Chinese Mythology

盘古开天地　(pán gǔ kāi tiān dì)

Pangu Creates the World

At the very beginning, there was no sky, no earth, no light and no sound. The whole universe was a gargantuan mass of mixed substances in the shape of an egg of an inconceivable size.

However, in the core of the egg there was a giant called Pangu. He slept in the darkness for 18,000 years. One day, he woke up but felt very uncomfortable and had difficulty breathing because his body was tightly wrapped up in a mass of substances. So, he tried to stretch out his long arms and, accidently, found a very big ax. He grasped the tool and used all his might to strike out. Following a deafening bang, the egg shell broke.

Then, the relatively lighter and clearer substance in the mass began to float upward and get 10 feet (3.04 meters) higher every day. Gradually, the substance started to form the sky. Meanwhile, the heavier and muddier substance was settling down and becoming 10 feet thicker every day to form the earth.

Finally, Pangu could stand up and stretch out his arms and legs. But he was concerned that the sky and earth might fall into a mixed mass again someday in the future, so he decided to use his head to uphold the sky while putting his feet firmly on the earth.

As the giant continued to grow taller by 10 feet a day, after another 18,000 years, the sky and earth were nearly 30,000 miles (48,280 kilometers) apart and the possibility of the two merging into one mass again became very unlikely.

But by that time, the giant had used up all his strength. He collapsed and died.

Before his death, he yelled out loudly, and that sound later became the rumbling thunder. His bright eyesight became the blinding lightning. His last breath became the wind and cloud.

Meanwhile, his left eye transformed into the sun and the right eye the moon.

His spreading arms and legs were turned into rolling mountains; his blood became flowing rivers. His flesh became fertile land and his hair turned into grass and trees. Also, precious metals and minerals were formed out of his teeth and bones.

When he was alive, Pangu used all his strength and stamina to create the sky and earth. After his death, his body was transmuted into all the necessary elements for nurturing future lives on the earth.

In the Chinese culture, Pangu creating the world remains a conventional belief other than the Big Bang Theory of the universe.

People also tend to use the phrase Pan Gu Kai Tian Di to mean the very beginning of the universe. For instance, when Chinese speakers say Pan Gu Kai Tian Di or “since Pangu created the world,” it means “since the dawn of time” in English.