The Goddess Nüwa | 女媧氏

Nüwa is a legendary Chinese goddess who plays an unusual role in Dream of the Red Chamber.

In the novel she creates 36,501 stones to mend the heavens. She only uses 36,500 of them. The one that is left over is imbued with magical energy that gives it life, and winds up turning into Jia Baoyu.

In contrast, the mythical Nüwa actually used 5 large stones to patch up the heavens. Cao Xueqin expands greatly on the legend of this goddess, turning her from a somewhat obscure mythical figure into the goddess who gets the ball rolling.