In trying to explain the origin of the world and mankind, the ancient world was characterized by so many mythologies about gods and goddesses (Giddins 30). Goddess Nu Wa is credited for creating human beings in Chinese mythology. The name of the goddess varies from one region to another. She may be referred to as Nu Kua, Neu Kwa, Ku Gua, Cang Jing and NY Wa (Mc Combs, par 1). Feng was her surname and sometimes she could be referred to as Mixi (Yu Lan, par 2). She is also recognized as the one who separated the earth from the sky and also coming up with the Chinese land which is also called the divine land. She is regarded as the original ancestor of the divine land who lived as an empress and the emperor Fuxis younger sister. They are said to have existed in the third millennium BC (Crystal link, par 36). This essay seeks to find out how goddess Nu Wa created human beings.
Her image is viewed differently some say that she had a human head while the rest of the body resembled a snake. Others say that she had an upper body of a very beautiful woman but the lower part was a fish, dragon or a snake. Sometimes her image would resemble a woman wearing regalia robes (Mc Combs, par 3).
The goddess is described in one of the Chinese earliest dictionaries as the one in charge of breeding of all living things and that is why she is associated with fertility. In another legend, she is said to have been both the wife and the sister to Emperor Fu xi who is credited with teaching human beings on matrimony and the domestication of animals (Angel fire, par 3, 4). The goddess came to be shortly after the world was formed from what had remained of Pan Kun. This is a god who was responsible for dividing the original egg into two yin and yang and after the split, he lived for 18,000 years in developing himself, the earth and the sky. Nu Wa and the brother were the only intelligent beings at that time. In other words, the goddess had two relatives Pan Kun who can be regarded as the father since it is said that everything had come from him and Fuxi, the husband and the brother at the same time (Mc Combs, par 4- 9).
After the world was created by the father, it was characterized by mountains, plants of all kinds and rivers but no human beings. One day, she decided to take a walk for the fist time around the world but at the end, she felt lonely. She felt that, the world was really beautiful and it deserved to have life and not be deserted (Ciyun, par 1- 2). Trees were blossoming surrounded by all types of flowers, all living creatures including the birds of the air but despite of these, she grew lonelier (The Serene Dragon, par 2). She decided to sit besides the river while gazing at the waters and all of a sudden, she knew what to do. The goddess scooped clay on the shores of the river and made a doll out of it. She shaped the doll in such a way that, it had the head, chest, shoulders and the arms just like her upper body. When it came to the lower part, she was not sure of how she would create it and thus she hesitated for some time. She thought of creating the lower side by giving it claws, scales, tails or fins. She also thought of creating the lower part to be just like hers since for her, she was able to change her lower side appearance all the time. This was to enable her to move any where she wanted. However, she later decided to attach legs which would enable the dolls to walk and paddle on land and about the sea respectively (Admin, par. 4).
From the earth or clay, she made both tall and short dolls, some were thin and others fat. Some of them had curly hair and others straight. Others had round and large eyes while others had long and narrow ones. Some dolls had really dark eyes and others light meaning that each doll looked differently and unique. This was so, to make it possible for the goddess to identify them according to their features. After making the dolls, she breathed into them and as a result, they became alive and hopping all over (Admin, par 5).
Nu wa was really elated of her new creations and thus she desired to continue with whatever she had started in order to come up with more dolls. However, she had to come up with a method that would be really quick and more efficient for her handiwork. Just along the river bank, a reed was cut and dipped into the mud inside the river (Ciyun, par 9). She wanted to use the reed as a spoon to scoop out the mud in large quantities. She made one move with her wrist, by whirling the reed in such a way that so many blobs of mud ended up on the ground. She waited for them to dry up and after that, she breathed into each of them. As a result there were many round creatures, dancing around her while smiling and giggling. However, the dolls which were made from these blobs were different from the original ones. They were less refined as compared to the original ones which were made from yellow clay (Ciyun, par 9). Another difference was that, the ones which were made originally were the ones who later became the rich and the noble in the society while those ones from the blobs, became the poor (The Serene Dragon, par 4). All these filled the goddess with much happiness and pride (Admin, par 6).
Despite the happiness, she was a little bit tired. Although she loved to watch her creations, she knew she was not capable of watching over them from time to time. Thoughts started to throng her mind and she wondered how these creatures would survive without her because she was not ready to go over the process of creation again after they had long died and gone. She did not want to make repairs on them and thus she thought on how she could make them reproduce on their own without her. She decided to make some of the dolls males and others females by twists and pokes. After that, all the noisy dolls that were slipping and falling aimlessly were gathered together (Admin, par 7-8). She started to speak to them and giving instructions. All the noise that was there before died down as the human beings listened attentively to her. She taught them about how marriage is important and how couples are obligated to each other. She also gave them instructions on how to make children and raise them. After she had finished, she wished them well in all their endeavors apart from joyful and long existence on earth. As she was leaving, she expressed her desire that they would continue to reproduce and be able to live without her. This was prior her ascending to heaven by a thundering chariot being pulled by six dragons (Admin, par 7-8).
Significance of Goddess Nu Wa
Among all the Chinese gods and goddesses, she is the one who is standing out above the rest. Only wonderful things are written about her. She is presented as the only deity that is humble and caring. Some see her as a motherly figure. This is because she brought up life and also the first woman to get married. This is the main reason why the Chinese pray to her in every Lunar year, in the second month (Essay online, par 1-4).They usually do this by offering sacrifices to her in search of fertility and love. After a couple has wedded, they also go to her to ask for children either a son or a daughter. She is also seen as very humble. It is said that one day as some gods were fighting, the four pillars that hold the heavens in place were divided. There ensued war between fire and water where, both of them went throughout the world. Fire spread on land whiles the oceans rose resulting into flooding every where. Dragons and beasts took this opportunity and started to devour mankind and when the goddess saw that, she felt pity for her creation since they were suffering a lot. She went a step further to patch up the falling heavens. She did this by cutting the legs of a turtle which she used as pillars to hold the heavens. She killed all the beasts and the dragons that were torturing her creations. After saving the world and mankind from extinction, she never bragged about her achievements and that is why she is viewed as a humble being. She is very important in Chinese mythology as she is credited with creation of man and saving the world form extinction and that is why it is said of her, She bears the emblem of the fortune of life and death (Essay online, par 1-4).
In conclusion, this creation story is just one of the many Chinese myths and the most important one since it talks of the origin of man. It has been seen that man came from clay, originally it was yellow clay but later, it was mud. This explains the different human races and the different social classes.
Her image is viewed differently some say that she had a human head while the rest of the body resembled a snake. Others say that she had an upper body of a very beautiful woman but the lower part was a fish, dragon or a snake. Sometimes her image would resemble a woman wearing regalia robes (Mc Combs, par 3).
The goddess is described in one of the Chinese earliest dictionaries as the one in charge of breeding of all living things and that is why she is associated with fertility. In another legend, she is said to have been both the wife and the sister to Emperor Fu xi who is credited with teaching human beings on matrimony and the domestication of animals (Angel fire, par 3, 4). The goddess came to be shortly after the world was formed from what had remained of Pan Kun. This is a god who was responsible for dividing the original egg into two yin and yang and after the split, he lived for 18,000 years in developing himself, the earth and the sky. Nu Wa and the brother were the only intelligent beings at that time. In other words, the goddess had two relatives Pan Kun who can be regarded as the father since it is said that everything had come from him and Fuxi, the husband and the brother at the same time (Mc Combs, par 4- 9).
After the world was created by the father, it was characterized by mountains, plants of all kinds and rivers but no human beings. One day, she decided to take a walk for the fist time around the world but at the end, she felt lonely. She felt that, the world was really beautiful and it deserved to have life and not be deserted (Ciyun, par 1- 2). Trees were blossoming surrounded by all types of flowers, all living creatures including the birds of the air but despite of these, she grew lonelier (The Serene Dragon, par 2). She decided to sit besides the river while gazing at the waters and all of a sudden, she knew what to do. The goddess scooped clay on the shores of the river and made a doll out of it. She shaped the doll in such a way that, it had the head, chest, shoulders and the arms just like her upper body. When it came to the lower part, she was not sure of how she would create it and thus she hesitated for some time. She thought of creating the lower side by giving it claws, scales, tails or fins. She also thought of creating the lower part to be just like hers since for her, she was able to change her lower side appearance all the time. This was to enable her to move any where she wanted. However, she later decided to attach legs which would enable the dolls to walk and paddle on land and about the sea respectively (Admin, par. 4).
From the earth or clay, she made both tall and short dolls, some were thin and others fat. Some of them had curly hair and others straight. Others had round and large eyes while others had long and narrow ones. Some dolls had really dark eyes and others light meaning that each doll looked differently and unique. This was so, to make it possible for the goddess to identify them according to their features. After making the dolls, she breathed into them and as a result, they became alive and hopping all over (Admin, par 5).
Nu wa was really elated of her new creations and thus she desired to continue with whatever she had started in order to come up with more dolls. However, she had to come up with a method that would be really quick and more efficient for her handiwork. Just along the river bank, a reed was cut and dipped into the mud inside the river (Ciyun, par 9). She wanted to use the reed as a spoon to scoop out the mud in large quantities. She made one move with her wrist, by whirling the reed in such a way that so many blobs of mud ended up on the ground. She waited for them to dry up and after that, she breathed into each of them. As a result there were many round creatures, dancing around her while smiling and giggling. However, the dolls which were made from these blobs were different from the original ones. They were less refined as compared to the original ones which were made from yellow clay (Ciyun, par 9). Another difference was that, the ones which were made originally were the ones who later became the rich and the noble in the society while those ones from the blobs, became the poor (The Serene Dragon, par 4). All these filled the goddess with much happiness and pride (Admin, par 6).
Despite the happiness, she was a little bit tired. Although she loved to watch her creations, she knew she was not capable of watching over them from time to time. Thoughts started to throng her mind and she wondered how these creatures would survive without her because she was not ready to go over the process of creation again after they had long died and gone. She did not want to make repairs on them and thus she thought on how she could make them reproduce on their own without her. She decided to make some of the dolls males and others females by twists and pokes. After that, all the noisy dolls that were slipping and falling aimlessly were gathered together (Admin, par 7-8). She started to speak to them and giving instructions. All the noise that was there before died down as the human beings listened attentively to her. She taught them about how marriage is important and how couples are obligated to each other. She also gave them instructions on how to make children and raise them. After she had finished, she wished them well in all their endeavors apart from joyful and long existence on earth. As she was leaving, she expressed her desire that they would continue to reproduce and be able to live without her. This was prior her ascending to heaven by a thundering chariot being pulled by six dragons (Admin, par 7-8).
Significance of Goddess Nu Wa
Among all the Chinese gods and goddesses, she is the one who is standing out above the rest. Only wonderful things are written about her. She is presented as the only deity that is humble and caring. Some see her as a motherly figure. This is because she brought up life and also the first woman to get married. This is the main reason why the Chinese pray to her in every Lunar year, in the second month (Essay online, par 1-4).They usually do this by offering sacrifices to her in search of fertility and love. After a couple has wedded, they also go to her to ask for children either a son or a daughter. She is also seen as very humble. It is said that one day as some gods were fighting, the four pillars that hold the heavens in place were divided. There ensued war between fire and water where, both of them went throughout the world. Fire spread on land whiles the oceans rose resulting into flooding every where. Dragons and beasts took this opportunity and started to devour mankind and when the goddess saw that, she felt pity for her creation since they were suffering a lot. She went a step further to patch up the falling heavens. She did this by cutting the legs of a turtle which she used as pillars to hold the heavens. She killed all the beasts and the dragons that were torturing her creations. After saving the world and mankind from extinction, she never bragged about her achievements and that is why she is viewed as a humble being. She is very important in Chinese mythology as she is credited with creation of man and saving the world form extinction and that is why it is said of her, She bears the emblem of the fortune of life and death (Essay online, par 1-4).
In conclusion, this creation story is just one of the many Chinese myths and the most important one since it talks of the origin of man. It has been seen that man came from clay, originally it was yellow clay but later, it was mud. This explains the different human races and the different social classes.
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