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The Chinese Creation Myth of Nu Kua and the Biblical Narrative in Genesis 1-11

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The Chinese Creation Myth of Nu Kua and the Biblical Narrative in Genesis 1-11 THE CHINESE CREATION MYTH OF NU KUA AND THE BIBLICAL NARRATIVE IN GENESIS 1-11 ARCHIE C.C. LEE The ChineseUniversity of Hong Kong, Hong Kong The Creation of Human Beings It is said that when the heaven and the earth were separated there was no human being. It was Nu Kua who first created human beings by moulding yellow earth. The work was so taxing that she was very exhausted. So she dipped a rope into the mud and then lifted it. The mud that dripped from the also became human Those made earth were rope beings. by moulding yellow 1 rich and noble, while those made by dripped mud were poor and low. This is one of the oldest Chinese creation myths on the origin of the human race, through the female creator, Nu Kua, who is por- trayed as a potter. Derk Bodde takes a passage in a datable book, T'ien Wen, ("Nu Kua had a body, who formed and fashioned it?") as an indicator of the knowledge of Nu Kua's fashioning activities among people of Chou times (ca. 1776 BCE).2 Human beings are conceived as being made from the yellow earth, so a close link between humanity and the earth is clearly underlined. It will be noticed that the biblical narrative in Genesis 2 makes a similar point with regard to the relationship between humanity and the earth. In Gen. 2 the Hebrew word used for humanity in a collec- tive sense is "Adam" and that for the ground is "Adamah," obvi- ously a wordplay. Though the above Chinese tale does not mention explicitly the close link between humanity and the earth, the concept of the Chinese race being born from and growing out of the yellow soil/ earth is presupposed. Strong attachment to the land in particular and to nature in general was viewed in ancient times as an essential ingredient for a full human existence. (The close link between human beings, the cosmos and nature is also clearly spelled out in 1 Tai-ping yu-lan (Taiping Anthologies for the Emperor). 2 Derk Bodde, "Myths of Ancient China," in Samuel Noah Kramer (ed.), Mythologiesof the Ancient World (New York: Doubleday, 1961), p. 389. 313 the creation myth of Pan Ku.3 Upon his death, Pan Ku's body de- composed to form the universe and the parasites from his body turned into human beings.) In comparison with the biblical text, the Chinese narrative lacks the divine dimension. Genesis tells of God's breathing into the nos- trils of Adam the breath of life. This Nu Kua text has a greater anthropocentric emphasis. In other Chinese philosophical articula- tions the transcendental or divine aspect of humanity is asserted more explicitly. The Book of Rites states that humanity consists of "the benevolent virtue of Heaven and Earth, the cooperative union of Yin and Yang, the joint assembly of ghost and spirit, and the finest breath contained in the Five Elements. "4 The "finest breath" or Ch'i is the cosmic force or vital force of human life. Ch'i has to be in union with the body in order that human life can function in har- mony, peace, and health. The synthesis of these materialistic and spiritualistic dimensions of life are much sought in Chinese religious practices, especially in Taoism. The creation myth of Nu Kua represents not only an anthropo- gonic view of the origin of human beings but also a sociogonic propagation that supports the social hierarchy of a class distinction between the noble and the common people, as well as the rich and the poor. Such a myth probably originated with the people at the top of the hierarchical social structure, who surely would have benefitted 5 from its propagation.5 The sociogonic concern of the myth associated with Nu Kua is further developed in another version depicting the social disorder of ancient times and the contribution of Nu Kua in combating conflict and overcoming chaos: Turning back to ancient times, the Four Pilars were shattered and the Nine Provinces dislocated. The sky did not cover [the earth] completely; nor did the earth uphold [all of the sky]. Fire roared with inextinguishable flames, and 3 Archie C.C. Lee, "Genesis 1 from the Perspective of a Chinese Creation Myth," in A.G. Auld (ed.), UnderstandingPoets and Prophets, Essays in Honour of GeorgeW. Anderson,(Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1993), pp. 186-198. 4 Milton M. Chiu, The Tao of ChineseReligion (Lanham: University Press of America, 1984), p. 173. Yinand Yangrefer essentially to the female and male dimen- sions of reality respectively. The Five Elements are metal, wood, water, fire and earth. On Yin, Yang, Five Elements, and Ch'i (breath/energy) as basic concepts in Chinese religious culture, see the discussion by Milton Chiu, pp. 146-166, 185. 5 For a discussion of the relation between myth and society, see Bruce Lincoln, Myth, Cosmosand Society(Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1986), ch. 7. .
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