Long ago there was a time when neither heaven nor earth existed.
     Everything was in darkness and confused, unformed and unseparated.
     All the makings of the universe were trapped inside a single egg. Within this yolk of chaos grew a giant. He was called Pan Ku.
     After many thousands of years, Pan Ku became too large for the egg. The shell cracked and shattered. All the makings of the universe escaped. The light elements floated upwards to make glittering heavens, All the heavy matter sank and the earth was formed.
     Pan Ku looked up to the heavens and down to the earth. He saw that he would have to hold the two of them apart, to stop them going back together and chaos returning. So Pan Ku grew tall. His head pushed against the heavens. His feet pressed down upon the earth. He grew and grew. Each day the heavens were nudged a little higher and the earth thickened beneath his feet.
     For eighteen thousand ages Pan Ku grew. He was like a great pillar holding the heavens and earth apart until they became stable and secure. Eventually, Pan Ku died. His body collapsed and began to change. His breath was released and became the breeze, winds and clouds. His voice became the roar of the thunder. Both his eyes were transformed. The right eye rose, as the moon in the sky, his left eye became the sun. Pan Ku's four limbs and body became the four corners of the world, the mountains, hills, and valleys. His blood turned into the rivers and gave life to the fields and meadows, which were his skin. The silver hairs of his head became the stars. The hairs on his body became the many grasses, trees, flowers.
     Pan Ku's teeth and bones became the rocks and minerals in the soil. His sweat fell as the rain and the dew in the morning. All the tiny mites on his body became the living creatures of the world. So Pan Ku was the ancestor of the universe. It was he who made the heavens beautiful and the earth flourish.