The Discovery Of Genesis

Creation - Chinese Style
The word to create, to begin, from &, has forever
memorialized that crowning work of shaping the first
man Adam from the dust of the earth. That this word
& refers exclusively to the creation of Adam and not
to the other plant and animal life will become apparent.
One can see the very activity of God as He forms a
body from the dust of the earth &, and breathing
with His mouth r? into the inert “dust man’s” nostrils
the breath of life 1 (p’ieh), Adam becomes a living soul
He came forth as an adult, able to talk 8, and also
able to walk L
For the radical walking, there is a second form k
which makes the creation story even more vivid. In this
pictographic representation, one can see Adam himself
clearly. The three upper strokes3 are his hair; the
vertical stroke I his body; the small horizontal stroke
to the right of the vertical stroke his arm; and the
remaining portions are his legs L The character to
create & must therefore refer specifically to the creation
of man and not to animals or other matter. This is even
more remarkable when one understands the meaning
of the Hebrew name “Adam,” which is “ground.” Both
Hebrew and Chinese recognize Adam’s origin from the
dust of the earth.
Adam was the first man in earth’s history. The word
first A6 records this fact as the most important first of
all. Adam is recognized as a live, / , dust, 5 man JL.
It would seem that this very primitive character for first
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