As I knew exactly what to expect from this book it may have been made all the better – until it immediately proved to be not what I expected, yet was still damned good. The previous Myths books – Roman, English and Greek – from Amber Books that I have seen have all had an eye to the stories, legends and fables, but also about how they came about, how they got passed on, believed and adhered to. This is much more a guide to the stories themselves.

Yes, we get a picture building up here of how Daoism, Confucianism and Buddhism all merged into Chinese myth over the last centuries, but that is framing all the tales. There is also notice made of how when we imposed on us earthly government and class systems, we did the same to the ethereal worlds. But this is much more like the typical guide to the myths, telling us what creation legends were thought up, how the woman in the moon got there, how this was done, what thunder meant, and so on. We almost get a straight gazetteer of the monsters and heroes – and even the fabled swords – of these legends.

So, yes, coming to this thinking I'd be immured in centuries of Chinese thought, and gain little in the way of the stories that have come from those thoughts, this was anecdote after story after saga. True, a lot of this went in one ear and out the other, but that is bound to happen with a deadline under which to read this and a host of unfamiliar names. As a narrative reference work it is still mighty fine – and paired as usual with the publisher's fine pictorial elements. With the author proclaiming a sort-of prequel to this already out in the world, one should bear this in mind as being a recommendation for two books and not the usual one.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for letting me review this book. I’m a big fan of myths and this one was right up my alley. I’m familiar with some of the myths, gods and demons but it was cool to read about the others I weren’t.

AAPI Heritage Month #18

rep: Chinese

Growing up in the States, the only mythology we are inundated with is Greek, Roman, and a splattering of Norse. I always found Norse the most interesting. I would not like to unpack that. To add to that, it is the most sparse. I'd venture to say most Americans' knowledge of Norse mythology stems from Marvel, which has so much of it wrong.

You've heard me complain about YA, particularly YA fantasy. When I read and loved Song of Silver, Flame Like Night, I was immediately stunned by how much I loved it. Sure, the protagonist was dumb. She's young. I'd venture to say protagonists don't really grow smarter as they age. However, I didn't know the motif of the four animals was so prevalent in Chinese mythology until I read this book. Most of it went over my head, because this is the first time I have ever heard any of these stories. But I'll look into more of it, because it interests me. I think it will also help me understand more historical C-dramas, my mom's favorite genre. I'll have to ask her sometime if she's familiar with these myths. Probably not, because she came to the US when she was nine.

But in any case, I wonder what my life would've looked like had I grown up with these stories. It's a very different thing to grow up Asian vs. Asian American. Maybe Asians are as bored with these stories as I am with Greek mythology. Maybe not. But it's something to think about.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher.

Thank you Netgalley and Amber Books for access to this arc.

Given the increasing number of fantasy books utilizing Chinese settings and Chinese mythology, I thought this might be a good introduction to them which would help me navigate, to me, fairly unknown waters. With China’s vast size there are apparently often many different and possibly conflicting versions of these stories. The author said,

“I have tried to keep to the most well-documented versions, or those which I have learned about during my own life in China, having lived as far in the north as Changchun and as far in the south as Guangzhou.”



Along with the creation stories, there is more about the background to the gods, goddesses, and creatures in Chinese mythology. The information is grouped into cosmology, creation, mythological creatures, gods and immortals, mythological heroes, monsters and ghosts, legends, and treasures of the earth and forge.

Interesting things I learned – none of the major branches of Chinese mythology have anything equal to Ragnarok or Armageddon. There are many myths involving water – something that historically could drastically affect most of the Chinese population (such as the flooding of the Yangtze River). Record keeping has always been extensive in China which has led to bureaucratic themed myths. There is a creation myth whose details were often used to explain social inequality. Mirroring the extensive hierarchy of Imperial China, there were often several levels of grandeur for such creatures as dragons and phoenixes.

This is intended only as an introduction to Chinese mythology, and it covered the subject without being too dry. Most of it is actually more an overview of the various gods, goddesses, creatures, and demon characters in them. In describing these, a synopsis of some of their stories were included. But the last two chapters contain several myths and stories. There are also lovely illustrations and images.

“I hope this book not only helps explain concepts and patterns in Chinese myths, but that it also provides some insight into the mentality behind them, and consequently encourages cultural understanding.”



This wasn’t quite what I was expecting but was nonetheless interesting and taught me a lot. The illustrations, though, were gorgeous. B

A long, long time ago there were ten suns rather than one. They would take turns climbing up the world tree to rest in the sky and shine down upon the world. One day, however, they all decided to climb up at once. The ten suns gamboled in the sky, shining so brightly that they burned away all the plants upon the land and evaporated all the water. If they kept it up much longer, they would destroy all life on the planet. So, Di Jun asked the Celestial Archer Hou Yi for his help to get the suns from the sky…

Xueting C. Ni retells this story, and many, many more, in her new book Chinese Myths (Amber Books Ltd., 2023). This beautiful hardcover, illustrated with 120 photographs and artworks, would make a perfect gift or display book. Its depth of information makes it suitable for reading cover-to-cover as well. Ni is an award-winning writer and translator, and has been writing about Chinese culture and mythology for decades. She brings this impressive array of knowledge into an easily digestible form within this book.

Chinese Myths covers a diverse set of Daoist and Buddhist beliefs throughout Chinese culture. In these pages the reader will be introduced to mythological emperors and immortals, demons and ghosts, and, of course, great dragon kings. Chinese history comes into clear focus through the lens of changing beliefs. Ni is careful to explain how various figures have changed over time, and illuminates the symbolism in the many pieces of artwork throughout the book.


This is a beautiful book, and it would serve well as a reference text for newcomers as well as those more familiar with Chinese culture. Xueting communicates vast amounts of information clearly and succinctly and the vast bibliography can easily serve as a starting point for in-depth study.

A good introduction into the varied and extensive subject of Chinese Myths. One has to appreciate the length of Chinese culture (over 5,000 years) and the large geographical area to understand that not everything can be covered in detail because the book would be prohibitively long and confusing. I, who do not know really anything about Chinese myths, found the synopsis of stories entertaining and informative and sometimes frustrating because I wanted more--but be an adult and realize you can't have everything you want, this book was not written just for you. The myths and folklore are well organized into clear chapters and have beautiful illustrations and pictures.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest opinion.

This is a great book containing lots of characters and information. I reaLly enjoyed reading it and learning about Chinese myths, their heros, gods and immortals, there were so many names mentioned in the book that it is impossible to remember them all. I almost wish that it concentrated on telling more longer myths/stories. It is a great read that i would recommend for anyone

Beautiful pictures and informative texts that made me learn something new about Chines myths
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

“Chinese Myths” by Xueting C. Ni is an academically detailed and well illustrated coverage of Chinese folklore. The book is organized into eight chapters, “Cosmology: The Dao”, “Creation Myths”, “Gods and Immortals”, “Monsters and Ghosts”, “Legends”, & “Treasures of the Earth and Forge.”

On the positive side, since it contributed to my goal of learning more about Chinese culture, I absolutely enjoyed the brief summaries of the key stories about the many deities and legendary figures. On the other hand, while always interesting, the extensive encyclopedia coverage becomes confusing at points, especially chapters such as “Mythological Creatures” that unavoidably had less narrative than the chapters that featured heroes and heroins of legends. I was amused to learn that the characteristics of certain Pokemon creatures, such as Gyarados and Ninetails have their foundations in Chinese folklore. Likewise, it was interesting to learn about the perplexing Chinese zombies I happened to encounter in a TV show a while back. (Hint: read this book to learn why they tend to hop, and why the humans are so frantic to slap pieces of paper on the foreheads of these zombies…)

After I finished reading this book, I was delighted to realize that the author was also the editor of another book I enjoyed reading, the Chinese science fiction anthology Sinopticon. I will keep an eye open for more works by Xueting C. Ni!

I thank the author and publisher for kindly providing a temporary electronic review copy of this book.

This book gives an insight into the wide range of Chinese myths and legends. These are aspects of Daoism and Buddhist generally and may be 4000 years old. As a result of these roots the book also allows a discovery of Chinese culture, traditions and some superstitions. The importance of dragons - varied - in the Chinese way of life is quite clear for example. This book takes us from creation to rather more modern characters/beings that have been included far more recently. The book is very clearly laid out. There is a succinct introduction which looks at influences, sources and themes in this subject. The sheer size of the country (and the variations over years) makes you realise just what a massive subject this is. It served as a very useful introduction to me.

The first chapter is entitled Cosmology: The Dao. For the past few years I have been increasingly interested in the Dao. It is variously translated as 'the way' or 'the path'. Indeed translation from Chinese into English is actually fraught with difficulties. There are subtleties in Chinese that do not easily translate and certainly do not convey real meaning well culturally. Ying and Yang are mentioned and they are good examples of the difficulties in translation. Fortunately the author does not add the gender misconceptions of these terms which Western cultures have taken to. The creation myth(s) are then covered and reasonably effectively to me. Inevitably this does bring some gods or god like beings into the discussion.

Mythological Creatures and the Gods and Immortals are the subjects of the next chapters. I found the Cardinal creatures fascinating however it also felt brief to me. The Matriarchal roots here and the supreme goddess was an interesting insight. I was also very interested by the idea that Lao Zi may or may not have been real - "his" book is arguably the definitely Daoist text.

The book then turns to Mythological Heroes and Monsters and Ghosts for the next couple of chapters. Under these headings I was interested in the guardians of the underworld for example. These chapters also reinforced the importance of the number four in Chinese culture with 4 guardians and 4 fiends. This train of thought continues with the 4 "great legends" for example (and there are other examples in the book).

The final two chapters are Legends and Treasures of the Earth and Forge. Some of these are more recent and we are introduced to the 8 Buddhist treasures and swords too. In addition there is a useful Bibliography and a decent index. There are a number of sidebar type note panels that cover all kinds of subjects related to the chapter. An example of this would be the explanation - briefly - of the 8 trigrams leaning to the I-Ching.

This really is a lovely book and is so well illustrated. The pictures used are excellent and I have some doubts this would really work as an e-book on a small screen. On a personal basis I guess I would have liked some indication/guidance on pronunciation. I found this a good introduction to the subject of Chinese mythology. It managed to be encyclopaedic without being dry. While the stories are covered they really only have the outlines of the myths and legends. However the subject is so wide ranging that anything else would be asking a lot of a relatively short (no far over 200 pages) book. I suppose I wanted more but that is not a bad thing! 3.5/5