Once upon a time, Emperor Yan had a beautiful and lovely daughter named Nyuwa. She was a strong-willed girl. Nyuwa loved swimming and often went to the East Sea, playing with the blue waves. She enjoyed being close to Nature. But one day, while swimming, she was drowned. Her soul, however, would not give in and it broke through the water and became a Jinwei bird. The bird had white-black spots on her head, a grey beak and red claws.
She now wanted to take revenge. Every day, she picked up pebbles and sticks from the Western Mountains and dropped them into the East Sea. She was determined to fill up the sea with pebbles, so that it might no longer be capable of drowning others. Summer or winter, spring or autumn—she never stopped and kept working. Legend has it that she is continuing her task till date.