Nüwa

Nüwa
Nuwa repairing the pillar of heaven
Traditional Chinese	女媧
Simplified Chinese	女娲
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Nǚwā Wade–Giles Nü3-wa1

Nüwa (nỳ wá; Chinese: 女媧), also known as Nügua, is a goddess in ancient Chinese mythology best known for creating mankind and repairing the pillar of heaven.

The Huainanzi relates Nüwa to the time when Heaven and Earth were in disruption:

The catastrophes were supposedly caused by the battle between the deities Gonggong and Zhuanxu (an event that was mentioned earlier in the Huainanzi), the five-colored stones symbolize the essence of the five phases (wood, fire, earth, metal, and water), the black dragon was the essence of water and thus cause of the floods, Ji province represents the central regions (the Sinitic world). Following this, the Huainanzi tells about how the sage-rulers Nüwa and Fuxi set order over the realm by following the way (道) and its potency (德).

The Shan Hai Jing, dated between the Warring States period and the Han Dynasty, describes Nüwa's intestines as being scattered into ten spirits.

In Liezi (c. 475 - 221 BC), Chapter 5 "Questions of Tang" (Chinese: 卷第五 湯問篇), author Lie Yukou describes Nüwa repairing the original imperfect heaven using five-colored stones, and cutting the legs off a tortoise to use as struts to hold up the sky.

In Songs of Chu (c. 340 - 278 BC), Chapter 3 "Asking Heaven" (Chinese: 问天), author Qu Yuan writes that Nüwa molded figures from the yellow earth, giving them life and the ability to bear children. After demons fought and broke the pillars of the heavens, Nüwa worked unceasingly to repair the damage, melting down the five-coloured stones to mend the heavens.