Suiren

Chinese · mortal · primordial · mortal

The Chinese Prometheus, with the theft taken out. Suiren does not steal fire from anybody: he works out how to make it, which is a materially different story and a characteristically Chinese one — the culture heroes of this tradition are inventors rather than thieves, and nothing is taken from heaven against its will. The disagreement over drill versus flint is preserved on the record because the sources preserve it.

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