中国和希腊创世神话座英文.ppt

Creation Myths How was the world created? Chinese Myths Greek Myths Genesis A Chinese  Creation Myth 盘古开天地 盘古开天地 Pangu and the Creation of the World In the beginning there was darkness everywhere, and Chaos ruled. Within the darkness there formed an egg, and inside the egg the giant Pangu came into being. Pangu slept and grew safely inside the egg. When he had grown to gigantic size he stretched his huge limbs and in so doing broke the egg. Pangu and the Creation of the World The lighter parts of the egg floated upwards to form the heavens and the denser parts sank downwards, to become the earth. And so was formed earth and sky, Yin and Yang. Pangu saw what had happened and he was pleased. But he feared that heaven and earth might meld together again, so he placed himself between them, his head holding up the sky and his feet firmly upon the earth. Pangu and the Creation of the World Pangu continued to grow at a rate of ten feet a day for 18,000 years, so increasing the distance between heaven and earth, until they seemed fixed and secure, 30,000 miles apart. Now exhausted, Pangu went back to sleep and never woke up. Pangu died, and his body went to make the world and all its elements. The wind and clouds were formed from his breath, his voice was thunder and lightning, his eyes became the sun and moon, his arms and legs became the four directions of the compass and his trunk became the mountains. His flesh turned into the soil and the trees that grow on it, his blood into the rivers that flow and his veins into paths men travel. Pangu and the Creation of the World His body hair became the grass and herbs, and his skin the same, while precious stones and minerals were formed from his bones and teeth. His sweat became the dew and the hair of his head became the stars that trail throughout heaven. As for the parasites（精灵）on his body, these became the divers races of humankind（鸟兽鱼虫）. Nü Wa: the Creator of Human Beings The Chi