In the ancient Chinese god genealogy, there is one of the most famous female gods, she is the nuwa niangniang. Nuwa is an ancient god who has been widely and long-term worshiped by the people. In myths and legends, Nuwa is regarded as the creator god and the first god, a goddess with great powers.
Legend has it that Nuwa can incarnate all things, and can create and breed at least 70 things every day, and once she broke her intestine, she once incarnated 10 gods. Nuwa's greatest achievement in creation is manifested in the selection of soil and the refining of stones to make up for the heavens.
Before she created man, Nuwa made chickens on the first day of the first month, dogs on the second day of the first month, sheep on the third day of the first month, pigs in the fourth month, cattle in the fifth month, and horses on the sixth day of the first month. (So far, some areas have predicted the growth status of the corresponding livestock for one year according to the weather quality of these six days.) On the seventh day of the first month, Nuwa used loess and water to create a small person in her own appearance, she created batch after batch, felt that the speed was too slow, so she pulled down a rattan, dipped in mud, waved it, and sprinkled the mud on the ground, all of which became people. In many regions, there is a custom of eating noodles on the seventh day of the first lunar month every year, this day is a human day, and eating noodles is to pray for a smooth and smooth year.
But how do you keep humanity alive forever? If you die and recreate a batch, it will be too troublesome. So she created the J marriage system, acting as the first matchmaker of mankind, combining men and women, so that people know the method of "creating man", relying on their own strength to pass on the seeds and reproduce.
Therefore, this Chinese matchmaker was revered by later generations as a matchmaker god, also known as "Gao Zhen", that is, the god of marriage and the ancestor of the matchmaker. People worshiped this marriage god, the ceremony was very solemn, and the temple of Nüwa Niangniang or the temple of Gao Yu was built, and the highest ritual of "Tai Prison" (pigs, cattle and sheep are all equipped) was used. Every spring in February, young men and women swim in front of the Nüwa Temple, and the Zhou Li says, "From time to time, the runners can't help it." It is said that the girls and boys who are in agreement can meet freely, take the sky as the account, take the earth as the bed, and no one can interfere with this free combination! This is called a "match made in heaven." Later, those who got married without children also went to the temple of Nuwa to ask for a son, so this matchmaker god also doubled as a child-giver. The description of Nüwa As the initiation of the marriage system and acting as the original matchmaker is consistent with her status as a human grandmother. It also reflects a reality in matriarchal clan society: marriage is centered on women, and matriarchs control the marriage of the whole clan.
People also attribute the invention rights of bamboo sheng to Nüwa, who is called "Nüwa as a sheng spring". In many ethnic groups in the south, young men often play reeds to court the girls, which is nothing more than a medium for establishing a relationship. This style has been passed down to this day. Because the myth of Nuwa is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, the great deeds she created are greatly respected by posterity.
The myth of Nüwa patching up the heavens is one of the most beautiful and touching myths in ancient Chinese mythology. The myth of patching up the heavens is still rare among other ethnic groups in the world and has Chinese characteristics. In the face of the catastrophe, Nuwa resolutely saved mankind from water and fire, and was the protector of the people.
In addition to the myths and legends of Nüwa cutting earth to create people and breed human beings, there is another kind of myth and legend. Nuwa is the sister of another famous ancient god Fuxi (they are half-siblings, their mother is Huaxu, Fuxi's father is the god of thunder, and Nuwa's father is a hunter), and the two brothers and sisters marry and reproduce 7 human beings according to the gods' wishes.
In the past, after the land of China experienced a great catastrophe, there were only two brothers and sisters of Nuwa, under the Kunlun Mountain, and there were no people in the world. The discussion considers the husband and wife, and shames themselves. The brother and sister went up to the Kunlun Mountain and cursed: "If Heaven sends my brother and sister as husband and wife, and the smoke is together, if not, let the smoke disperse." Yu Yan is united, and his sister is a brother.
In the Han Dynasty stone carvings, there are many portraits of Fuxi and Nüwa with snake heads. Above the waist is a human form, wearing a robe and a crown, and below the waist is a snake body, and the two tails are intimately and tightly intertwined. Some Fuxi hold the sun in their hands, and there is a golden wu in the sun; Nuwa holds the moon in her hand, and there is a toad in the moon.
The legend of the marriage of the two brothers and sisters of Fuxi nuwa and the reproduction of human beings reflects the marriage system of blood relatives in the early primitive society.
The above two nuwa are legendary figures from two ancient eras, and the legend is that they are the same god. The latter is the reincarnation of the previous one, also fulfilling the mission of saving humanity.