Although the Chinese myth has no involvment with other humans, while the Egytian myth requires a mothers uterus to birth a child., the principal idea of both myths is basicly the same. Perhaps it is not coinsidence that both of these myths have such similaities, but that the stoied were passed on and blended throughout the generations.
The Egyptian mythological take on death is very complex. They believed that "the deeds done in the body would be subjected to an analysis and scrutiny by the divine powers after the death of a man" (Wallis 136). The Egyptians believed that when one died, they passed though a stage of perfection, which was when yolour body was embombed and mummified. The ka, or spirit of a body, traveled through death, and left the body behind (Fleming 95-96). .
The Chinese mytholigical belief on death says that Shi-tien Yen-Wang, the god of death, judges the souls of those who have died in eight courts that punish an array of different sins. .
In the first court a soul is judged according to his sins in life and sentenced to one of the eight courts of punishment. Punishment is fitted to the offense. In the second court are incompetent doctors and dishonest agents; in the third, forgers, liars, gossips, and corrupt government officials; in the fifth, murderers, sex offenders and atheists; in the sixth, the sacrilegious and blasphemers; in the eighth, those guilty of filial disrespect; in the ninth, arsonists and accident victims. In the tenth is the Wheel of Transmigration where souls are released to be reincarnated again after their punishment is completed. (Owens 2).
After the souls go through these eight magistrates and prior to their liberation, they are given a concoction of forgetfulness, which makes them forget everything that happened to them in their past life (Owens 3). In Chinese mythology, the idea of immortality is often mentioned in myths (Allen 108).
In comparison, the Egyptian myth and Chinese myth have the same base.
