbad's adventures are fantastic!  Web Source:  Pinterest .

After the story of Journey to the West, Wu Kung - the monkey king became a buddha. However, he feels confused about his achievement. Why does he need to be a buddha? Why this is the right ending?  During the journey, he helped Tang Monk obtain Buddhist sacred texts. He killed all evil monsters that blocked their way and protected the Tang Monk. In the eyes of the general public and Bodhisattvas, he cleared away his sin during this process. However, what is his sin? Who defines that? The lord of heaven thought he was an impish monkey, and he defined his sin. In the beginning, he does not recognize his sin, until he was suppressed by the Buddha. Then, five hundred years passed, the Lord told him that protect Tang Monk would clean his sin. He cannot deny but obey. He continues his thoughts and makes an assumption: if there is a special tiger, who is strong enough to win in the battle against any other beasts. He lives in the forests. His wildness and instinct make him eat everything w...

This story is part of  The Monkey King unit . "The Ape Sun Wu Kung" in The Chinese Fairy Book , ed. by R. Wilhelm and translated by Frederick H. Martens (1921). In this part, I want to talk about some moral or ethical issues. At the beginning of this story, the lord of heaven blames Wu Kung's "wild, unmannerly behavior". Then, the following plots show his power: he could choose to punish Wu Kung or do not punish him without a doubt. The gods who live in heaven, they do not follow specific laws or rules, but they just think Wu Kung did wrong things. This is a traditional role of any kind of gods in mythology. For example, Zeus, the god in European mythology, also has this kind of power. I think they both like to force their value into other creatures, or other people in the story.  In this part, the only reason for the lord of heaven who could tame Wu Kung is because he is related to Buddha. Since the existence of Buddha, so they could punish Wu Kung successfull...

This story is part of The Monkey King unit .   "The Ape Sun Wu Kung" in The Chinese Fairy Book , ed. by R. Wilhelm and translated by Frederick H. Martens (1921). This part of the story shows us the birth of Sun Wu Kung and his journey. For me, this is a familiar topic, I have already read Sun Wu Kung's story many times when I still in China. In this storybook, the author briefly talked about his experiences, and I gain some new knowledge about Wu Kung. For example, when he leaves the cave in the water-curtain, the author mentioned, "Wind and waves were favorable and he reached Asia". This is a connection between myth and reality. I have never heard about that in the story of the Chinese version. Although it is just one sentence, it is very important I think. When I see that, I realized that there is a relationship between Wu Kung's adventure and reality. So, if I could also use this strategy in my own storybook, the story would be more vivid and impressive. ...