... On to part II of the fascinating tale of Pangu and Nuwa.(Later, people would comment on Nuwa’s humans and note that those she made using her own hands were lucky, well-endowed and blessed, whereas those formed by the shaking of the cane-stick became poor unfortunate souls.)
Having created her very own battalion of men and women, Nuwa instituted the concept of marriage to allow her people to procreate and extend the human race without any more assistance from her.
One may assume that Nuwa the mother goddess was all alone in the world when she began creating humans, but in actual fact she had a companion who shared her half-human, half-dragon hybrid form. His name was Fushi and his gift to mankind was fire.
The stories related to the origins of Fushi are varied, but a major portion of the sources claim that he was the son or brother of the Thunder God. Because this was so, he was able to bestow fire to humans.
Before fire came into being on earth, humans could only witness the fiery spectacle in the form of lightning. Fushi taught the humans how to harness fire for their own use, and with the power of manipulating fire in the humans’ hands, they were able to cook their food when previously they had to make do with hard-to-digest raw meats.
Fire also gave humans the upper hand during hunting expeditions, since animals were very fearful of the flames.
Aside from the gift of fire, Fushi also taught the people on the many uses of rope. With infinite care he gave lessons on how to weave nets to catch fish in the sea and river.
Fushi was also a patron master of the spiritual arts for the humans, teaching divination methods, clairvoyance and other spiritual practices to anyone who was willing to learn. Fushi pioneered the hexagram, or written symbols consisting of solid and broken lines to symbolize the eight elements of the planet.
Each of these hexagrams consist of three short lines, and permutations of these lines stood for different arrangements of heaven, earth, water, fire, mountain, thunder, wind and river. When used in combination, these symbols take oracular meanings that can be interpreted through a manual of divination.
This manual is world famous today, and all people from all walks of life make use of it. Back then, the tome was known as the Yijing (I-Ching), or the Book of Changes.
Because times were hard and primitive to the extreme, Fushi’s gift of divination was well received and many people depended on the Yijing to foretell various favorable and unfavorable forthcoming events such as demystifying affairs of state, prescribing medication for illnesses and more.
Thus the names of Nuwa and Fushi are often interlinked with antiquarian works of literature, and they were commonly depicted as the friends and saviors of early mankind.
Alternative stories pertaining to the origins of Nuwa and Fushi are still in existence. In one tale, Nuwa and Fushi are depicted as fellow siblings, whereas another depicts them as a married couple. Yet another particularly fascinating story tells of a mighty flood that flushed all humans off the earth save for a young boy and girl pair called Nuwa and Fushi. Both survived by floating atop a large gourd. When this flood subsided, Nuwa and Fushi married and beget children to recreate the lineage of humans on earth.
Whichever the tale one chooses to follow, one aspect maintains the common ground which is of Nuwa and Fushi as the original co-creators of mankind today, as well as both becoming our earliest teachers.
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