The creator goddess of ancient China made the first human beings from yellow clay. At first, she carefully molded them. At length, finding this too
tedious, Nu Kua just dipped a rope into slip-like clay and shook it so that drops splattered onto the ground. Thus were two types of beings born: from the
molded figures, nobles; from the clay drops, peasants.
Later this serpent-bodied goddess quelled a rebellion against the heavenly
order and, when the dying rebel chief shook heaven's pillars out of alignment,
she restored order by melting multicolored stones to rebuild the blue sky.
Finding other problems on earth, Nu Kua set about correcting them: she cut off
the toes of a giant tortoise and used them to mark the compass's points; she
burned reeds into ashes, using them to dam the flooding rivers. She also
concerned herself with the chaos of human relations, and established rites of
marriage so that children would be raised well. Order restored, Nu Kua
retreated to the distant sky--her domain and her attribute.
from Goddesses and Heroines Exerpt from Goddess & Heroines by Patricia Monaghan
