The Mythical Tale of Pangu and Nuwa - Part II

... 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.

The Mythical Tale of Pangu and Nuwa - Part I

This is an especially interesting story I wrote regarding Chinese mythology. The tale is based entirely on the recorded history of Chinese myths and legends, and this particular tale takes place during Early Man (B.C.) years. Do read on.

In the beginning, the world and universe consisted of a black mass of emptiness. The solar system, the moon and the earth were unformed masses that were yet to take shape and exist. Some people visualized the concept of nothingness as a large egg.

From this large egg birthed the first creature ever in the universe. His name was Pangu. Pangu was born and grew up in an all-enveloping darkness. He slumbered for several thousand years after being born, and woke up as a large, imposing giant.

Lumbering around alone in his universe, Pangu realized that his living space was filled with darkness and chaos, and he was determined to begin the creation of order. Picking up a heavy axe (we must here state that we have no idea where our ogre found himself a tool in darkness), Pangu took a hefty swing and fractured the egg-universe.

The lightweight elements of the egg rose up and floated upwards, turning into the sky. The heavier part of the egg fell downwards and became the earth. As both the light and heavy elements of the egg separated to take new shape, Pangu was very concerned that the sky would stitch itself together with the earth again, to create chaos. Therefore with his large hands, Pangu pushed the sky and the earth apart and further away from each other ten feet each day.

As he did so in several days, Pangu also grew taller and taller, until he finally stood like a pillar holding up the firmament. He remained in this position until the earth and the sky solidified, and became firm. There would be no chance of their stitching together again.

Pangu released his hold on both elements in relief and lay down to take a rest. Because he dispensed thousands of years in order to grow and also to keep the earth and the sky separate, by now he was a decrepit version of himself and his slumber took a deadly turn.

Pangu slept to his death. As he underwent this transformation, his entire being shifted shape and took form to create nature as we know it. The last breaths of Pangu turned into the winds and clouds, his voice took the shape of thunder, his left eye became the sun and the right became the moon. The wasting body of Pangu turned into mountain ranges, and his blood became flowing rivers. In short, each part of his anatomy turned into a part of the earth.

The hairs on his body turned into trees and flowers, the parasites living on his skin turned into animals and fishes and his bones formed different kinds of precious stones and minerals. Even his sweat turned into dew.

Thus Pangu, colossal being and the first living entity of earth, gave his body to augment the earth and the sky. It was now complete with a solar system, mountains, rivers, oceans, animals and plants. But, humans have yet to exist.

The earth was soon filled with gods, giants and even monsters. Of these impressive inhabitants, a single mother goddess named Nuwa was the most important. She was the creator and bringer of order, and had the torso and upper body of a human but the bottom half of a dragon. Nuwa was a shape shifter much like Pangu and could switch forms.

Nuwa embarked on an expedition around the world, and found it beautiful, compelling and rich in natural resources. But it was a lonely to live in too, since human beings were yet to exist and only animals roamed the land. She felt very sorry for herself and desired company.

With this thought in mind, Nuwa proceeded to scoop handfuls of mud and shaped little replicas of herself, but with one difference – instead of a dragon-like bottom half like her own, she gave her little mud creatures legs and the ability to walk upright. She took painstaking care in creating these ‘dolls’ and felt very proud of herself with her results.

Nuwa arranged her mud dolls in a row and breathed life into them. The creatures took life into humans and danced about the delighted Nuwa, calling her Mother and making a din of joy. With this success Nuwa sought to make more mud creatures.

Hand-crafting each human by hand proved a cumbersome duty even for the tireless mother goddess, therefore she employed her magic powers to achieve a quicker result. She dipped a cane stick into some mud and shook off the excess onto the ground. The mud-droplets took shape into humans, albeit not as beautifully rendered as her initial few people.

Did you like this tale? Stay tuned for parts II, III and IV!

Blessings and all the best,
Corey