Chinese Æsop:

The god of the Yellow River is called Ho-po, which is his commonest name. This means River Elder or the Earl of Ho. He is also often called Ho-shên or Spirit of the River, or simply Ho, 'The River.' River God’s Domain Chuang Tzu tells a story in his The Autumn Flood that the Yellow River (the God's domain) is in flood. It is so wide that from one bank to the other one cannot distinguish a cow from a horse. In high glee the River God makes his way through glorious scenes of inundation till he comes to the sea. He looks eastward and can see no shore at all! In dismay he realizes that his own domain is insignificant compared with the limitless expanses of the great ocean. The River God is Greedy Ho-po was a greedy god, often taking a fancy to and abducting mortal men's daughters, to add to his harem, or carrying off their sons to marry to his daughters. Sometimes he merely took a fancy to people's clothes. The River God had to be appeased by giving him 'wive...

Yi Yin's mother lived near Yi River, and she was pregnant. One day, a spirit told her in a dream, "if your mortar bowl leaks water, hurry to the east, but don't look back." Next day she did see her mortar bowl leak water, so she told her neighbors and hurried ten leagues to the east. But she looked back at her city -- there was nothing but water. Her body then transformed into a hollow mulberry tree. The next day, a daughter of the Yu Shen clan was picking mulberry leaves when she found a baby in a hollow mulberry tree. She presented it to her lord. The lord ordered his cook to bring the child up. This was baby Yi Yin who was born of a hollow mulberry tree. Yi Yin grew up and became a good man. T'ang the Conqueror heard about him and sent a messenger to ask if the Yu Shen clan would let him have Yi Yin, but the Yu Shen clan refused. T'ang therefore asked the Yu Shen for a bride for him to marry. The Yu Shen clan was delighted and they made Yi Yin a guarant...

At the foot of Bell Mountain  is a god with a human face and a snake’s body that is red. His eye is vertical. When he closes his eye, it becomes night, and when he opens it to gaze, it becomes day. He neither eats nor sleeps, but he can summon the wind and rain. His exhaling causes winter, his inhaling causes summer, and his breathing causes the wind. He illuminates the ninefold darkness. This is Torch-Dragon (烛龙).

Xingtian and the Yellow emperor struggled against each other for ultimate power. The giant Xingtian was a follower of the Emperor Yan. After the victory of the Yellow Emperor over Emperor Yan at the Battle of Banquan, Xingtian followed his master to exile in the south. After the Yellow Emperor defeated and executed Chi You, Xingtian went forth with an axe and shield against the Yellow Emperor. He forced his way to the southern Gate of the Celestial Court and issued a challenge to the Yellow Emperor for a duel. The Yellow Emperor came forth and the two engaged in a ferocious combat, sword against axe, all the way down to earth to Eternally Auspicious Mountain (the mountain of ChangYang). In a final blow, the Yellow Emperor distracted his opponent with a trick and lunged ... and in a flash decapitated Xingtian, whose head rolled all the way to the foot of the mountain and created a thunderous roar. Instead of dying, Xingtian was able to continue moving and began groping a...

Thoroughly-Odd (穷奇) is a wayward offspring of the thearch Lesser-Brilliance (少昊). He resembles a tiger with wings. His hair is like the spines of hedgehogs, makes a sound like an angry dog. Thoroughly-Odd was a maneater, and devours people head first, and those he devours wear their hair long. He understands human language, and when he hears men quarreling, he immediately devours the one who is right. When he hears of someone who is loyal and trustworthy, he immediately eats their nose; if he hears someone who is rebellious and evil, he immediately kills an animal and presents it to him. He is called Thoroughly-Odd and devours all other kinds of birds and beasts. The descendants of Thoroughly-Odd were banished to the periphery and charged with controlling the Chimei-Hobgoblins (魑魅).

Goumang (勾芒) in the east has a bird’s body and a human face. He rides on two dragons. Guo P'u (郭璞) noted that he has a square head, and wears white. He was one of the messengers of the Supreme God Di bestowing punishments or rewards. The following anecdote recorded in the book Mo Tzu (墨子): Once, Duke Mu of Qin was carrying out a sacrifice in his ancestral temple at dawn when a god entered the gate and stood to the left. He had a bird’s body, wore white silk with trimmings, and had a dignified, squareshaped face. When Duke Mu saw him, he was fearful and tried to flee. The god said, “Have no fear! The Supreme God Di is pleased with your luminous virtue and has sent me to bestow upon you nineteen more years of life that you may bring prosperity to your state and family, that your descendants may multiply, and that you may maintain the state of Qin.” Duke Mu bowed twice to the ground in submission and said, “May I dare to ask your name, Divine One?” “I am Goumang,” he replied.

In the Great Wilds is a mountain called The Capital City That Supports Heaven. There is a person named Kuafu the Boaster. He holds two yellow snakes in his hands with two yellow snakes through his ears. Lord Earth begat Trust (Xin) and Trust begat Kuafu. Kuafu overestimated his power and wanted to chase the sun’s shadow and catch it in Ape Valley where the sun sets. He became very thirsty, and went to drink in the Yellow River and Wei River, but the water was not enough so he wanted to go to the Grand Lake, but fainted of thirsty on the road before reaching it. At the time, Winged-Dragon had already killed Chiyou and then killed Kuafu. Kuafu threw down his staff, which became transformed into the Deng Forest.