"_Cheu Ching-huen_ says: 'The Rulers of man succeeded to the Rulers of heaven and the Rulers of earth in the government; that then _the atmosphere gradually cleared away_, and all things sprang up together; that the order of time was gradually settled, and the usages of society gradually became correct and respectful."[3] And then we read that "the day and night had not yet been divided," but, after a time, "day and night were distinguished from each other."[4] Here we have the history of some event which changed [1. "Compendium of Wong-shi-Shing 1526-1590," Crawford, pp. 4, 5. 2. Ibid., p. 8. 3. Ibid. 4. Ibid., p. 7.] {p. 212} the dynasties of the world: the heavenly kingdom was succeeded by a merely human one; there were chaos, cold, and darkness, and death to vegetation; then the light increases, and vegetation begins once more to germinate; the atmosphere is thick; the heavens rest on the earth; day and night can not be distinguished from one another, and mankind dwell in caves, and live on raw meat and blood. Surely all this accords wonderfully with our theory. And here we have the same story in another form: "The philosopher of Oraibi tells us that when the people ascended by means of the magical tree, which constituted the ladder from the lower world to this, they found the firmament, _the ceiling of this world, low down upon the earth_--the floor of this world." That is to say, when the people climbed up, from the cave in which they were bidden, to the surface of the earth, the dense clouds rested on the face of the earth. "Machito, one of their gods, raised the firmament on his shoulders to where it is now seen. _Still the world was dark, as there was no sun, no moon, and no stars_. So the people murmured because of the darkness and the cold. Machito said, 'Bring me seven maidens'; and they brought him seven maidens; and he said, 'Bring me seven baskets of cotton-bolls'; and they brought him seven baskets of cotton-bolls; and he taught the seven maidens to weave a magical fabric from the cotton, and when they had finished it he held it aloft, and the breeze carried it away toward the firmament, and in the twinkling of an eye it was transformed into a beautiful and full-orbed moon; and the same breeze caught the remnants of flocculent cotton, which the maidens had scattered during their work, and carried them aloft, and they were transformed into bright stars. But _still it was cold;_ and the people murmured again, and Machito said, 'Bring me seven buffalo-robes'; and they brought him seven buffalo-robes, and from the densely matted hair of the robes he wove another wonderful fabric, which the storm carried {p. 213} away into the sky, and it was transformed into the full-orbed sun. Then Machito appointed times and seasons, and ways for the heavenly bodies; and the gods of the firmament have obeyed the injunctions of Machito from the day of their creation to the present." *