Mysterious Dream Interpretation: Miscellaneous Essays on Dream Culture: Miscellaneous Essays on Dream Culture

Author: Yao Weijun
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-01-01
Features: Chinese culture is renowned not only for its longevity and richness but also for its profound mystique, attracting global attention. The term "mystique" encompasses wonder and secrecy. Any culture with mystical elements can be termed mystical culture. It includes the Three Emperors and Five Kings, imperial consorts and concubines, eunuchs and relatives, sorcerers and shamans, recluses and immortals, devout men and women, secret societies, all walks of life, the Three Classics and Five Canons, secret texts and forbidden books, heretical doctrines, the Yin-Yang Five Elements, (heaven-human), (qi-men), divination and taboos, strange customs and, face-reading and divination by calligraphy, alchemy and health preservation, astrology and geomancy, martial arts and qigong. Ancient Chinese dream superstition, though a byproduct of traditional culture, cannot be dismissed outright, as these examples of dream interpretation actually reflect the value orientation of traditional Chinese culture. As a dream life of the Chinese ancestors, shaped by specific cultural influences, it has become a cultural phenomenon. The dream interpreters' explanations reveal the folk customs and psychological structures of the ancestors. Based on this understanding, the focus of this book lies in this aspect.