Chinese Folk Stories, Myth and Legends: The Chinese Legend of Pan Gu Makes the World

In the beginning . the heavens and earth were still one and all was chaos. The universe was like a big black egg. carrying Pan Gu inside itself. After 18 thousand years Pan Gu woke from a long sleep. He felt suffocated. so he took up a broadaxe and wielded it with all his might to crack open the egg. The light. clear part of it floated up and formed the heavens. the cold. turbid matter stayed below to form earth. Pan Gu stood in the middle. his head touching the sky. his feet planted on the earth. The heavens and the earth began to grow at a rate of ten feet per day. and Pan Gu grew along with them. After another 18 thousand years. the sky was higher. the earth thicker. and Pan Gu stood between them like a pillar 9 million li in height so that they would never join again.

When Pan Gu died. his breath became the wind and clouds. his voice the rolling thunder. One eye became the sun and one the moon. His body and limbs turned to five big mountains and his blood formed the roaring water. His veins became far-stretching roads and his muscles fertile land. The innumerable stars in the sky came from his hair and beard. and flowers and trees from his skin and the fine hairs on his body. His marrow turned to jade and pearls. His sweat flowed like the good rain and sweet dew that nurtured all things on earth. According to some versions of the Pan Gu legend. 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 clouds gathered in the sky. One version of the legend has it that the fleas and lice on his body became the ancestors of mankind.

The Pan Gu story has become firmly fixed in Chinese tradition. There is even an saying relating to it: `Since Pan Gu created earth and the heavens`. meaning `for a very long time`. Nevertheless. it is rather a latecomer to the catalogue of Chinese legends. The first mention of it is in a book on Chinese myths written by Xu Zheng in the Three Kingdoms period (AD 220-265). Some opinions hold that it originated in south China or southeast Asia.

There are several versions of the Pan Gu story.

Among the Miao. Yao. Li and other nationalities of south China. a legend concerns Pan Gu the ancestor of all mankind. with a man`s body and a dog`s head. It runs like this:

Up in Heaven the god in charge of the earth. King Gao Xin. owned a beautiful spotted dog. He reared him on a plate (pan in Chinese) inside a gourd (hu. which is close to the sound gu). so the dog was known as Pan Gu. Among the gods there was great enmity between King Gao Xin and his rival King Fang. ``Whoever can bring me the head of King Fang may marry my daughter`` he proclaimed. but nobody was willing to try because they were afraid of King Fang`s strong soldiers and sturdy horses.

The dog Pan Gu overheard what was said. and when Gao Xin was sleeping. slipped out of the palace and ran to King Fang. The latter was glad to see him standing there wagging his tail. `` You see. King Gao Xin is near his end. Even his dog has left him`` Fang said. and held a banquet for the occasion with the dog at his side.

At midnight when all was quiet and Fang was overcome with drink. Pan Gu jumped onto the king`s bed. bit off his head and ran back to his master with it . King Gao Xin was overjoyed to see the head of his rival. and gave orders to bring Pan Gu some fresh meat. But Pan Gu left the meat untouched and curled himself up in a corner to sleep. For three days he ate nothing and did not stir.

The king was puzzled and asked. `` Why don`t you eat? Is it because I failed to keep my promise of marrying a dog?`` To his surprise Pan Gu began to speak. ``Don`t worry. my King. Just cover me with your golden bell and in seven days and seven nights I`ll become a man.`` The King did as he said. but on the sixth day. fearing he would starve to death. out of solicitude the princess peeped under the bell. Pan Gu`s body had already changed into that of a man. but his head was still that of a dog. However. once the bell was raised. the magic change stopped. and he had to remain a man with a dog`s head.

He married the princess. but she didn`t want to be seen with such a man so they moved to the earth and settled in the remote mountains of south China. There they lived happily and had four children. three boys and a girl. who became the ancestors of mankind.

In south China Pan Gu is known as King Pan. and temples and pavilions were once built in his honour.

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"Pan Gu Created Heaven and Earth (Chinese Edition)"