According to Chinese mythology, at the beginning of time the universe consisted only of a giant egg. Within the egg lay a sleeping giant named Pan Gu. One day Pan Gu awoke and stretched, causing the egg to split open. After Pan Gu emerged, the light, pure parts of the egg became the sky, while the heavy parts formed the earth. This separation of the earth and sky marked the beginning of yin and yang, the two opposing forces of the universe.
Laozi’s fabled meeting with Confucius. © MARY EVANS PICTURE LIBRARY/THE IMAGE WORKS.
Already gigantic in size, Pan Gu grew ten feet taller each day. This went on for eighteen thousand years, and as Pan Gu became taller, he pushed the earth and sky farther apart and shaped them with his tools until they reached their present position and appearance. Exhausted by his work, Pan Gu finally fell asleep and died.
When Pan Gu died, parts of his body were transformed into different features of the world. According to some stories, his head, arms, feet, and stomach became great mountains that help to anchor the world and mark its boundaries. Other stories say that Pan Gu’s breath was transformed into wind and clouds; his voice became thunder; and his eyes became the sun and moon. Pan Gu’s blood formed rivers and seas; his veins turned into roads and paths; his sweat became rain and dew; his bones and teeth turned into rock and metal; his flesh changed into soil;
The hair on his head became the stars; and the hair on his body turned into vegetation.
Some myths say that humans developed from fleas and parasites that fell from Pan Gu’s body and beard. Other stories, however, tell how Pan Gu created humans by shaping them from clay and leaving them in the sun to dry. When a sudden rain began to fall, Pan Gu hastily wrapped up the clay figures, damaging some in the process, which explains why some humans are crippled or disabled.
Another myth tells of the battle between two gods. Zhu Rong was the god of fire, while his son Gong Gong was a god of water. The ambitious young Gong Gong decided to attempt an overthrow of heaven so that he could be the ruler of all things. When Zhu Rong heard this, he battled his son for several days to stop him. The two fell down to earth during the fight, and ultimately Zhu Rong was triumphant over his son. However, Gong Gong was so upset that he smashed one of the mountains that held up the heavens. This is why the sun, the moon, and the stars travel through the sky at an angle.
Another popular myth concerns the daughter of the Jade Emperor, a princess who was responsible for weaving the clouds in the sky. She had a magic robe that allowed her to descend to the land of mortals—Earth— in order to bathe each day. On one occasion, a poor cowherd saw her bathing in a stream and fell in love with her. While she was in the water, he took her robe; this kept her from being able to return to the heavens. Trapped with the cowherd, the princess eventually came to love him, and the couple got married. Later, when the princess was feeling homesick and missing her father, she discovered the magic robe that her husband had hidden from her. She used the robe to travel back to the heavens, and her father—not wanting her to return to Earth—created an enormous river across the sky that the princess could not cross. The river is visible in the night sky as the Milky Way. Seeing how upset his daughter became, however, the Jade Emperor decided to allow the couple to meet on a bridge over the river for one day each year. (In one version of the tale, the bridge is made of magpies—birds who have taken pity on the couple.)
A famous literary work that incorporates many elements of Chinese folklore—including animals as main characters—is the sixteenth-century novel Journey to the West. The novel tells the story of a famous Buddhist monk named Xuanzang who travels west on a journey to India, where he is tasked with obtaining some sacred Buddhist scriptures. Along the way He encounters several unique characters who join him on his quest, including Sun Wukong, the Monkey King who had been punished by Buddha centuries before when he attempted to take control of heaven. Xuanzang is able to control Sun Wukong’s violent outbursts by uttering some magic words. Another companion—the half-human, half-pig Zhu Bajie—was also punished by the gods for his disrespectful behavior. Xuanzang is also joined by a demon named Sha Wujing, a former general in heaven who was punished for breaking a valuable crystal vessel. The group encounters eighty-one different disasters that they must overcome, mostly orchestrated by Buddha himself as a test for the adventurers. What begins as a search for scriptures turns out to be a quest for salvation; Xuanzang and Sun Wukong both achieve the highest level of enlightenment, while the other characters earn the ability to return to heaven.
World History
