The proverb 开天辟地 kāitiān-pìdì means the creation of the world. It also means “since the beginning of time”. Chinese legend told a tale of how the universe was created. In the beginning, the universe was a formless chaos which coalesced into a cosmic egg. Pangu 盘古 Pángǔ , (see post: Dragon Master, Fire King, Bird Officials & The Yellow Emperor) the ancestor of mankind was conceived inside this “egg” for 18,000 years.
One day, he woke up and was enraged that he could see nothing in the darkness. He created a giant axe from his breathe and broke the egg. Thereupon, all light and clear things floated up to form the sky while heavy and turbid things sank and coagulated into the earth. Afraid that the sky and earth may joined back, he stood up and propped them apart. Each day, the sky rose by a “zhang” 一丈 yīzhàng (3 1/3m) while the earth grew thicker by 一丈.
“After another 18,000 years, Pangu has grown to a height of 90,000 li 里 lǐ (45,000 km). With the structure of the universe now consolidated, Pangu toppled down and died. Just before his death, Pangu turned the air that he breathed out into wind and cloud. His voice, lfet eye and right eye were changed into lightning, the sun and the moon respectively. The twinkling stars in the sky were originally Pangu’s hair and beard. “
“Pangu’s 4 limbs and gigantic body became the earth’s Four Poles and Five Mountains. His blood was transformed into rivers and his muscles, farmland. Even the fine hair on his body also became grass and wood, giving the earth a green covering”. Thus, this was how Earth was born.
(Extracted from – A General History of China published by Canfonian Pte Ltd)
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