Research source

In his right hand he holds a hammer and in his left a chisel (sometimes these are reversed), the only…

Date of account: Traditional material presented in a work published 1922
Source: Myths and Legends of China
Reference: Myths and Legends of China · selected passage 18
Rights: public_domain
Language: English synthesis of Chinese traditions
Translation: E. T. C. Werner
Record updated: 2026-08-24

Record summary

In his right hand he holds a hammer and in his left a chisel (sometimes these are reversed), the only implements he used in carrying out his great task

Published source text

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Source passage

Source text · mention only

In his right hand he holds a hammer and in his left a chisel (sometimes these are reversed), the only implements he used in carrying out his great task. Other pictures show him attended in his labours by the four supernatural creatures--the unicorn, phoenix, tortoise, and dragon; others again with the sun in one hand and the moon in the other, some of the firstfruits of his stupendous labours. (The reason for these being there will be apparent presently.) His task occupied eighteen thousand years, during which he formed the sun, moon, and stars, the heavens and the earth, himself increasing in stature day by day, being daily six feet taller than the day before, until, his labours ended, he died that his works might live. His head became the mountains, his breath the wind and clouds, his voice the thunder, his limbs the four quarters of the earth, his blood the rivers, his flesh the soil, his beard the constellations, his skin and hair the herbs and trees, his teeth, bones, and marrow the metals, rocks, and precious stones, his sweat the rain, and the insects creeping over his body human beings, who thus had a lowlier origin even than the tears of Khepera in Egyptian cosmology.

Historical context

Contextual commentary · mention only

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Modern context

Contextual commentary · mention only

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