Chinese

=**Chinese (Pan Gu)**=

Chinese Mythology (Pan Gu) Narratives:
By: Max Li, Brigitte Dietz, and Kedar Vaidya.

(For raw information and sources, please scroll down)

Chinese Mythology: The Legend of Pan Gu
(Dwarf/No Nuwa version)

Pan Gu was the first living creature, a huge, primordial man, as tall as the sky, but always referred to as a dwarf. The Universe used to be one giant egg, and inside this giant egg was Pan Gu. When Pan Gu woke up from his cosmic sleep within this egg, he stretched, causing the egg to split. Pan Gu climbed out of the broken egg, and other forces such as male and female forces, and the concepts of the //yin// and the //yang// escaped with him (U.X.L. Encyclopedia of World Mythology, n.d.).

After Pan Gu freed himself from this egg, the light and pure parts of the egg became the sky, while the heavy parts of the egg then became the earth. The concepts of the //yin// and the //yang// resulted from the earth and the sky separating, because the //yin// and the //yang// are opposing forces, constantly striving for dominance, constantly maintaining balance (U.X.L. Encyclopedia of World Mythology, n.d.).

Pan Gu wandered through the earth, and he grew ten feet, every day, for the next 18,000 years. As he grew, the sky grew with him, and the further he grew, the further is the separation between the sky and the earth. After growing for 18,000, Pan Gu grew tired, and eventually died. Even after death, Pan Gu's remaining carcass became other features on the earth (U.X.L. Encyclopedia of World Mythology, n.d.).

His head, arms, feet, and stomach became mountains. His breath became the wind and clouds. His voice became thunder. His eyes became the sun and the moon. His blood became rivers and seas. His veins became roads and paths. His sweat became rain and dew. His bones and teeth became rock and metal. His flesh became soil. The hair from his head became sand and fertile soil. His hair from the rest of his body became vegetation (U.X.L. Encyclopedia of World Mythology, n.d.).

Humans came from the fleas and parasites from Pan Gu's body and beard, and they are considered to be the most ancient ancestors of modern day human beings (Encyclopedia Brittanica, 03/14/2008).

Chinese Mythology: The Legend of Pan Gu
(Dragon/Nuwa version)

When Pan Gu burst out of the giant cosmic egg, other elements such as male and female forces, and other cosmic energy came out of the egg to, creating and filling the previously empty universe.

Pan Gu, a large dragon, grew ten feet, every day, for the next 18,000 years. Thus, the sky was raised a little higher each day. When the sky was 30,000 miles above the ground, Pan Gu stopped growing, and stopped raising the sky. He began to hammer out the mountains, and filled valleys with water to form great oceans. Pan Gu created rivers with his finger, and Pan Gu stamped the earth down to create flat lands. Pan Gu gathered raw light, and tossed these lights into the skies, and they became the stars (Mythic Imagination, n.d.).

One day, Pan Gu laid down, and he never rose again. After he died, his body formed some of the biggest mountains on earth. His skull formed the heavens, or the top of the sky. His hair formed all the flower and plants on earth, and his bone turned to jade and pearl. His legs became the four directions, and his blood became the rivers. His breath turned into the wind, and his voice turned into thunder. One of Pan Gu's eyes became the sun, and the other became the moon (Mythic Imagination, n.d.).

After Pan Gu died, a half-dragon goddess by the name of Nuwa appeared. She wandered the earth, feeling longly, because there was no one to share ideas with, to talk to, and most importantly, to love. She decided to use the mixture of //yin// and //yang// that Pan Gu had separated, and she decided to created some humans to talk to, to share ideas with, and to love (Mythic Imagination, n.d..

She decided that they should have legs, not dragon tails, which she does, because they would need to walk and roam the earth in search of food, shelter, and love. She bent down, and took some clay, and molded the clay with her hands to form the first humans (Mythic Imagination, n.d.).

The humans were delightful, and Nuwa was very happy, and so, she made more humans. Then, she saw that the earth was a large place, and she couldn't possibly make so many humans with just her hands. She decided to take a stick, and flung drops of mud all across the land, in different areas of the earth. From each mud splatter, a human rose (Mythic Imagination, n.d.).

Now, the humans created from such crude techniques were often less intelligent than the ones created by Nuwa's own hands. The first humans, created from Nuwa's own hands, grew up to become great leaders (Mythic Imagination, n.d.).

Chinese Mythology: The Legend of Pan Gu
(Five Elements Version)

Out of the Five Elements, which are Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water, Pan Gu was born (Encyclopedia Mythica, n.d.). Wood is the first element because it is generally recognized as the beginning of a new life. Wood is the creator of the five element circle. In the concept of the //yin// and the //yang//, the element of Fire contains the most //yang//. Earth is the element which is often confused with soil, which is only part of the element of Earth (Malaysia I Ching Net, 2009).

Metal can be found and manipulated in all forms. Silver, Gold, Copper and Bronze are a few of the examples. Finally, Water is one of the key elements of life. Because people and animals would not exist without it (Malaysia I Ching Net, 2009).

After Pan Gu was formed out of the five element, he began creating the heaven and the earth from a chisel and a simple hammer. Pan Gu is the shaggy primitive being. With his giant hammer he broke up the primeval rocks to form the earth (Encyclopedia Mythica, 2009).

Bibliography and Sources:
> Oct. 2010.  articles.html>. > n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2010.  english/2_chinese_full.htm>. > Encyclopedia Brittanica. N.p., 14 Mar. 2008. Web. 30 Oct. 2010. > . > . NOTE: For "sources" 6 and 7, these will NOT actually be used, but only to get other sources from the citations these two "sources" provide.
 * 1) U.X.L. Encyclopedia of World Mythology, Volume 2 C-F (Located in Reference Section in the Uni High Library)
 * 2)  Lindemans, Micha F. "Pan-gu." Encyclopedia Mythica. N.p., 3 Mar. 1997. Web. 26
 * 1)  "Chinese Creation Myth." Mythic Imagination. The Mythic Imagination Institute,
 * 1) **The file for written version of Source 3 can be found here** [[file:CHINESE_CREATION.doc]]
 * 2)  Singh, Shiveta, Matt Stefon, and Grace Young. "Pan Gu (Chinese mythology)."
 * 1) "Five Elements." //Malaysia I Ching Net//. N.p., 2007-2010. Web. 7 Nov. 2010.
 * 1)  Chinese Mythology by Anthony Christie (in the library). [Note: Pan Gu is spelled Phan-Ku in this version, probably because it was published in 1968
 * 2) [|Source from About.com] (It has good citations which we can use)
 * 3) [|Wikipedia] (Use for sources ONLY)

=Narrative editing finished: 8:24 p.m. (11/04/2010)=

**Group Members:**
 * Kedar Vaidya
 * Max Li
 * Brigitte Dietz


 * Kedar (11/7/10):**

The last story, about the 5 elements, come from source number 6. This story is often sidelined by the two more mainstream stories, the one where Pan Gu is a dwarf and the other one where he is a dragon and humans were created by the dragon goddess Nuwa. This story was often told by the Taoist because they believe in the five element and the creation of the five elements.


 * Max (10/19/10):**

After going through a lot of the sources we've already discovered (see below), one main part that all of these sources have in common is that they all mention about a giant egg at the time when there was nothing but blackness (nothingness and chaos was also used to describe this period non-existence). And they all state that Pangu (or Pan Gu) "burst" or "hatched" or "stretched himself" out of the egg.

Then, the rest of the three sources all seem to branch out differently, so we would have to research deeper into these sources to pinpoint all the possible differences.


 * Max and Kedar (10/20/10):**

It's quite interesting, and gets the point across without it being too boring!
 * This website on Chinese mythology (creation, Pan Gu) that I got from the Main Page of this wiki is very interesting and presents the story of Pan Gu in a colorful, movie style presentation: []

Also, this source tells that after Pan Gu died, the half-dragon goddess Nuwa was born from "the mixture of yin and yang that [Pan Gu] had separated", and she as the one to create humans, to talk and to share ideas with, but "mostly just to love"

From this source, could there be a sign of social stratification? Because it states that when Nuwa created the human out of her own hands, the one's "formed by Nuwa's own hands became great leaders" whereas the one's she created in large quantities by "[grabbing] hold of a muddy stick and [flinging] drops of mud across the land."

Interestingly, the source concluded by stating that Nuwa "was revered as the mother of all humans".

Unlike the first source, Pan Gu is a "primordial Chinese giant" and not a mythical dragon. Also, there is no mention of the creation of humans or Nuwa at all. However, this source does have another myth based on Pan Gu.
 * Here is another website on Chinese mythology/Pan Gu that I also got form the Main Page of this wiki: []

The second source stated that "[Pan Gu] was born from the five elements, and that he created heaven and earth with a chisel and a hammer." There is no mention of a "giant egg".

This source also says that Pan Gu came from an egg, and he had "two horns, two tusks, and a hairy body." An important idea to notice in this source is that it states that Pan Gu's knowledge of yinyang allowed him to complete these things, such as "the separation of heaven and earth, setting the sun, moon, stars, and planets in place, and dividing the four seas, [...]"
 * Encyclopedia Britannica's page on Pan Gu: []


 * NOTICE**: The first one says that Pan Gu was a mythical dragon, when the second source (and many others) say that he was a "Giant".


 * THE COSMOLOGY (Brigitte)**

Pan Gu was the first living creature, and the creator of the world. The universe is one giant egg, and inside the egg is Pan Gu. When Pan Gu wakes up, he stretches, causing the egg to split. After the split, the light and pure parts of the egg became the sky and the heavy parts became the earth. The separation of the earth and sky resulted in Yin and Yang since they are opposing forces.

After he is free from the egg, Pan Gu grows 10 feet every day for 18,000 years. This growth helps Pan GU push the sky and earth apart. After growing that much and doing all that work, Pan Gu got tired and died. After death, Pan Gu became the features of the Earth.

His head, arms, feet, and stomach became mountains, his breath became the wind and clouds. His voice became thunder. His eyes became sun and moon. His blood became rivers and seas. His veins became roads and paths. His sweat became rain and dew. His bones and teeth became rock and metal. Hi flesh became soil. The hair from his head became stairs and the hair from the rest of his body became vegetation. Humans come from the fleas and parasites from his body and beard and let out in the sun to dry. (U.X.L.)

Required Information and checklist about the story of Pan Gu: (Just make notes to answer each question here)

__**1. The origin of the universe and specifically about the earth.**__

When Pan Gu burst out of the giant cosmic egg, other elements such as male and female forces, and other cosmic energy came out of the egg too, and created the universe.
 * MAX:**

Now looking more specifically at the creation of the Earth and the sky, according to the source number 3, (the one where Pan Gu is a dragon), here was how they were created (in chronological order):

- "Every day for 18,000 years Pan Gu grew ten feet, thus the sky was raised a little higher each day. Once the sky was 30,000 miles about the ground..." - "...Pan Gu stopped [raising the sky] and began to hammer out the mountains..." - "...and [Pan Gu] fill[ed] the valley with water to form great oceans." - "[Pan Gu] created rivers with this fingers..." - "... and [Pan Gu] stamped the earth down to create flat lands." - "[Pan Gu] gathered raw light and tossed [the lights] into the sky to become stars."

//AFTER PAN GU DIED://

- "Once [Pan Gu] lay down he never rose again. When Pan Gu died, his body formed huge mountains." - "[Pan Gu's] skull formed the top of the sky..." - "[Pan Gu's] hair formed all flowers and plants..." - "[Pan Gu's] bones turned to jade and pearl and [from Pan Gu's] legs [became] the four directions - "[Pan Gu's] blood became the rivers..." - "[Pan Gu's] breath turned into the wind..." - "[Pan Gu's] voice turned to thunder..." - "One [of Pan Gu's] eye became the sun..." - "...and the other [eye of Pan Gu's became] the moon."

//SOURCE 4 (ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA)//

This source, unlike source 3, depicts Pan Gu as " the first man, is said to have come forth from chaos (an egg) with two horns, two tusks, and a hairy body."

Interestingly, this source says that:

"Some legends <span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial,'Arial Unicode MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">asserts that the universe derived from Pan Gu’s gigantic corpse. His eyes became the sun and moon, his blood formed rivers, his hair grew into trees and plants, his sweat turned to rivers, and his body became soil. The human race, moreover, evolved from parasites that infested Pan Gu’s body."

<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial,'Arial Unicode MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">Also, this source is the first source to give an actual chronological time as to when these were written:

<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial,'Arial Unicode MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px;">"These creation myths date from the 3rd to the 6th century. "

<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial,'Arial Unicode MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px;">//SOURCE 6 (CHINESE MYTHOLOGY)//

<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial,'Arial Unicode MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px;">"According to a text of the **third century A.D.**, Chaos was like a hen's egg. At this time neither Earth nor Heaven existed. From this egg, Phan-ku (Pan gu) was born. THe parts of the egg separated, the heavy elements forming the Earth, and the light, pures ones the Sky. These were //yin// and //ying//. For a period of eighteen thousand years the distance between earth and sky increased by ten feet daily and Phan-ku grew at the same rate, so that his body always filled the space between the two. Despite this, when Phan-ku is represented, it is as a dward clad either in a bearskin or in leaves. On his death, the various parts of his body became different natural elements, though the exact details of these changes vary from text to text."

<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial,'Arial Unicode MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px;">This source, similar to source 4, always dates these myths to the Third Century A.D.

__**2. The origin of animals and plants**__

Creation of plants/flowers/flora, see above, line 4 after Pan Gu's death, but for animals, if someone could get something on that, that'll be great.
 * MAX:**

__**3. The origin of humans (noting if men and women were created together or separately and how)**__

According to source 3, humans were NOT created by Pan Gu, but by a half-dragon goddess by the name of Nuwa. She used the mixture of yin and yang that Pan Gu had separated, and she decided to create some humans to have some people to talk to/share ideas with/to love.
 * MAX:**

It was NOT stated at all in this source whether male or female were created together or separately. However, it is important to note that SOME humans were first created by Nuwa's own hands, and they were more intelligent and "became great leaders." The majority of the other people were created by Nuwa flinging "drops of mud across the land", and it is stated in the source that "these humans were the less intelligent ones."

However, according to other sources such as source 2, there is NO mention of Nuwa at all. After going through a few sources about Nuwa (I'll cite them below later), it clearly states that earlier traditions credits the creation of humans by Nuwa after the death of Pan Gu. All earlier traditions with this version uses a similar method of creation that Nuwa used, which was basically molding clay with her hands and/or flinging clay into the air, that splatters down to make humans.

In later traditions however, people apparently began to contribute the creation of humans solely to Pan Gu, and there was no mention of Nuwa at all. Source 2 was one of these traditions, as it said that:

"<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">The fleas that had been living on his skin became the ancestors of the human race. "

However, interestingly, this source states also that, immediately after the quote above:

"<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;">Different sources describe this transformation in different ways."

And one can assume that "transformation" meant the creation of humans OR the evolution of humans from "fleas that had been living on [Pan Gu's body]"

__**4. The structure of the universe. (Are there any hierarchies?)**__

From source 3, it does NOT state anything about any hierarchies, the other sources might...
 * MAX:**

__**5. The process of the universe (time)**__

It is not clearly stated about the time, but it does appear to have a linear narrative. I'm also pretty sure that ALL stories about Pan Gu from different sources are all presented in a linear understanding of time (if someone could check that'll be great).
 * MAX**


 * 6.** Internal citations (MLA) within the story and a bibliography at the end of the narrative.

For source 1 (the U.X.L. encyclopedia) we will not be able to make a complete citation unless we go to the library again, so for now, leave that one as it is. Kedar: I think we might be going to the library this week. ~Delete after you have seen this~
 * MAX:**

> Oct. 2010. <http://www.pantheon.org/areas/mythology/asia/chinese/ > articles.html>. > n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2010. <http://www.mythicjourneys.org/bigmyth/myths/ > english/2_chinese_full.htm>. > Encyclopedia Brittanica. N.p., 14 Mar. 2008. Web. 30 Oct. 2010. > <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/440645/Pan-Gu>. > <http://iching.com.my/five-elements-en.htm>. NOTE: For "sources" 6 and 7, these will NOT actually be used, but only to get other sources from the citations these two "sources" provide.
 * Sources**
 * (That will be used, or are being researched)**
 * //Note that Pan Gu is an alternate spelling of Pa// // ngu. //**
 * 1) U.X.L. Encyclopedia of World Mythology, Volume 2 C-F (Located in Reference Section in the Uni High Library)
 * 2) Lindemans, Micha F. "Pan-gu." Encyclopedia Mythica. N.p., 3 Mar. 1997. Web. 26
 * 1) "Chinese Creation Myth." Mythic Imagination. The Mythic Imagination Institute,
 * 1) **The file for written version of Source 3 can be found here** [[file:CHINESE_CREATION.doc]]
 * 2) Singh, Shiveta, Matt Stefon, and Grace Young. "Pan Gu (Chinese mythology)."
 * 1) "Five Elements." //Malaysia I Ching Net//. N.p., 2007-2010. Web. 7 Nov. 2010.
 * 1) Chinese Mythology by Anthony Christie (in the library). [Note: Pan Gu is spelled Phan-Ku in this version, probably because it was published in 1968
 * 2) [|Source from About.com] (It has good citations which we can use)
 * 3) [|Wikipedia] (Use for sources ONLY)