of any which we can identify as imported by them at that time. But
research seems to have gone at least as far as this--namely, that
while we cannot say that Chinese myth was derived from Indian myth,
there is good reason to believe that Chinese and Indian myth had a
common origin, which was of course outside of China.

To set forth in detail the various phases through which Chinese myth
has passed would involve a technical description foreign to the purpose
of a popular work. It will sufficiently serve our present purpose to
outline its most prominent features.

In the earliest times there was an 'age of magic' followed by an
'heroic age,' but myths were very rare before 800 B.C., and what is
known as primitive mythology is said to have been invented or imitated
from foreign sources after 820 B.C. In the eighth century B.C. myths
of an astrological character began to attract attention. In the age
of Lao Tzu (604 B.C.), the reputed founder of the Taoist religion,
fresh legends appear, though Lao Tzu himself, absorbed in the abstract,
records none. Neither did Confucius (551-479 B.C.) nor Mencius, who
lived two hundred years later, add any legends to history. But in the
Period of the Warring States (500-100 B.C.) fresh stimuli and great
emotion prompted to mythological creation.


Tso-ch'iu Ming and Lieh Tzu

Tso-ch'iu Ming, commentator on Confucius's _Annals_, frequently
introduced legend into his history. Lieh Tzu (fifth and fourth
centuries B.C.), a metaphysician, is one of the earliest authors who
deal in myths. He is the first to mention the story of Hsi Wang Mu, the