Nüwa

The character is a common prefix on the names of goddesses. The proper name is , also read as . The Chinese character is unique to this name. Birrell translates it as 'lovely', but notes that it "could be construed as 'frog, which is consistent with her aquatic myth. In Chinese, the word for 'whirlpool' is , which shares the same pronunciation with the word for 'snail' (). These characters all have their right side constructed by the word , which can be translated as 'spiral' or 'helix' as noun, and as 'spin' or 'rotate' when as verb, to describe the 'helical movement'. This mythical meaning has also been symbolically pictured as compasses in the hand which can be found on many paintings and portraits associated with her. Her reverential name is (). ==Description==

by Chen Menglei, Qing dynasty The Huainanzi relates Nüwa to the time when Heaven and Earth were in disruption: The catastrophes were supposedly caused by the battle between the deities Gonggong and Zhuanxu (an event that was mentioned earlier in the Huainanzi), the five-colored stones symbolize the five Chinese elements (wood, fire, earth, metal, and water), the black dragon was the essence of water and thus cause of the floods, Ji Province serves metonymically for the central regions (the Sinitic world). Following this, the Huainanzi tells about how the sage-rulers Nüwa and Fuxi set order over the realm by following the Way () and its potency (). The Classic of Mountains and Seas, dated between the Warring States period and the Han dynasty, describes Nüwa's intestines as being scattered into ten spirits. In (c. 475 – 221 BC), Chapter 5 "Questions of Tang" (), author Lie Yukou describes Nüwa repairing the original imperfect heaven using five-colored stones, and cutting the legs off a tortoise to use as struts to hold up the sky. In (c. 340 – 278 BC), Chapter 3 "Asking Heaven" (), author Qu Yuan writes that Nüwa molded figures from the yellow earth, giving them life and the ability to bear children. After demons 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. In (c. 58 – 147 AD), China's earliest dictionary, under the entry for Nüwa author Xu Shen describes her as being both the sister and the wife of Fuxi. Nüwa and Fuxi were pictured as having snake-like tails interlocked in an Eastern Han dynasty mural in the Wuliang Temple in Jiaxiang county, Shandong province. In (; c. 846 – 874 AD), Volume 3, author Li Rong gives this description. There are stories that have her as the "consort" of Fuxi rather than his sister. Other tales have her and Fuxi as exclusively the "great gentle protectors of humanity" unwilling to use subterfuge. Nüwa and Fuxi were also thought to be gods of silk. == Iconography of Fuxi and Nüwa ==

on the murals (rubbing depicted) of the Wu Liang shrines, Han dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD)|left|upright=1.1The iconography of Fuxi and Nüwa vary in physical appearance depending on the time period and also shows regional differences. In Chinese tomb murals and iconography, Fuxi and Nüwa generally have snake-like bodies and human face or head. Nüwa is often depicted holding a compass or multiple compasses, which were a traditional Chinese symbol of a dome-like sky. File:Fuxi and Nüwa. 1967 Astana Cemetery.png|Fuxi and Nüwa, 1967 Astana Cemetery File:Fuxi and Nüwa. 1976 Astana Cemetery.jpg ==Legends==

Appearance in Fengshen Yanyi Nüwa is featured within the famed Ming dynasty novel . As featured within this novel, Nüwa is revered since Xia dynasty for creating the five-colored stones to mend the heavens, which tilted after Gonggong toppled one of the heavenly pillars, Mount Buzhou. Shang Rong asked King Zhou of Shang to pay her a visit as a sign of deep respect. Upon seeing her statue, Zhou was completely overcome with lust at the sight of the beautiful ancient goddess Nüwa. He wrote an erotic poem on a neighboring wall and took his leave. When Nüwa later returned to her temple after visiting the Yellow Emperor, she saw the foulness of Zhou's words. In her anger, she swore that the Shang dynasty would end in payment for his offense. In her rage, Nüwa personally ascended 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 summoned her three subordinates—the Thousand-Year Vixen (later becoming Daji), the Jade Pipa, and the Nine-Headed Pheasant. With these words, Nüwa brought 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." With these words, Nüwa was never heard of again, but was still a major indirect factor towards the Shang dynasty's fall. Creation of humanity Pangu provides an origin myth in Chinese mythology. He was a giant sleeping within an egg of chaos. As he awoke, he stood up and divided the sky and the earth. Pangu then died after standing up, and his body turned into rivers, mountains, plants, animals, and everything else in the world, among which is a powerful being known as Huaxu (). Huaxu gave birth to a twin brother and sister, Fuxi and Nüwa. Fuxi and Nüwa are said to be creatures that have faces of human and bodies of snakes. Nüwa created humanity due to her loneliness, which grew more intense over time. She molded yellow earth or, in other versions, yellow clay into the shape of people. These individuals later became the wealthy nobles of society, because they had been created by Nüwa's own hands. However, the majority of humanity was created when Nüwa dragged string across mud to mass-produce them, which she did because creating every person by hand was too time- and energy-consuming. This creation story gives an aetiological explanation for the social hierarchy in ancient China. The nobility believed that they were more important than the mass-produced majority of humanity, because Nüwa took time to create them, and they had been directly touched by her hand. Nüwa was born three months after her brother, Fuxi, whom she later took as her husband; this marriage is the reason why Nüwa is credited with inventing the idea of marriage. Before the two of them got married, they lived on mount K'un-lun. A prayer was made after the two became guilty of falling for each other. The prayer is as follows, "Oh Heaven, if Thou wouldst send us forth as man and wife, then make all the misty vapor gather. If not, then make all the misty vapor disperse." In addition, the system of male and female sex, the yang-yin philosophy, is expressed here in a complex way: first as Fuxi and Nüwa, then as a compass (masculine) and a square (feminine), and thirdly, as Nüwa (woman) with a compass (man) and Fuxi (man) with a square (woman). Nüwa Mends the Heavens is a well-known theme in Chinese culture. The courage and wisdom of Nüwa inspired the ancient Chinese to control nature's elements and has become a favorite subject of Chinese poets, painters, and sculptors, along with so many poetry and arts like novels, films, paintings, and sculptures; e.g. the sculptures that decorate Nanshan and Ya'an. The Huainanzi tells an ancient story about how the four pillars that support the sky crumbled inexplicably. Other sources have tried to explain the cause, i.e. the battle between Gong Gong and Zhuanxu or Zhurong. Unable to accept his defeat, Gong Gong deliberately banged his head onto Mount Buzhou () which was one of the four pillars. Half of the sky fell which created a gaping hole and the Earth itself was cracked; the Earth's axis mundi was tilted into the southeast while the sky rose into the northwest. This is said to be the reason why the western region of China is higher than the eastern and that most of its rivers flow towards the southeast. This same explanation is applied to the Sun, Moon, and stars which moved into the northwest. A wildfire burnt the forests and led the wild animals to run amok and attack the innocent peoples, while the water which was coming out from the earth's crack didn't seem to be slowing down. Nüwa pitied the humans she had made and attempted to repair the sky. She gathered five colored-stones (red, yellow, blue, black, and white) from the riverbed, melted them and used them to patch up the sky: since then the sky (clouds) have been colorful. She then killed a giant turtle (or tortoise), some version named the tortoise as Ao, cut off the four legs of the creature to use as new pillars to support the sky. But Nüwa didn't do it perfectly because the unequal length of the legs made the sky tilt. After the job was done, Nüwa drove away the wild animals, extinguished the fire, and controlled the flood with a huge amount of ashes from the burning reeds and the world became as peaceful as it was before. Empress Nüwa Many Chinese know well their Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, i.e. the early leaders of humanity as well as culture heroes according to the Northern Chinese belief. But the lists vary and depend on the sources used. One version includes Nüwa as one of the Three Sovereigns, who reigned after Fuxi and before Shennong. The myth of the Three Sovereigns sees the three as demigod figures, and the myth is used to stress the importance of an imperial reign. The variation between sources stems from China being generally divided before the Qin and Han dynasties, and the version with Fuxi, Shennong, and Nüwa was used to emphasize rule and structure. In her matriarchal reign, she battled against a neighboring tribal chief, defeated him, and took him to the peak of a mountain. Defeated by a woman, the chief felt ashamed to be alive and banged his head on the heavenly bamboo to kill himself and for revenge. His act tore a hole in the sky and made a flood hit the whole world. The flood killed all people except Nüwa and her army which was protected by her divinity. After that, Nüwa patched the sky with five colored-stones until the flood receded. ==Popular culture==

• The Ming dynasty fantasy novel Investiture of the Gods (1567) has Nüwa being an instigator of the Shang dynasty's collapse, as she sent the fox demon Daji to corrupt King Zhou for the latter verbally desecrating her statue at a temple. • The Qing dynasty novel Dream of the Red Chamber (1754) narrates how Nüwa gathered 36,501 stones to patch the sky but left one unused. The unused stone plays an important role in the novel's storyline. • A goddess Nüwa statue named Sky Patching by Yuan Xikun was exhibited at Times Square, New York City, on 19 April 2012 to celebrate Earth Day (2012), symbolized the importance of protecting the ozone layer. Previously, this statue was exhibited on Beijing and now is placed on Vienna International Centre, Vienna since 21 November 2012. • The story of Nüwa patching the sky was being retold by Carol Chen in her book Goddess Nuwa Patches Up the Sky (2014) which was illustrated by Meng Xianlong. • In Shin Megami Tensei 5, Nuwa (voiced by Ayana Taketatsu) is the partner to Shohei Yakumo (voiced by Tomokazu Sugita) as two of the main characters who aid the protagonist. • In the Gremlins animated series, Nuwa (voiced by Sandra Oh) is portrayed as the creator of the Mogwai species that Gizmo originated from and fell into a depression when the humans could not properly coexist with them. • The 2024 metroidvania Nine Sols features two antagonists inspired by Nuwa and Fuxi. The pair sit on the eponymous council of Sols, and fight together in a late-game boss encounter. Later flashbacks and audio logs imply they were in an incestuous relationship. • The goddess appears as a playable character in the Chinese pantheon in the 2014 multiplayer online battle arena Smite ==See also==

• . • . • . ==Further reading==