Nü Gua Mends the Sky: A Chinese Flood Myth

Nü Gua Mends the Sky: A Chinese Flood Myth — page 3
INTRODUCTION Nü Gua is an important figure in Chinese mythology Goddess Nü Gua used mud from the banks of the Yellow River to create people She molded them with a human head and legs instead of a tail There are several myths associated with the goddess Nü Gua Two of the earliest texts for the myth Nü Gua Mending the Sky are the Liezi written around the fourth century BCE and the Huainantzu from the second century BCE This version of the myth Nü Gua Mending the Sky is adapted from material from Folktales of China This book was written by Chinese author Lim Sian tek and published in 1944 Ms Sian tek spent ten years in China gathering myths legends and folktales The myth explains the importance of balance in the world and what happens when this is disturbed In order to fix the world Nü Gua must bring back order