The Han literati attempted to record the long-enduring oral traditions of the previous historic dynasties in an effort to create a unified body of characteristic literature. It is among such sources that an early tradition of a female creatress is recorded. In the Fengsutongyi ) (Popular Customs and Traditions; c. 185 c.E.) the powerful figure of Niigua emerges as the one who was before there were human beings. She
. . . created men by putting yellow earth together. But the work
tasked her strength and left no free time, so she dragged a cord
through mud, thus heaping it up to make it into men. Therefore,
the rich and noble are those men of yellow earth, the poor and
lowly, those cord-made men.
It is perhaps significant to note that women are unmentioned and that there is already a clear social distinction made between upper and lower class males; yet, the creation here is by a celestial woman. Perhaps this is a consequence of a wide-spread folk popularity that the upper class recognized but interpreted to their own benefit. It also appears
that Niigua is not quite up to the task of creating those yellow earth men; thus we see at a very early period that beliefs about this goddess were already being influenced by the Han literati.
In iconography, Nugua is represented as having the tail of a serpent or dragon, showing ancient yin @ associations with earth, water and caves. As one of the Three August Ones, she is a bringer of civilization as well as a creatress. It has been noted that dragons and serpent women seem to have been worshipped in the early Shang period and Nugua is most likely a manifestation of that early worship. In conjunction with her role as creatress she is often shown holding a compass, by which the earth is marked off into appropriate quadrants. In this sense, the compass symbolizes social and cultural organization; thus, as a creatress, she is one who imposes order and stability on untamed nature. Also the geometric associations suggest Nugua as a goddess of proportion and division according to the principle of measurement. The following suggest her relationship to both architecture and hydrologic engineering.
Nugua undertook the repair of the heavenly vault as recorded in the Huainanxi (c. 150 B.c.), by which she melted five stones of five different colors to patch the heavens that were disturbed by the breaking of one of the pillars of heaven. Then she cut the legs off of a celestial tortoise and set them up to support the four extremities of the earth. She also defeated the Black Dragon to save the province of Ji and collected ashes and reeds by which she ” checked the wild waters “. Another Han source personifies her as an abstract creative force called the ” Transformer of the Myriad Creatures.”
She is also referred to as a wind goddess and the inventor of the Chinese wind organ. She is designated as a deified Wu a (shamaness) and rain dancer, which emphasizes the ancient historical link between female shamanism and their celestial counterparts.
By later Han times, Nugua came into association with Fuxi #%, a male creator spirit and proto-musician. In this relationship she is pictured as both wife and sister. Among the various ethnographic studies of southern China, it has been discovered that many flood myths involve a brother-sister couple who frequently become the progenitors
of humanity. In still later medieval and post-medieval writings, Nugua shows strong associations with Gaomei (Supreme Matchmaker) or the Goddess of Go-Betweens (female marriage brokers) who both presides over marriage and bestows children.
The laws of marriage as exemplified by the Go- Between are attributed to Nugua who ironically forbad marriage between members of the same family. These laws were legalized by her brother or husband Fuxi, who was elevated to the superior status of Emperor. The shadowy relationship between an early, mythic brother/sister as primal parents is here given an absolute legal form legitimized by a dominant male figure, one that comes to represent the empire in the form of a divine patriarch. Subsequently, Nugua takes on a less powerful and subordinate role; where once she led, now she follows.
As with all Chinese divinities, Nugua has several particular sacred geographical locations. She was frequently thought to dwell on Zhonghuang Shan (as the seductress of Yii &, the ancient flood hero), as well as on another mountain in modern Jiangxi where the rocks form a chamber called the Palace of Niigua. Another tradition relates that near the Mountain of Nine Uncertainties the ” Tomb of Nugua ” disappeared during a flood, only to reappear a few years later in 759 . This tomb was apparently a shrine near the He river. Her image has also been found on Tang Dynasty cotton cloth used for burials. Even though feminine personalities are never allowed to intrude into official male documentation, the imagery and shrines of Nugua persisted into post-Tang China. Other remnants may be noted in various folklore concerning the snail girl where she appears in rather inhuman, strangely fishlike form recalling her earliest iconography.
