Small Wander. Chinese Small Wander: Legend.
The Pan Gu (Pan-ku) Creation Myth
As legend has it, from time immemorial Heaven and Earth were once an undivided entity. The universe appeared as a dark commingled mass, just like a chickens egg, within which was born our great, great ancestor Pan Gu (Pan-ku).
In the egg he gradually grew up in his sound sleep. After 18,000 years, he woke up one day to find all around him just a pitch-black sticky mass, and felt unusually suffocated.
Pan Gu was furious, snatched who knows from where an ax and wielded at the dark commingled mass before him. Lo and behold, following a tremendous crash, the big chicken egg broke. What was bright and light rose slowly to form Heaven and what was turbid and heavy settled to form Earth.
To keep Heaven and Earth apart, Pan Gu used his head to prop up Heaven and his feet to hold down Earth. Heaven daily increased ten feet in height, Earth daily increased ten feet in thickness, and Pan Gu also grew up daily ten feet in size. This went on for another 18,000 years, and Heaven and Earth came to be kept apart at the distance 90,000 li (roughly 30,000 English miles).
Pan Gu really exhausted himself separating Heaven and Earth, collapsed and was dead. He had thought of creating a sun and a moon, mountains and rivers, Man and everything, between Heaven and Earth, but breathed his last, saying: Let my body be given to the world.
However, Pan Gu's wish came true: his breath became the wind and clouds; his voice the thunder; his left eye the sun and his right eye the moon; his hair and beard the innumerable stars all over the sky.
His four limbs became high and steep mountains; his flesh and skin the soil; his bones and teeth turned into gold, silver, copper, iron and precious jade deposits; his blood and sweat the surging rivers and the timely rainfalls.
His body hair turned into the flowers and plants; his soul the common people, birds and beasts, fishes and insects.