Chinese myths do not mention a god or a divine being who created the universe out of nothing. Instead, we find stories of people who helped bring about the existence of the world as we know it. One of the most popular of these is Pangu, from whose body the universe was created.
According to the legend, in the beginning there was nothing except chaos. For the next 18,000 years, out of this chaos was formed an egg. Within the egg were two opposing forces, yin (the female force) and yang (the male force), and their interaction brought about the birth of Pangu. Pangu stayed in the egg until he had grown so big that his feet and arms broke the eggshell.
Yang (the lighter element) rose to become the sky while yin (the darker element), became earth. So they would not join again, Pangu stood between them, his hands supporting the sky and his feet firmly on the ground. Every day, Pangu would grow ten feet taller; the sky would rise ten feet higher, and the earth would become ten feet thick. It took 18,000 years for the separation of the earth and sky to be completed. At the end of this time, Pangu laid down to rest and his body dissolved to become the world around us.
Wind was formed from his breath and his voice became thunder. His left eye became the sun; his right eye, the moon; his body turned into mountains; his beard became the stars. Rivers were formed from his blood while fertile land were formed from his muscles. Precious stones and metals metals were formed from his teeth and bones His hair became the trees and forests and his sweat fell as rain. Even the insects crawling over his body were scattered to become human beings.
In art, Pangu has been depicted in various ways. He is sometimes pictured as a giant, or a horned dwarf, sometimes holding a chisel and hammer in his hands or the yin-yang symbol. His clothing varies from fur or skin to leaves. He has also been shown in the company of the four supernatural animals -- the phoenix, the dragon, the unicorn and the tortoise.
Another popular figure is Nu Wa, who is said to have created the first humans from yellow earth. Because she was alone, she felt lonely and decided to create animals and people to keep her company. She created chickens, then dogs, sheep, pigs, cows and horses. Finally, on the seventh day, she began her task of creating people. She first made the humans by hand; but after making hundreds of them, she grew tired and decided to dip a piece of rope into the mud and swing it in the air, until lumps of mud filled the land around her. The handmade figures became the rich and noble class, while those that came from the rope became the poor and common people.
Perhaps a more interesting story about Nu Wa is how she repaired the universe after it was destroyed by the water god Gong Gong. Two of the more powerful gods had an argument, and they decided to settle everything in a fight. When he noticed that he was losing, Gong Gong smashed his head against Mount Buzhou, one of the pillars holding up the sky. This caused the four cardinal points to go off their alignment, and brought about great floods. To fix this situation, Nu Wa melted colored stones to mend the skies, cut off the leg of a giant tortoise to take the place of the pillar, and slew a black dragon to save the people. After this incident, Nu Wa was named the maintainer of the Wall of Heaven, whose collapse would cause the end of the world.
Nu Wa's popularity might also come from the fact that she is worshipped as the goddess that grants children and as mediator between men and women. She is said to have invented the whistle, instituted marriage and taught men how to build dams and channels for irrigation.
Interestingly, she is portrayed with a woman's upper torso, but her lower half is said to be a dragon, fish or snake. Her husband and brother is the god Fu Xi. They are portrayed together with their tails intertwined, Nu Wa with a compass (representing the earth) in her hand and Fu Xi with a set square (symbolizing heaven) in his.
Author: Geni Raitisoja