CHINESE CREATION
http://www.mythicjourneys.org/bigmyth/myths/english/2_chinese_full.htm
http://www.ancientchina.co.uk/geography/home_set.html
In the beginning, there was an enormous egg containing chaos. On the inside the chaos raged on and
on- both yin and yang were mixed together. All the opposites were writhing together; male and female,
cold and hot, wet and dry, dark and light.
Finally the egg burst open, and out leapt the giant dragon Pan-gu. Yin and yang swirled around him
and he pushed the two shell halves apart. Thus the opposites were separated and the earth began to
take shape.
Every day for 18,000 years Pan-gu grew ten feet – thus the sky was raised a little higher every day.
Once the sky was 30,000 miles above the ground, Pan-gu stopped and began to hammer out the
mountains and fill the valley with water to form great oceans.
He created rivers with his fingers and stamped the earth down to create flat lands. He gathered raw
light and tossed them into the sky to become stars.
After 18,000 years, Pan-gu had grown old and tired. He had made the world with his hands and formed
the basic principles of yin and yang. He wanted to lay down and sleep forever. Once he lay down he
never rose again. When Pan-gu died, his body formed huge mountains. His skull formed the top of the
sky, his hair formed all flowers and plants, his bones turned to jade and pearl and his arms and legs the
four directions.
His blood became the rivers, his breath turned into the wind and his voice to thunder. One eye became
the sun and the other the moon.
For many years the world was a very beautiful place but also lonely; there were no people.
The half-dragon goddess Nuwa was born after Pan-gu died, from part of the mixture of yin and yang
that he had separated. She decided to create humans to have some other beings to talk to and share
ideas with, but mostly just to love.
Nuwa went down to the edge of the Yellow River where there were vast, soft mud banks. She began
forming figures out of clay. She decided that it would be much more practical for her creations to have
legs instead of a dragon tail, thus her humans were not made in her image.
No sooner did she set the first little mud man on the ground did he start to jump, and dance and sing.
He began to speak. “Look at me!”
Nuwa was delighted and began making more and more humans.
She made hundreds and hundreds of mud humans, but soon realized that it would take centuries for
her to make enough people to fill the vast earth completely. Nuwa grabbed hold of a muddy stick and
flung drops of mud across the land.
As the sun dried each drop, it became a new man or woman. Some say that these humans were the
less intelligent ones. Those formed by Nuwa’s own hands became great leaders.
She told them to go and populate the earth. As they grew she loved them and protected them, and was
revered as the mother of all humans.
1
Name:
Period:
Date:
World History – Mrs. Schenck
Ancient Chinese Religion
Use the site below to number the pieces of the Chinese Creation Myth in the correct
order as you watch/read.
http://www.mythicjourneys.org/bigmyth/myths/english/2_chinese_full.htm
_______Every day for 18,000 years Pan-gu grew ten feet – thus the sky was raised a little higher
every day. Pan-gu stopped and began to hammer out the mountains and fill the valley with
water to form great oceans. He created rivers with his fingers and stamped the earth down to
create flat lands. He gathered raw light and tossed them into the sky to become stars.
_______In the beginning, there was an enormous egg containing chaos. All the opposites were
writhing together; yin and yang, male and female, cold and hot, wet and dry, dark and light.
Finally the egg burst open, and out leapt the giant dragon Pan-gu.
_______Pan-gu had grown old and tired. Once he lay down he never rose again. When Pan-gu
died, his body formed huge mountains. His skull formed the top of the sky, his hair formed all
flowers and plants, his bones turned to jade and pearl and his arms and legs the four directions.
His blood became the rivers, his breath turned into the wind and his voice to thunder. One eye
became the sun and the other the moon.
_______The half-dragon goddess Nuwa was born after Pan-gu died, from part of the mixture of
yin and yang that he had separated. She decided to create humans to have some other beings to
talk to and share ideas with, but mostly just to love.
_______She made hundreds and hundreds of mud humans, but soon
realized that it would take centuries for her to make enough people
to fill the vast earth. Nuwa grabbed hold of a muddy stick and flung
drops of mud across the land. As the sun dried each drop, it became
a new man or woman. These humans were the less intelligent ones.
Those formed by Nuwa’s own hands became great leaders.
_______Nuwa went down to the edge of the Yellow River where there were vast, soft mud banks.
She began forming figures out of clay. She decided that it would be much more practical for her
creations to have legs instead of a dragon tail, thus her humans were not made in her image.
Using the site below and read the story there.
http://www.ancientchina.co.uk/geography/story/sto_set.html
Write a SUMMARY of the story of Nuwa (or Nu Gua) and the flood:
2
Now let’s review the other creation myths we have studied so far:
http://mythicjourneys.org/bigmyth/fullversion/password011/2_eng_myths.htm
Mesopotamian
(Sumerian):
Egyptian:
Indian (Hindu):
X
X
In the
beginning….
Creator god
How was the
earth created?
How were
humans
created?
Flood Stories?
More
Similarities:
Chinese:
3
Ancestor Worship and Oracle Bones
The ancient Chinese believed that life carried on after death. People believed they would
continue to do the things they had done in this life in the afterlife. Tombs were arranged
with the objects that people would need in the afterlife - weapons, ritual vessels and
personal ornaments.
Hmmm…. sounds just like the________________________________!
The ancient Chinese believed there was a very important link between the living and
the dead. Your dead ancestors lived in the spirit world with the gods. They had the
ability to influence the gods to bring good or bad luck to the people on earth. The
people on earth could make offerings and hold ceremonies for their ancestors, to
persuade them to bring good luck.
Ancestor Worship: Ancestor worship was very important to the early Shang kings and
nobles. It was a way of life. To keep their ancestors happy, they brought gifts of food
and wine to special places or temples. They held many celebrations to honor their
ancestors. When a man died, the ancient Chinese believed his spirit lived on in the
afterworld. They believed their ancestors had magical powers. These magical powers
allowed their ancestors to punish them or to help them.
Oracle Bones: To communicate with their ancestors, the Shang
kings used oracle bones (sometimes called dragon bones).
Here's how it worked: The king or emperor would ask a
question, for example, will it rain tomorrow? The priest would
carve the king's question on an oracle bone, which was just an
animal bone or turtle shell. (Will it rain tomorrow?) Then, the
priest would heat a bronze pin and hold the hot pin to the bone.
This created a pattern of cracks over the bone. The priest (who
was usually a woman) would study the cracks to find the
answer to the question.
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Be a true diviner (someone who could read oracle bones) and see if you can find the
answers to these questions:
1. How was the ancient Chinese idea of the afterlife similar
to the Egyptian view of the afterlife?
2. How could ancestors in ancient China bring you good or
bad luck?
3. How could you try to persuade your ancestors in ancient
China to bring you good luck?
4. How did the ancient Chinese communicate with their ancestors?
Now you create the oracle questions! What questions about creation myths and ancient
Chinese religion might you see on a quiz or a test?
1.
2.
3.