Chinese Creation Myth.
At the start of time, Atrophy and the Universe found themselves in a black egg. Within this egg was a slumbering giant who awoke and cracked the egg.
The Universe was first to escape the egg, and in her joy, she gave birth to the Tortoise - who knew the secret to immortality; the Qilin* - who was curious and just; and the Dragon - who was a shaking infant with the strength of thunder.
But then Atrophy emerged from the egg and he chased after the Universe, desiring her. He picked off pieces from her dress - pieces that withered and knew death. The giant, Pan-Gu, saw this from his cracked egg and pushed down on his feet, creating land from the shell of his egg so that the Universe could find her footing. But Atrophy was persistent and he caught the Universe, consuming worlds and bringing death.
In her agony, the Universe gave birth to the Phoenix, who saw the Afterlife and returned for her mother. The Universe leapt on the back of her daughter and they flew away. Pan-Gu saw all this and pushed up with his hands, and the upper half of his shell became the sky, allowing the Universe and her daughter Phoenix to out-fly Atrophy. And as Pan-Gu pushed the sky from the land, he grew and grew and they swung themselves further into the beyond.
Atrophy chased the Universe and Phoenix for eighteen thousand years, before realising he could touch Pan-Gu. And at his touch, the giant stopped growing and died. In his death, he transformed. His stubble became the stars; his eyes, the moon and sun; his breath became the dancing wind that grew cold and made clouds; his fur became the trees and grass; the fleas on his back; the animals that walked the land and flew in the sky.
And that, Dylan, is how the Chinese described the Big Bang.
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* So in researching this story, I came across this pretty interesting morsel: when the Chinese first encountered (or re-encountered) the Giraffe during the Ming Dynasty, they identified the animal as the Qilin. It had hooves and horns (well, ossicones) like the Qilin and a tassellated coat that looked like scales. The connection had a lasting effect in East Asia, with the word for the Qilin used to describe the giraffe in Japanese and Korean (From Wikipedia, so take with a pinch of salt).
