[5/9] CHINESE GODS AND GODDESSES | NÜWA
Nüwa [女媧] is a goddess in ancient Chinese mythology best known for creating mankind and repairing the wall of heaven.
Nüwa is not considered a creator of the entire physical universe, but a creator and protector of animals and people. It is said that Nüwa existed in the beginning of the world. The earth was a beautiful place with blossoming trees and flowers, and full of animals, birds, fish and all living creatures. But as she wandered about it, Nüwa felt very lonely, so she began to create animals.
On the seventh day of creation, she bent down and took up a handful of yellow clay, mixed it with water and molded a figure in her likeness. As she worked, the figure came alive — the first human being.
Nüwa was pleased with her creation and went on making more figures of both men and women. They danced around her, and her loneliness was dispelled. She created hundreds of figures, but grew tired of the laborious process. Then she dipped a rope in the clay mud, and swung it around her. Soon the earth around her was covered with lumps of mud. The handmade figurines became the wealthy and the noble; those that arose from the splashes of mud were the poor and the common.