The suburban citizen., 1900-12-15
CHINA'S CREATION MYTH
WORLD MODELLED BY A MYsTERl.
Gus BEING OUT OF CHAOS.

China as a country, and the Chinese
as a people, have always seemed so en-
tirely separate and distinct from all
the other nations Of the globe, that
to search out the manner in which the
sages of the Flowery Land have strug
gled with the problems which perpleX
human beings no matter what their
race, has something Of fascination.
The creation of the world, for in.
stance--what hosts of scientists and
philosophers in the comparatively re-
cent civilization of Europe have direct
ed their energies toward unraveling
that mystery! And the sages of the
ancient Chinese Empire. though OF a
race the most impassive and incurious
of all mankind, they, too, have been
unable to resist speculation upon the
same topic. European and Asiatic
alike yearn to know the source of all
things.
Perhaps it is incorrect to say that
speculation is INDUCED in by the lat
ter. Chinese are nothing if not did0c-
tic. With infinite labor and pains they
arrive at a conclusion and then they
lay down the conclusion as a principle.
Hence, the historian Yangtsz, taking
refuge in this native stolidity, OBJ
serves:
"Who knows the affairs Of remote
antiquity, since no authentic records
have come down to us? He who ex.
amines these stories will find it diff.
cult to believe them, and careful scru.
/ tiny viii convince him that they are
| without foundation. In the primeval
ages no records were kept. Why, then,
/ since the ancient books that described
those times were burnt by Tsin, should
| we misrepresent those remote ages,
and satisfy ourselves with vague ia
bles? However as everything except
heaven and earth must have had a
cause, it is clear that they have always
existed, and that cause produced all
sorts of men and beings, and endowed
them with their various qualities. But
it must have been man who, in the be-
ginning, produced all things on earth,
and who may, therefore, be viewed as
] lOius d4lu ALUlu NAOlu AhACAo hNlAhN
their dignities."
This practical explanation was prob
ably more pleasing to the writer than
to anyone else. 1t was felt, perhaps,
to be in some points inadequate. AT
all events, numerous other Chinese
scribes have endeaYoTed to account
for the creation in a more elaborate
manner Possibly holding ceremonial
of all kinds in characteristically high
regards, they felt that something more
Of state ought to attend the entrance
Of a world upon existence. We read,
therefore:
"Heaven was formless, an utter
chaos; the whole mass was nothing
but confusion. Order was first pro-
duced in the upper ether, and out Of
it the universe came forth; the uni
verse produced air, and air the Milky
Way. When the principal Yang had
been diluted it formed the heavens;
the heavy and thick parts cOagulated
and formed the earth. The refined par
ticles united very soon; but the union
Of the thick and heavy went on slow
ly. Therefore, the heavens came into
existence first and the earth after
ward. The warm effluence of Yang
being condensed produced fire; and
then the finest parts Of fire formed the
sun. The cold exhalations of the Yin
being likewise condensed produced
water; and the finest parts of the
watery substance formed the moon
By the influence of the sun and moon
came the stars. This heaven was
adorned with SUM- moon and stars; the
earth also received rain, rivers and
dust"
Even this theory seemed incomplete.
1t may have satisfied the sages, whose
minds had fed on wisdom so long that
they required no more substantial diet
than the abstract; but the common
people, we are told, yearned for the
concrete. They wanted to persOnify
the principles of creation, that they
might have an opportunity to lavish
the worshipful and reverential spirit
with which, as people, they are so i'm
bued. May it not be also that the un-
imaginative character of the Chinese
mind requires the tangible in research
as a religion. They could not create
the Olympus Of the graceful Greek
genius; their sentiments found apt ex-
pressions in kneeling to a hldeOus joss.
So was evolved from the Chinese
mind the idea of a first being who
arose mysteriously out Of chaos, and
whose was the wondrous task of mod.
cling q world. This being, Pwanku,
is represented in uncouth sketches in
the very act Of welding chisel and
mallet upon huge granite masses
which float in space Where he has
succeeded in breaking down rocks can
be seen the sun, moon and planets; and
near by are discernible the grotesque
creatures assigned to be the only COM
p panions Of his toils--the dragon, phoe.
! nix and tortoise. Sometimes to these
is added the unicorn.
I All these are "held to be, with him.
self, the divine types and progenitors