“In the beginning there was darkness everywhere and chaos ruled,” a quote from Pangu and the Creation of the World. This Chinese myth relates to my family because I come from a long line of Kim Dai Yong’s, which means to wear and use gold. My grandmother has taught me all that I know about the background of the Chinese. Pangu and the creation of the world states that everything was created through the cracking of an egg. This myth originates from China, has been added onto over time, connects to Chinese ethnicity, and connects to the idea of “beauty” in mythology.
Pangu and the Creation of the world talks about what took place in the darkness to create every living thing on this Earth today. “In the beginning there was darkness everywhere and chaos ruled. An egg formed, and inside ‘Pangu’ came into being eons passed and he grew until he was gigantic. One day Pangu stretched out his limbs and cracked the egg. The lighter parts of the egg floated creating the heavens and the heavier parts sank creating Earth, thereby creating Ying and Yang.
Pangu feared that heaven and Earth would melt together again so he stood in the gap, his head held up heaven and his feet firmly upon the Earth. Pangu continued to grow, ten feet per day for eight-teen thousand years, therefore increasing the distance between heaven and Earth. Now exhausted, Pangu went to sleep and never woke up. Smith Page #2 His body went on to make the world and its elements. The wind and clouds were made from his breath, his voice became thunder, and his eyes became the sun and the moon.
His arms nd legs made up the four directions on a compass, his trunk made the mountains, and his flesh became the soil and trees. His blood, the rivers, his veins made paths, his body hair became the grass, and his bones and teeth made precious stones and minerals. His sweat, dew, and his forehead hair made up the stars in the sky. ” In closing the Chinese myth Pangu and the Creation of the World states that the world was created through the body parts of Pangu. The origin of Pangu and the creation of the World has been debated quite a lot.
Many say Xu Zheng, a Chinese author from the third century A. D. , was the first writer known to record it. Others say that it originates from the mythologies of the Miao or Yao people of southern China. Some people even say that it is parallel to ancient Hindu mythology of creation. Therefore, the origin of this myth has been discussed plenty of times, but majority of people believe that it originated from China. Over time Pangu and the Creation of the World has been added on to by different authors and poets. One version adds Nu Wa into the myth.
Nu Wa is a goddess who roamed the Earth all by herself. One day she got so tired of being alone that she took mud from a river and created little people, also known as dwarfs. She used vines to make more dwarfs in shorter time. All dwarfs made by hand became the aristocrats and those made by the vine became the poor common people. She split them into male and female so they could reproduce on their own. Then, Pangu’s worst fear came into being, the heavens started to fall and create holes in the sky Smith Page #3 And ground. Suddenly, monsters sprang from the holes in the ground.
Nu Wa chased them away, sealed the holes, and used the legs of a giant tortoise to hold up the heavens. Now, extremely tired Nu Wa laid down to rest and never woke. From her body all the animals of the world were created. To conclude, over the years many different authors and poets gave added to this myth. Pangu and the Creation of the World connects to my family because I come from a long line of Kim Dai Yong’s, which means to wear and use gold. My grandmother is the one who has taught me about the Chinese culture and the beliefs the Chinese people have including the creation of the world.
The idea of mythology that Pangu and the Creation of the World, relates to is beauty. Beauty in all its forms figures quite a lot in mythology especially Greek mythology. It is seen in many myths, for example When Orpheus won over Hades with his lovely music or the start of the Trojan War over Helens loveliness. Pangu and the Creation of the World shows beauty through everything being created from a single specimen. One crack of an egg caused every beautiful thing to be released into the world. To sum up, beauty is the mythology idea that Pangu and the Creation of the World connects to. In conclusion,