Nuwa, Creator of Humans in Chinese Mythology
Nuwa is a legend in Chinese mythology, credited with both the creation of humanity and rescuing Earth from being crushed by the sky. She was one of the Three Sovereigns, a group of mythological rulers that lived over 5,000 years ago. Supposedly, these demigods used their skills to improve the lives of their subjects and imparted to them crucial knowledge, such as agriculture, architecture, and even fire creation. Some believe that Nuwa is based on a real woman who ruled a region in ancient China, either solely or alongside her husband, Fuxi.
Many versions of humanity’s creation by Nuwa’s hand exist, but they seem to fall into one of two camps. In one version, Nuwa is lonely and decides to craft people from yellow clay. Finding the process time-consuming, she speeds up creation by dragging a rope through the mud, generating humans in mass-production. The individuals she spent more time on (supposedly) held more value and created a line of nobility, clearly outlining the etiology of social hierarchy in China.
In the other version of mankind’s creation, Nuwa marries a man named Fuxi, and the two decide to produce offspring. The new humans serve one of two purposes: repopulate Earth following a devastating flood or act as a symbolic representation of union and cultural kinship. It all depends on the source.
Beyond creating humanity, Nuwa is credited with saving Earth from destruction via the falling of the skies/heaven. In one version of the story, the water god (Gonggong) overthrows the fire god (Zhurong). Out of frustration, the fire god destroys one of the pillars that held up heaven. The crashing sky cracked Earth and left the western region of China more elevated than the east. It produced a string of natural disasters, killing innumerable humans. Nuwa pitied the poor mortals and used rocks to patch the sky. She cut off the legs of a giant tortoise and fashioned them as the new sky-supporting pillars.
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