Initial Research

Feb 20, 2016
5 min read

Early findings of my research from books and online. It includes a brief story of Nu Wa and images that inspire my designs. I began looking looking deeper into the topic, looking for as much mythology I could find in the library and at book stores. What I found out is that very little is known about Nu Wa, which made me more determined to find out about this goddess. Most information was found through internet sources. There are several of stories about Nu Wa and the main stories were the creation of man and the sacrifice to save earth. It was interesting to see how important a goddess she was in Chinese mythology, who was less known compared to other gods. Once I gathered the information I needed enough to put the information into a story. In total I had 3 stories but, it was a definite that I would have the 2 main stories. The other story had very little information which meant I had to find ways to make the 2nd story work.

The screen shot above are the books which had more information on Nu Wa. It was interesting to find out her myth and what she is known for. The reason I screen shot each part is because they are the parts I am highlighting and wanted to look into piecing the story together.

The title of each story is;

"The Creation of Man"

"The Marriage between Nu Wa and Fu Xi"

"The Sacrifice of Nu Wa to save the Earth"

Story 1 - Nu Wa creates man

In the beginning, the Earth was an empty planet, grey and lifeless. This was until the goddess Nu Wa came down to Earth from Heaven. Taking the form of a dragon she descended, until she landed on Earth where she used her powers to transform into a more humanly form while keeping the other half of her body in the form of a dragon.

As time passed Nu Wa became more and more lonely until she decided to start molding figures and bring them to life with her power. After a while she grew tired of the molding, and picked up a rope. Dipping the rope in mud, Nu Wa gave some of her magic to the rope and spun it round. The drops that came off of the rope became simpler versions of the figures.

As her creations awoke to life, they praised her calling her ‘mama’. The figures she hand molded became the Higher class and the Strong and the figures produced using the rope became the Peasants and the Weak. She named the figures ‘humans’.

She decided it would be best for them to be able to survive by themselves, so she separated them into males and females so that they could reproduce on their own and populate the Earth. Following this she created a law stating that one man shall be with one woman for life. She named the process ‘marriage’.

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Story 2 - Marriage Nu Wa

For some years after the humans lived in prosperity guided by Nu Wa. This was noticed from the heavens by another god, Fu Xi, who also possessed a dragon body. Fu Xi recognised that there was life on Earth and he had been watching Nu Wa’s progress from the heavens. He offered her his help in keeping the humans alive. Fu Xi shared his knowledge through teaching the humans fishing, cooking and hunting so they could nurture themselves, but it was not enough. Gradually their numbers were diminishing as the enchantment sustaining their life dissipated.

Since the first time creating humans out of mud had expended a lot of her energy, Nu Wa sought for options other than remolding her creations. She decided her best choice would be for them to be able to survive by themselves, so she separated them into males and females so that they could reproduce on their own and populate the Earth. Following this Fu Xi suggested a law stating that one man shall be with one woman for life. He named the process ‘marriage’.

Ever since then the humans lived longer and the knowledge was passed down to the younger generations. Both Nu Wa and Fu Xi were very happy about the choices that were made and they started to fall in love. Seeing that the humans were getting married and living happily, both gods wanted to marry, however they were both gods and sought the blessings of a higher authority.

In order to gain the blessings heaven for the marriage, Nu Wa and Fu Xi went to the top of a mountain and each build up a bonfire. They both prayed for a sign that they should be married saying “If the heavens allow us to marry, let the smoke curl together. If they don’t let the smoke disband”. The smoke curled and they rose with great joy, their tails wrapping together mimicking the smokes twirling pattern. Just like the humans the two gods lived peacefully and happily. This led to Nu Wa and Fu Xi being known as the wedding arrangers.

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Story 3 - Nu Wa’s sacrifice

After an era of peace and prosperity for humankind, lands were green and fertile, people were happy. Day by day humans lived happily enjoying the peaceful surroundings and the earth was filled with life. Far off in the distance there was a battle between two gods which soon affected earth and the humankind.

The two gods were Zhu Rong god of fire and Gong Gong god of water. Both were gods who had much power and they fought from heaven to earth. Gong Gong was displeased with his minor position as a Chinese God and decided to strike out at the heavens. After his plan was foiled by Zhu Rong, Gong Gong was enraged and during this he destroyed Mount Buzhou, the pillar that was holding up the sky. This destruction caused a hole to appear in the heavens releasing fires, earthquakes and floods across the land, causing many humans to perish as a result.

Seeing the horror this catastrophe caused humankind, Nu Wa became sorrowful. She was determined to revolve this calamity. Selecting and imbuing five precious stones from the river with her magic, Nu Wa set out to fix the pillar. Firstly she slew a giant turtle and used its legs to prop up the sky where the pillar had crumbled. Then she used the stones to fix the rift in the sky, melting them down to fill the hole. Next she gathered reeds, scorched them to ash, and used them to prevent the flood waters from flowing so that humans could live in peace once again. And finally she slew the beasts that had appeared through the portal to stop them from terrorising the Earth's inhabitants.

Performing these great deeds drained her of her energy and slowly her aura faded and scattered into dust . For her almighty service to both heaven and Earth in her sacrifice, her spirit was brought up to the ninth heaven by the Heavenly Emperor to rest in peace and dignity for all eternity.

The End

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Once finished with the stories even though it may have changes in the later on stage. I went on to researching to look for inspirations to decide and experiment with the styles and mediums I like from other artist.

Bibliography