Pangu Separates the Sky from the Earth: A Chinese Creation Myth
visit us at www abdopublishing com Published by Magic Wagon a division of the ABDO Group PO Box 398166 Edina MN 55439 Copyright 2014 by Abdo Consulting Group Inc International copyrights reserved in all countries All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher Short Tales TM is a trademark and logo of Magic Wagon Printed in the United States of America North Mankato Minnesota 102013 012014 This book contains at least 10 recycled materials Adapted Text by Anita Yasuda Illustrations by Jok Edited by Stephanie Hedlund and Rochelle Baltzer Interior Layout by Renée LaViolette Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Yasuda Anita Pangu separates the sky from the earth a Chinese creation myth adapted by Anita Yasuda illustrated by Jok pages cm Short tales Chinese myths ISBN 978 1 62402 034 6 1 Tales China Juvenile literature 2 Mythology Chinese Juvenile literature 3 Creation Folklore Juvenile literature I Jok Artist illustrator II Title GR335 Y3756 2014 398 20931 dc23 2013025315
MYTHICAL CREATURES PANGU The creator of the universe YIN A female force shown by the color black YANG A male force shown by the color white Note The Chinese names in this book use the pinyin system to represent the Chinese language in English
INTRODUCTION Pangu Separates the Sky from the Earth tells the tale of a special being called Pangu Pangu is said to have made the world and everything in it In order for the world to take shape Pangu must part the light called Yin from the dark called Yang Yin and Yang have been important ideas in China since ancient times Xu Zheng was the first to record the myth Pangu Separates the Sky from the Earth in the third century CE The story is found in his book Sanwu Liji Historical Records of the Three Sovereign Divinities and the Five Gods There are several variations of this creation myth This version of the Pangu legend is adapted from material in D A Mackenzie's Myths of China and Japan printed in 1923 Mackenzie was a well known Scottish journalist and author of many books on folklore
Imagine a time when the sun moon and stars had no shape The sky and the earth were tied tightly together The ground had not yet folded into mountains Nor the water pooled into oceans This was the beginning
