Mythology in China
On every occasion, and sometimes a little too much, Chinese lays stress on the age of their culture, and for good reasons. As a very advanced civilization, it is probably not the oldest one, but the only one of the ancient cultures that has survived until today: "5000 years of history, and 7000 years of culture" (Wuqian nian de lishi, qiqian nian de wenhua 五千年的�史，七千年的文化). History clearly is not that old: we can find the oldest traces of history (as a cultural stage that makes use of a script - see Chinese script) in the 13th century B.C. Stories of older events and people can not be proved by archeology, but some little truth might be behind the tales that cover the time up to the manufacturers of the world. Taming the waves of the Yellow River as done by Yu the Great 大禹 was essential to work on the fields and even to survive. Archeological findings show that many sites in the central plain have been overflooded almost every year.
Although there is no myth (shenhua 神�) of a god having created the universe like in most other cultures and religions, we find popular tales of persons that helped to build up and to repair the world during a time of chaos. These persons are by no means godlike but are rather a part of the world they helped to fix. The most famous of this persons is Pan Gu (Pangu) �古. But there are even smaller figures like Nü Wa (Nüwa; Nü Gua, Nügua) 女� and her brother or husband Fu Xi (Fuxi) 伏羲 (also called Pao Xi [Paoxi] 庖�) who repaired the world with dividers and ruler, or like heroical archer Yi 羿 who shut down eight of the nine existing suns to prevent the soil from burning out.
There is also a large group of inventors like Suiren (Sui Ren) 燧人, who first used the fire; Hou Ji (Houji) "Lord of Millet" 后稷 and Shen Nong (Shennong) 神� the "Holy Peasant" - persons that introduced agriculture and the use of medical herbs; Chi You (Chiyou) 蚩尤, the inventor of metallurgy and weapons; Bo Yi (Boyi) 伯夷 who first tamed domestic animals; Can Cong (Cancong) ��, the inventor of sericulture in the state of Shu; or minister Cang Jie (Cangjie) ��, who invented writing, and minister Ling Lun (Linglun) 泠� (or 伶�) who invented the pitchpipes. Nü Wa is said to have invented matrimony, and she shaped the first men of clay.
A great part of Chinese mythology has its origin in the southern kingdoms of Chu 楚, Wu � and Yue 越. Here, in the water-rich regions of the Yangtse �江 basin, preventing inundations was a crucial task for the survival of communities. It was here that myths of the water-controllers Gun �, Yu the Great 大禹, and of Gong Gong (Gonggong) 共工 and Shun 舜 found their origin. Tales of these heroes are also the first that appear in Chinese literature, for example in the Poetry of the South (Chuci 楚�, especially Tianwen 天� "Asking Heaven"). In the oldest books of Western Zhou, the Book of Documents (Shangshu 尚�) and the Book of Songs (Shijing ��), it is only stated that the dynasties of Xia 夏 and Zhou 周 came from the west, Shang 商 from the east. The people of Zhou (Ji 姬 clan) were intermarried with people from the Jiang 姜 clan, other clans in prehistoric times were the Sanmiao 三苗 barbarians in the south and the Zhongli 重黎 clan.
Many tales and myth came up in post-antique China, like the myth of the River god (He Shen [Heshen] 河神) Ju Ling (Juling) 巨� who was annually offered a virgin; or the goddess of River Xiang 湘 in modern Hunan, the Queen mother of the West (Xi Wang Mu [Xiwang Mu, Xi Wangmu, Xiwangmu] 西王母) who resided in the wester paradise in Mount Kunlun ��. Other immortals lived in the island paradise Penglai 蓬� in the eastern sea.
The tales of the Yellow Emperor (Huang Di [Huangdi] �帝), Tai Hao (Taihao) 太�, Shao Hao (Shaohao) Zhi 少昊�, Zhuan Xu (Zhuanxu) �� (also called Gao Yang [Gaoyang] 高�), (Diku) 帝� (also called Gao Xin [Gaoxin] 高辛), the holy and virtuous rulers Yao � and Shun, and the founder of Xia, Yu the Great, who tamed the floods, divided the empire into the nine provinces (jiuzhou 九州) and characterized the soil of every province, only become prominent during the Spring and Autumn 春秋 period. The origin of these stories must be traces to tales of mythical rulers, gods or tribe ancestors of prehistoric tribes or clan groups (zu 族) like Ji 姬, Si 姒, Jiang 姜 (Qiang 羌), Mi 芈, Miao 苗, Ying 嬴. Many of these names are written with the radical "wife" 女 (like the word for surname, xing 姓), expressing the original matrilinear character of the ancient tribal groups. Tribal heroes or mythical tribal ancestors (zongshen 宗神) of different tribes and periods later merged together to a unified pantheon of ancestor deities that became relatives of eath other within a constructed lineage with the Yellow Emperor at its head. The result of this unified pantheon can first be seen in the book Shanhaijing 山海� "Classic of the Mountain and Seas".
The classification of the saints and rulers of highest antiquity ("Three Augusts" and "Five Emperors", Sanhuang Wudi 三皇五帝) takes only shape during the Warring States �� and Han periods �. It was especially the Confucianists that stressed the virtuous character of Yao, Shun, and Yu and saw them as exemplarious rulers of antiquity. These divine rulers were grouped together as the "Two Emperors and Three Kings" (Erdi sanwang 二帝三王: Yao, Shun, Yu of Xia 夏禹, Tang of Shang 商�, and King Zhou Wenwang 周文王). Besides there "great" rulers, the different books of the Warring States period mention dozens of deities and mythical rulers whose names later disappeared and were meaningless in contrast to the Confucian pentade. It was especially in the late Warring States period when new deities came up that were projected into the time before the Yellow Emperor, gods like Sui Ren, Fu Xi, Nü Wa, and Shen Nong. Other deities like Tai Hao, Shao Hao and Yan Di disappeared. The latest Chinese deity appearing in the pantheon was Pan Gu, the founder of the universe.
Many deities were thought to have transformed into stars, and many starry constellation have the name of a deity. Quite famous is the story of Draught Ox (Qian Niu [Qianniu] �牛) and the Weaver Maid (Zhi Nü [Zhinü] �女), or Chang E (Chang'e 嫦娥) who ascended to the moon and transformed into a toad. In the southern myths, a crow carrying the sun determines sunrise and sunset.
Before the identification of certain persons with these rulers, they belonged to a pantheon of a group of tribal heroes and ancestors that were often associated with cardinal directions. Huang Di, the Yellow Emperor, Yan Di (Yandi) 炎帝, Bo Yi (Boyi) 伯夷, Gong Gong , Gun, Yu the Great, the Four Sacred Mountains (Si Yue [Siyue] 四� or 四岳), Ji 稷 (also called Qi �), Gao Yu (Gaoyu) 高圉, Tai Wang (Taiwang) 太王, Xuan Ao (Xuan'ao) 玄�, Jiao Ji (Jiaoji) ��, Chang Yi (Changyi) 昌意, Qing Yang (Qingyang) 青�, Di Hong (Dihong) 帝� and Jin Yun (Jinyun) �云 are associated with the west, Tai Hao, Shao Hao, Zhuan Xu, Di Ku, Yao, Yi 羿, Zhuo 浞, Jiao �, Jun 俊 (also called Shun 舜), Xie 契, Ming 冥, Jin Tian (Jintian) 金天 and Lie Shan (Lieshan) 烈山 with the east. Several of these deities were also associated with astronomical constellations or with the colors corresponding to the Five Processes or Five Phases (wuxing 五行), like the Yellow Emperor, the White Emperor (Baidi 白帝), the Blue-Green Emperor (Qingdi 青帝, Cangdi �帝), the Black Emperor (Heidi 黑帝) the Red Emperor (Chidi 赤帝).
Criticism about these mythologies came up during the Tang 唐 and Song 宋 periods. But it was especially from the late 19th century on, that scholars like Kang Youwei 康有�, Xia Zengyou 夏曾佑, Miao Fenglin ��林 and Gu Jiegang ��� began to analyze the making of these old myths and detected the composition of different local or tribal ancestral myths to a whole structured pantheon that was made from late Warring States and the Han period on. Fu Sinian 傅斯年, Meng Wentong 蒙文通, Yang Kuan �� and Xu Xusheng 徐旭生 analyzed the mythical tales as originating from three cultural spheres: Hua � (Zou-Lu ��, Dongyi �夷) in the east, Xia 夏 (Jin �, Huaxia �夏) in the west and the barbarian tribes (Miao 苗, Man �, Chu 楚) in the south. In the 1930es and 1940es a group of historians tried to derive social structures (ideliter: the primary communist society, yuanshi shehui 原始社�) on the background of these traditional myths and tales.
Pan Gu �古
Pan Gu (Pangu) should be the first in a chronology of the creation of the universe, but he was mentioned or rather invented quite late, during the Three Kingdoms 三� period. His body is said to have transformed into Heaven, Earth and the ten thousand creatures. Before this transformation the universe is thought to have been chaotic (hundun 混沌), in a state where all materials were unreconizable unified in a primordial beginning (taichu 太初, taiyi 太一), but in the shape of an egg. Pan Gu was born inmidst this tohu wa bohu and after 18,000 years, Heaven and Earth first separated from each other and took shape (tiandi kaipi 天地�辟), the pure part (qing 清) formed Heaven, the muddy part (zhuo �) shaped the Earth. Pan Gu's head and his four limbs became the Five Sacred Mountains (Wuyue 五�), blood and tears became rivers and streams, his eyes were sun and moon, his hairs were the vegetation with trees and grass. His breath was the wind, his voice was thunder, when he opened his mouth it was summer, when he closed his mouth, winter came, when he was glad, the day was bright, and when he was angry, clouds covered the sky.
The myth of the creation of the universe by the transformation of Pan Gu's body was evidently a myth from the south, probably from the Wu-Yue �越 region in modern Zhejiang. Only later with the assimilation of different regional cultures Pan Gu and the myth about him were incorporated into China's mythical treasury.
According to other myths, the earth has a square shape while the heaven is round, just like the carapax of a turtle, the breastshield quare, the back cover round. Like a turle walks on fourt mighty legs, four poles served this universe as subconstruction. The human body is just another reflection of this construction: feet, the bottom, are square, while the head, representing the heaven, is round.
Fu Xi 伏羲 and Nü Wa 女�
Much earlier than the Pan Gu myth is the creation myth of Nü Wa (Nüwa) who formed human beings from mud and clay. The creatrix - Han period scholars doubted that she was a woman - ascended as a universal ruler and can thus be seen as the first empress of China. Other myths tell us that she was not a deity but only a human, the inventor of marriage, together with her husband (or brother) Fu Xi (Fuxi). Both are often depicted with the body of a serpent, both bodies are intertwined, and the semigod pair hold ruler, divider and measuring rope. After one of the poles supporting the universe had collapsed, Nü Wa repaired the world with the help of her instruments. One myth tells that Gong Gong (Gonggong) had caused the collapse of a mountain who supported the east side earths surface. Since all Chinese rivers flow to the east. The degradation of Nü Wa from a creatrix to the patroness of matrimony might reflect a changing role of women in Chinese society and the growing dominance of patriarchy.
Fu Xi is a deity that appears in very different fuctions and with half a dozen of different names. He was the inventor of nets for hunting and fishing, melody and music, divination with the eight hexagrams, knotted cord for calculating time and space, and the inventor of fire. From he Han period on he becomes the consort of the creatrix Nü Wa and is often identified with Tai Hao (Taihao) who was earlier an independent deity. Together with Nü Wa, he became a creator of the universe and the first representant of matrimony. From the same time on he was often interpreted as a human ruler with supernatural powers.
The Yellow Emperor �帝
The Yellow Emperor (Huang Di [Huangdi] �帝) is thought to be the ancestor of the Chinese people. The clan of the Yellow Emperor (Huangdi zu �帝族) and the clan of Yan (Yandi zu 炎帝族) are thought to have represented the Qijia culture �家文化 in modern Gansu and Shaanxi provinces. Later these tribes might have moved to the east and founded the cultures of the Central Plain 中原 as basic cultures of Chinese civilization, with a people later named Huaxia �夏 (or simply Hua � or Xia 夏) was told to have founded China's first dynasty, the Xia 夏. Other descendants of the Yellow Emperor's clan is a clan with the surname Ji 姬 who later founded the Zhou Dynasty 周. Ancestorship of the Yellow Emperor is often constructed to obtain legitimation for rulership. Even Non-Chinese tribes should later claim their descendency from the Yellow Emperor.
The Yellow Emperor's father was Shao Dian (Shaodian) 少典, his actual name was Gongsun Xuanyuan 公��� (Xuanyuan [Xuan Yuan] might also be a place name of his clan name), his residence (or state) was Youxiong 有熊. The Yellow Emperor was the first of a line of cultural heroes that are venerated for their inventions. Xuan Yuan is said to has invented - also with the help of his ministers - wells, mortars, bow and arrow, cattle breeding, carts and ships, clothing, divination, mathematics, astronomy and calendar, music notes (minister Ling Lun [Linglun] 伶�), medicine and writing (minister Cang Jie [Cangjie] ��). In early Chinese thought, every ruler is blessed by one of the Five Processes or Five Phases (wuxing 五行), that of Xuan Yuan was the earth (corresponding colour: yellow), hence his designation "Yellow Emperor".
As a universal ruler, the Yellow Emperor fought against and subdued improper and rebellious rulers and tribes, like Chi You (Chiyou) 蚩尤 in the battle of Zhuolu 涿鹿, the northern Hunzhou �粥, and the Red Emperor (Chi Di [Chidi] 赤帝, also called Yan Di, the "Emperor of the Fire") in the battle of Banquan 阪泉 (might be the same event as in Zhuolu). He replaced Shen Nong as the ruler of the world.
The main wife of the Yellow Emperor was Lei Zu (Leizu) 嫘祖 who invented spinning and weaving. The tomb of the Yellow Emperor (Huangdi Ling �帝陵) is in Qiaoshan �山, Huangling County �陵�/Shaanxi.
Zhuan Xu ��
Zhuan Xu (Zhuanxu) was a son of Chang Yi (Changyi) 昌意 and grand-son of the Yellow Emperor. He resided in Diqiu 帝丘 or Pu 濮, his surname of Gao Yang (Gaoyang) 高� (might also be a place name). He is said to have deepened the knowledge of calendar and astronomy, used ghosts and spirits for assistance in his government - over a realm that covered the surface of modern China (!) - , thought the people by refining the universal breath and installed regulated rituals and sacrifices. One of his sons was Qiong Chan (Qiongchan) �� (also called Qiong Xi [Qiongxi] ��), ancestor of Emperor Shun 舜.
Di Ku 帝�
Di Ku (Diku), also called Gao Xin (Gaoxin) 高辛, was a grandson of Xuan Ao (Xuan'ao) 玄�, a son of the Yellow Emperor. Di Ku's father was Jiao Ji (Jiaoji) ��. His residence was Bo 亳. Di Ku was also a virtuous ruler who impartially served his people, was wise and intelligent. One of his sons by his wife from the Chenfang clan �� was Fang Xun (Fangxun) 放�, another son by his wife née Quji �訾 was Zhi �. When Di Ku died, Zhi succeeded him but resigned after nine years to his younger brother, the Marquis of Tang 唐, Fang Xun, who was also called Yao �.
Yao �
Yao, also called Tang 唐, Tao Tang (Taotang) 陶唐 or Tang-Yao 唐�, was a great-grandson of the Yellow Emperor. Probably Yao was originally not identical with Tao Tang who is chronologically often placed before the Yellow Emperor. Yao and his successor Shun 舜 (the pair Yao-Shun �舜 or Tang-Yu 唐虞) are deeply venerated by the Confucianists as rulers of extraordinary virtue, humanity and kindness. Probably the most important incident during his reign is the implementation of a new calendar by Yi 羲 and He 和 (clan Zhongli 重黎, descendants of the Yellow Emperor). He employed Gun �, an ancestor of Yu the Great 大禹, for the regulation of the rivers - but Gun failed. After seventy years of rule Yao decided to cease his throne to someone worthy. After consulting his ministers, he gave his two daughters Ehuang 娥皇 and Nüying 女英 to Shun 舜 who became the next emperor.
Shun 舜
Shun, also called Yu 虞, Youyu 有虞 or Yu-Shun 虞舜, distant relative of Yao as descendant of the Yellow Emperor, took over the throne of the Son of Heaven (tianzi 天子) from Yao after he had taken over the actual business of ruling the empire already before. It is often told that the rulers of the Xia Dynasty 夏 were the first to establish a succession from father to son, but in fact, the genealogical affiliation of the Five Emperors make them a kind of dynasty too. It is especially the throne succession of Shun that if famous for the custom of giving the throne to the most virtuous man (chanrang ��) instead of the own son. But in fact they were distant relatives.
Shun is probably an ancestor deity of the Shang Dynasty 商, scholars identify him with Kui 夔/Ku �/Jun 俊, a predynastic ancestor of the Shang. Moreover, Shun is said to be from the east where the Longshan culture �山文化 and the early Shang states were located. These eastern peoples were called Yi 夷 (a term later meaning "barbarian") in contrast to the inhabitants of the western Yellow River plain, the Xia 夏.
Shun employed Yu for the regulation of the rivers and should later bestow Yu with the rule of the empire ("all under Heaven" - Tianxia 天下). For a long time he fought against the southern Sanmiao 三苗, a people descandant of the Yellow Emperor's enemy Chi You or of Huan Dou (Huandou) �兜 (also called Huan Tou [Huantou] ��), a son of Zhuan Xu. During this campaign, Shun died in the southern wilderness. Only Yu was able to defeat the Sanmiao finally, many prisoners were made slaves of the Xia.
Shun handed over government to his loyal minister Yu who is seen as the founder of the Xia Dynasty.
Yao, Shun and Yu are three of the holy rulers of antiquity whose government was characterized by humanity, virtue and kindness. The next was Tang the Perfect 成�, founder of the Shang Dynasty 商, followed by the pair Wen-Wu 文武 (King Wen [Wenwang] 周文王 and Wu [Wuwang] 周武王), founders of the Zhou Dynasty 周.
On every occasion, and sometimes a little too much, Chinese lays stress on the age of their culture, and for good reasons. As a very advanced civilization, it is probably not the oldest one, but the only one of the ancient cultures that has survived until today: "5000 years of history, and 7000 years of culture" (Wuqian nian de lishi, qiqian nian de wenhua 五千年的�史，七千年的文化). History clearly is not that old: we can find the oldest traces of history (as a cultural stage that makes use of a script - see Chinese script) in the 13th century B.C. Stories of older events and people can not be proved by archeology, but some little truth might be behind the tales that cover the time up to the manufacturers of the world. Taming the waves of the Yellow River as done by Yu the Great 大禹 was essential to work on the fields and even to survive. Archeological findings show that many sites in the central plain have been overflooded almost every year.
Although there is no myth (shenhua 神�) of a god having created the universe like in most other cultures and religions, we find popular tales of persons that helped to build up and to repair the world during a time of chaos. These persons are by no means godlike but are rather a part of the world they helped to fix. The most famous of this persons is Pan Gu (Pangu) �古. But there are even smaller figures like Nü Wa (Nüwa; Nü Gua, Nügua) 女� and her brother or husband Fu Xi (Fuxi) 伏羲 (also called Pao Xi [Paoxi] 庖�) who repaired the world with dividers and ruler, or like heroical archer Yi 羿 who shut down eight of the nine existing suns to prevent the soil from burning out.
There is also a large group of inventors like Suiren (Sui Ren) 燧人, who first used the fire; Hou Ji (Houji) "Lord of Millet" 后稷 and Shen Nong (Shennong) 神� the "Holy Peasant" - persons that introduced agriculture and the use of medical herbs; Chi You (Chiyou) 蚩尤, the inventor of metallurgy and weapons; Bo Yi (Boyi) 伯夷 who first tamed domestic animals; Can Cong (Cancong) ��, the inventor of sericulture in the state of Shu; or minister Cang Jie (Cangjie) ��, who invented writing, and minister Ling Lun (Linglun) 泠� (or 伶�) who invented the pitchpipes. Nü Wa is said to have invented matrimony, and she shaped the first men of clay.
A great part of Chinese mythology has its origin in the southern kingdoms of Chu 楚, Wu � and Yue 越. Here, in the water-rich regions of the Yangtse �江 basin, preventing inundations was a crucial task for the survival of communities. It was here that myths of the water-controllers Gun �, Yu the Great 大禹, and of Gong Gong (Gonggong) 共工 and Shun 舜 found their origin. Tales of these heroes are also the first that appear in Chinese literature, for example in the Poetry of the South (Chuci 楚�, especially Tianwen 天� "Asking Heaven"). In the oldest books of Western Zhou, the Book of Documents (Shangshu 尚�) and the Book of Songs (Shijing ��), it is only stated that the dynasties of Xia 夏 and Zhou 周 came from the west, Shang 商 from the east. The people of Zhou (Ji 姬 clan) were intermarried with people from the Jiang 姜 clan, other clans in prehistoric times were the Sanmiao 三苗 barbarians in the south and the Zhongli 重黎 clan.
Many tales and myth came up in post-antique China, like the myth of the River god (He Shen [Heshen] 河神) Ju Ling (Juling) 巨� who was annually offered a virgin; or the goddess of River Xiang 湘 in modern Hunan, the Queen mother of the West (Xi Wang Mu [Xiwang Mu, Xi Wangmu, Xiwangmu] 西王母) who resided in the wester paradise in Mount Kunlun ��. Other immortals lived in the island paradise Penglai 蓬� in the eastern sea.
The tales of the Yellow Emperor (Huang Di [Huangdi] �帝), Tai Hao (Taihao) 太�, Shao Hao (Shaohao) Zhi 少昊�, Zhuan Xu (Zhuanxu) �� (also called Gao Yang [Gaoyang] 高�), (Diku) 帝� (also called Gao Xin [Gaoxin] 高辛), the holy and virtuous rulers Yao � and Shun, and the founder of Xia, Yu the Great, who tamed the floods, divided the empire into the nine provinces (jiuzhou 九州) and characterized the soil of every province, only become prominent during the Spring and Autumn 春秋 period. The origin of these stories must be traces to tales of mythical rulers, gods or tribe ancestors of prehistoric tribes or clan groups (zu 族) like Ji 姬, Si 姒, Jiang 姜 (Qiang 羌), Mi 芈, Miao 苗, Ying 嬴. Many of these names are written with the radical "wife" 女 (like the word for surname, xing 姓), expressing the original matrilinear character of the ancient tribal groups. Tribal heroes or mythical tribal ancestors (zongshen 宗神) of different tribes and periods later merged together to a unified pantheon of ancestor deities that became relatives of eath other within a constructed lineage with the Yellow Emperor at its head. The result of this unified pantheon can first be seen in the book Shanhaijing 山海� "Classic of the Mountain and Seas".
The classification of the saints and rulers of highest antiquity ("Three Augusts" and "Five Emperors", Sanhuang Wudi 三皇五帝) takes only shape during the Warring States �� and Han periods �. It was especially the Confucianists that stressed the virtuous character of Yao, Shun, and Yu and saw them as exemplarious rulers of antiquity. These divine rulers were grouped together as the "Two Emperors and Three Kings" (Erdi sanwang 二帝三王: Yao, Shun, Yu of Xia 夏禹, Tang of Shang 商�, and King Zhou Wenwang 周文王). Besides there "great" rulers, the different books of the Warring States period mention dozens of deities and mythical rulers whose names later disappeared and were meaningless in contrast to the Confucian pentade. It was especially in the late Warring States period when new deities came up that were projected into the time before the Yellow Emperor, gods like Sui Ren, Fu Xi, Nü Wa, and Shen Nong. Other deities like Tai Hao, Shao Hao and Yan Di disappeared. The latest Chinese deity appearing in the pantheon was Pan Gu, the founder of the universe.
Many deities were thought to have transformed into stars, and many starry constellation have the name of a deity. Quite famous is the story of Draught Ox (Qian Niu [Qianniu] �牛) and the Weaver Maid (Zhi Nü [Zhinü] �女), or Chang E (Chang'e 嫦娥) who ascended to the moon and transformed into a toad. In the southern myths, a crow carrying the sun determines sunrise and sunset.
Before the identification of certain persons with these rulers, they belonged to a pantheon of a group of tribal heroes and ancestors that were often associated with cardinal directions. Huang Di, the Yellow Emperor, Yan Di (Yandi) 炎帝, Bo Yi (Boyi) 伯夷, Gong Gong , Gun, Yu the Great, the Four Sacred Mountains (Si Yue [Siyue] 四� or 四岳), Ji 稷 (also called Qi �), Gao Yu (Gaoyu) 高圉, Tai Wang (Taiwang) 太王, Xuan Ao (Xuan'ao) 玄�, Jiao Ji (Jiaoji) ��, Chang Yi (Changyi) 昌意, Qing Yang (Qingyang) 青�, Di Hong (Dihong) 帝� and Jin Yun (Jinyun) �云 are associated with the west, Tai Hao, Shao Hao, Zhuan Xu, Di Ku, Yao, Yi 羿, Zhuo 浞, Jiao �, Jun 俊 (also called Shun 舜), Xie 契, Ming 冥, Jin Tian (Jintian) 金天 and Lie Shan (Lieshan) 烈山 with the east. Several of these deities were also associated with astronomical constellations or with the colors corresponding to the Five Processes or Five Phases (wuxing 五行), like the Yellow Emperor, the White Emperor (Baidi 白帝), the Blue-Green Emperor (Qingdi 青帝, Cangdi �帝), the Black Emperor (Heidi 黑帝) the Red Emperor (Chidi 赤帝).
Criticism about these mythologies came up during the Tang 唐 and Song 宋 periods. But it was especially from the late 19th century on, that scholars like Kang Youwei 康有�, Xia Zengyou 夏曾佑, Miao Fenglin ��林 and Gu Jiegang ��� began to analyze the making of these old myths and detected the composition of different local or tribal ancestral myths to a whole structured pantheon that was made from late Warring States and the Han period on. Fu Sinian 傅斯年, Meng Wentong 蒙文通, Yang Kuan �� and Xu Xusheng 徐旭生 analyzed the mythical tales as originating from three cultural spheres: Hua � (Zou-Lu ��, Dongyi �夷) in the east, Xia 夏 (Jin �, Huaxia �夏) in the west and the barbarian tribes (Miao 苗, Man �, Chu 楚) in the south. In the 1930es and 1940es a group of historians tried to derive social structures (ideliter: the primary communist society, yuanshi shehui 原始社�) on the background of these traditional myths and tales.
Pan Gu �古
Pan Gu (Pangu) should be the first in a chronology of the creation of the universe, but he was mentioned or rather invented quite late, during the Three Kingdoms 三� period. His body is said to have transformed into Heaven, Earth and the ten thousand creatures. Before this transformation the universe is thought to have been chaotic (hundun 混沌), in a state where all materials were unreconizable unified in a primordial beginning (taichu 太初, taiyi 太一), but in the shape of an egg. Pan Gu was born inmidst this tohu wa bohu and after 18,000 years, Heaven and Earth first separated from each other and took shape (tiandi kaipi 天地�辟), the pure part (qing 清) formed Heaven, the muddy part (zhuo �) shaped the Earth. Pan Gu's head and his four limbs became the Five Sacred Mountains (Wuyue 五�), blood and tears became rivers and streams, his eyes were sun and moon, his hairs were the vegetation with trees and grass. His breath was the wind, his voice was thunder, when he opened his mouth it was summer, when he closed his mouth, winter came, when he was glad, the day was bright, and when he was angry, clouds covered the sky.
The myth of the creation of the universe by the transformation of Pan Gu's body was evidently a myth from the south, probably from the Wu-Yue �越 region in modern Zhejiang. Only later with the assimilation of different regional cultures Pan Gu and the myth about him were incorporated into China's mythical treasury.
According to other myths, the earth has a square shape while the heaven is round, just like the carapax of a turtle, the breastshield quare, the back cover round. Like a turle walks on fourt mighty legs, four poles served this universe as subconstruction. The human body is just another reflection of this construction: feet, the bottom, are square, while the head, representing the heaven, is round.
Fu Xi 伏羲 and Nü Wa 女�
Much earlier than the Pan Gu myth is the creation myth of Nü Wa (Nüwa) who formed human beings from mud and clay. The creatrix - Han period scholars doubted that she was a woman - ascended as a universal ruler and can thus be seen as the first empress of China. Other myths tell us that she was not a deity but only a human, the inventor of marriage, together with her husband (or brother) Fu Xi (Fuxi). Both are often depicted with the body of a serpent, both bodies are intertwined, and the semigod pair hold ruler, divider and measuring rope. After one of the poles supporting the universe had collapsed, Nü Wa repaired the world with the help of her instruments. One myth tells that Gong Gong (Gonggong) had caused the collapse of a mountain who supported the east side earths surface. Since all Chinese rivers flow to the east. The degradation of Nü Wa from a creatrix to the patroness of matrimony might reflect a changing role of women in Chinese society and the growing dominance of patriarchy.
Fu Xi is a deity that appears in very different fuctions and with half a dozen of different names. He was the inventor of nets for hunting and fishing, melody and music, divination with the eight hexagrams, knotted cord for calculating time and space, and the inventor of fire. From he Han period on he becomes the consort of the creatrix Nü Wa and is often identified with Tai Hao (Taihao) who was earlier an independent deity. Together with Nü Wa, he became a creator of the universe and the first representant of matrimony. From the same time on he was often interpreted as a human ruler with supernatural powers.
The Yellow Emperor �帝
The Yellow Emperor (Huang Di [Huangdi] �帝) is thought to be the ancestor of the Chinese people. The clan of the Yellow Emperor (Huangdi zu �帝族) and the clan of Yan (Yandi zu 炎帝族) are thought to have represented the Qijia culture �家文化 in modern Gansu and Shaanxi provinces. Later these tribes might have moved to the east and founded the cultures of the Central Plain 中原 as basic cultures of Chinese civilization, with a people later named Huaxia �夏 (or simply Hua � or Xia 夏) was told to have founded China's first dynasty, the Xia 夏. Other descendants of the Yellow Emperor's clan is a clan with the surname Ji 姬 who later founded the Zhou Dynasty 周. Ancestorship of the Yellow Emperor is often constructed to obtain legitimation for rulership. Even Non-Chinese tribes should later claim their descendency from the Yellow Emperor.
The Yellow Emperor's father was Shao Dian (Shaodian) 少典, his actual name was Gongsun Xuanyuan 公��� (Xuanyuan [Xuan Yuan] might also be a place name of his clan name), his residence (or state) was Youxiong 有熊. The Yellow Emperor was the first of a line of cultural heroes that are venerated for their inventions. Xuan Yuan is said to has invented - also with the help of his ministers - wells, mortars, bow and arrow, cattle breeding, carts and ships, clothing, divination, mathematics, astronomy and calendar, music notes (minister Ling Lun [Linglun] 伶�), medicine and writing (minister Cang Jie [Cangjie] ��). In early Chinese thought, every ruler is blessed by one of the Five Processes or Five Phases (wuxing 五行), that of Xuan Yuan was the earth (corresponding colour: yellow), hence his designation "Yellow Emperor".
As a universal ruler, the Yellow Emperor fought against and subdued improper and rebellious rulers and tribes, like Chi You (Chiyou) 蚩尤 in the battle of Zhuolu 涿鹿, the northern Hunzhou �粥, and the Red Emperor (Chi Di [Chidi] 赤帝, also called Yan Di, the "Emperor of the Fire") in the battle of Banquan 阪泉 (might be the same event as in Zhuolu). He replaced Shen Nong as the ruler of the world.
The main wife of the Yellow Emperor was Lei Zu (Leizu) 嫘祖 who invented spinning and weaving. The tomb of the Yellow Emperor (Huangdi Ling �帝陵) is in Qiaoshan �山, Huangling County �陵�/Shaanxi.
Zhuan Xu ��
Zhuan Xu (Zhuanxu) was a son of Chang Yi (Changyi) 昌意 and grand-son of the Yellow Emperor. He resided in Diqiu 帝丘 or Pu 濮, his surname of Gao Yang (Gaoyang) 高� (might also be a place name). He is said to have deepened the knowledge of calendar and astronomy, used ghosts and spirits for assistance in his government - over a realm that covered the surface of modern China (!) - , thought the people by refining the universal breath and installed regulated rituals and sacrifices. One of his sons was Qiong Chan (Qiongchan) �� (also called Qiong Xi [Qiongxi] ��), ancestor of Emperor Shun 舜.
Di Ku 帝�
Di Ku (Diku), also called Gao Xin (Gaoxin) 高辛, was a grandson of Xuan Ao (Xuan'ao) 玄�, a son of the Yellow Emperor. Di Ku's father was Jiao Ji (Jiaoji) ��. His residence was Bo 亳. Di Ku was also a virtuous ruler who impartially served his people, was wise and intelligent. One of his sons by his wife from the Chenfang clan �� was Fang Xun (Fangxun) 放�, another son by his wife née Quji �訾 was Zhi �. When Di Ku died, Zhi succeeded him but resigned after nine years to his younger brother, the Marquis of Tang 唐, Fang Xun, who was also called Yao �.
Yao �
Yao, also called Tang 唐, Tao Tang (Taotang) 陶唐 or Tang-Yao 唐�, was a great-grandson of the Yellow Emperor. Probably Yao was originally not identical with Tao Tang who is chronologically often placed before the Yellow Emperor. Yao and his successor Shun 舜 (the pair Yao-Shun �舜 or Tang-Yu 唐虞) are deeply venerated by the Confucianists as rulers of extraordinary virtue, humanity and kindness. Probably the most important incident during his reign is the implementation of a new calendar by Yi 羲 and He 和 (clan Zhongli 重黎, descendants of the Yellow Emperor). He employed Gun �, an ancestor of Yu the Great 大禹, for the regulation of the rivers - but Gun failed. After seventy years of rule Yao decided to cease his throne to someone worthy. After consulting his ministers, he gave his two daughters Ehuang 娥皇 and Nüying 女英 to Shun 舜 who became the next emperor.
Shun 舜
Shun, also called Yu 虞, Youyu 有虞 or Yu-Shun 虞舜, distant relative of Yao as descendant of the Yellow Emperor, took over the throne of the Son of Heaven (tianzi 天子) from Yao after he had taken over the actual business of ruling the empire already before. It is often told that the rulers of the Xia Dynasty 夏 were the first to establish a succession from father to son, but in fact, the genealogical affiliation of the Five Emperors make them a kind of dynasty too. It is especially the throne succession of Shun that if famous for the custom of giving the throne to the most virtuous man (chanrang ��) instead of the own son. But in fact they were distant relatives.
Shun is probably an ancestor deity of the Shang Dynasty 商, scholars identify him with Kui 夔/Ku �/Jun 俊, a predynastic ancestor of the Shang. Moreover, Shun is said to be from the east where the Longshan culture �山文化 and the early Shang states were located. These eastern peoples were called Yi 夷 (a term later meaning "barbarian") in contrast to the inhabitants of the western Yellow River plain, the Xia 夏.
Shun employed Yu for the regulation of the rivers and should later bestow Yu with the rule of the empire ("all under Heaven" - Tianxia 天下). For a long time he fought against the southern Sanmiao 三苗, a people descandant of the Yellow Emperor's enemy Chi You or of Huan Dou (Huandou) �兜 (also called Huan Tou [Huantou] ��), a son of Zhuan Xu. During this campaign, Shun died in the southern wilderness. Only Yu was able to defeat the Sanmiao finally, many prisoners were made slaves of the Xia.
Shun handed over government to his loyal minister Yu who is seen as the founder of the Xia Dynasty.
Yao, Shun and Yu are three of the holy rulers of antiquity whose government was characterized by humanity, virtue and kindness. The next was Tang the Perfect 成�, founder of the Shang Dynasty 商, followed by the pair Wen-Wu 文武 (King Wen [Wenwang] 周文王 and Wu [Wuwang] 周武王), founders of the Zhou Dynasty 周.
