Chinese Myth

女娲造人🔊

Nǚ Wā Zào Rén
📚 Myths⏱ 3 min read🎧 Audio

This is the myth of how Nüwa created humanity from clay.

The Story 🔊

Tiāndì xíngchéng hòu shìjiè shàng hái méiyǒu rén
天地Tiāndì🔊形成后xíngchéng hòu🔊世界shìjiè🔊shàng🔊hái🔊没有méiyǒu🔊rén🔊
Nǚwā juéde hěn gūdú
女娲Nǚwā🔊觉得juéde🔊hěn🔊孤独gūdú🔊
Tā yòng huángtǔ niē chéng le yígègè xiǎorén xiǎorén jiù huó le guòlái
🔊yòng🔊黄土huángtǔ🔊捏成niē chéng🔊le🔊一个个yígègè🔊小人xiǎorén🔊小人xiǎorén🔊jiù🔊活了huó le🔊过来guòlái🔊
Kěshì yígè yígè niē tài màn le
可是Kěshì🔊一个一个yígè yígè🔊niē🔊太慢了tài màn le🔊
Tā jiù yòng téngtiáo zhànzhe níshuǐ shuǎi jiàn chū de nídiǎn dōu biàn chéng le rén
🔊jiù🔊yòng🔊藤条téngtiáo🔊蘸着zhànzhe🔊泥水níshuǐ🔊shuǎi🔊溅出的jiàn chū de🔊泥点nídiǎn🔊dōu🔊变成了biàn chéng le🔊rén🔊
English Translation:
After heaven and earth were formed, there were no humans in the world. Nüwa felt very lonely. She used yellow clay to mold little figures, and they came to life. But molding them one by one was too slow. So she used a vine dipped in mud and flicked it, and the splashed mud drops all became humans.

Key Vocabulary

女娲造人
nǚ wā zào rén
Nüwa creates humans
黄土
huángtǔ
yellow clay
niē
mold
孤独
gūdú
lonely
藤条
téngtiáo
vine
泥点
nídiǎn
mud drops

The Moral

Creation comes from love and care! This myth explains the origin of humanity in Chinese culture.

Cultural Insight

女娲造人 is a fundamental Chinese creation myth, recorded in "Fengsu Tongyi" (风俗通义).