Panku Kaitian Pidi (Panku Creating the World), from the manuscript Tui Bei Quan Tu, 1820, copied by Wu-Yi Chao Xie, c. 1900.
Panku Creates the World
According to Chinese mythology, a giant called Panku used his own body to create the world. Before creation, Panku was like an egg yolk inside an egg. After eighteen thousand years, the world began to open. The light air called "Yangqi" flew up and became sky, and the heavy and wet air called "Yinqi" sank down and became earth. When Panku breathed, his breath became wind. When he cried, his tears became oceans and rivers. After many years, Panku died, and his head, body, and limbs turned into five famous mountains in China.
Panku creates the world
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