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Pangu Township, Hebei
Pangu (, ) is a primordial being and creation figure in Chinese mythology who separated heaven and earth and became geographic features such as mountains and rivers. Legends The first writer to record the myth of Pangu was Xu Zheng during the Three Kingdoms period. Recently his name was found in a tomb dated AD 156 (predating the Three Kingdoms period). In the beginning, there was nothing and the universe was in a featureless, formless primordial state. This primordial state coalesced into a cosmic egg for about 18,000 years. Within it, the perfectly opposed principles of yin and yang became balanced and Pangu emerged (or woke up) from the egg. Pangu inside the cosmic egg symbolizes Taiji. Pangu is usually depicted as a primitive, hairy giant who has horns on his head. Pangu began creating the world: he separated yin from yang with a swing of his giant axe, creating the earth (murky ''yin'') and the sky (clear ''yang''). To keep them separated, Pangu stood between them and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sancai Tuhui
''Sancai Tuhui'' (, ), compiled by Wang Qi () and his son Wang Siyi (), is a Chinese ''leishu'' encyclopedia, completed in 1607 and published in 1609 during the late Ming dynasty, featuring illustrations of subjects in the three worlds of heaven, earth, and humanity. The work contains a large number of posthumous and contemporary depictions of Chinese Emperors. Title The title of this encyclopedia has been variously translated into English as "Illustrations of the Three Powers",http://ibs001.colo.firstnet.net.uk/britishlibrary/controller/subjectidsearch?id=8190&idx=1&start=4 "Collected Illustrations of the Three Realms", "Pictorial Compendium of the Three Powers", and others; in the original title, "Sancai" () refers to the three realms of "heaven, earth, and man", and "Tuhui" () means "collection of illustrations". Description This encyclopedia is organized into 106 chapters in 14 categories (astronomy, geography, biographies, history, biology, and such), with text and illustra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |