Chinese Myth – Nuwa Created Human.女娲造人

.

In every culture there is one Goddess that stands out among all else and in the Chinese culture it is Nuwa 女娲 Nǚwā . The Earth created by Pangu 盘古 Pángǔ (see post: Pangu Created the Universe. ) was a lonely and uninhabited place. Nuwa came down to live in it but was lonely as she was the only goddess on earth.


One day, she came across a crystal clear pond. When she saw her own reflection in the water, it occurred to her to make a figure of herself from the clay by the pond. When it was placed on the ground, she was delighted when it came to life and jumped around her. Whereupon, she continued to make many more figures and they all danced round her and called her “mother”. They then dispersed to populate the land.

But the earth is vast and boundless, and she tires of sculpting them by hand. So she grabbed a vine, dipped it into the mud and flicked drops of mud into the ground. These too came to life and became human. This way, she was able to make countless human who scattered to all parts of the earth and she was no longer lonely. As human is mortal, she taught them matrimonial relationship so they could bear children and continued the propagation of the human race. This is the reason why the Chinese will tell you that it is Nuwa who created human 女娲造人 Nǚwā zàorén . And why in the second month of every lunar year, thousands of Chinese will pray to her for love and fertility.

.

Chinese Myth - Pangu Created the Universe. 盘古开天辟地

.

The proverb 开天辟地 kāitiān-pìdì means the creation of the world. It also means “since the beginning of time”. Chinese legend told a tale of how the universe was created. In the beginning, the universe was a formless chaos which coalesced into a cosmic egg. Pangu 盘古 Pángǔ , (see post: Dragon Master, Fire King, Bird Officials & The Yellow Emperor) the ancestor of mankind was conceived inside this “egg” for 18,000 years.


One day, he woke up and was enraged that he could see nothing in the darkness. He created a giant axe from his breathe and broke the egg. Thereupon, all light and clear things floated up to form the sky while heavy and turbid things sank and coagulated into the earth. Afraid that the sky and earth may joined back, he stood up and propped them apart. Each day, the sky rose by a “zhang” 一丈 yīzhàng (3 1/3m) while the earth grew thicker by 一丈.

“After another 18,000 years, Pangu has grown to a height of 90,000 li 里 lǐ (45,000 km). With the structure of the universe now consolidated, Pangu toppled down and died. Just before his death, Pangu turned the air that he breathed out into wind and cloud. His voice, lfet eye and right eye were changed into lightning, the sun and the moon respectively. The twinkling stars in the sky were originally Pangu’s hair and beard. “

“Pangu’s 4 limbs and gigantic body became the earth’s Four Poles and Five Mountains. His blood was transformed into rivers and his muscles, farmland. Even the fine hair on his body also became grass and wood, giving the earth a green covering”. Thus, this was how Earth was born.

(Extracted from – A General History of China published by Canfonian Pte Ltd)

.