Nu Wa, the great god in the sky, made clay dolls out of clay and gave them life. From then on, Nu Wa made man, and the people lived happily for generations. However, the good times did not last long. One year, Zhu Rong, the god of fire, went to war with the god of water.
* * * Workers pushed down the pillars that supported the sky, and half of them fell down, smashing many holes and cracking the ground. The flood on the ground and the water in Tianhe kept leaking down, causing the flood on the ground. After the sky was broken, meteorites and skyfire kept falling from the broken caves, and human beings on earth were either killed by meteorites or burned to death, facing a huge survival crisis.
Nu Wa was deeply saddened to see the tragic image of human beings hiding in Tibet and having nowhere to live. She crossed Gankun. In order to save life, she decided to fill the sky with stones, fill the sky with five-colored stones, and then use the four feet of the East Sea Turtle to resist the sky. Nu Wa found five-color stones to refine seven-color spar, and bit by bit mended the fishing net for the first time, and the great cause of mending the sky was about to be completed.
But I didn't expect that when the five-color spar was used up, I found that the five-color spar was not enough, and the broken heaven had not been mended. There is also a big hole in the sky. As long as there is a hole, the sky will continue to crack at any time.
In that case, the past work will be wasted, and everything will live forever in this land that used to be like purgatory. After thinking hard for a long time, Nu Wa had to sacrifice her life, and all the clay dolls cried their eyes red.
After several efforts, Nu Wa filled the last big hole in the sky with her body ... Finally, the sky was filled, the peace between heaven and earth was restored, and colorful clouds and rainbows appeared. All living things are alive and well on the earth again.
Source: Goddess of mending heaven in Huai Nan Zi by Liu An in Han Dynasty.
Extended data:
Fill the sky culture:
Weathering Day is the anniversary of the goddess mending the sky to save mankind, and it is also a festival for ancient people to look forward to good weather, prosperity of all things, bumper harvest of agriculture and peace.
There are two festivals: the 20th and 23rd of the first month. It is generally believed that this festival originated from the mythical goddess mending the sky. The earliest record of Tianchuan Festival is the Notes of Memories by Wang Jia in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and it is recorded in Yuan Jian Han Lei (Volume XIII) and Sui Shi Bu revised in the Qing Dynasty: "Make up Tianchuan Festival.
"Notes" said:' Jiangdong commonly called the 20th day of the first month as the day to wear the sky, and put red strips of cake on the house, which is called mending the sky.' According to legend, Nu Wa's family made up for the day. "So the Eastern Jin Dynasty had the custom of mending the sky and wearing it on the 20th of the first month.
It is worth noting that there is also Tianchuan Festival in Zengcheng, Guangdong, which is slightly different from the north in terms of date and content. Jiaqing's "Zengcheng County Records" Volume 1 "Customs" records: "On the 19 th and 22 nd, the secret defeat, hanging garlic to ward off evil spirits, also prayed for the sky."
The records of Tianchuan Festival in the local chronicles of Qing Dynasty show that Yu, a scholar in the former Qing Dynasty, said that Tianchuan Festival was "obsolete for a long time" and was inaccurate, which may be in line with the Jiangnan area, but not applicable to the north and some southern areas. If we look at the whole historical process, the Sky Boat Festival may be gradually declining. This section is recorded in the local chronicles of the Qing Dynasty, which probably reflects the importance attached by local chronicles of the Qing Dynasty to the records of New Year's festivals.
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