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; calamity ensued. 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.