Jingwei

Jingwei is a renowned avian figure of vengeance in the Classic of Mountains and Seas (Shanhai Jing). According to legend, she was Nüwa, the youngest daughter of the Flame Emperor (Yandi), who drowned while swimming in the East Sea. Her spirit transformed into the Jingwei bird, which dwells on Fajiu Mountain. Described as resembling a crow, she possesses a variegated head, a white beak, and red talons. Grieving the sea’s theft of her life, she flies daily to the Western Mountains to gather pebbles and twigs, casting them into the East Sea in an unrelenting vow to fill it entirely. When the sea mocks her futile effort, she retorts: 'Even if it takes ten thousand years—or until the cosmos itself ends—I shall persist until this sea is filled.' The tale of 'Jingwei Filling the Sea' stands alongside 'Yu Gong Moving the Mountains' as a timeless emblem of indomitable will—pursuing a seemingly impossible goal with unwavering conviction. Generations of poets have eulogized her resolve; travelers have revered her fortitude; and mariners have worshipped her for safe passage across the waves.