Pangu (original) (raw)

In Chinese mythology, Pangu (盤古; also P'an Ku) was the first living thing and the creator of the cosmos. According to Chinese cosmology, in the beginning there was nothing in the universe except formless chaos, but then this chaos began to coalesce into a cosmic egg. Within this, the perfectly opposed principles of yin and yang became balanced and Pangu, the first living thing, emerged from the egg.

Pangu is usually depicted as a primitive hairy giant clad in furs. Pangu set about the task of creating the world: he separated Yin from Yang, creating the Earth and the sky by forcing them apart. The task took eighteen thousand years. Each day the sky grew ten feet higher, the Earth ten feet wider, and Pangu ten feet taller. In some versions of the story, Pangu is aided in this task by the four most fortunate beasts, namely the Dragon, the Qilin, the Phoenix, and the Turtle.

After eighteen thousand years had elapsed, Pangu died. His body became the mountains of the world; his blood, sweat, and tears the oceans and rivers; his eyes the sun and moon; his breath the wind; his voice thunder; his hair forests; and the fleas on his body human beings (although other popular Chinese creation myths say humans were created later either by the Jade Emperor or by the goddess Nuwa).

Ancient literature on Pangu, Need translation:

天地渾沌如雞子，盤古生其中。萬八千歲，天地開辟，陽清為天，陰濁為地。盤古在其中，一日九變，神於天，怪於地。天日高一丈，地日厚一丈，盤古日長一丈。如此萬八千歲，天數極高，地數極深，盤古極長。 《藝文類聚》卷一引《三五歷記》

首生盤古，垂死化身。氣成風，聲為雷霆，左眼為日，右眼為月，四肢五體為四極五岳，血液為江河，筋脈為地里，肌膚為田土，髮髭為星辰，皮毛為草木，齒骨為金石，精髓為珠玉，汗流為雨澤，身之諸蟲，因風所感，化為黎甿（黎民百姓）。 《繹史》卷一引《五運歷年記》