Celestial Realm for tens of thousands of years, where she had been very happy at first. After a while, however, her days began to blend one into another seamlessly like a blank, endless roll of rice paper. She needed a change.
The world pleased Nu Wo greatly. She saw beautiful mountains, green waters, birds that flew in the sky, and plentiful beasts roaming the earth. The bright sun and gentle rains caressed the bountiful land, but Nu Wo didn’t see a single being that looked like her. She thought about how miraculous the world was and felt that something was missing.
She wandered down to a nearby river to wash her hands. As she knelt down, she saw her reflection in the water. This gave her an idea. The riverbank was made of yellow clay, and she grabbed a handful and began to knead it. As she rolled it into a sphere, she thought to herself, “This clay is so malleable. I can make it into anything I want.” Nu Wo began to fashion with the clay a little doll that looked like her. As soon as she set the doll on the ground, it became a living, breathing being. The little girl laughed and ran about playfully. Pulling at Nu Wo’s hands, she said, “Mother! Mother!”
When Nu Wo heard the sweet, pretty little girl call her “Mother,” she felt her heart fill with love. She caressed the little girl’s cheek and asked, “Pretty little child, am I really your mother? What are you called?”
The child answered, “I am called Human Being, Mother.”
Nu Wo and the child were inseparable and wandered the world far and wide. Nu Wo taught the little girl the names of all things on earth. She showed the little girl what birds and beasts were, which creatures were friendly, which creatures to run away from, and what was safe to eat. The little girl got into a lot of mischief at first.
One day, she disturbed a hive of bees. The bees swarmed around her. “Mother!” she cried.
“Child, don’t be afraid. Stay still and quiet, and they will not harm you. Bees are friends that make honey. If you do not disturb them, they will leave you alone.” Nu Wo tried to calm the little girl down.
Just as Nu Wo finished speaking, a rabbit ran out in front of them. It stopped and sniffed the air with its pink nose, looking at them inquisitively with its soft brown eyes. Nu Wo said, “Child, this creature is called Rabbit. It doesn’t bite. It is a friend. You can play with it.” The little girl and the rabbit cavorted around happily. Nu Wo watched them with satisfaction.
Suddenly, the rabbit ran toward the mountains, and the little girl ran off after it. They ran further and further away until they were no longer visible. Nu Wo was very anxious. “Child! Child! Come back! Please come back!” she cried, but the only answer she got were the echoes of her own desperate cries from the rocky cliffs.
Nu Wo looked for the child for a long time but couldn’t find her. Her heart was filled with worry, and her grief weighed upon her like a stone. For many years, Nu Wo wandered about, depressed. Everywhere she looked, she was reminded of her sweet little girl. Finally she gave up searching and wearily sat down on a rock to think.
She thought, “I made one human being out of the yellow clay; I can make another. In fact, I’ll make a lot of them. Yes! Then the whole world will be filled with my children. I’ll never feel lonely again.”
Nu Wo began to make doll after doll out of the yellow clay. She fashioned them to look like the gods of the Celestial Realm. Some were little boys, and some were little girls. As soon as she set them down on the ground, they came to life. They crowded around her, laughing and jumping about. They cried, “Mother! Mother!” Nu Wo had never felt such happiness before.
THE GIFTS TO MANKIND
As she did with the first little girl, Nu Wo taught her children. After many years, she had taught them everything she knew. The children learned what things were called and how to make clothing. Nu Wo showed them how to build houses to keep themselves warm and protect themselves from the sun and rain. She also showed them how to grow plants, harvest crops, and tame animals such as sheep and cattle.
As the children grew up, they began to leave their mother and roamed the world until they occupied every corner of the earth. Nu Wo missed each one of them. Instead of returning to the Celestial Realm, she gave up her godhood and stayed on earth as a mortal.
She spent all her time wandering from east to west and north to south, visiting her children. Everywhere she went, all people called her Mother, and each human being was her beloved child. Soon, however, she began to notice that something was wrong.
On a beautiful spring day, Nu Wo came to a waterfall where she saw a man sitting on a rock. The man didn’t jump up, laugh, or call her Mother. He just sat there by the waterfall. Nu Wo asked him, “Child, what’s wrong? Why don’t you greet your mother?”
The man answered, “Mother, I was listening to the song of the waterfall. Listen! It is so beautiful!” He fell silent to resume his listening. Nu Wo listened and heard that the song of the waterfall was indeed beautiful. She didn’t want to disturb the man and left silently.
A little later on, she wandered into a wood, where she saw a maiden sitting under a tree listening to two nightingales singing. She also didn’t jump up and greet Nu Wo. Nu Wo sat down next to her and asked, “Child, are you listening to the song of the nightingales?”
“Yes, Mother! Their song is so lovely. If I could sing like them, I would be so happy.” Nu Wo lowered her head, thinking, “Something is missing from their lives!”
Nu Wo walked to a nearby river whose banks were thick with reeds. After much thought, she fashioned a flute from a river reed. It was the first musical instrument ever made. After calling her children to her, she began to play the flute for them. They were entranced! Here was music even fairer than the sound of the waterfall, the song of the nightingales, or their gentle mother’s voice. Nu Wo taught them how to make flutes of their own, and soon they invented other musical instruments.
Many more years passed, and all seemed well. Everywhere she went, Nu Wo’s children greeted her happily as they had in the past. They flourished. Unfortunately, this felicity was not to last. One day, Nu Wo came upon a group of men and women weeping.
“Why are you so sad, my children?”
“Mother! Mother!” they cried. “Something is wrong with Lin! He lay down to sleep, and now we can’t wake him. Please come help us!” Nu Wo examined Lin. He was not breathing, and his heart was not beating.
Lin’s death was the first in the human realm. Nu Wo was heartbroken because there was nothing she could do. She thought, “What if all my children die? The birds, the beasts, all other creatures, even insects, have children and multiply generation after generation, as all other living creatures do. Why shouldn’t my children do the same? That way, they’ll be here forever.”
She paired her children off into couples—one male and one female. Man and woman became husband and wife. Soon, Nu Wo’s children were having babies of their own, and the permanence of mankind was assured. In time, Nu Wo was surrounded with grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Now wherever she went, she was called “Mother,” “Grandmother,” and “Great-grandmother.”
