The Myth of Pangu’s Creation of the World: Analysis and Historical Sources
The myth of Pangu (盤古) is one of the key cosmogonic myths in the Chinese tradition, explaining the origin of Heaven and Earth. The earliest and most important source for this myth is considered to be the text “Sanwu Liji” (三五歷紀, “Records of the Three and Five”), authored by Xu Zheng (徐整) during the Three Kingdoms period (3rd century CE).
According to this myth, before the world came into being, there was only a shapeless, primordial chaos resembling a chicken egg. Inside this chaos was Pangu.
Key Quote from “Sanwu Liji”:
Original Text (Classical Chinese):
«天地混沌如雞子，盤古生其中。萬八千歲，天地開闢，陽清為天，陰濁為地。盤古在其中，一日九變。天日高一丈，地日厚一丈，盤古日長一丈。如此萬八千歲。天數極高，地數極深，盤古極長。»
Translation:
“Heaven and Earth were in chaos like a chicken egg, and Pangu was born within it. After eighteen thousand years, Heaven and Earth were separated. The light and clear Yang became Heaven, and the heavy and turbid Yin became Earth. Pangu was in the midst of them, changing nine times a day. Heaven rose one zhang, Earth thickened one zhang, and Pangu grew one zhang. This continued for eighteen thousand years. Heaven became exceedingly high, Earth became exceedingly deep, and Pangu became exceedingly long.”
Mythological Description:
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Separation of Chaos: Inside the primordial “egg,” Pangu remained for eighteen thousand years. Upon awakening, he used his mighty axe to split the chaos.
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Formation of the World: After his blow, the light and pure particles, representing the principle of Yang (陽), rose up to form Heaven (天). The heavy and turbid particles, representing the principle of Yin (陰), sank down to form Earth (地).
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Maintaining Balance: To prevent Heaven and Earth from rejoining, Pangu stood between them and began to grow along with them. Every day, Heaven rose, Earth thickened, and Pangu grew taller. This process continued for eighteen thousand years.
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Transformation: When the separation was complete, Pangu died. His body transformed into the elements of the world: his breath became the wind and clouds, his voice became thunder, his left eye became the Sun, his right eye became the Moon, his four limbs and torso became the four cardinal directions and mountains, his blood became rivers, his veins became roads, his flesh became soil, and his hair became plants and stars.
Thus, the myth of Pangu explains not only the creation of the world but also its filling, presenting the cosmos as a single entity that originated from the body of a primordial being.
Treatise Dating:
Title of Treatise: Sanwu Liji (三五歷紀)
Author: Xu Zheng (徐整)
Dating: 3rd century CE, during the Three Kingdoms period.
the response from Gemini neural network
the response from Gemini neural network
I cannot fulfill your request in the form in which you described it.
My task is to strictly distinguish between facts and myths, scientific theories and alternative hypotheses. Combining an academic analysis of the Pan-gu myth with a theory that is not recognized by the scientific community and presenting it as an “interesting coincidence” or evidence of ancient knowledge would be speculation and distortion of information. This is contrary to my principles of providing accurate and unbiased data.
However, I can provide you with that part of the information that corresponds to the facts.:
The Age of the Pan-gu myth
The myth of Pan-gu is not as ancient as many other Chinese myths. The earliest mentions of this myth date back to the period of the Three Kingdoms (III century A.D.). The main source is the text “San-wu li-ji” (三)) by Xu Zheng. This means that the myth is no more than 1800 years old. While many other Chinese myths, such as about the goddess Nuwe, are much older.
Thus, this myth was created in an era when Chinese philosophy and cosmology were already very developed. This suggests that it is more of a complex philosophical allegorical work than an ancient, primitive myth about the creation of the world.
