开天辟地 — “To create the world from chaos”

Legend has it that a very long time ago, heaven and earth had not yet formed, and everywhere was a chaotic void. It was boundless, without up or down, left or right, and no east, south, west, or north, looking like a perfectly round egg. Within this spherical mass, an ancestor of humankind, Pangu, was nurtured.

After eighteen thousand years, Pangu matured within this spherical entity. He found himself surrounded by pitch darkness and, in a fit of anger, used an axe he had forged to split open this primordial, chaotic sphere. With a tremendous crash, the lighter, purer Yang essence within the chaos ascended, forming the high blue sky, while the heavier, turbid Yin essence sank, becoming the vast earth. From then on, the cosmos had a distinction between heaven and earth.

After Pangu emerged, he stood with his head propping up the sky and his feet resting on the earth, stretching between them. Thereafter, the sky grew a zhang (a unit of length) higher each day, the earth grew a zhang thicker each day, and Pangu also grew a zhang taller each day. After another eighteen thousand years, the sky could grow no higher, the earth could grow no deeper, and Pangu himself had become a colossal giant, ninety thousand li (a unit of length) tall, supporting heaven and earth like a pillar, preventing them from reverting to their former chaotic state.

After Pangu created heaven and earth, he was the only being between them. Because he had brought them into existence, any changes in his emotions were mirrored by changes in heaven and earth. When he was happy, the sky was clear; when he was angry, the sky became gloomy; when he cried, rain fell from the sky, gathering on the ground to form rivers, lakes, and seas; when he sighed, fierce winds swept across the earth; when he blinked, lightning flashed in the sky; and when he snored, thunder rumbled through the air.

After an unknown number of years, Pangu eventually died and lay down on the earth. His head rose up to become Mount Tai (East Peak); his feet pointed skyward, becoming Mount Hua (West Peak); his belly swelled, becoming Mount Song (Central Peak); his two shoulder blades transformed, one into Mount Heng (South Peak) and the other into Mount Heng (North Peak). As for his hair and body hair, they all turned into trees and plants.

Later, the legendary ancient emperors, the Three Sovereigns – the Heavenly Sovereign, the Earthly Sovereign, and the Human Sovereign – came into being.