Ancient peoples, with no such knowledge, speculated, guessed and made presumptions to try to explain to themselves the natural phenomena they observed, ideas of Heavens and Hell and the origins of their own species.
Heavens and Earth were originally an integrated whole, often likened to an egg. Interestingly most ancient societies came to a general consensus about this basic concept. Pan Gu who lived in the “egg” was responsible for splitting the “egg” apart into Heaven and Earth; Man, the ancient Chinese believed, was created by Nü Wa with yellow clay; ten scorching suns in the sky boiled all the water on the Earth scorching the land and destroying crops. The suffering lasted, until the great hero, Hou Yi, shot nine of the ten suns out of the sky with his unerring arrows…
If one can picture Chinese culture as a long and winding free-flowing river, then the source of this river can be traced back to these ancient tales. If one can picture Chinese culture as a mature, leafy tree, then the roots of this tree lie in the soil that is ancient Chinese tales. If one wishes to delve deeper into Chinese culture and the essence of Chinese civilization and society, one must begin with a thorough investigation of the myths and tales handed down to us from ancient Chinese society.
