► Chinese Lore for Chinese-Hawaiians - 16: Chinese Creation

Honolulu Star Bulletin. Thursday, February 21, 1957 - Clarice B. Taylor's "Tales about Hawaii" 

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   In the beginning there was the universal principal of Yin (female) and Yan (male). These principals were, exemplified by the Sun (Yang) and the Noon (Yin).

    P'au Ku, the creator of heaven and earth, was the son of Yin and Yang.

     He was born an ugly man with dwarfish looks and is pictured in Chinese literature as wearing a bearskin or an apron of leaves. In these pictures he has two horns on his head and carries a hammer in his right hand and a chisel in his left.

HEAVENLY BEINGS

     The pictures show him attended by the unicorn, phoenix, tortoise and dragon. The unicorn and phoenix are heavenly creatures.

     In other pictures, he is shown holding the sun and the moon in his hands.     

      Legend says that it took P'au Ku 18,000 years of work to create the heavens and earth.

     During that time, he grew in stature at the rate of six feet a day.

UNIVERSE CREATED

     At death his head became the mountains,; his blood the rivers; his flesh, the soil; his beard the constellations; his sweat, insects and human beings.

     Thus the universe was created by the principal of Yin and Yang to achieve a balance of nature.

     T'ao "the way of life first came into being out of nothingness and without struggling or striving continues as a phenomenon of nature."

     Man's life is balanced and happy when he learns to live by the principal of Yin and Yang.

PURE ONES 

     T'aoism tells of three supreme gods who rule the universe from three heavens, each god in his own heaven. The three are called San Ch'ing, three pure ones.

     In the first heaven, which lies in the Jade mountains, lives Yu Huang (the pearly golden door. He is the source of all truth and he superintends heaven and earth.

     In the second heaven, Shang Ch'ing, rules Tao chun, who regulates the principals of nature - Yin and Yang - divides all time and is custodian of the sacred books.

     T'ai Ch'ing, the third heaven, is ruled by Shen Pao, the treasure of spirits also known as T'ao-shanglao Chun, the most eminent aged ruler. He is the teacher of kings and emperors.

NEXT: BUDDHISTS

    P'au Ku is the original spelling in this text. It's my feeling the author meant "P'an Ku."