Jingwei Fills the Sea Story
- Ages 3–7
- English audio 2 min
- Mandarin audio 2 min
Jingwei Fills the Sea is a classic story from Chinese Myths and Legends for Kids, for children aged 3–7. This page has the English story with a native English narration (about 2 min), plus the Chinese version with Mandarin narration (about 2 min). Free to read and listen, no sign-up.
A little princess is carried away by the waves and becomes a small bird, Jingwei, who drops twigs and stones into the sea every day to fill it up. A Chinese myth about never giving up, in simple English with narration, plus the Chinese version.
Tap any sentence in the story to start reading from there. It stops at the end.
A narrator, and a voice of its own for each character: Jingwei, Emperor Yan, the Sea
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Read Jingwei Fills the Sea
Long ago, Emperor Yan had a little daughter. She loved the sea and liked to pick up shells.
"Father, may I take the little boat out to sea?" she asked. "Go, but come back early," he said.
But a big wind blew up. The waves carried the boat far away, and the girl never came home. Her father waited on the shore every day.
The girl became a little bird with a white beak and red feet. Its cry sounded like its name, Jingwei.
Jingwei did not want the sea to take any more children. She picked up a twig, flew over the sea and dropped it in. Then a stone. Then another twig.
The sea laughed. "Little bird, you are so small. You cannot fill me up in a thousand years!" "Then I will do it for ten thousand years, and I will never stop," said Jingwei.
To this day, people by the sea still see a little bird fly past with a twig in its beak.
The Chinese version: 精卫填海
很久很久以前，炎帝有一个小女儿，叫女娃。她最喜欢大海，常常到海边看浪花、捡贝壳。
有一天，女娃说：“爸爸，我想划船到海上去看看。”炎帝说：“去吧，早点回来。”女娃划着小船，高高兴兴地出发了。
可是海上忽然刮起了大风，大浪一个接一个打过来。小船被大浪卷走了，女娃再也没有回来。炎帝天天站在海边，望着大海等她。
女娃没有回家，可是她变成了一只小鸟。小鸟头上有花纹，白嘴巴，红脚丫，叫起来像在喊‘精卫、精卫’，大家就叫它精卫。
精卫不想让大海再卷走别的孩子，它决定把大海填平。它从西山衔来一根小树枝，飞到东海上空，扔下去。又衔来一颗小石子，扔下去。
大海翻着浪花，轰隆隆地笑了：“小鸟，我这么大，你这么小，一千年也填不平我！”精卫一点也不怕：“那我就填一万年，一天也不停！”
从那以后，精卫每天都从西山飞到东海，衔一根树枝，扔一颗石子。直到今天，海边的人还能看见它从天上飞过呢。
Jingwei Fills the Sea Story: the moral of the story
Something very big can be faced with something very small, done every day. Jingwei never fills the sea, but she never stops, and that is what people remember.
The original Chinese text of Jingwei Fills the Sea
炎帝之少女，名曰女娃。女娃游于东海，溺而不返，故为精卫，常衔西山之木石，以堙于东海。
— 《山海经·北山经》
Our translation
The Flame Emperor's youngest daughter was called Nüwa. Nüwa went to play in the Eastern Sea, was drowned and did not return, and so she became Jingwei. She always carries twigs and stones from the Western Hills to fill up the Eastern Sea.
— Classic of Mountains and Seas, “Northern Mountains” (4th–1st century BC)
Chinese words in Jingwei Fills the Sea
Play the Chinese narration and listen for these words. The pinyin shows the tones.
精卫jīng wèi
Jingwei
大海dà hǎi
sea
贝壳bèi ké
shell
浪làng
wave
小鸟xiǎo niǎo
little bird
树枝shù zhī
twig
石子shí zǐ
small stone
填tián
fill up
For families learning Mandarin
Mandarin learning pack
Print the story, read it together, then listen and say it back. Made for heritage families and children learning Mandarin.
- A printable PDF (3 pages): the Chinese story with pinyin over every character, the words to know, the English version, questions to talk about, and character writing practice.
- Slow Mandarin audio (4 min): every sentence at a gentler pace, followed by a pause long enough to say it back.
Buy once, download again any time. The story itself stays free to read and hear. Try the free sample pack (The Tortoise and the Hare) first.
Bedtime storytelling tips
- Give the sea a big, booming voice like rolling waves, and Jingwei a small, clear, steady one.
- Act out the filling: pick up a twig, fly across, drop it in. Do it again and again, slower each time, until the room is quiet.
- Read the last paragraph slowly and ask, “Do you think Jingwei can fill the sea?” There is no need to settle on an answer. In Chinese the sea is 大海 (dà hǎi).
Things to talk about afterwards
- What did the little girl turn into?
- The sea is so big. Why does Jingwei keep trying to fill it?
- Is there something you keep doing a little of every day?
Read this story to your child in your own voice
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Jingwei Fills the Sea Story: common questions
- What is the story of Jingwei Fills the Sea?
- Emperor Yan's little daughter loves the sea. One day the waves carry her boat away and she never comes home, but she becomes a small bird called Jingwei. So that the sea will never take another child, Jingwei carries twigs and stones from the hills and drops them into the sea, one at a time, every day. The sea laughs at her, but she never stops.
- What does Jingwei mean?
- 精卫 (jīng wèi) is the bird's name. In the Classic of Mountains and Seas its cry sounds like its own name, which is how it got it. Today 精卫填海, “Jingwei fills the sea,” is a Chinese idiom for sticking to a huge task no matter how long it takes.
- Is Jingwei a real bird?
- No. The Classic of Mountains and Seas describes it as a crow-like bird with a patterned head, a white beak and red feet. It is a creature of myth; some people think a seabird gave the storytellers the idea.
- Is there a Chinese version of Jingwei Fills the Sea?
- Yes. It is called 精卫填海 (Jīng wèi tián hǎi). This page has our Chinese retelling with Mandarin narration, and the original forty-character passage from the Classic of Mountains and Seas.
Source and how we retold it
From the Classic of Mountains and Seas (Shanhaijing), chapter “Northern Mountains” (北山经), a text compiled between the 4th and 1st centuries BC and long in the public domain. The original is about forty characters: the Flame Emperor's youngest daughter, named Nüwa (女娃, not the goddess Nüwa 女娲), went to play in the Eastern Sea, drowned and did not return, and became the bird Jingwei, which always carries twigs and stones from the Western Hills to fill up the Eastern Sea. For bedtime we say that the waves carried her boat away and she never came home. Her father waiting on the shore, the sea talking to Jingwei and the ending where people still see her today are our additions.
The narration on this page is AI-generated: the English is read by our narrator and the Chinese by our narrator. The audio files are labeled as AI-generated.
If you liked Jingwei Fills the Sea Story, there are more stories in Chinese Myths and Legends for Kids. You can also read this one to your child in your own voice.
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