The sky and the earth were at first one blurred entity like an egg. Pan Gu (pán gǔ 盘古) was born into it. The separation of the sky and the earth took eighteen thousand years-the yang which was light and pure rose to become the sky, and the part which was heavy and murky sank to form the earth. Between them was Pan Gu, who went through nine changes every day, his wisdom greater than that of the sky and his ability greater than that of the earth. Every day the sky rose ten feet higher, the earth became ten feet thicker, and Pan Gu grew ten feet taller. Another eighteen thousand years passed, and there was an extremely high sky, an extremely thick earth, and an extremely tall Pan Gu. Then came the Three Emperors (sān huáng 三皇): the Emperor of the Sky, the Emperor of the Earth, and the Emperor of Men.

So these numbers came into existence and evolve like this. The number begins with one, becomes established at three, is completed at five, prospers at seven, and ends in nine. So the sky is ninety thousand li (lǐ 里) from the earth.

After eighteen thousand years, Pan Gu was laid to rest. His breath became the wind; his voice the thunder; left eye the sun and right eye the moon; his body became the mountains and extremes of the world; his blood formed rivers; his muscles the fertile lands; his facial hair the stars and milky way; his fur the bushes and forests; his bones the valuable minerals; his bone marrows sacred diamonds; his sweat fell as rain; and the fleas on his fur carried by the wind became human beings all over the world. The distance from Earth and Sky at the end of the 18,000 years would have been 65,700,000 feet, or over 12,443 miles.

Source:www.foreignercn.com