China: The creator goddess Nuwa, by Xiao Yuncong (1596-1673), 17th century. Original imprint from the...

Nuwa, sometimes also known as Nugua, is an ancient Chinese goddess who is most famous for the creation of mankind and repairing the pillar of heaven. She is often depicted as either a woman with a serpentine lower body or even just a woman's head on a serpent's body, earning her the name 'Snake Goddess'. Nuwa and her brother/husband Fuxi forged humanity out of clay, breathing life into them. After a fight between the fire god Zhurong and the sea monster Gong Gong caused the latter to smash into Buzhou Mountain, one of the pillars holding up the sky, which resulted in calamity. Great floods and much suffering affected the people, and Nuwa is said to have cut the legs off the giant turtle Ao, using them in place of the fallen pillar to end the disaster. However, she was not able to fully correct the tilted sky and earth, thus explaining why Chinese rivers generally flow to the southeast while the sun, moon and stars move towards the northwest. Nuwa also plays an important role in the Ming Dynasty novel 'Fengshen Yanyi'. After King Zhou of Shang Dynasty insulted the goddess by lusting after her and writing an obscene poem on the wall of her temple. In vengeance, she sent three spirits to bewitch King Zhou, eventually causing the downfall of the Shang Dynasty.