Nuwa Mends the Sky 女娲补天

In Chinese mythology, Nuwa is a mythological character best known for making mankind and repairing the wall of heaven. She had the body of a snake, a human head and the virtue of a divine being.

The book Huainan Zi first recounted how the sky was damaged.

‘In ancient time, while fighting with Zhuan Xu for the Earth leadership and saw that he was losing, Gong Gong angrily smashed his head against Mount Buzhou, a pillar holding up the sky. The pillar collapsed and that rope that connected the sky and earth broken. This caused the sky to tilt towards the northwest and resulted in sun, moon, and stars moving towards the northwest. It also caused the earth to shift to the southeast and resulted in all rivers flowing southeast into the ocean. ’

The book then detailed how Nuwa mended the sky.

‘In ancient times, the four pillars that supported the four corners of the sky collapsed and the nine regions (the world) split open. The sky could not cover all the things under it, nor could the earth carry all the things on it. A great fire raged and would not die out; a fierce flood raced about and could not be checked. Savage beasts devoured innocent people; vicious birds preyed on the weak and old.

Then Nuwa melted rocks of five colours and used them to mend the cracks in the sky. She supported the four corners of the sky with the legs she had cut off from a giant turtle. She killed the black dragon to save the people of Jizhou, and blocked the flood with the ashes of reeds.

Thus the sky was mended, its four corners lifted, the flood tamed, Jizhou pacified, and harmful birds and beasts killed, and the innocent people were able to live on the square earth under the dome of the sky.
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在中国神话中，女娲这个神最为人知的就是造人与补天的故事了。她有蛇的身体，人的头颅与神灵的道德。

《淮南子•天文训》先谈天裂的由来∶

昔者共工与颛顼争为帝，怒而触不周山，天柱折，地维绝。天倾西北，故日月星辰移焉;地不满西南，故水潦尘埃归焉。

《淮南子•览冥训》再叙女娲补天的故事：

往古之时，四极废，九州裂，天不兼覆，地不周载，火滥（liàn）焱而不灭，水浩洋而不息，猛兽食颛民，鸷鸟攫老弱。

于是，女娲炼五色石以补苍天，断鳌足以立四极，杀黑龙以济冀州，积芦灰以止淫水。

苍天补，四极正；淫水涸，冀州平；狡虫死，颛民生；背方州，抱圆天。