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Nv Wa |
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The First Heroine in History
Chinese legend has it that in remote antiquity there were no humans when a
god called Pan Gu broke the chaotic universe and split the heaven and earth
apart. Then a goddess named Nv Wa began to make clay figurines after
Pan Gu and herself. After several days of hard work,
man and woman were created.
And more than that, she also gave the law of marriage to keep human behaviors
within bounds. First, the man should ask a matchmaker to talk about the marriage
with the woman's family. Then when they agreed he should send some gifts as to
show his sincerity. Last, the woman should move to the man's home since food and
protection was provided by him.
Nv Wa was so gentle and considerate that she later invented some string instruments
such as Sheng and Huang. Later in the north came a monster called Gong Gong who
wanted to flood the world. Nv Wa directed her subordinate and the people and
defeated the monster. But it bumped into the Buzhou Mountain, which propped up
the heaven and split it a hole. So she smelted some five colored stones and patched
up the sky. Thus people could live peacefully afterwards. This story is so well
known that the novel, Dream of Red Mansions, drew materials from this part.
Written by our column writer Hao Zhuo.
Chinese Women
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