Day 7 Chinese New Year - Story of the Nüwa

There are 15 days of celebration for Chinese New Year. It starts with the New moon on the first day of the first lunar month (1st day of the 1st month in the Chinese Calendar) and ends on the Full moon 15 days later.

Today is the 7th day of Chinese New Year (it is also the 7th day of the first month in the Chinese Calendar. It is a special day named as the Ren Ri in chinese, which also means the Day of the Human or the Birthday of the Mankind. According to the Chinese customs, Ren Ri was the day human beings were being created. It is a celebration among the Chinese Culture.

In the Chinese mythology, Nüwa was the goddess who created the world, the mother goddess who separated heaven from earth.

She created the animals on different days, and human beings on the seventh day after the creation of the world.
On day 1, she created Chicken.
On day 2, she created Dogs.
On day 3, she created Boars.
On day 4, she created Sheeps.
On day 5, she created Cows.
On day 6, she created Horses.
On day 7, she created yellow clayfigurines after the creation of the world. Then she used her divine power and made the clay figurines to become alive. Hence, human beings were create. It’s believed that a sunny Ren Ri will bring good luck and peace.

Hence, Chinese tradition has set the 7th day of Chinese New Year as the common "birthday" of all human beings.

There are also other version of the story (from The Meaning And Mythology Behind Nüwa -
Apr 10, 2016 - http://www.nuwanaturalhealth.com.au/blog/2016/4/10/the-meaning-and-mythology-behind-nwa)

It is told that Nüwa was on the earth before any humans were, and when she became lonely she created humans from the mud. She made each human with her hands, but soon realised more people were needed to populate the earth. So she took some rope, dipped it in the mud and swung it around to release droplets of mud everywhere, and from these droplets, more humans were formed. The humans she created by hand became the wealthy and prosperous but the humans she made from the droplets became the ill and poor.

There are many other well-known myths about Nüwa – such as saving the earth from destruction by mending holes in the sky. What I love about these myths and legends is the inner strength and healing capabilities that the energy of Nüwa represents. This energy can be found in each and every one of us shall we need it, we just first need to recognize that it is there.

Another version of the story (from Chinese New Year’s ‘Human Day’ Celebrates ‘Birthday’ of Humankind by Cindy Chan, Epoch Times, February 15, 2016 3:40 pm - https://www.theepochtimes.com/chinese-new-years-human-day-celebrates-birthday-of-humankind_1966717.html) is this:

Nü Wa came to the world many thousands of years after the god Pan Gu created the world. Pan Gu had himself worked tirelessly for many thousands of years, standing between the sky and the Earth and pushing them farther and farther apart as his body grew larger and larger. After the separation of sky and Earth became stable, Pan Gu fell down exhausted. He went to sleep and never awoke.

When he died, he dedicated his entire body to the world’s future beings. For example, his head transformed into mountains, his eyes formed the sun and moon, his hair turned into plants and trees, and his blood became the oceans.

From the first to the sixth day of the Chinese New Year, she created the chicken, dog, boar, sheep, cow, and horse.Then on Day 7, Nüwa sat by the edge of a pond and, looking at her own reflection, began to mix clay with water to create small figures in her own image, both males and females. She blew her breath upon the figures before placing them on the ground, thus giving them souls, and was delighted when they became alive.

You may continue with the rest of the story by clicking on the link provided above.

Image source: http://www.no-1chineselearning.com/news.asp?aid=969

I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a Happy Birthday and Happy Chinese New Year. Gong Xi Fa Cai. May abundance of prosperity and wealth be with you.