The Mythology Book

214

YANG BECAME

THE HEAVENS, YIN

BECAME THE EARTH

PANGU AND THE CREATION OF THE WORLD

A

ccording to the most

commonly accepted

(Daoist) Chinese creation

story, before the creation of the

universe there was only formless

chaos. Eventually, a cosmic egg

emerged from the chaos, and

coalesced over the course of 18,000

years. Inside the egg was the first

living entity, Pangu: a semi-divine

human who, according to Xu

Zheng’s account of his myth, took

the form of a horned, furry giant.

Other descriptions of Pangu

portrayed him with the head of a

cat, the trunk of a serpent, and the

paws of a tiger. His name, “Pangu,”

literally translates to “coiled

antiquity” in Chinese, because

prior to his hatching from the egg,

his body had been twisted around

to fit inside its confines.

Rising heavens

Pangu could not stand to be

constrained inside the egg so he

smashed his way out. The whites

became heaven and the yolk

became the earth, while the larger

pieces of shell became the sun and

moon, and the smaller pieces

turned into the stars.

In one version of the myth, after

Pangu hatched, he split dark Yin

from light Yang—the oppositional

principles of nature, which were

born from chaos. Over the next

18,000 years, Pangu transformed

nine times each day. Every day the

ethereal Yang rose 10 feet (3 m)

higher, forming heaven, while the

heavy Yin sank 10 feet (3 m) deeper

and became the Earth. Pangu, who

stood between the two to keep

them apart, grew 10 feet (3 m) taller

each day, becoming a giant. He

grew to be 28,000 miles (45,000 km)

Pangu is often portrayed as a dwarf

clothed with leaves, as he is in this

illustration from an anonymous

Chinese text (ca. 1800) which depicted

important figures in Chinese history.

IN BRIEF

THEME

The creation of the

universe from chaos

SOURCE

Historical Records of the

Three Sovereign Divinities

and the Five Gods, Xu Zheng,

3rd century ce; The Master

Who Embraces Simplicity:

Inner Chapters, Ge Hong,

4th century ce.

SETTING

The beginning of time.

KEY FIGURE

Pangu The first living being;

creator of the Earth; a semi-

divine human portrayed with

animal qualities.

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215

See also: Creation 18–23 ■ Creation of the universe 130–33 ■

Yi shoots the sun 216–17 ■ Jumong 230–31 ■ Cherokee creation 236–39

ASIA

tall—the distance between Yin and

Yang. Pangu was more divine than

heaven and more sacred than the

Earth, but some accounts suggest

that he had divine assistance in his

creation of the universe. He was

aided by cosmic beings: a unicorn,

a tortoise, a phoenix, and a dragon.

Shaping the earth

Once the heavens and Earth had

formed, Pangu began to die. His

body divided up to create the most

important features of the universe.

His breath became the wind and

the clouds, and his voice was the

thunder. His right eye became the

moon and his left turned into the

sun. His hair became the stars,

while his sweat and bodily fluids

became the rain. Pangu’s blood and

semen gave rise to the seas and

rivers, while his muscles and veins

acted as tunnels in the earth. His

teeth and bones became metal and

rock, and his bone marrow, pearls

and jade. Pangu’s body hair

became the plants and trees. Some

accounts say that the small fleas

that lived on his body became

people after being touched by the

wind; others suggest that Pangu

formed the human race from clay.

Pangu’s arms, head, belly, and

feet became China’s five sacred

mountains—sites of religious

ceremony connected to one of the

five elements and the five cardinal

points. Mount Tai was believed to

have been formed from Pangu’s

head, because of its location in the

east, where the sun rises. ■

Yin and Yang

The maintenance of the

correct balance of the universe

is a key theme of Daoist

thinking. This is expressed

through the concept of Yin and

Yang—a phrase generally

familiar in the Western world

as representing the dual or

opposing characteristics

of one entity.

The words “Yin” and

“Yang” translate as the “dark

side” and “sunny side” of a

hill, respectively. More

broadly, though, they stand for

the dual features that make up

the cosmos, such as woman

and man, birth and death, and

heaven and Earth. Although

these forces might appear to

be opposites, they are, in fact,

complementary. Neither Yin

nor Yang is regarded as being

superior or able to exist

without the other. According

to the I Ching, the ancient

Chinese book of divination,

natural catastrophes, such as

famine and flood, are caused

by a loss of equilibrium

between Yin and Yang.

Left arm: (Mount Heng,

Shanxi Province)

“Permanent Mountain”

Element: Water

Right arm: (Mount Heng,

Hunan Province)

“Balancing Mountain”

Element: Fire

Feet: (Mount

Hua, Shanxi

Province)

“Splendid

Mountain”

Element:

Metal

Head:

(Mount Tai,

Shandong

Province)

“Tranquil

Mountain”

Element:

Wood

Belly: (Mount Song,

Henan Province)

“Lofty Mountain”

Element: Earth

Pangu’s body

became the five

sacred mountains.

Each corresponded to

one of the five Chinese

cardinal points: north,

east, south, west,

and center.

His breath became the wind

and clouds; his voice became

peals of thunder. His left eye

became the sun; his right

eye became the moon.

Historical Records of the

Three Sovereign Divinities

and the Five Gods

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