Pangu, sometimes referred to as Panku or, as in this illustration, Pwanku, is depicted with hammer and chisel alongside a tortoise in Samuel Wells WilliamsвЂ™ The Middle Kingdom (cropped and edited from the original). He is normally portrayed with a human face and rounded horns, and is often shown holding a hammer and chisel or the sun and moon in his hands. In art, Pangu is usually depicted as a short, stout creature completely covered in hair. In alternative systems of romanization, his name is written as PвЂ™an-ku. PanguвЂ™s name, therefore, denotes both his ancientness and the unusual circumstances of his birth.

Pangu is comprised of the Chinese characters pГЎn (з›¤), meaning to вЂњcoil,вЂќ and gЗ” (еЏ¤), meaning вЂњancient.вЂќ When he was inside the egg containing the entirety of the universe, Pangu slept in a curled up position due to space limitations. As one of the oldest stories in Chinese mythology, PanguвЂ™s myth has countless variations many of these retellings follow one of three basic storylines. When he eventually broke free, he released the universe and created the earth and sky. Pangu is said to have been born from an egg that held the entire cosmos. His story starts before the beginning of time and serves as an explanation for the creation of the universe. In Chinese mythology, Pangu (з›¤еЏ¤) is a horned and hairy beast considered to be the first living being in the universe. Mae Hamilton 4 Illustration of Pangu featuring horns and a hairy appearance, from the 17th century Chinese encyclopedia Sancai Tuhui (дё‰ж‰Ќе›ѕдјљ) by Wang Qi.

Chinese age of mythology