Mythic Writing and the Imagery of the Mind: The Experience of Chaos and the Quest for Life's Order

This book explores how myths embody archaic peoples' interpretation of the world, their inquiry into existence, and their attempts to situate the self within it. It further examines how such mythical experiences have been transmitted through literary writings across generations—showing how writers sought guidance along the obscure paths of life, rebuilt order amid chaotic reality, or dispelled illusions to return to a primordial state in which all life was interconnected and all things were animate. The seven chapters progressively investigate the ocean, paradise, and the goddess as symbols of "chaos" in mythology, and then turn to major Chinese poets—Song Yu, Cao Zhi, Li He, Wei Zhuang, Su Shi, and Wu Wenying—to analyze how they creatively engaged with myth, embodied mythical archetypes and modes of thinking, and conveyed the experiential dimension of myth in their works. Shaped by their distinctive temperaments and circumstances, these poets charted divergent paths—from entrapment to resistance, from conflict to reconciliation—each forging a unique journey through life's adversities. Grounded in textual analysis and literary-historical investigation, this book draws on mythological theory to illuminate the deep dialogue between myth and literature, revealing how myth—often regarded as the "mother of literature"—continues to nourish later literary creation.