Nuwa history. Chinese deities - Nuwa and Fu Xi

But the sources of individual statements remain unclear due to a lack of footnotes.

In culture

IN classic novel Dream in the Red Chamber Nuiva, while repairing the firmament, dropped a piece of jasper, which she prayed to the Taoist monk, asking him for permission to live among people. This stone became the protagonist of the novel.

The asteroid (150) Nuiva, discovered in 1875, is named after Nuiva

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Literature

• Blumchen S.I. Three stories about Nui-wa: a new hypothesis. // China and the surrounding area: mythology, folklore, literature: To the 75th anniversary of academician B.L. Riftin / Ed. I.S. Smirnova; comp. H.R. Lidova. (Orientalia et Classica: Proceedings of the Institute oriental cultures and antiquity; issue 25.) M.: RSUH, 2010.
• Christie A. Chinesische Mythologie. Wiesbaden, 1969.
• Birrell A. Chinesische Mythen. Stuttgart, 2002.
• Ezhov V. Myths Ancient China. M., 2003.

Excerpt characterizing Nuwa

About the creation of the world, albeit in different forms, but all religions of the world say this without exception. So, the Bible writes about the creation of the world and man by God. The ancient Chinese have a slightly different idea of ​​the birth of life.

According to legend, the Earth first separated from the sky. Mountains rose, and rivers filled with fish flowed to the seas. The forests were populated by animals, birds appeared over the meadows. There were only people missing, which meant the world was not complete.

The ancestor knew about this - the mother of the gods Nuiva, a goddess with the body of a snake, but with white human face. She crawled down to the pond, took a piece of yellow clay and sculpted a small figure in her likeness. Before she had time to put her on her feet, the figure came to life and jumped around.

Nuwa was very glad that she managed to create Ren, a man. Continuing her work, she sculpted hundreds more people. But Nuiva understood that she did not have enough strength to sculpt people to populate the entire Earth. Therefore, having picked the vine, she lowered it into the swamp, and when the vine was covered with clay, she shook it off to the ground. Everywhere where pieces of clay fell, jumping men appeared. Later, rich nobles said that they were sculpted by the hands of Nuiva herself, unlike the poor, whom her hands did not touch.

Nuiva lived without knowing troubles. But one day disasters struck the earth. In some places the sky collapsed, creating huge holes. Heat burst through them, causing the forests to catch fire. Then new holes appeared through which water gushed. And then hostile water and fire united to destroy people.

Seeing how people were suffering, Nuiva decided to correct the firmament. She collected many colorful stones, melted them and sealed the heavenly holes with the resulting mass. To strengthen the firmament, Nüwa killed a giant turtle, cut off its four legs and placed them on four parts of the earth as supports. However, the firmament never returned to its original place. It is slightly skewed, which is noticeable by the movement of the sun, moon and stars. In addition, to the southeast of the sky a huge depression was formed - the ocean, which filled all the seas and rivers with water.

Having completed the work, Nüwa boarded a chariot of thunder, harnessed by two flying dragons, and rushed across the sky, accompanied by a retinue of a countless army of spirits. Nuwa rose to heaven, walked straight through the heavenly gates and appeared before the supreme ruler - the Jade Sovereign. Having told about her deeds, Nuiva settled forever in the Heavenly Palace.

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Nuwa, in ancient Chinese mythology, a female deity who “created all things in the world,” in the guise of a half-woman, half-snake. According to myths, Nuiva sculpted people from clay, but since the work was very complex and labor-intensive, the goddess began to lower a rope into the clay slurry and, pulling it out, shook it off.
From the lumps that flew to the ground, the ancestors of poor and low-born people were obtained. The noble and rich descended from those clay figurines, which Nuiva sculpted with her own hands. Nüwa is also the heroine of the myth about repairing the firmament. The goddess melted colorful stones and strengthened the sky with them, then cut off the legs of a giant turtle and propped up the heavens on four sides with them, establishing cosmic balance and universal harmony.

Fusi appears paired with Nüiva, both in the guise of snake men, with their tails intertwined, which symbolizes marital intimacy. According to myths, the union of those who escaped from global flood brother and sister - Fusi and Nyuiva - into a married couple occurred for the revival of humanity lost in the catastrophe. In one of popular myths it tells how in ancient times a peasant put the thunder god Leigong in a cage, and the rains immediately stopped on earth. When the next morning the man went to the market to buy seasonings to prepare a dish from the thunder god, his children, a girl and a boy, violated their father’s strictest prohibition and gave the captive water. He became powerful again and broke out of the cage. In gratitude, God left his tooth to the children and ordered them to plant it in the ground. A few hours later, a huge pumpkin grew from the tooth. It began to rain heavily, and the entire earth disappeared under water. The children escaped in the pumpkin, and the father built a boat. In it, he, along with the water, rose to heaven and asked the ruler of the sky to stop the flood.

God heeded his prayers; the water disappeared, the boat crashed on the ground and the man died. The children survived because the pumpkin softened their fall. They, the only survivors of the terrible flood, were called Fusi. The matured young man invited his sister to become his wife and have children. At first she resolutely refused, but then she gave in on the condition that he could catch up with her. This is how ancient Chinese arose marriage custom: The groom must catch up with the bride. Subsequently, this woman took the name Nuiva. According to another version of the legend, both the man and woman wanted to get married and have children, but had to get permission from the gods, since the marriage of brother and sister is incest. At the top of the mountain each of them lit a fire and the smoke of the fires united; Fusi and Nüwa considered this good sign, and soon Nuiva gave birth to a piece of flesh. Fusi cut it into many small pieces with an ax and climbed up the ladder with them to heaven. However, a sharp gust of wind blew pieces of flesh all over the ground. Having fallen, they turned into people. Thus the human race appeared on earth.

The image of Nuyva (“Woman”, “Mother Va”) is reconstructed from scattered and multi-period data. In her original form, she is the goddess of the Earth, hence her appearance as a half-woman, half-snake. It is also believed that Nuiva was revered as the ancestor of tribes that had a snake as a totem.

Images of Nuiva together with another snake-like creature Fusi on the lids of stone coffins are associated with the functions of the earth goddess. Nüwa was also identified with the goddess of fertility, uniting boys and girls in marriage. At the beginning of the first spring month In her honor, sacrifices were made, chants, dances and archery were held.

There are some hints that Nüwa was considered not only the ancestor of people, but also the mother of the gods. Thus, one ancient commentator writes: “Nuiva - ancient goddess and an empress with a human head and a snake body. In one day she underwent seventy transformations. Her insides turned into these gods.”

The earth has already separated from the sky. We rose up high sacred mountains. Rivers full of fish flowed to the seas. The forests and steppes were overflowing with wild animals. Soared over the meadows unafraid birds. But there were no people yet, and therefore the world remained incomplete.

The ancestor Nuiva, a goddess with the body of a snake, but with a human white face, as if covered with powder, knew this. She crawled down the cliff to the pond, took a handful of yellow clay and, looking at the image of the upper part of her body wavering in the water, sculpted a small figurine. Before she had time to put it on its feet, the figure came to life, shouted “wa-wa” and jumped up and down merrily.

Nuiva was also happy that she managed to create Ren (“Man”). Continuing her work, she sculpted several hundred more people of both sexes. They danced and ran in all directions. Nuiva understood that she would not have enough strength or time if she sculpted all the people who could populate the earth in the same way. Therefore, having torn off a vine hanging from a cliff, she lowered it into the swamp and, when the vine was covered with clay, shook it to the ground. Screaming and jumping men appeared wherever the pieces of clay fell. Subsequently, the rich and noble said that they were sculpted by the hands of Nuiva, in contrast to the poor and ill-born, whom her hands did not touch.

After that, Nuiva thought about how to continue the human race: after all, her creatures were not eternal and died when they reached a certain age. She united men and women, and new little people came from them without her help.

Nuiva lived for some time without any worries. But great disasters engulfed the earth. In some places the sky collapsed, and huge black holes formed there. Heat seeped through them, and the forests on the ground began to burn. Dips formed through which they poured The groundwater. Hostile to each other, Water and Fire united to destroy people.

Seeing how her creatures were suffering, Nuiva set to work to repair the leaky firmament. She collected many colorful stones, melted them over the fire and sealed the heavenly holes with the resulting mass. To strengthen the sky, Nüwa killed a giant turtle, cut off its four legs and placed them on four parts of the earth as supports that held up the sky. However, the firmament did not return to its previous state. He squinted a little, which can be seen from the movement of the sun, moon and stars. In addition, to the southeast of the Celestial Empire a huge depression formed, filled with water from all seas and rivers. They called her Ocean.

Chinese mythology, like Greek mythology, is rich in legends about deities and their lives. And every Greek mythical creature has an analogue among the Chinese. Yes and chinese goddess Nuiva is the prototype of the Greek Maa, the progenitor of humanity, the savior of the world from flooding, the great goddess of marriage and family.

What does Nuiva look like?

In all references to the Chinese goddess Nuiva was depicted and described as a figure with the body of a snake, but with a woman's head and hands. Translated from Chinese, the name of the powerful goddess translates as a clam woman. And all mollusks are capable of changing their shell or skin, so Nuiva also has the power of rejuvenation and rebirth.

This power made it possible for the goddess to be reborn 70 times a day, and each of her rebirths transformed the Universe, and each new image during rebirths he gave rise to life to earthly creatures. The divine power of Nuiva is so strong that new deities were born from the entrails remaining after rebirth.

Acts of Nuiva

According to some ancient Chinese treatises, the creation of humanity is directly the merit of Nuiva. It was she who divided people into higher (emperors and their descendants, sculpted from yellow clay by the hands of the goddess) and lower (peasants and slaves from gray pieces of clay and mud, sculpted using vines dipped into clay) classes. Other myths tell how a powerful goddess saved all of humanity from certain death when heavenly fire erupted from the sky and streams of water from heavenly holes flooded the earth.

According to legend, Nuiva collected many colorful stones and covered all the holes in the sky with them. After which she cut off the legs of a giant turtle and strengthened the sky with them, but the Earth still tilted and the rivers changed their direction (all Chinese rivers flow to the southeast).

Goddess Worship

Often the powerful goddess is depicted with her brother Fusi, the god of the afterlife. According to the Chinese, birth and death go hand in hand on our land, like black and white. Nuiva is not only the progenitor of humanity, but also the goddess of fertility, the goddess of family and marriage, and the goddess of procreation.

At the beginning of spring, sacrifices are made in honor of the powerful deity, chants, celebrations and dances are held. In the spring, Chinese people who want to start a family or have difficulty having children go to the Nuwa Temple and participate in sacrifice rituals and other rituals.

The ocean is the creation of Nuiva

As ancient manuscripts are translated, more and more new ones are discovered Interesting Facts , so it became known that the ocean is also considered the creation of Nuiva. After repairing the sky with colored stones, all the rivers began to flow to the southeast and fill the depression at the edge of the earth with their water. This is how it appeared.

I would like to note the similarity of this wonderful goddess with our Slavic supreme essence, which is the mother bird Sva. With its help, the creator Rod created the world (if we draw analogies, Sva is the Holy Spirit), Svarog is the son of the creator who bungled the Earth and, together with the fiery Svarozhich on Mount Alatyr, created the other first gods and their bird forms: Gamayun, Sirin, Alkonost, etc. But this is a topic for a completely different article...