Who is Nüwa in Chinese mythology?

Nüwa is a mother goddess of ancient Chinese myth. Han-dynasty writings say she shaped the first people from yellow clay, and the Huainanzi tells how she mended the broken sky with five-colored stones.

Why did the sky break in the story of Nüwa?

In the best-known telling, the water god Gonggong lost a battle and butted Mount Buzhou, one of the pillars holding up the sky. The Huainanzi names his rival as the ruler Zhuanxu; the Tang historian Sima Zhen's version names the fire god Zhurong.

What did Nüwa use to mend the sky?

Five-colored stones, melted down to patch the hole. She also used a giant turtle's four legs as pillars to hold up the sky and reed ash to soak up the flood.

Back to the theater

Chinese myth · 声匠改编 · 4:05

Nüwa Mends the Sky

The angry water god Gonggong smashes the mountain that holds up the sky. Nüwa melts five-colored stones to patch the hole and save her children.

Narrator

Nüwa

Gonggong

Zhurong

The Great Turtle

The Little Girl

0:000:00

Other languages · 2 languages

🇨🇳 中文 🇺🇸 English

About this story

Nüwa Mends the Sky is one of the oldest Chinese creation myths. The Huainanzi, compiled in the 2nd century BC, tells how the sky split and floods and fires raged until Nüwa melted five-colored stones to patch the sky, cut the legs of a giant sea turtle to prop up its four corners, and piled up reed ash to stop the waters. The tale of Gonggong butting Mount Buzhou and tilting the sky to the northwest comes from another chapter of the same book, and the Tang-dynasty historian Sima Zhen joined the two into one story. This version lets the turtle offer its legs freely and has Gonggong say sorry at the end.

What it teaches

When something breaks, own up and help fix it. Nüwa doesn't run from a falling sky; she mends it stone by stone, with help from the children, the fire god and an old turtle.

Suits

Ages 5–10

Tips for telling it

Make the mountain crash big and loud, then slow right down and soften when Nüwa starts to mend.
Name the five colors of stone together, then look for glowing clouds at sunset.
The ending hides a real geography lesson: China's land is high in the west and low in the east, so most of its big rivers flow east.

Questions people ask

Who is Nüwa in Chinese mythology?: Nüwa is a mother goddess of ancient Chinese myth. Han-dynasty writings say she shaped the first people from yellow clay, and the Huainanzi tells how she mended the broken sky with five-colored stones.
Why did the sky break in the story of Nüwa?: In the best-known telling, the water god Gonggong lost a battle and butted Mount Buzhou, one of the pillars holding up the sky. The Huainanzi names his rival as the ruler Zhuanxu; the Tang historian Sima Zhen's version names the fire god Zhurong.
What did Nüwa use to mend the sky?: Five-colored stones, melted down to patch the hole. She also used a giant turtle's four legs as pillars to hold up the sky and reed ash to soak up the flood.

More Chinese myths

All Chinese myths episodes →

🇺🇸🇨🇳2 languagesChinese myth4:11

Pangu Separates Heaven and Earth

声匠改编

The giant Pangu wakes inside a dark egg of chaos, splits it open, holds heaven and earth apart for 18,000 years, and then becomes the world itself.

5 voices

🇺🇸🇨🇳2 languagesChinese myth4:07

Shennong Tastes a Hundred Herbs

声匠改编

Nobody knew which plants could heal and which could harm, so Shennong climbed the mountains and tasted them one by one, meeting seventy poisons in a day.

5 voices

🇺🇸🇨🇳2 languagesChinese myth4:13

Cangjie Invents Writing

声匠改编

Knotted ropes can't tell what happened. Cangjie watches a hunter read tracks and draws the first characters. That day, millet rains and ghosts weep.

5 voices

🇺🇸🇨🇳2 languagesChinese myth4:04

Chang'e Flies to the Moon

声匠改编

Hou Yi brings home a single potion of immortality. When his greedy apprentice comes to steal it, Chang'e swallows it herself and floats up to the moon.