Excerpt from Pangu myth:
‘The sky and the earth were chaotic, Pangu was born in it. Nine times did he transform daily, he became more spiritual than the sky, more saintly than the earth, more powerful than the sky and earth. The sky grew one ‘zhang’ higher every day, the earth grew one ‘zhang’ thicker every day, Pangu also grew one ‘zhang’ bigger every day. 18,000 years passed like this, and afterwards the sky and earth got separated. Pangu had a dragon body and a human head. His head reached the edge of the east-west direction, his legs reached the edge of the east-west direction, his left hand reached up to the southernmost end, his right hand reached up to the northernmost end. When he opened his eyes, it was summer, when he breathed in, it was winter. The air he blew became wind and clouds, his shouting voice became thunder. When Pangu died, his head became the ‘jia’, his throat became the ‘yi’, his shoulders became the ‘bing’, his heart became the ‘ding’, his bladder became the ‘wu’, his spleen became the ‘ji’, his ribs became the ‘geng’, his lungs became the ‘xin’, his kidney became the ‘ren’, his feet became the ‘gui’. His eyes became the sun and moon, his beard became the stars and constellations, his brow became the pole of the Big Dipper, the nine holes became the nine continents, his chest became the Kunlun (mountain), his knee became the southern mountain, his thigh became the Taishan, his buttocks became fish and tortoises, his hands became flying birds, his claws became turtles and dragons, his bones became gold and silver, his hair became grasses and trees, his hair on his body became mallards and ducks, his teeth became gems and rocks, his sweat became rain and water, his large intestines became the Huai and the Si rivers, his blisters became the hundred rivers, his face became the Dongting lake.’
View all 29 translations