Nuwa history. Legends and myths of China

Reconstruction of the myth of the Mother Progenitor, based on many passages from various sources, comes down to the following.

The Earth, separated from Heaven, was deserted: neither mountains, nor lowlands, nor forests, nor deserts were inhabited by people. The goddess Nuiva lived on it alone. There were animals and birds, fish and insects on Earth, but there were no living creatures close to her in spirit. One day Nuiva sat down on the shore of a pond and, looking at her reflection, sculpted a figurine out of clay, which immediately came to life and gave a voice. Satisfied with her work, Nuiva continued to sculpt male and female figures. In order to speed up her undertaking, Nuiva took a rope, lowered it into liquid clay and shook it to the ground: living people appeared from each piece. Nuiva worked tirelessly, but did not achieve complete success: the human race turned out to be mortal. Then Nüwa united men and women, thereby placing on them the burden of continuing the human race.

During times of global cataclysms, stormy waters gushed out from under the ground, mountain forests were engulfed in a fiery tornado, the cardinal directions tilted, the vault of heaven began to collapse, and holes gaped in it. Caring for her man-made children, Nuiva cut off the legs of a huge turtle and placed them as supports in the four cardinal directions. Then she killed the unbridled black dragon and drove away the birds of prey and beasts that were bothering her children. Finally, Nüwa burned the reeds and raked up the ashes, thereby stopping the flood.

This is the legend that modern science interpreted as follows. Nuiva is the most archaic and complex character Chinese mythology, combining the features of a demiurge, goddess of fertility and mother-totem. In a number ancient images on funeral reliefs, Nuiva combines the anthropomorphic (human head and top part body) and zoomorphic (snake tail) appearance. Thus, it turns out that the cult of Nuiva - the snake deity and keeper of the graves - is related to the cult of the earth and fertility. Hence, another of her functions is that of the Great Matchmaker, noted in ancient monuments. Sometimes the Mother-Progenitor appears in marriage with Fusi, one of the Five wise rulers of antiquity.

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.

China - ancient country, which has a rich and varied mythology. The history and culture of the country go back several thousand years. The most advanced civilization of antiquity managed to preserve its heritage. Unique legends telling about the creation of the world, life and people have survived to our times. Exists great amount ancient legends, but we will tell you about the most significant and interesting myths Ancient China.

The Legend of Pan-gu - the Creator of the World

The first ones tell about the creation of the world. It is believed that it was created by the great deity Pan-gu. Primordial chaos reigned in space; there was no sky, no earth, no bright sun. It was impossible to determine where was up and where was down. There were no cardinal directions either. Space was a large and strong egg, inside of which there was only darkness. Pan-gu lived in this egg. He spent many thousands of years there, suffering from heat and lack of air. Tired of such a life, Pan-gu took a huge ax and hit the shell with it. From the impact it split, splitting into two parts. One of them, clean and transparent, turned into the sky, and the dark and heavy part became the earth.

However, Pan-gu was afraid that heaven and earth would close together again, so he began to hold the firmament, raising it higher every day.

For 18 thousand years Pan-gu held the firmament until it hardened. Having made sure that the earth and sky would never touch again, the giant let go of the vault and decided to rest. But while holding him, Pan-gu lost all his strength, so he immediately fell and died. Before his death, his body transformed: his eyes became the sun and the moon, his last breath became the wind, his blood flowed across the earth in the form of rivers, and his last cry became thunder. This is how the creation of the world is described.

The myth of Nuiva - the goddess who created people

After the creation of the world, Chinese myths tell about the creation of the first people. The goddess Nuiva, who lives in heaven, decided that there was not enough life on earth. While walking near the river, she saw hers, took some clay and began to sculpt a little girl. Having finished the product, the goddess showered it with her breath, and the girl came to life. Following her, Nuiva blinded and revived the boy. This is how the first man and woman appeared.

The goddess continued to sculpt people, wanting to fill the whole world with them. But this process was long and tedious. Then she took a lotus stem, dipped it in clay and shook it. Small clay lumps flew to the ground, turning into people. Fearing that she would have to sculpt them again, she ordered the creations to create their own offspring. This is the story told in Chinese myths about the origins of man.

The myth of the god Fusi, who taught people to fish

Humanity, created by a goddess named Nuiva, lived but did not develop. People didn’t know how to do anything, they just collected fruits from trees and hunted. Then the heavenly god Fusi decided to help people.

Chinese myths say that he wandered along the shore for a long time in thought, but suddenly a fat carp jumped out of the water. Fusi caught it with his bare hands, cooked it and ate it. He liked the fish and decided to teach people how to catch it. But Lung Wang opposed this, fearing that they would eat all the fish on earth.

The Dragon King proposed to prohibit people from catching fish with their bare hands, and Fusi, after thinking, agreed. For many days he thought about how he could catch fish. Finally, while walking through the forest, Fusi saw a spider weaving a web. And God decided to create networks of vines in her likeness. Having learned to fish, the wise Fusi immediately told people about his discovery.

Gun and Yu fight the flood

In Asia, the myths of Ancient China about the heroes Gun and Yu, who helped people, are still very popular. A misfortune has happened on earth. For many decades, the rivers overflowed violently, destroying the fields. Many people died, and they decided to somehow escape the misfortune.

Gun had to figure out how to protect himself from the water. He decided to build dams on the river, but he did not have enough stones. Then Gun turned to the heavenly emperor with a request to give him the magic stone “Sizhan”, which could build dams in an instant. But the emperor refused him. Then Gun stole the stone, built dams and restored order on earth.

But the ruler found out about the theft and took the stone back. Again the rivers flooded the world, and angry people executed Gunya. Now it was up to his son Yu to set things right. He again asked for "Sizhan", and the emperor did not refuse him. Yu began to build dams, but they did not help. Then, with the help of a celestial turtle, he decided to fly around the entire earth and correct the course of the rivers, directing them to the sea. His efforts were crowned with success, and he defeated the elements. As a reward they made him their ruler.

Great Shun - Chinese Emperor

The myths of China tell not only about deities and ordinary people, but also about the first emperors. One of them was Shun - wise ruler, whom other emperors should look up to. He was born into a simple family. His mother died early, and his father remarried. The stepmother could not love Shun and wanted to kill him. So he left home and went to the capital of the country. He was engaged in farming, fishing, and pottery. Rumors about the pious young man reached Emperor Yao, and he invited him to his service.

Yao immediately wanted to make Shun his heir, but before that he decided to test him. To do this, he gave him two daughters as wives. Under Yao's orders, he also pacified mythical villains who attacked people. Shun ordered them to protect the borders of the state from ghosts and demons. Then Yao gave up his throne to him. According to legend, Shun wisely ruled the country for almost 40 years and was revered by the people.

China tells us about how ancient people saw the world. Not knowing scientific laws, they believed that everything natural phenomena- these are the deeds of the old gods. These myths also formed the basis of ancient religions that still exist today.

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.

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 of Ancient China. M., 2003.

Excerpt characterizing Nuwa