The chinese creation myth

I sit reading the Chinese myth on how the universe was created. Like several other myths it talks about how in the beginning, the heavens and earth were all one and the universe was pure, formless chaos. It then took the form of a huge black egg that carried Pan Gu inside of it. 18 thousand years later Pan Gu woke from his hibernation. He felt suffocated, so he took up an ax and swung it with all his might to crack open the egg. The light, upper part of the egg floated up and formed the heavens (yin), and the lower heavier matter stayed below to form earth (yan). Pan Gu stood in the middle, his head touching the sky, his feet rooted into the earth. Pan Gu was a hairy giant with horns on his head. He began to grow huge, and along with him, so did the heavens and the earth. This took him another 18 thousand years.

Soon it was time the great giant Pan Gu to die. When did began to happen tremendous creations began to appear too. His breath became the wind and clouds and his voice the roaring thunder. One of his giant eyes became the sun and the other one- the moon. His body and limbs turned to five big mountains. His arms and legs became he four directions. Blood from his veins flowed, turning into the roaring waters in rivers, and the oceans. His veins turned into far-stretching roads and his muscles into rich land. Millions of stars and the Milky Way came from his hair and beard and took places in the sky. Flowers and forests came from his skin and the fine hairs on his body. His marrow turned to diamonds and pearls. Sweat from his body fell like the rain and dew nurturing everything around. The fleas from his fur were carried by the winds and became fish and animals through out the land.

It is said that when Pangu cried, 'his tears flowed to make rivers and radiance of his eyes turned into thunder and lighting. When he was happy the sun shone, but when he was angry black cloud gathered in the sky. One version of the legend has it that the fleas and lice on his body became the ancestors of mankind.'

One version of the myth continues to read that once this was done, Nüwa the Goddess then used the mud from lakebeds to form the shape of humans. 'These humans were very smart since they were individually crafted. Nüwa then became bored of individually making every human so she started putting a rope in the water bed and lettings the drops of mud that fell from it become new humans. These small drops became new humans, not as smart as the first.'

My first thought is that this myth is rather beautiful. It used personification as way to describe the various aspects of our universe. It was a poetic way and imaginative way of understanding their otherwise incomprehensible surroundings. Although after being brainwashed in school and being bombarded about the big bang over and over, it is impossible to believe in this being the true story of the beginning of our universe, I find it interesting because as a child for a long time I believed that rain and rivers came from tears of something in the sky. When that something was happy, the sun would be out shining bright, and when it was angry there would be thunder and lightning. I used to notice similarities in people and the environment around me. My mothers yelling reminded me of thunder. These myths show how once people were aware of and in many ways felt a connection with their environment- a beautiful childlike, intuitive, and imaginative quality, which often we lack today.

Like many other myths it says that beyond the material plane of existence, at the very highest level of reality, there exists a governing spiritual force that is ultimately responsible for the creation of the world and how it functions. The supernatural is also always the higher up in the hierarchy than humans. The myth also talks about a clear disconnect being formed between the earth and the heaven. This duality being equaled to the yin and the yan is interesting as it talks about the importance of the balance between all the extremes of the world. Even today, although people may not believe in the Chinese myth, the idea of the yin and the yan lies in the heart of many philosophies. Even scientifically and philosophically, many talk about how everything around us and within us there are strong extremes, and they must be kept in balance for harmony.