Pangu and the World-Egg
Pangu hatches from a cosmic egg, separating Yin and Yang by holding sky and earth apart. When he dies, his body becomes mountains, rivers, winds, and creatures, shaping the world through self-sacrifice.
Story beats
- 1) In primordial chaos, a world-egg forms; Pangu sleeps inside for 18,000 years.
- 2) Awakened, he lifts the clear Yang upward for sky, presses heavy Yin down for earth—growing daily to keep them apart.
- 3) After ages, he dies; his breath becomes wind, voice thunder, left eye sun, right eye moon, blood rivers, muscles earth, hair stars and plants, fleas humans.
- 4) The balanced world persists, infused with his body’s transformation.
Context & symbolism
Pangu embodies world-as-body and the harmony of Yin/Yang separation. His growth and sacrifice highlight creation as labor and self-giving; interpreting parts into landscape ties humanity to cosmic origins.
The myth offers a tactile cosmology: mountains as bones, weather as breath, grounding observation in embodied metaphor.
Motifs
- Cosmic egg and giant within
- Division of Yin and Yang
- World built from a body
- Sun and moon eyes
Use it in play
- Explore a world engineered from a titan’s body—organs as dungeons.
- Perform a ritual to keep sky and earth apart as they drift together.
- Seek relics that are literally the bones or breath of creation.
- Awaken a sleeper in a cosmic egg—decide which world they will build.