This is a whodunnit — or rather a hundunnit. Ruling the Center of the Universe must have been a little tricky without eyes, nose, mouth, or indeed any orifice at all. Was he an egg (cosmic of course)?

The pre-emptive Emperor before there were any empires, he was an implosion of orifices without substance, a faceless bird-like entity, and a representation of Chaos.

His fellow rulers from across the sea felt sorry for him and decided to give him a few useful apertures. Much time was spent boring experimental holes and drilling features into his face.

Finally their work was done, and very good it was too. Unfortunately, the strain of this primitive cosmetic surgery without anesthetic was too much for Hundun and he keeled over, dead.

This ancient legend probably has much to say about the symbolism of applying Order to Chaos. But we’ll let you figure that out yourselves. Answers in a fortune cookie please.

And talking of food, Hundun may have given his name to the famous Chinese wonton dish, which means ‘swallowing clouds’. This is another example of a Chinese pun. Unfortunately it does not translate well. Dumplings of Chaos are off the menu.

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Article last revised on April 21, 2019 by the Godchecker data dwarves.
Editors: Peter J. Allen, Chas Saunders

References: Coming soon.

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