Pangu And Nuwa 3wi43

Pan Gu: Creator of Heaven and Earth Within the 5,000-year history of Chinese traditional culture, there are many interesting and stirring mythologies. The themes of the most ancient Chinese myths were about the origin of the universe, the creation of human beings, cultural inspiration, and tribal wars. The myth of how the earth was formed has been ed down generation after generation for over 2,000 years. Zheng Xu was the first writer to record the myth of Pan Gu, the creator of the universe, during the Three Kingdoms period (184–280 A.D.). Long before the universe was created, it was dark and chaotic everywhere. Within the darkness an egg formed. The Giant Pan Gu was born therein. He slept in this large egg for thousands of years.

When he awoke, it was dark inside the egg. Pan Gu stretched out his arms and legs, and the egg was broken. The lighter parts of the egg floated upwards with the help of yang qi (a bright, positive, and active force) and formed the sky. The denser parts of the egg sank downwards with the help of yin qi (a dark, negative, and ive force) and became the earth. Since then, the universe has had sky and earth. Pan Gu stood between the sky and the earth. Every day the sky rose 10 feet, the earth

became 10 feet thicker, and Pangu grew 10 feet taller. Henceforth, day after day, the sky was higher, and the earth was down lower and thicker. In this way, Pan Gu became taller and taller. Thousands of years ed, and Pan Gu kept growing until one day the sky could not be any higher and the earth could not be any lower. Accordingly, Pan Gu became a giant to hold the sky and the earth in place. In this way the universe would not revert to the chaotic state it was before. It was said Pan Gu’s wisdom was greater than that of the sky, and his ability greater than that of the earth. His emotional state could change the universe. When he was pleased, the sky was clear, and when he was angry, the weather was gloomy. His crying would bring rain, and his sigh would bring strong wind. He blinked, the sky flashed lightning, and snored— thunder rumbling. Pan Gu had accomplished his mission, and he devoted his whole body to the universe and human beings. Different parts of his body had been transformed into the sun, moon, stars, mountains, rivers, and vegetation.

Nu Wa: Creator of Human Beings According to the most widely spread ancient legend in China, out of her loneliness the deity Nu Wa created human beings, and the Chinese people are her descendants.

The first batch of Nious, clay figures made by Nu Wa, were just like puppets or toys, with no life, thoughts, or movements. Nu Wa was not satisfied with that, so she exhaled her magic breath into the Nious and gave them souls. They were immediately transformed into lively human beings. But these human beings lacked wisdom and adaptability. They did not know how to control their emotions and had no comprehension of changes in the environment. They had no logic or ideology and were very vulnerable to death. When one batch of Nious died, Nu Wa had to make another batch. The additional work was tedious and endless. Nu Wa gave some wisdom to the human beings and created musical instruments for them. With these, song and dance were developed. The human beings could express their emotion through singing and dancing. After that, they had a culture to rule and enrich their lives. In order to solve the problem of creating new batches of Nious to live on earth after the old ones died, Nu Wa established a marriage system in which male and female Nious lived together and bred their own generations. Gradually people came to understand how to discipline themselves and how to handle the environmental changes. Little by little, human history, culture, and other aspects began to develop and spread. Gradually, simple life was enriched, and the meaning of life was transformed from a hollow existence to a growing civilization.