Nü Wa, "the Mother," "Creator of Mankind," is highly regarded in Chinese culture. She is said to have come in to existence after the death of the giant God, Pan Gu 盘古 (pán gǔ), when his essence, spirit and Qi left his body to form the Three Emporers (三皇 sān huáng) - Nü Wa, Fu Xi (伏羲 fú xī) and Shen Nong (神农 shén nóng).
Nü Wa is most commonly depicted as half snake, half woman.
As Nü Wa roamed the Earth, beautiful as nature was, she couldn't help but feel lonely. So on the first day of the Lunar Year she created chickens. On the second day she created dogs. On the third day she created sheep. On the fourth day she created pigs. On the fifth day she created cows. On the sixth day she created horses. And on the seventh day, as she knelt down by a river, she noticed her own reflection. She smiled and it smiled back. She frowned and it frowned back. In that moment she decided to create a being in her likeness.
She picked up some yellow clay from the riverbed and began moulding a figure, and to her delight, as she placed it on the ground, it came to life and called her “mummy.” It then began dancing and singing joyously around her for it had been given the gift of life. Nü Wa named her creation “human” (人 rén), and as she created more humans, her loneliness ebbed.
(This is why mankind’s birthday is on the 7th day of the Lunar Calendar (初七 chū qī).)