Gonggong Toppling the Mountain is the famous legend from ancient mythology in which the water god, in a rage, struck Mount Buzhou.

Gonggong Toppling the Mountain is a famous ancient Chinese myth and legend, first seen in texts such as the Huainanzi. It tells the story of the water god Gonggong, who after failing to seize the throne from Zhuanxu, struck Mount Buzhou in a fit of rage. Together with myths such as Pangu Separating Heaven and Earth and Nüwa Mending the Sky, it forms an important part of the ancient narrative of the origin of the universe.

Legend has it that Gonggong was the water god in charge of floods. He fought Zhuanxu for the throne, and after his defeat his fury would not subside, so he butted Mount Buzhou with his head. The ancients regarded Mount Buzhou as the pillar holding up the sky. Once the sky pillar broke, the layout of heaven and earth changed accordingly: the sky tilted to the northwest, and the earth sank to the southeast. Another version says that Gonggong struck the mountain only after losing a battle with the fire god Zhurong, reflecting the ancient notion that water and fire are incompatible.

This myth was used by the ancients to explain natural phenomena: because the sky tilts to the northwest, the sun, moon and stars appear to move westward; because the earth does not fill up the southeast, most rivers flow to the southeast. It embodies the efforts of early people to understand all things in heaven and earth through imagination, and it also shaped the unruly and unyielding image of Gonggong.

Later generations often used Gonggong Toppling the Mountain as a literary allusion to describe a huge upheaval or intense resentment. This story has also been included in Chinese language readers and adapted into works in many forms, such as film, television and animation, making it an important window for understanding ancient Chinese mythology and traditional culture.