Pangu's Axe

The Axe of Creation

The divine axe with which Pangu split the cosmic egg — one stroke parted the clear yang from the turbid yin.

Pangu's axe is the first divine weapon of creation myth. The Sanwu Liji describes heaven and earth chaotic as an egg with Pangu within; later texts dramatize his wielding a giant axe to split the chaos — one stroke separating pure yang above from turbid yin below. After his death the axe passed into legend, an emblem of the primordial act of opening.