Zusammenfassung
Zusammenfassung von Landschaften Chinas und Japans
Go deeper: the whole of Landschaften Chinas und Japans
About 2 h 50 min to read.Für wen es gedacht ist
You will love this if you enjoy folk tales of dragons, mermaids and painted cats, travel notebooks from old Macau and Kobe, or the confiding voice of a writer who laughs and mourns together.
Worum es in diesem Buch geht
Picture a bride in a gold palanquin, stopping her wedding procession beside a forgotten grave on a mountain. She steps down, kneels and kisses the earth. What happens next, says a Chinese legend, explains where butterflies come from.
That scene comes near the end of the opening tale in Landscapes of China and Japan, a book of legends, essays and quick notes by Wenceslau de Moraes. Under every page runs his claim that the Japanese see where Westerners only think.
In dieser Zusammenfassung
- 1Legends explain why nature looks as it doesFree
- 2Seasons and festivals show the soul of a place
- 3Marriage tales mix kindness, trickery and magic
- 4Sacred animals and household gods mirror their worshippers
- 5Caricature is the key to Japanese art and life
- 6Two cemeteries recall a clash of two worlds
- 7Quiet tales praise devotion, talent and odd gifts
- 8Quick notes and two last tales close the book
Punkt 1 von 8
Legends explain why nature looks as it does
The book opens with two origin tales, one Chinese and one Japanese. Where do butterflies come from, and why does the jellyfish have no shape?
The first is the legend of Choc-In-Toi, a girl from a village on the Yangtze. She longs to study, so she dresses as a man and attends the empire's most famous university for three years. Her classmate Leun-San-Pac becomes her inseparable companion and never guesses her secret. He comes to her village too late. Her parents have already chosen a husband, and Moraes stresses that obedience to parents is the foundation of Chinese moral life. So the girl bows her head, and the wedding procession sets out. Before she reaches her new home, the bride asks for a small detour.
The Japanese tale is a comic fable. A young dragon queen falls ill and insists that only the liver of a living monkey can save her. The king sends his faithful jellyfish, who tempts a monkey onto her back with tales of a land of ripe fruit. Halfway across the sea she blurts out the real purpose of the trip. The monkey, a quick talker, has an answer ready.
Folk tales give people a way to make peace with the oddities of nature.
That’s 1 of 8 key points.
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Questions about Landschaften Chinas und Japans
What is Landscapes of China and Japan about?
It is a collection of retold Chinese and Japanese legends, seasonal sketches and essays. Moraes writes about festivals, temples, art, mermaids, demons and cemeteries, always from the viewpoint of a Portuguese exile who admires what he sees.
Who was Wenceslau de Moraes?
He was a Portuguese writer who died in 1929 and who lived in Macau and then Kobe. He wrote books on Japan, and this one gathers impressions and tales, with a dedication to Camillo Pessanha and João Vasco expressing his longing for them.
Are the stories in Landscapes of China and Japan true or folklore?
The tales are folklore, such as the legend of the butterflies, the jellyfish, Issumboshi and Urashima. The essays and sketches describe real places, people and events, including the 1868 Sakai incident, seen through the author's own impressions.
Who is O Fuku-san in the book?
She is a popular Japanese goddess of good fortune and joy, shown as a round, laughing figure. Moraes buys a small clay statue of her and tells how her dance helped bring the sun goddess out of a cave.
Is Landscapes of China and Japan easy to read?
Its pieces are short and self-contained, so you can enjoy one tale or sketch at a time. The tone is warm and teasing, the legends are simple, and the scenes are vivid and full of color.
Cite this edition
Moraes, Wenceslau de. Landscapes of China and Japan. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/landscapes-of-china-and-japan.
Moraes, W. de. (2026). Landscapes of China and Japan. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/landscapes-of-china-and-japan (Original work published 1906)
Moraes, Wenceslau de. Landscapes of China and Japan. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/landscapes-of-china-and-japan.
@book{moraes2026landscapes,
author = {Moraes, Wenceslau de},
title = {Landscapes of China and Japan},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/landscapes-of-china-and-japan},
note = {First published 1906}
}
