Flood Legend – Yu the Great Subdues the Flood 洪水的传说，大禹治水

A traditional legend about a major flood can be found in almost all civilisations. Such was the destructive force of this flood that few land animals and plants survived it as it covered the whole earth. For readers in Western society the most famous version is the story of Noah and the Ark as recounted in Genesis, the first book of the Bible.

In China the flood myth had a different emphasis from the legends told in the West. The flooding of the land from time immemorial was seen as a hindrance to agriculture. The floodwaters were made to recede through the labours of a saviour-hero named Yu the Great, who successfully dredged the land to provide outlets to the sea for the water. Thus was the great central river valley of China made suitable for agriculture and the development of civilization.

Yu the Great was born and lived around 22 century BCE and is regarded as a descendant of Huangdi, the Yellow Emperor. Legend says that four thousand years ago, the water god was angry and opened such a big hole in the sky that the rain poured straight down like a river, submerging the earth for many years. Flood waters were everywhere, and Gun, Yu's father, was summoned by King Shun to control the flood.

Gun went up to Heaven and stole a bag of heavenly soil—called xi rang—which would grow when the wind blew on it. To control the flood, he put some xi rang on the water and let the wind blow over it. Soon, the soil grew and transformed into vast dams. Gun was very pleased and hoped the dams could stop the flood water. However, as the dams were made of soil, they could not hold back the surging water. Eventually, they collapsed and the flooding became more severe. Gun was then put to death by King Shun for his failure.

When Yu grew up and saw people were suffering terribly from the flood, he became determined to control it. Yu spent 13 years trying to control the flood, covering vast distances. During those years, he passed by his home three times but was so busy that he didn’t even stop in.

Yu came to Wushan (the Wu Mountains), which stretched over 800 miles. He wanted to cut a pass through the mountains to allow the flood water to escape to the sea. But the rock was hard, and at times, the mountain and cliffs would shake from the impact of the water. Many workers lost their lives in the massive water surges that slammed into the mountain. For months, Yu was quite worried that he had no way to cut the mountain rock.

Yao Ji, the 23rd daughter of the Queen Mother of the West, had a kind heart. She admired Yu's determination and was moved by the sufferings of the people on earth, so she decided to help Yu. Yao told Yu to use fire to open up Wushan, and she dispatched four divine generals, Kuang Zhang, Yu Yu, Huang Mo, and Da Dai from Heaven to help him.

Yu was very grateful to Yao Ji and led many people to set fires from both ends of the mountain. Yao Ji and the divine beings also used their supernormal capabilities and thunderbolts to strike at the mountain. After 49 days, the rock slowly turned soft and the workers were able to create a channel through Wushan that allowed the flood water to pass to the sea.

After the flood subsided, Wushan became the beautiful three gorges of the Yangtze River known today. During the opening of Wushan, Yao Ji had exhausted her divine energy and could not return to Heaven. So she remained on earth and turned into a mountain peak on Wushan. Later, people named it “Goddess Peak,” and the celestial maidens who forever accompanied Yao Ji turned into various mountain ridges and peaks which are known as Wushan's twelve mountain peaks.

Because Yu was so kind and caring that he put other people's suffering before his own, ordinary people loved him. King Shun also trusted Yu and granted him the Xia area, which today is the city of Dayu Zhou in Henan Providence.

In the end, King Shun did not pass his throne to any of his sons. Instead, when he died in 2208 BC, he gave it to the capable Yu the Great. Yu was 89 years old at that time and lived to be 100.

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几乎所有的文明传统上都有洪水的传说。因为洪水淹没全球，破坏力很大，很少动植物能够生存。对于西方读者来说，最著名的版本莫过于《圣经》里第一部书《创世纪》中讲述的诺亚方舟故事。在中国，洪水的故事与西方的强调角度不同。史前的这次洪水被看成是对农业发展的阻碍。救世英雄大禹的努力，把水引进大海而消退了洪水。中国因此有了一个适合于农作的中央河流大山谷，并由此发展了中国文明。

大禹，约生于公元前22世纪，是黄帝的后代。相传四千多年前，水神发了怒，把天撞了个大洞，天河里的水直泻而下，把大地吞没了，到处是汪洋。于是，鲧--大禹的父亲被舜王叫去治水。

鲧上天偷了一袋“息壤”。这息壤是神土，见风就增长。鲧十分高兴，治水时，他就取出一点息壤，放在水上，然后让风吹，息壤就变成一条一条的堤坝。鲧想用筑堤 的办法来减少洪火的冲击。可是，他想错了，水少可以用土堵一堵，可那样汹涌的洪水，光用土是挡不住的。所以堤坝最后总是被冲垮，水灾反而闹得更凶了。鲧由 于只相信筑堤坝堵水，结果没有把洪水治好，被舜处死了。

后来，禹长大了，他看到洪水滔天，民不聊生，决心治好洪水。大禹为治水穿山越岭，花了十三年去治水了。在这期间，他有三次经家门，但是没有时间进去。

大禹治水来到巫山，这巫山绵延八百里，岩石坚硬异常，更有狂风骤起，刮得天昏地暗，山崖震动，江涛像山峰一样矗立起来，凿山的民工有许多丧命于狂风骇浪之中，几个月来，无法凿开那坚硬似铁的岩石，大禹甚为发愁。

西王母第二十三个女儿瑶姬，心地善良。她敬佩大禹为民治水的精神，又有感于人们受洪水之苦。决定帮忙禹。慨然答应。她告诉大禹：要打通巫山，须用火烧。又派出神将狂章、虞余、黄魔、大翳 去帮助大禹治水。

大禹非常感激瑶姬的指点，率众百姓在巫山两头放起火来，瑶姬和神将也施展本领，或用电轰，或用雷霹。经过七七四十九个日夜，坚硬的岩石渐渐变软起来，施工的人们很快就打通了巫山八百里，让洪水从巴蜀境内流出来，直向大海奔去。

治理后的巫山成为美丽的长江三峡风光。瑶姬也因在打通三峡时耗尽了神力，回不到天上，只能留在人间。她天天站在高崖上凝神眺望，看到三峡风险浪急，许多行船在风浪中沉没，她就派遣了几千只水鸟，轮番在峡谷中飞行，担任行船的导航，引导人们安全地从峡谷中通过。

瑶姬长久地站在高崖上，日复一日，年复一年，久而久之，渐渐地化为巫山的一座山峰，后人称之为“神女峰”。而陪伴她的侍女们，也化成大大小小的峰峦，永远陪伴着瑶姬，这就是巫山十二峰。

由于大禹仁爱宽厚，以百姓疾苦为先，深受人们的爱戴。舜也十分信任大禹，便封他于夏地，就是今天的河南省大禹州市。

舜没有把帝王之位传给自己的子孙，而是于公元前2208年禅让给贤能的大禹。当时禹89岁，后来活到100岁。

The Rabbit in Mythology 兔子的神话

Rabbits have stood out in the human imagination for centuries. All across the world, wherever rabbits are found, they have become the subject of myth, folklore, and creative speculation. It's no surprise that these playful, intelligent and mysterious creatures have attracted the attention of mystics and storytellers throughout the world.

In Chinese mythology, the Rabbit is a symbol of endurance and their essence is said to have originated from the Moon. The Moon is usually at its best in the Chinese mid-autumn night. , This is the time Chinese children carry paper lanterns made in the form of a Rabbit, and climb the hills to look at the Moon and admire the Moon Hare.

The legend of the Jade Rabbit is considered to be an extension of Chang'e Flying to the Moon. It tells about three sages who transformed themselves into pitiful old men. One day they met a fox, a monkey and a rabbit, and they begged for food. The fox and the monkey shared their food with the old men; but the rabbit, with nothing to share, jumped into a blazing fire to offer his own flesh instead. The sages were so touched by the rabbit's kindness that they sent it to live in the Moon Palace, where it became the Jade Rabbit.

Chang'e, who lived alone after arriving in the moon, liked the Jade Rabbit at the first sight, and therefore kept it company. As the time went by, Chang'e and Jade Rabbit became inseparable friends.

Hearing about the story of Chang'e and Hou Yi, the Jade Rabbit felt sympathetic to them and decided to make a special heavenly medicine, which could help Chang'e return to Earth. Unfortunately, the Jade Rabbit has still not been able to make it even though he has worked hard for thousands of years. Observing the moon on the Mid-Autumn Day carefully, we can still see the Jade Rabbit making his heavenly medicine.

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自古以来，兔子一直保留在人们的想象之中。世界各地，只要是有兔子的地方，它们都会成为神话、民间故事与创意推断的主题。这些顽皮、机灵与神秘的动物会吸引神秘主义者与讲故事人的注意力，那是不令人感到惊奇的。

在中国神话中，兔子是耐力的象征，它们的精髓来自月亮。中秋晚上的月最圆最亮。孩子会在这时候提着兔形灯笼登山看月，欣赏月里的兔子。

玉兔的故事可以说是嫦娥奔月神话的延续。它说的是三个神仙把自己变成可怜的老人。有一天，他们碰到狐狸、猴子与兔子，就向他们讨食。狐狸与猴子同老人分享它们的食物。可是兔子没有食物可以分享，就跳进烈火中，奉献它们的肉。老人为兔子的善心所感动，就把它带到月宫居住，变成玉兔。

嫦娥来到月球以后，孤独生活，一看到玉兔就很欢喜，所以结伴而居。随着日子的过去，他们变成不可分离的朋友。

听到嫦娥与后羿的故事后，玉兔可怜起他们，决定制造特别仙药来帮助嫦娥回返地球。可是，虽然经过几千年的苦干，玉兔一直没法把要制成。在中秋月仔细观察月亮，我们就可以发现玉兔还在制造它的仙药。

Hou Yi Shot Down Nine Suns 后羿射九日

The Chinese myth of Hou Yi resembles Heracles in Greek mythology (or Hercules in Roman mythology), as both were archers who tried to shoot the sun. In the Chinese myth, there were ten suns in the sky that made the world so hot that nothing could grow. Hou Yi shot down nine of them with his bow and arrows and thus saved the earth.

However, the legendary stories about Hou Yi in Chinese ancient books and records have been always contradictory, which has caused long-time debates on the protagonist of the Hou Yi myth. Behind the mysterious stories, there is a splendid history of an ancient archery people living in the East Yi area of ancient China. Hou Yi was the title of the kings of Yi people. These Hou Yi kings made different merits in different times, creating the heroic and moving histories of Yi people. It is said that a person known as the Great Yi united the Eastern Yi people and formed a strong country. As the country was formed by tribes who worshiped, it was, according to the ancient book ‘Classic of Mountains and Seas’, known as the country of ‘Ten-sun’.

However, the ‘Classic of Mountains and Seas’ did not have any record on the shooting of nine suns. Instead, another ancient book ‘Huainan Zi’ talked about a person called Yi shot down nine suns. It is generally assumed that Yi referred to Hou Yi, the famous archer in the ancient Chinese mythology. As Hou Yi came from Eastern Yi, it is also believed that Hou Yi and the Great Yi are the same person.

Here is the record from Huainan Zi.

During the time of Yao (a virtuous emperor in ancient fables), ten suns rose into the sky. They burned the crops and scorched the bushes and trees, leaving the ordinary people with nothing to eat.

Monsters began to roam about and cause suffering for the people, including ya yu (a fabled monster which can run quickly, make sounds like the cries of a baby, and eat human flesh), zao chi (or ‘chisel tooth’, a fabled monster who, with three-chi-long teeth, could attack like a dagger-axe and lance), jiu ying (a nine-headed monster, spurting flames and floods), da feng (or ‘big wind’, a kind of ferocious bird, large in size), feng xi (or heavy boar) and python (a long, fierce serpent).

Yao sent Yi to kill chisel-tooth in the wilderness by the Chou Hua lake (a lake in the south) and the nine-headed monster by the Inauspicious River (a river in the north), and shoot the great bird near the marshland by Qing Qiu lake (a lake in the east). Yi then shot down nine suns with his arrow. He killed ya yu, beheaded the python by Dong Ting Lake, and caught the boar at White Mulberry Wood.

Hundreds of thousands of commoners were overjoyed by this and so elected Yao as their king, the ‘Son of Heaven’.

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中国神话后羿射日与希腊罗马神话里的赫尔克里士一样，都是要把太阳射下来的大力射箭手。在中国神话中，天空中有十个太阳，使到地球太热，万物不能生长。后羿以他的弓箭把九个太阳射下来，保存了世界。

但是，历史典籍关于后羿神话的传说互相矛盾，造成了学术界关于后羿神话主人公长期的争论。在这看似复杂的现象背后，记述了一个生活在中国东夷地区的善射民族的辉煌历史。后羿是夷民族的王，不同时代作为王的后羿有不同的功业，共同塑造着羿民族的可歌可泣的历史。据史料记载，大羿统一了东夷各部落方国，组成了一个强大的国家。由于该国家为众多崇拜太阳的部落方国所组成，在《山海经》中被称为“十日国”。

但是，《山海经》并没有关于射下九个太阳的记录。反而另一本古书《淮南子》谈到一个叫做羿的人射下九个太阳的事。一般认为羿就是后羿，那个在中国神话里著名的弓箭手。由于后羿也是东夷人，一般也相信后羿与大羿是同一个人。

以下是《淮南子•本经训》的故事：

‘逮至尧之时，十日并出，焦禾稼，杀草木，而民无所食。猰貐、凿齿、九婴、大风、封豨、修蛇皆为民害。尧乃使羿诛凿齿于畴华之野，杀九婴于凶水之上，缴大风于青丘之泽，上射十日而下杀猰貐，断修蛇于洞庭，擒封希于桑林。万民皆喜。置尧以为天子’。

Jingwei Fills the Sea 精卫填海

In modern languages the word tragedy is often used loosely to mean a disaster - particularly a seemingly undeserved disaster that strikes unexpectedly powerful people and happy families.

There are two possible outcomes of any tragedy – it is either an unhappy or a happy ending. One of the most widespread assumptions about a good tragedy is that the characters must be subjected constantly to the successive blows of hardship and misfortune and it must have an unhappy ending in order for it to be ‘most tragic’. It is possible for a tragedy to have happy ending for the good after he overcomes numerous difficulties and obstacles. However, some considered such is not a good tragedy.

Tragedy depicts men and women who, dissatisfied with the hand destiny has dealt them, challenge the rules of the game. Sometimes they win, sometimes they lose, but always they demonstrate the power of human spirit to stand against fate or the gods.

Tragedy also pushes the individual to the outer limits of existence where one must live or die by one's convictions. Facing the end of life, a person quickly recognizes life's ultimate values. All the trivial matters which occupy our daily routine suddenly vanish.

The Chinese myth on ‘Jingwei fills the sea’ is widely considered as a symbol of dogged determination and perseverance in the face of seemingly impossible odds.

The Fajiu Hill was two hundred li (a li is 0.5 km) away to the north. There was a lot of mulberry trees grew on it. Among them lived a bird which looked like a crow, but had a colourful head, a white bill and two red claws. Its call sounded like its name: Jingwei.

The bird was said to be Emperor Yandi's youngest daughter, Nuwa.

Nuwa, while playing on the East Sea, had been drowned and never returned. She had turned into Jingwei, and the bird would often carry bits of twigs and stones all the way from the West Mountains to the East Sea to fill it up.

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用现代话来说，悲剧一般指灾害，尤其是看来不应发生却出乎意料地发生在有权力的人的身上或快乐家庭里的灾难。

悲剧只有两种可能的后果，它的收场可以是不愉快的，也可以是愉快的。对于一个‘好’的悲剧来说，普遍的假设是其中的人物应经历连续不断的苦难与不幸事故；同时，为了要达到‘最惨’效果，其结果应该是不愉快的。但是，好人克服了无数困难与障碍之后，也可能会有好的结果。但一些人认为这不是‘好’的悲剧。

悲剧描述人们 – 男的或女的 – 不满命运给予他们的安排而向这些游戏规律挑战。有时候他们赢了，有时候输了，可是他们时时刻刻显示敢于向命运或神灵挑战的人类精神。

悲剧也把人类推向极限，人们必须为了他们的信念而面对生死的选择。面对生命的终结，一个人很快的就认识到生命的最终价值。占据了我们日常生活的琐琐碎碎事务，突然间都变得不重要。

中国神话《精卫填海》（来自《山海经》）被普遍认为是代表了面对看似没有成功的可能性时的坚定决心与坚持。

‘又北二百里，曰发鸠之山，其上多枯木。有鸟焉，其状如乌，文首，白喙，赤足，名曰“精卫”，其鸣自詨。

是炎帝之少女，名曰女娃。

女娃游于东海，溺而不返，故为精卫，常衔西山之木石，以堙于东海。’

Kua Fu Chasing the Sun 夸父追日

As conventionally used, ‘myth’ means one of two things: (1) stories of the gods or the creation of the world, things lying wholly in the supernatural domain, or (2) exaggerated or invented stories of humans or human events. Chinese myths are mostly of the second type. China does not, for example, see law as the gift of some deity, but as instituted by some culture heroes, men or women who triumph over obstacles.

Heroes are not all-powerful and immortal beings. Instead they represent the best of what it means to be human, demonstrating great strength, courage, wisdom, cleverness, or devotion.

One of those heroes in Chinese mythology is Kua Fu. The story of Kua Fu chasing the Sun has become the trope of man's determination and volition against nature. However, in modern day Chinese usage, the story of Kua Fu chasing the sun is used to describe a person who fails to obtain his goal because he greatly overestimates himself.

The story is Kua Fu is recorded in the ‘Classic of Mountains and Seas (Shan Hai Jing)’.

Kua Fu had a race with the Sun. He chased and got very close to the Sun, when he was too thirsty and hot to continue.

He drank all the water from the Yellow River and Wei River, but he still felt thirsty and hot. So, he marched northward for the lakes in the north of China. Unfortunately, he fell down and died halfway because of thirst.

He dropped his walking stick which turned into a stretch of peach, green and lush.

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一般上，神话用来表述两种事件：1。超自然的东西，如世界的创造、神的故事，或2。夸张的或创作出的有关人类或人类事件的故事。中国神话大多是第二类的故事。华人不认为规律是神鬼赠送的礼物，而认为是那些战胜自然障碍的英雄所制定的。

英雄并不是战无不胜、长生不老的生物。相反的，他们代表了人类意义中最完美的，先是强大的力量、勇气、智慧、智力与献身精神。

夸父就是中国神话中的一个英雄。‘夸父追日’的故事代表了人类要战胜自然的决心与意志。但是，现代华文用法却把《夸父追日》用来形容一个人由于自视过高而不能达到目的。

这个故事出自《山海经》。

夸父与日逐走，入日；渴，欲得饮，饮于河、渭；河、渭不足，北饮大泽。未至，道渴而死。弃其杖，化为邓林。

Shang People: Offspring of a Black Bird 殷商人的祖先：玄鸟

The Shang Dynasty was, according to traditional sources, the second Chinese dynasty, after the Xia Dynasty.

The decline of the Xia Empire led to the rise of Shang as the leading state in the Empire. The clan totem of Shang was the bird. In the Yen Ben Zhi chapter of The Records of the Grant Historian (Shiji), it is written that the mother of Xie, the founder of Shang was impregnated by a Black Bird:

"Three ladies including Jian Di went to take a bath. They saw that a black bird dropped an egg. Jian Di took and devoured it, became impregnated and gave birth to Xie. Xie grew up, assisted Yu in his work to control the flood with success."

The use of the "black bird", as the father of Xie, relates to the "black bird" as a popular totem of ethnic groups in China. This passage indicates that the founders of Shang were of mixed origin.

The Book of Poems also praised that the sacred bird was sent down from Heaven, and gave birth to the first Shang King. The King thereby justified his authority by proclaiming that he had divine right to rule over his people.

Heaven commissioned the Black Bird,

To descend and give birth to [the father of our] Shang.

[His descendants] dwelt in the land of Yin, and became great.

[Then] long ago God appointed the martial Tang,

To regulate the boundaries throughout the four quarters.

[In those] quarters he appointed the princes,

And grandly possessed the nine regions [of the kingdom].

The first sovereign of Shang,

Received the appointment without any element of instability in it,

And it is [now] held by the descendant of Wu-ding.

The descendant of Wu-ding,

Is a martial king, equal to every emergency.

Ten princes, [who came] with their dragon-emblazoned banners,

Bear the large dishes of millet.

The royal domain of a thousand li,

Is where the people rest;

But there commence the boundaries that reach to the four seas.

From the four seas they come [to out sacrifices];

They come in multitudes; -

Jing has the He for its outer border.

That Yin should have received the appointment [of Heaven] was entirely right;

[Its sovereign] sustains all its dignities.

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据传统资料，商朝是夏朝后的中国的第二个朝代。

夏朝的衰落导致商成为强大的国家。商的族群图腾是鸟。据《史记•殷本纪》记载，商的始祖契的母亲简狄是被玄鸟受孕所生。

“三人行浴，见玄鸟堕其卵，简狄取吞之， 因孕生契。契長而佐禹治水有功。”

以玄鸟为契父，与中国古代族群普遍用玄鸟为图腾有关。上面的记载显示商朝始祖来源混杂。

《诗经•商颂•玄鸟篇》亦赞颂上天把玄鸟送来并生下商王。商王以此来表明上天给他统治的权利。

《诗经•商颂•玄鸟篇》

天命玄鸟，降而生商，宅殷土芒芒。

古帝命武汤，正域彼四方。

方命厥后，奄有九有。

商之先后，受命不殆，在武丁孙子。

武丁孙子，武王靡不胜。

龙旗十乘，大糦是承。

邦畿千里，维民所止，肇域彼四海。

四海来假，来假祁祁。

景员维河，殷受命咸宜，百禄是何。

Nuwa Mends the Sky 女娲补天

In Chinese mythology, Nuwa is a mythological character best known for making mankind and repairing the wall of heaven. She had the body of a snake, a human head and the virtue of a divine being.

The book Huainan Zi first recounted how the sky was damaged.

‘In ancient time, while fighting with Zhuan Xu for the Earth leadership and saw that he was losing, Gong Gong angrily smashed his head against Mount Buzhou, a pillar holding up the sky. The pillar collapsed and that rope that connected the sky and earth broken. This caused the sky to tilt towards the northwest and resulted in sun, moon, and stars moving towards the northwest. It also caused the earth to shift to the southeast and resulted in all rivers flowing southeast into the ocean. ’

The book then detailed how Nuwa mended the sky.

‘In ancient times, the four pillars that supported the four corners of the sky collapsed and the nine regions (the world) split open. The sky could not cover all the things under it, nor could the earth carry all the things on it. A great fire raged and would not die out; a fierce flood raced about and could not be checked. Savage beasts devoured innocent people; vicious birds preyed on the weak and old.

Then Nuwa melted rocks of five colours and used them to mend the cracks in the sky. She supported the four corners of the sky with the legs she had cut off from a giant turtle. She killed the black dragon to save the people of Jizhou, and blocked the flood with the ashes of reeds.

Thus the sky was mended, its four corners lifted, the flood tamed, Jizhou pacified, and harmful birds and beasts killed, and the innocent people were able to live on the square earth under the dome of the sky.
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在中国神话中，女娲这个神最为人知的就是造人与补天的故事了。她有蛇的身体，人的头颅与神灵的道德。

《淮南子•天文训》先谈天裂的由来∶

昔者共工与颛顼争为帝，怒而触不周山，天柱折，地维绝。天倾西北，故日月星辰移焉;地不满西南，故水潦尘埃归焉。

《淮南子•览冥训》再叙女娲补天的故事：

往古之时，四极废，九州裂，天不兼覆，地不周载，火滥（liàn）焱而不灭，水浩洋而不息，猛兽食颛民，鸷鸟攫老弱。

于是，女娲炼五色石以补苍天，断鳌足以立四极，杀黑龙以济冀州，积芦灰以止淫水。

苍天补，四极正；淫水涸，冀州平；狡虫死，颛民生；背方州，抱圆天。

Nu Wa Made Human Beings 女娲造人

In the West, creation refers to making something from nothing. But for the Chinese, the world and human beings are never created as such. In the beginning, according to the Chinese mythology, there was nothing in the universe but a formless mass. It was Pan Gu who separated the earth from the sky. When Pan Gu died, the various parts of his bodies were transformed into myriad things in the world.
There are also many other deities in the Chinese mythology that helped make earth as a whole. In any case, there was no concept of creation in the Chinese mind. Instead, the myriad things were transformed from, produced or given birth by some other things.
One of the deities was Nu Wa, who made the human beings. Nu Wa was also the first match maker and known as the goddess of marriage. The story below comes from ‘The Comprehensive Meaning of Customs and Habits’ (Fengsu Tongyi), a book written in about 250 AD, by author Ying Shao, who lived during the Eastern Han period.
It is said that there were no men when the sky and the earth were separated and it was Nu Wa who made men by moulding yellow clay. She began to make more and more human beings until she was so tired that she had no strength to continue. So she dipped a rope into the mud and then lifted it. The mud that dripped from the rope also became man. Those made by moulding yellow clay were rich and noble, while those made by lifting the rope were poor and low in status. Wu Wa then prayed in the temple of Heaven to allow her to match make and thereby set up a system of marriage.
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在西方，‘创造’指从无到有。但是，对华人而言，世界与人类并不是被创造的。在中国神话里，开始时，天地浑沌如鸡子；那是盘古把天地分开。盘古死后，他身体的各部分变成了万物。
在中国神话中，还有其他很多的神帮助制造这个世界。无论如何，华人心中没有‘创造’的概念。反之，世界万物是由其他物质转变、产生或生产的。
女娲就是众神之一。她造了人。女娲也是第一个媒人，设置婚姻制度。以下是东汉应劭大约写于250年的《风俗通义》中的描述。
‘俗说开天辟辟，未有人民，女娲抟黄土做人。剧务，力不暇供，乃引绳于泥中，举以为人。故富贵者，黄土人；贫贱者，引縆（绳）人也。
女娲祷神祠祈而为女媒，因置婚姻。’

Pan Gu Makes the World 盘古创造天地

The first writer to record the Chinese myth on the creation of world by Pangu was Xu Zheng during the Three Kingdoms period, relatively late in Chinese history.

It is interesting to note that the myth shows a total belief in a cyclic nature. When something dies, it becomes something else, as the lice became humans. The myth also shows clearly that the Chinese do not subscribe to the idea that the world was created in a short time of a few days.
‘In the beginning, there was nothing in the universe except a formless mass. It evolved to something like a big hen’s egg. Pan Gu was born inside. After 18 thousand years, the egg cracked. The light, clear part of it floated up and formed the Sky. The cold, turbid matter stayed below to form the Earth. Pan Gu was still inside. Things started to change every day in the Sky and on the Earth. The Sky and the Earth began to grow at a rate of ten feet per day, and Pan Gu grew along with them. After another 18 thousand years, the Sky was higher, the Earth thicker, and Pan Gu stood between them like a pillar ninety thousand miles in height.
Pan Gu was first born in the egg, and before he died, his body started to transform. His breath became the wind and clouds, his voice the rolling thunder. The left eye became the sun and the right eye the moon. His body and limbs turned to five big mountains and his blood formed the roaring water. His veins became far-stretching roads and his muscles fertile land. The innumerable stars in the sky came from his hair and beard, and flowers and trees from his skin and the fine hairs on his body. His marrow turned to jade and pearls. His sweat flowed like the good rain and sweet dew that nurtured all things on earth. The fleas and lice were blown by the wind out of his body and became the ancestors of mankind.’
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第一个写盘古创造天地的中国神话的人是三国时代的徐整；相对中国历史而言，这是相当迟了。

令人感兴趣的是，这个神话明显有再世的信仰。但一个生命死亡，它重生为另一样东西。如虫变成人。

这个神话也显示中国人不相信这个世界不是在几天内就被创造出来的。

‘天地浑沌如鸡子。盘古生在其中。万八千岁。天地开辟。阳清为天。阴浊为地。盘古在其中。一日九变。神于天。圣于地。天日高一丈。地日厚一丈。盘古日长一丈。如此万八千岁。天数极高。地数极深。盘古极长。故天去地九万里。

首生盘古。垂死化身。气成风云。声为雷霆。左眼为日。右眼为月。四肢五体为四极五岳。血液为江河。筋脉为地里。肌肉为田土。发为星辰。皮肤为草木。齿骨为金石。精髓为珠玉。汗流为雨泽。身之诸虫。因风所感。化为黎甿。’