NÜWA MENDS THE HEAVENS

The four pillars that support the sky crumble suddenly without any warning or reason. Some believe it may be because of the battle between Gong Gong and Zhuanxu or Zhu Rong. In this version, it is believed that Gong Gong was unable to accept his defeat so he banged his head on Mount Buzhou, one of the four pillars of the sky. Half of the sky subsequently falls, creating a hole in the sky and cracking the earth. The earth's axis mundi is tilted to the southeast as the sky rises into the northwest. It is believed that this is why the western region of China is higher than the eastern region and that most of its rivers flow towards the southeast.

A wildfire burns the forest and leads the wild animals to run amok and attack innocent people. The water that came from the earth's crack continues to pour out.

Nüwa pities the humans she made and attempts to repair the sky. She gathers five colored stones (red, yellow, blue, black, and white) from the riverbed and melts them to use them to patch up the sky because the sky is colorful. Next, she kills a tortoise and cuts off its four legs to use as the new pillars to support the sky. However, because she didn't do it perfectly, the unequal length of the legs made the sky tilt. After the job is completed, the fire is extinguished, the animals return to their homes, and the flood is now controlled with the ashes from the burning forests. The world becomes peaceful once more.

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