Their annals begin with "Pwan-ku, or the Reign of Chaos."[1] [1. "The Ancient Dynasties of Berosus and China," Rev. T. P. Crawford, D. D., p. 4.] {p. 210} And we are told by the Chinese historians that-- "P'an-ku came forth in the midst of the _great chaotic void_, and we know not his origin; that he knew the rationale of heaven and earth, and _comprehended the changes of the Darkness and the Light_."[1] He "existed _before the shining of the Light_."[2] He was "the Prince of Chaos." "After the chaos _cleared away_, heaven appeared first in order, then earth, then after they existed, _and the atmosphere had changed its character, man came forth_."[3] That is to say, P'an-ku lived through the Age of Darkness, during a chaotic period, and while the atmosphere was pestilential with the gases of the comet. Where did he live? The Chinese annals tell us: "In the age after the chaos, when heaven and earth had _just separated_." That is, when the great mass of cloud had just lifted from the earth: "Records had not yet been established or inscriptions invented. At first even the rulers _dwelt in caves_ and desert places, eating raw flesh and drinking blood. At this fortunate juncture Pan-ku-sze _came forth_, and from that time heaven and earth began to be heaven and earth, men and things to be men and things, and so the chaotic state passed away."[1] This is the rejuvenation of the world told of in so many legends. And these annals tell us further of the "Ten Stems," being the stages of the earth's primeval history. "At _Wu_--the Sixth Stem--the Darkness and the Light unite _with injurious effects_--all things become _solid_," (frozen?), "_and the Darkness destroys the growth of all things_. [1. Compendium of Wong-shi-Shing 1526-1590," Crawford, p. 3. 2. Ibid. 3. Ibid., p. 2. 4. Ibid., p. 3.] {p. 211} "At _Kung_--the Seventh Stem--_the Darkness nips all things_." But the Darkness is passing away: "At _Jin_--the Ninth Stem--the Light _begins to nourish all things in the recesses below_. "Lastly, at _Tsze_, all things _begin to germinate_."[1] The same story is told in the "Twelve Branches." "1. _K'wun-tun_ stands for the period of _chaos, the cold midnight darkness_. It is said that with it all things began to germinate in the hidden recesses of the under-world." In the 2d--_Ch'i-fun-yoh_--"light and heat become active, and all things begin to rise in obedience to its nature." In the 3d--_Sheh-ti-kuh_--the stars and sun probably appear, as from this point the calendar begins. In the 5th--_Chi-shii_--all things in a torpid state begin to come forth. In the 8th--_Hëen-hia_--all things harmonize, and the present order of things is established; that is to say, the effects of the catastrophe have largely passed away.[2] The kings who governed before the Drift were called the Rulers of heaven and earth; those who came after were the Rulers of man.