Hi, Does anyone know where I can find some good info on Asian Mythology? Specifically on mythological Creatures from different Asian cultures? While I'm at it, any place I can find good info on Hindu, Native American, Norse and Egyptian mythology and creatures at? I need special emphasis on mythological creatures and deities. I already have Greek mythology and European mythology down pretty good, but those other ones I need help on. So any websites and/or books on these subjects would be appreciated. I know that posting links is not allowed so just the name of the website maybe? Thanks in advance! This is for plot development by the way.....
What kind of Asian? Japanese animes will give you ideas about Japanese mythology - many animes feature mythological creatures of various kinds. From what I understand, Japan, China and Korea all have fairly similar mythological beings. For example, all three countries believe in nine-tailed foxes with magical powers. (Yobi is a great movie with a magical fox protagonist.)
Encyclopedia Brittanica is THE best source for most research... it's even online. However, those with paid memberships have access to everything on their site. There's still a bit available that is for free. I'd check it out. Wikipedia is a good place to start (but it's no EB).
Analogous to kung fu. James was making a funny. Sort of. But since the term kung fu derives from a Chinese word meaning approximately "skill gained through work" it's a surprisingly appropriate analogy. Skill with google, along with any other research skill, is developed through disciplined, frequent use. Why disciplined? Because effective research requires full involvement of the brain. It's not enough to find a Wikipedia article and run sopping wet and naked down the street yelling "Eureka!" You have to read critically. Check sources, especially dissenting views, carefully. Question assumptions, and don't only settle on the articles that say what you would like to hear. If someone gives you a link, don't rely on it, especially if they are making a case with it. Do your own research. In these days, the days of the Internet and search engines, it should be a ready habit. The days of having to camp out in a University library are -- well, not gone, but fading. And withb it goes the excuse that research takes too much time and effort, that you'll never get anything done.
awesome... but remember that my google fu is better than yours really, OP, define 'Asian'!!! Vietnamese is not the same as Tibetan, and Hindu is definitely not the same as Tamil... and they are all Asian!! Even Islam is an asian religion....
Sorry I didn't clarify on what I meant by Asian. What I meant was Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese etc. I know that Hindu and Islam and a couple others are not really that similar to these cultures, that's why I put them in to a different category. But I do know that Japanese/ Chinese/ Vietnamese are fairly similar, so that is what I am looking for. Any sites that have good info on mythology from these cultures, or ones that are VERY similar. I know that different cultures have different stories and traditions, but I plan on combining these any way. As for Googleing, yes I have been doing this like crazy for a while. I can only find a broad array of info. I need details on legends. I need a detailed list of creatures and legendary heroes. I am going to be making entire races and countries out of these legends. Yes I can use my imagination and make up my own legends, but I would prefer it if I could base a made up creature/race on an actual legend. So again, if anyone has any specific sites, or maybe a name of a book that would help, I would appreciate it. And sorry for not clarifying before!
This really is a fairly straight forward problem. If you're willing to spend money there will be hundreds of books which will go in considerable depth on what you're looking for. If this is a one time search it's probably just easier to use the internet. If you plan on writing many stories/books it might be wise to invest in a couple of books on the subject so you can refer to them often. Also, reading indepth info might give you more story ideas. Librarys are another great source, but if you don't live in/near a big city your library might be limited. Inter-library loans can help, but that may take time Or just do a internet search find the Wiki page, then follow up (i stress follow up) the research of the names you find there. Usually Wiki is a good 'general source' which will get you good info but you'll have to do name search on the various creatures to get more indept information. When I was getting my history degree I found a lot of good material in the Wiki source section. I was able to follow a link that lead me to the 1860 Republican National Convention booklet published after the election. So don't ignore the reference section. If nothing else, if can help you determine the best book to look at in Amazon. If it were me, I would just find a good book on Amazon and buy it because it would give me a ton of info I could use. But, that's me. I like learning about new things.
Awww i got confused..I thought you were doing a Mr. T impression and saying Use Google Fu (fool). Well I learned something here lol
I agree that "asian" needs to be defined better. For instance, Judaism and Christianity are, in truth, Asian religions, at least in their origins. Also, define culture and age, as the area now known as Iraq and Iran, would be very different in different time periods. Everything from chaos monsters to true god/devil type dualism developed in that geographical area. For most of ancient Asia and Egypt (Elamanite, Babylonian, Akkadian, Phoenician, Israelite etc. etc., I would suggest a source called "Dictionaries of Deities and Demons in the Bible." It is not a "christian" source, but rather, a scholarly collection of articles and write-ups about literaly hundreds of names and concepts attached with demons and deities in the times and areas associated with biblical texts.
Uhm, no?! They are certainly not 'fairly' similar... Just because Europeans can't tell Korean from Taiwanese - you can bet Norwegian and English sound quite the same to someone in China Their cultures share a lot, but so do Portugese and Iranian cultures...
