Why is Nuwa half human and half snake? The following China story network editor will bring you a detailed introduction. Let’s have a look!
Nuwa is the God of all things in the hearts of Chinese people. Nuwa, also known as the emperor and Empress of Nuwa, is called Nuwa in historical records. Nuwa is the cultural ancestor of the Chinese nation in ancient legends and the goddess of creation in mythology. Nuwa, who was the sister of Fuxi, married Fuxi brothers and sisters, created human beings with earth, created human society and established a marriage system.
After being affected by the filth of the human world, the lower realm of God will become a demon. According to the legend, Nuwa and Fuxi are both half human and half snake, and so are many others. See the book of mountains and seas for details. However, according to research, the so-called half human and half snake is actually the ancient people’s understanding of the shadow. The half human and half snake they see is actually human and shadow.
In terms of cultural origin, in ancient Chinese legends, snakes are usually symbols of supernatural magic. In ancient Chinese mythology, the arms, ears or other parts of the gods were often coiled around a snake, which is probably a common feature of eastern culture. For example, the mount of Brahma, India’s highest creator God, is a huge Python; In addition, some other Indian gods are also related to snakes. “The book of changes” said: “the bending of Inchworm, in order to believe (God) also, the sting of dragon and snake, in order to survive.” For our ancestors, snakes were an awesome mysterious spell.
Ancient documents such as the Shanhaijing, the bookofsongs, the Bamboo Annals, the book of changes, the Shangshu, the Zuo Zhuan, the songs of Chu, and the historical records all contain descriptions of snakes. According to the description of the book of mountains and seas: Jiang Liang holds a snake in his mouth, produces a left ear dew snake, the concubine of the rain master plays with a snake, the God wraps two snakes around his son, the Dongting monster God heads a snake, and so on. Many famous gods in ancient legends are still a mixture of human and snake. In the works of art of the Han Dynasty, Fu Xi and Nuwa are human head snakes, Gonggong is red haired human face snakes, and their subordinate Xiang Liu is also nine human face snakes.
In addition, many gods are also human beings. “Overseas West Sutra” said: “Xuanyuan country, people face snake body.” The Yellow Emperor, who educated all the people and unified China, came from the Xuanyuan country with human face and snake body. Shennong Fuxi and Nuwa, who refined stones to mend the sky and beat the earth as human beings, both had human faces and snake bodies; “Pseudo Liezi great wilderness north Sutra” mentioned: “in the north of Chishui, there is a tail mountain, a God, a man, a snake, and a red body. It is called a candle dragon.” It shows that the totem of the candle dragon clan is a red human face and snake body.
Interestingly, these images of human face snake bodies can also be seen from the original painted pottery, bronze ware and stone carvings. The primitive painted pottery of Yangshao culture unearthed in Wushan County, Gansu Province has human face snake body pattern and human face dragon snake pattern, and the bronze ware of Shang Dynasty has “human face snake body pattern you”. The image of Fuxi Nuwa with human head and snake body is carved on stones in Shandong, Sichuan and other places in the Han Dynasty. In ancient times, snake totem was widely believed in China. The migration of various ethnic groups and the integration of cultures for thousands of years have made the snake totem more and more widely spread. Many ethnic groups, such as Gaoshan Nationality in Taiwan and Li Nationality in Hainan, still retain the relics or customs of the snake totem. Disclaimer: the above content is from the Internet, and the copyright belongs to the original author. If there is any infringement of your original copyright, please inform us, and we will delete the relevant content as soon as possible.