The Excess Stone of Nüwa

The Excess Stone of Nüwa

The Excess Stone of Nüwa is a peculiar rock wedged between two massive stone slabs, neither touching the sky above nor the ground below. Legend has it that it is a remnant of the stones left over after Nüwa, the goddess, repaired the heavens by melting down rocks.

Since the Ming Dynasty, China entered a golden age of long-form novels, and many writers loved to center their stories around stones. The pioneer of this trend, Wu Cheng'en, modeled the size and appearance of the stone here to describe the birth of Sun Wukong. Above the Excess Stone of Nüwa lies a half-stone egg, said to have had its other half blasted down the mountain when Sun Wukong was born. On one side of the stone egg is a huge rock shaped like a monkey’s head, gently “kissing” the Excess Stone of Nüwa—that is the mortal shell shed by the Monkey King after he became immortal.

The pool beneath the Excess Stone of Nüwa is called “Anavatapta Pool.” “Anavatapta” is a transliteration from Sanskrit, meaning “the source of all waters.” Legend says that fairies used to come here to bathe, but after Sun Wukong was born, he urinated in the pool, polluting it, and ever since, the fairies have stopped coming.

Lianyungang, Jiangsu