Nüwa
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Nüwa (Traditional Chinese: 女媧; Simplified Chinese: 女娲; Pinyin: nǚwā, also Nü Gua or Nügua) is a goddess in ancient Chinese mythology best known for creating mankind and repairing the wall of heaven. Later traditions attribute mankind's creation to either Pangu or Yu Huang.
Nüwa primary sources
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Nüwa was referred to in many books of songs. Below are some of the common sources that describe Nüwa, tabled in chronological order. The list below did not include those of local tribal stories or modern reinterpretations, often adapted for screenplay. (Note: please maintain pattern of date, author, book, chapter, account, and detail for future additions.)
1) (Warring States - early Han) editor: Liu Xiang, book: Shan Hai Jing, chapter 16, account: Nüwa's intestines scatter into ten spirits. Not to be confused with Nǚwá 女娃 also known as Jingwei.
2) (475 - 221 BC) author: Lie Yukou, book: Liezi, chapter 5: "Questions of Tang" (卷第五 湯問篇), paragraph 1: account: "Nüwa repairs the heavens" detail: Describes Nüwa repairing the imperfect heaven,. detail: The heaven was imperfect at the beginning, Nüwa uses five colored stones to repair the heaven, cut the legs of a tortoise and use them as struts to hold up the sky. But later, Gong Gong bumps into the mountain "buzhou"---- which holds up the sky, so the world inclines again, all river run to the east and stars begin to move.
3) (340 - 278 BC) author: Qu Yuan, book: "Elegies of Chu" (Chuci), chapter 3: "Asking Heaven" (问天, or Wentian), account: "Nüwa Mends The Firmament" detail: The name Nüwa first appeared here. This story states that Nüwa molded figures from the yellow earth, giving them life and the ability to bear children. Demons then fought and broke the pillars of the heavens. Nüwa worked unceasingly to repair the damage, melting down the five-coloured stones to mend the heavens.
4) (179 - 122 BC) author: Liu An, book: Huainanzi, chapter 6: Lanmingxun (覽冥訓), account: "Nüwa Mended the Sky" detail: In remote antiquity, the four poles of the Universe collapsed, and the world descended into chaos: the firmament was no longer able to cover everything, and the earth was no longer able to support itself; fire burned wild, and waters flooded the land. Fierce beasts ate common people, and ferocious birds attacked the old and the weak. Hence, Nüwa tempered the five-colored stone to mend the heavens, cut off the feet of the great turtle to support the four poles, killed the black dragon to help the earth, and gathered the ash of reed to stop the flood. Variation: The four corners of the sky collapsed and the world with its nine regions split open.
5) (58 - 147 AD) author: Xu Shen, book: Shuowen Jiezi, entry: Nüwa detail: The Shuowen is China's earliest dictionary. In it, Nüwa is said to have been both the sister and the wife of Fuxi. Nüwa and Fuxi were pictured as having snake like tails interlocked in an Eastern Han dynasty (+25 +220) mural in the Wuliang Temple in Jiaxiang county, Shandong province.
6) (618 - 907 AD) author: Li Rong, book: Duyi Zhi (獨異志); vol 3, account: "opening of the universe" [citation needed] detail: There was a brother and a sister living on the Kunlun Mountain, and there were no ordinary people at that time. The sister's name was Nüwa. The brother and sister wished to become husband and wife, but felt shy and guilty about this desire. So the brother took his younger sister to the top of the Kunlun Mounatain and prayed: "If the heavens allow us to be man and wife, please let the smoke before us gather; if not, please let the smoke scatter." The smoke before them gathered together. So Nüwa came to live with her elder brother. She made a fan with grass to hide her face. (The present custom of women covering their faces with fans originated from this story.)
7) (618 - 907 AD) author: Lu Tong, book: Yuchuan Ziji (玉川子集), chapter 3 [citation needed] detail: characters: "與馬異結交詩" 也稱 "女媧本是伏羲婦", pinyin: "Yu Mayi Jie Jiao Shi" YeCheng "Nüwa ben shi Fuxi fu", English: "NuWa originally is Fuxi wife" (note late date)
8) (618 - 907 AD) author: Sima Zhen, book: Four Branches of Literature Complete Library (Siku Quanshu) , prologue chapter to Sima Qian's Shiji: "Supplemental to the Historic Record – History of the Three August Ones" detail: The three August Ones (San Huang) are: Fuxi, Nüwa, Shennong; Fuxi & Nüwa have the same last name Feng (風). note: Sima Zhen's commentary in included with the later Siku Quanshu compiled by Ji Yun (紀昀) & Lu Xixiong (陸錫熊).
9) (960 - 1279 AD) author: Li Fang, collection: Songsi Dashu, series: Taiping Anthologies for the Emperor (Taiping Yulan), book: Vol 78, chapter "Customs by Yingshao of the Han Dynasty" detail: States that there were no men when the sky and the earth were separated. Nüwa used yellow clay to make people. The clay was not strong enough, so she put ropes into the clay to make the bodies erect. It was also said that she prayed to gods to let her be the goddess of marital affairs. (Variations of this story exist.)
Nüwa in various roles
Since Nüwa is presented differently in so many myths, it is not accurate to tie her down as a creator, mother, or goddess. Depending on the myth, she is responsible for being a wife, sister, man, tribal leader (or even emperor), creator, maintainer, etc. It is not clear from the evidence which view came first. Regardless of the origins, most myths present Nüwa as female in a procreative role after a calamity.
Nüwa as a repairer
The earliest literary role seems to be the upkeep and maintenance of the Wall of Heaven, whose collapse would obliterate everything.
There was a quarrel between two of the more powerful gods, and they decided to settle it with a fight. When the water god, Gong Gong, saw that he was losing, he smashed his head against Mount Buzhou (不周山), a pillar holding up the sky. The pillar collapsed and caused the sky to tilt towards the northwest and the earth to shift to the southeast. This caused great calamities, such as unending fires, vast floods, and the appearance of fierce man-eating beasts. Nüwa cut off the legs of a giant tortoise and used them to supplant the fallen pillar, alleviating the situation and sealing the broken sky using stones of seven different colors, but she was unable to fully correct the tilted sky. This explains the phenomenon that sun, moon, and stars move towards the northwest, and that rivers in China flow southeast into the Pacific Ocean. (this account is similar to the Huainanzi account; it was added as The Upkeep and Maintenance of Heaven [citation needed] )
Other versions of the story describe Nüwa going up to heaven and filling the gap with her body (half human half serpent) and thus stopping the flood.[citation needed] According to this legend some of the minorities in South-Western China hail Nüwa as their goddess and some festivals such as the 'Water-Splashing Festival' are in part a tribute to her sacrifices.
Nüwa as a creator
The next major role of Nüwa is of a creator deity. However, not many stories ascribe to her the creation of everything; they usually confine her to the creation of mankind. It is said [citation needed] that Nüwa existed in the beginning of the world. She felt lonely as there were no animals so she began the creation of animals and humans. On the first day she created chickens. On the second day she created dogs. On the third day she created sheep. On the fourth day she created pigs. On the fifth day she created cows. On the sixth day she created horses. On the seventh day she began creating men from yellow clay, sculpting each one individually, yet after she had created hundreds of figures in this way she still had more to make but had grown tired of the laborious process.
So instead of hand crafting each figure, she dipped a rope in clay and flicked it so blobs of clay landed everywhere; each of these blobs became a common person. Nüwa still laboriously crafted some people out of clay, who became nobles.
Nüwa as wife or sister
By the Han Dynasty, she is described in literature with her husband Fuxi as the first of the San Huang, and often called the "parents of humankind". However, paintings depicting them joined as half people - half serpent or dragon date to the Warring States period.
Nüwa as a goddess for Miao people
Nüwa and Fuxi are also found under different names as originators of mankind through an act of incest after the Flood in legends and myths of the Miao people.
Nüwa in history
Paintings of Nüwa, and her consort Fuxi, date to the Warring States period.
Herbert James Allen erroneously translated Tang dynasty historian Sima Zhen's interpolated prologue to the Han dynasty Sima Qian's Shiji. In one of his more serious flaws, Nüwa was described as male even though the Nü (女) in the name means female and the wa (媧) also contains the female radical.
Appearance in Fengshen Yanyi
Nüwa is featured within the famed Ming dynasty novel Fengshen Yanyi. As featured within this novel, Nüwa is very highly respected since the time of the Xia Dynasty for being the daughter of the Jade Emperor; Nüwa is also regularly called the "Snake Goddess". After the Shang Dynasty had been created, Nüwa created the five-colored stones to protect the dynasty with occasional seasonal rains and other enhancing qualities. Thus in time, Shang Rong asked King Zhou of Shang to pay her a visit as a sign of deep respect. After King Zhou was completely overcome with lust at the very sight of the beautiful ancient goddess Nüwa (who had been sitting behind a light curtain), he would write a small poem on a neighboring wall and take his leave. When Nüwa later returned to her temple after visiting the Yellow Emperor, Nüwa would see the foulness of King Zhou's words. In her anger, she swore that the Shang Dynasty will end in payment for his foulness. In her rage, Nüwa would personally ascend to the palace in an attempt to kill the king, but was suddenly struck back by two large beams of red light.
After Nüwa realized that King Zhou was already destined to rule the kingdom for twenty-six more years, Nüwa would summon her three subordinates—the Thousand-Year Vixen (later becoming Daji), the Jade Pipa, and the Nine-Headed Pheasant. With these words, Nüwa would bring destined chaos to the Shang Dynasty, "The luck Cheng Tang won six hundred years ago is dimming. I speak to you of a new mandate of heaven which sets the destiny for all. You three are to enter King Zhou's palace, where you are to bewitch him. Whatever you do, do not harm anyone else. If you do my bidding, and do it well, you will be permitted to reincarnate as human beings." Thus, with these words, Nüwa would never be heard of again, but would still be a major indirect factor towards the Shang Dynasty's fall.
The Nüwa Legend and The Noah Flood
I) Earlier written records of Nüwa Legend
From the earlier written records, we only could find the following story of Nüwa： Repaired the heavens; Established the four corners of the earth (The Ends of the Earth); Killed the black Dragon; Stopped The Big Flood.
We could find that Nüwa was not the creator of Human Beings.
Later, mankind had keep enriching Nüwa’s stories by adding in more fancies. Nüwa is presented differently in so many myths; it is not accurate to tie her down as a creator, mother. Depending on the myths, she is responsible for being a wife, sister, man, tribal leader (or even emperor), creator, maintainer, etc. It is not clear from the evidence which view came first. Regardless of the origins, most myths present Nüwa as female in a procreative role after a calamity.
II) Nüwa and Noah
From Nüwa’s story, we knew there was a big flood. This flood was exactly the same flood of Noah (Genesis 6). The waters were from the heavens. Genesis 7:11 In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, on the seventeenth day of the second month--on that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. 12 And rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights.
III) Nüwa and Angel
From China Legend, Nüwa appeared only after Pangu opened up the universe. Nüwa was created by Pangu. We can consider Pangu to be God, and Nüwa to be an Angel created by God. Nüwa carried out God’s tasks after The Big Flood. The main tasks of Nüwa were to work for God: to repair the heavens; to establish the four corners of the earth (The ends of the Earth); to kill the black dragon; to stop the flood. Genesis 8:2 Now the springs of the deep and the floodgates of the heavens had been closed, and the rain had stopped falling from the sky.
The Bible uses the terms מלאך אלהים (mal'akh Elohim; messenger of God), מלאך יהוה (mal'akh YHWH; messenger of the Lord), בני אלהים (b'nai Elohim; sons of God) and הקודשים (ha-qodeshim; the holy ones) to refer to beings traditionally interpreted as angels.
Daniel is the first biblical figure to refer to individual angels by name. The writer includes the names Gabriel (God's primary messenger) in Daniel 9:21 and Michael (the holy fighter) in Daniel 10:13. These are part of Daniel's apocalyptic visions and are an important part of all apocalyptic literature. Angels are created by God, and carrying out God's tasks "praise ye Him, all His angels: praise ye Him, all His hosts... for He spoke and they were made. He commanded and they were created..." (Psalms 148:2-5; Colossians 1:16).
IV) Nüwa and The Four Corners of the Earth (The Ends of the Earth)
According Nüwa Legend, after The Big Flood, Nüwa established The Four Corners of the Earth (In Chinese”立四极”).
After Nüwa finishing her tasks, (In Chinese苍天补，四极正；淫水涸，冀州平；狡虫死，颛民生; 背方州，抱圆天), Heavens repaired; The Four Corners of the Earth (The Ends of the Earth) established; Flood water dried; China became peaceful; Evil animals died; Good people grew; Then She left Square Earth and enfolded (went to) Round Heaven.
背（Bei） means “leave”; such as: 背井离乡（Bei Jing Li Xiang）（leave one’s native home） 抱（Bao） means “enfold”. Here it means “go to”.
In ancient Chinese culture, Chinese thought: “Heaven was high and round – Round Heaven; and the earth was low and rectangular – Square Earth”
The Bible uses the phrase "the ends of the earth" many times.
(1) In Psalm 65:5 the ends of the earth are parallel to the farthest sea.
(2) Isaiah 41:5 which says, "The islands have seen it and fear; the ends of the earth tremble. They approach and come forward;" Here islands are considered to be synonymous with, or near the ends of the earth. The earth was surrounded by water, but there were islands at the edge of the world where the sky met the sea.
(3) Revelations 7:1 and 20:8 it mentions the four corners of the earth.
The descendants of Shem spread out over North and East; they arrived at East Corner and North Corner; The descendants of Japheth spread out over West; they arrived at West Corner. The descendants of Ham spread out over South; they arrived at South Corner. They established countries at the Ends of the Earth.
V) Nüwa and The Queen of the South
According Nüwa Legend, after The Big Flood, Nüwa carried out God's tasks to establish The Four Corners of the Earth (The Ends of the Earth) (In Chinese”立四极”).
According to "Matthew 12:42 The queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon's wisdom, and now one greater than Solomon is here." Before The Queen of the South rises at the Judgment, She came from the Ends of the Earth (Four Corners of the Earth). She was an angel of God. She carried out God's tasks at The Ends of the Earth.
Nüwa and The Queen of the South was the same angel created by God; and they carried out God’s same tasks.
VI) The name of Nüwa “女娲”came from"女娃" (Pronounce: Nüwa)
In ancient China, men and women did not have name.
For an example, Liu Bang(256BC-195BC), the first emperor of Han Dynasty, his original name was Liu Ji (Ji means the third son of the family). Liu Bang had two brothers: Liu Bo (Bo means the first son of the family); Liu Zhong (Zhong means the second son of the family). Another example, the very famous story of Meng Jiang Nu cried for the Great Wall in Qin Dynasty. Meng Jiang Nu did not have her name too. Jiang was the family name, Meng meant the first child in the family. Meng Jiang Nu meant the first daughter of Jiang’s family.
The pronunciations of Chinese words “女娲” and “女娃” are same --- Nüwa. “女娃" (Pronounce: Nüwa）originally meant “Beautiful lady”. At first Nüwa did not have a name; People called her "女娃" (Pronounce: Nüwa), meant “Beautiful lady”. Later some people thought that as the Goddess, Nüwa must have her own name, so they specially invented a Chinese character “娲” (Pronounce: wa) for her. After that, Nüwa had her own name "女娲" (Pronounce: Nüwa) instead of “女娃” (Pronounce: Nüwa).
See also
Notes
References
- Allan, Sarah (1991), The shape of the turtle: myth, art, and cosmos in early China, SUNY series in Chinese philosophy and culture, SUNY Press, ISBN 0791404609
External links
