Nu Wa Myth – Chinese Myth And Legends Essay, Research Paper

In every culture there is a god/goddess

who stands out above the others. In Chinese legends the deity that

stands out above the rest is the goddess Nu Wa. In all readings it

is only good things that being written about this goddess. She is

credited not only with the creation of man, but also restoring order between

the heavens and earth. She is not only the most humble and caring

of all deities but also one of the most important in Chinese mythology.

Maybe the best way to describe Nu Wa is

to simply call her a mother figure. What other title would be better

for the one who took yellow clay and mud and brought them to life, bringing

forth humans and all other living things. Or would it be more appropriate

to call her mother Nu Wa because it was Fu Xi and her whom were the first

couple to be wedded and later with the consent of the gods given the right

to create other people. This is why in the second month of every

lunar year, thousands of people pray and offer sacrifices to her in search

of love and fertility. Nu Wa is also the goddess that young newly

wedded couples go to in order to ask for a daughter or a son.

Even with all her great accomplishments

Nu Wa is still a humble figure. There was a time when the four pillars

had collapsed and the Nine Regions were divided. During this period fire

and water had a war; fires rushed throughout the land without cease and

oceans rose and flooded everything else. Not only this, but beasts

and dragons also were devouring the people of Chuan. Seeing all of

her children in such pain Nu Wa decided something had to be done.

Making mortar out of rocks and pebbles she had gathered Nu Wa then went

to patch up the falling heavens. To make sure that they wouldn?t

fall again she went and cut of the legs of a giant turtle and placed them

as heavenly pillars to prop up the four corners of the sky. With

this settled, she then went to slay the dragon and beasts who had been

terrorizing her children. Nu Wa repaired the damaged and saved the

world from extinction. Even doing all of this Nu Wa was still a humble

character. After she was done saving the planet, ?Then, without displaying

her achievements, without spreading her fame, she hold the secret of the

Way of the True Person and follows the eternal nature of Heaven and earth.?

(Huai-nan Tzu, Lan ming, SPPY 6.7b-8a)

After saving the world from extinction

not much else was ever heard about Nu Wa again. No historian is quite

sure exactly what did happen to Nu Wa. Some believed that she died

and morphed into thousands of little fairies. While others say that

she had just road off to heaven and never spoke of the earth again.

Whatever did happen to Nu Wa, she will always be credited for the creation

of humans and the savor of the world from extinction. This is why

in Chinese mythology ?She bears the emblem of the Fortune of Life and Death.?

(Birrell, Anne. Chinese Mythology. Pg. 71)