Story for Children/ Chinese Story/ "Nüwa: The Goddess who Mended the Sky"/女媧補天/中國神話故事

Nuwa was a kind goddess who performed many good deeds for humanity. For example, she taught people about marriage and created a musical instrument called the shenghuang. However, the most moving story about Nuwa is the tale of how she mended the sky. Legend has it that when humans began to multiply, the water got gonggong and the fire got zhirong. Zhirong started a war. The two gods fought from the heavens all the way down to the earth, causing chaos everywhere. In the end, zhirong emerged victorious, but the defeated gonggong was unwilling to accept his loss. In a fit of anger, gonggong rammed his head into Mount Buzhou, causing it to collapse. The pillar that supported the heavens and the earth snapped and half of the sky collapsed, leaving behind a large hole. The ground also cracked with deep fissures, and the mountains and forests caught fire. Floods gushed out from the depths of the earth, and dragons and fierce beasts emerged to devour the people. Humanity faced an unprecedented catastrophe. Witnessing the immense suffering of humanity, Nu felt immense pain and decided to mend the sky to end this disaster. She selected various colorful stones and melted them into a liquid using fire. With this stone liquid, she filled the damaged hole in the sky. Then, she cut off the four legs of a misbehaving giant turtle in the water and used them as four pillars to support the collapsed half of the sky. Nua also captured and killed the black dragon that was harming the people, putting an end to the arrogance of the dragons and snakes. Finally, to stop the floods from overflowing, Nua collected a large amount of reeds, burned them into ashes, and spread them over the flowing waters. After Nua's arduous efforts to restore order, the sky was finally repaired, the land was leveled, the waters were calmed, and the dragons and fierce beasts retreated. The people were able to resume their peaceful lives. However, this great catastrophe left its mark. Since then, the sky has tilted slightly to the northwest, causing the sun, moon, and stars to naturally move towards the west. Additionally, due to the southeastward collapse of the land, all rivers flow in that direction. This story of Nua's heroic actions serves as a reminder of her benevolence and the lasting impact she had on the world.