Why Nüwa?

Why not choose some other legend?

Why Nüwa?

If you remember yesterday’s post, we had a brief interlude featuring a variation on the old Chinese legend of Nüwa.

If you’re an ignorant foreigner like me, or if you’re not intimately familiar with Chinese mythology, the point of referring to this legend in particular will likely feel pretty obscure. You might just dismiss the whole thing as one of those “old Chinese things” and forget about it.

However, if you dig a little bit deeper, you’ll learn that it’s actually pretty interesting - and that the whole discussion is more accessible than you thought.

Nüwa

Let’s take a quick look at the legend of Nüwa first before we go any further.

From what I can tell, this is the earliest quotation of the legend of Nüwa: