Nuwa—the Chinese Goddess
Nuwa,as the Chinese creator of human beings,is a household word in China.For centuries,she has been described,pictured and portrayed as a beautiful goddess in stories,books,movies and TV programs.
Silver Tongue
1.Do you have any idea who they are,what items each of them holding in their hands?
2.What does each item represent in Chinese culture?
3.Search in your memory,see if you can find any stories of these two figures in the picture.
This picture was unearthed in an ancient tomb in Xinjiang Province.The myth has it that the Chinese ancestors Fuxi(伏羲)and Nuwa(女娲)both had human faces with a snake-like body.
The female,on the left side of the picture,is Nuwa,holding a“Gui”(规),a kind of gauge used to draw or correct the drawings of a circle;the male figure is Fuxi,holding a“Ju”(矩),another kind of gauge used to draw or correct the drawings of a square.“Gui Ju”(规矩)in Chinese means rules,principles or laws people have to follow in their daily lives so that everything in the society will be in good order.In Chinese,there is an idiom“不以规矩,不成方圆”,literally“there would be no squares and circles without‘Gui’and‘Ju’”,meaning“nothing can be in good order without norms and rules”.
In Chinese culture,"Gui"represents the heavens which ancient Chinese people thought to be in a circular shape;"Ju"represents the earth which was believed to be a square.The heavens and the earth together make up the universe.At the same time,"Gui"and"Ju"both are tools for measurements,symbolizing rules and laws.So altogether,this means the universe is made of rules and laws,human beings have to follow the rules and laws of the universe so as to keep everything in correct order.
Nuwa—Creator of Mankind
According to one popular legend in China,the Goddess,Nuwa,was the creator of mankind.
After Pangu created the universe,the earth was a beautiful place with blooming trees and flowers,and full of animals,birds,fish and all kinds of living creatures.
There was a beautiful goddess living on the earth at the time.She was called Nuwa.As she wandered around,she felt very lonely.She bent down and took up a handful of earth,mixed it with water,and moulded a figure in her likeness.As soon as she finished,the figure came alive—the first human being.Nuwa was so pleased with her creation that she went on making more figures,both men and women.When she was tired of sculpting,she accidentally flicked drops of mud off a vine,and these too came to life and became human,until there were humans everywhere.They danced around her cheerfully and she no longer felt lonely.
When she finished making humans,Nuwa taught them to use leaves to cover themselves,and to pick fruit to feed themselves.In Chinese culture,this was the origin of the first human beings.
Nuwa Patched up the Sky
Another legend tells how Nuwa patched up the sky.Two deities,called Gonggong(共工),the God of Water,and Zhurong(祝融),the God of Fire,were engaged in a fierce battle.They fought all the way from heaven to earth,causing turmoil everywhere.The God of Fire won,and in anger the God of Water struck his head against Buzhou Mountain(a mythical peak supposed to be at the northwest of the Kunlun range in southern Xinjiang Province).The mountain collapsed and down came the big pillar that held heaven up from earth.Half the sky fell in,leaving a big black hole.The earth cracked open,flames consumed forests,and floodwaters gushed out from beneath.Dragons,snakes and fierce animals leaped out to attack people.Many people were drowned and more were burned or devoured.It was an unprecedented disaster.
Nuwa was most grieved to know that mankind which she had created should undergo such suffering.She decided to mend the sky and end this catastrophe.She melted together stones of five colours and patched up the sky with the molten mixture.Then she killed a giant turtle and used its four legs as four pillars to support the fallen part of the sky.She caught and killed a dragon and this scared the other wild beasts away.Then she gathered and burned a huge quantity of reeds and with the ashes stopped the flood from spreading,so that people could go back to live their happy life once again.
The only trace left to prove the legend was that because,in her haste to solve the problem and save mankind,she didn't see to it that all four turtle legs were of the same height,so the sky slanted to the northwest and the earth to the southeast,hence,since then,the sun,the moon and all the stars turn towards the west and all the rivers run southeast.
There are other stories about Nuwa filled the gap in the heaven with her own body to stop the flood,thus sacrificing herself for mankind.That is the reason why some minorities in southwestern China revere her as their goddess and still celebrate her noble and heroic act with"water-splashing"festival even today.
Nuwa the Wife
In some versions of the legend,Nuwa is said to have been both the sister and the wife of Fuxi,the legendary ruler who was credited with teaching man to domesticate animals and to have taught people matrimony.It is believed,in other versions of the story,that together they started human race.So in a way,Nuwa has been regarded as the mother of the Chinese nation.
Quick Application of Knowledge Learnt
1.Explain the Chinese expressions“循规蹈矩”“中规中矩”“重规叠矩”“规圆矩方”“陈规陋习”in simple English according to what you have learnt about“Gui”and“Ju”.
2.Summarize Nuwa's stories together into a conversation between a Chinese and a Westerner,i.e.you are telling the story to a foreigner and he/she likes to ask questions.