
Contents
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“Repairing the Sky” with the Help of a Pair of Literary Masters “Repairing the Sky” with the Help of a Pair of Literary Masters
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Nüwa as Empress and Dowager: An Intermediate Dance Step Nüwa as Empress and Dowager: An Intermediate Dance Step
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Sagely and Divine Sagely and Divine
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Emperor Wa and the Inauguration of the Zhou Emperor Wa and the Inauguration of the Zhou
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Evoking the Name of Nüwa Evoking the Name of Nüwa
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Dragonspawn: A Tantalizing Tale from Guangyuan Dragonspawn: A Tantalizing Tale from Guangyuan
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Denigrating Nüwa Denigrating Nüwa
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Conclusion Conclusion
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One Wu Zhao as the Late Seventh-Century Avatar of Primordial Goddess Nüwa
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Published:June 2015
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Abstract
This chapter examines the role of mother-creator Nüwa in Wu Zhao's assemblage of female political ancestors. In Han mortuary iconography, Nüwa is often paired with a male divinity, her brother-husband Fuxi. Nüwa and Fuxi were worshipped as primordial creators, guardian spirits and “tutelary genii of the dead.” Nüwa's signature serves as a symbol of social organization, marking her not only as a creator goddess, but also as “a goddess of proportion and measurement,” vital to both architecture and hydro-engineering. This chapter considers Wu Zhao's efforts to resuscitate Nüwa, how she discovered a valuable political immediacy in this shadowy creator and mender of the heavens, and how she gained leverage and legitimacy by connecting herself to this mythic avatar. With the help of Wu Zhao's propagandists, Nüwa reemerged as a significant cultic figure who played an important role in helping legitimate and magnify the imperial authority of China's first and only female emperor.
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