The Manchu Story of Creation

For a long time, Western scholars believed that China did not have a systematic creation myth. That was until Fu published parts of the myth War in Heaven in the 1990s. The book made an impact in the academic world at home and abroad and was translated into several languages including German, Japanese and Korean. War in Heaven, also known as A Story on the Shrine, describes the origins of several ethnic groups in northern China against the background of the middle and late period of matriarchal clan society in the Old Stone Age. It is a creation myth much older than Homer’s Iliad or Odyssey.

According to Fu, the myth was written in the Manchu language by his father who heard the story from a shaman. The battered manuscript was passed down to Fu after his father passed away. In order to translate it into Chinese, Fu sought help from shamans of different ethnic groups in northern China since sections are in ancient, pictographic characters that were difficult to decode.

In addition to translating oral shuobu into written forms, Fu is also busy training inheritors in this folk art. His nephew Fu Limin is studying shuobu performance. “We cannot just sit and watch it die out.” This thought alone motivates Fu Yuguang to further his efforts in protecting cultural heritage.

Fu is relentless. He is currently working on his third series of shuobu, which contains nearly 10 shuobu works. Fu hopes that his hard work over the decades will eventually pay off and elevate Manchu culture to the forefront of popular consciousness.