(2) Nuwa, Mother of Humankind
All people have a culture unique to them. Mythical thoughts are part of that culture. They depict the beginning of the universe and everything in it, with special meanings and purposes.
In Chinese mythology the universe began inhabited by gods and other mythical creatures, instead of human beings.
Nuwa was a goddess. She had a beautiful human face and upper body. The lower part of her body was that of a python. She roamed about wherever she pleased.
Once she came to a lake. Trees and flowers and clouds were mirrored in the clear water, showing splendid colors. Suddenly she saw a beautiful face smiling at her. She felt very happy and smiled back. She soon realized that was her own face. She loved it very much. “How wonderful it would be if I have more of these faces to play as company.” She thought and immediately tried to create more.
She scooped up a lump of mud from the lake and kneaded it into a miniature figure of herself. Instead of the python tail she made a pair of legs for the figurine.
The figurine began to jump and dance and sing. She also called her “Mama”. Nuwa felt so excited and warm. She then took a branch from a nearby willow tree, dipped into the mud, and flicked it in the air.
The drops of mud immediately became human figures. They danced and jumped to show their different characters. But they all called Nuwa “Mama”.
Nuwa was exhilarated. She held them and danced with them to laugh together, calling them “ren” (人). She lived with her creations for a while. She taught them how to live and marry so they could have sons and daughters.
This was how our ancestors came into being.
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Note: This is a narration of passages contained in 《淮南子》 and other books long ago. The story tells how human beings were created and the many great deeds of Nuwa (女媧), a mythical goddess. The 《山海經》 told the story of her death, thus depicted the Chinese concepts of gods who are much like people.