Yellow Emperor

Yellow emperor
Yellow emperor
Ancestral name (姓): Gōngsūn (公孫)[1]
Given name (名): Xuānyuán (軒轅)[1]
One of Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors
Dates of reign: 2696-2598 BCE [2]
Official title: Yellow Emperor (黃帝)
Temple name: None.
Posthumous name: None.
Dates are in the proleptic Julian calendar
Huang di
Traditional Chinese 黃帝
Simplified Chinese 黄帝
Literal meaning Yellow Emperor
Gongsun Xuanyuan
Traditional Chinese 公孫軒轅
Simplified Chinese 公孙轩辕

Huang-di or the Yellow Emperor, is a legendary Chinese sovereign and cultural hero presented in Chinese mythology. He is said to be the ancestor of all Huaxia Chinese.[3] According to many sources he was one of the legendary Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors.[4] Tradition holds that he reigned from 2697-2597 BCE[5] or 2696-2598 BCE.[2] He is regarded as the founder of Chinese civilization.[2]

Contents

Name of Yellow emperor

In the Records of the Grand Historian, the first annal, first sentence, first few words began with the identity of the Yellow emperor.[1] Sima Qian, author of the records, gave considerable weight to the historicity of the emperor. For example, the Three Sovereigns has Fu Xi, Nüwa, and Yan emperor/Shennong, but he carefully chose to begin with the Yellow Emperor.[6] He refrained from beginning the records with any of the other legendary figures of greater claimed antiquity.[6]

The Yellow emperor's surname is Gōngsūn (公孫), while his first name is Xuānyuán (軒轅).[7] His full name was Gōngsūn Xuānyuán (公孫軒轅). He also has the Hào name (號) Xuānyuán-si (軒轅氏) and Youxiong-si (有熊氏).[8] Xuānyuán is said by some to be the name of a village.[2] Youxiong was a name taken from hereditary.[2]

Early years

Yellow emperor and Yan emperor were each leaders of a tribe benefited by the Yellow river.[9] At the earliest, he lived with his tribe in the northwest near Ji river (姬水) and later ended up at Zhuolu (涿鹿).[9] He then became a farmer taming 6 different special beasts, the bear (熊), brown bear (羆), pi (貔), xiu (貅), chu (貙) and tiger (虎).[9] Yan emperor was from a different area.

Both emperors lived in a time of warfare.[10] Yan emperor was unable to control the disorder, thus the Yellow emperor began taking up arms to establish his domination over various warring factions.[10]

Achievements

Yellow emperor is also known as an inventor who improved the livelihood of the nomadic hunter lifestyle. He taught people how to cover up shelter, tame wild animals, how to grow the five Chinese cereals.[8] He also invented carts, boats and clothing.[8] As a request the emperor's historian Cāng Jié created the first Chinese character writing system, changing the way history is recorded via turtle Oracle bone script in the coming dynasties.[8] The system later became the base for the genealogy of many scripts. Yellow emperor's wife Léizǔ taught people how to weave silk from Bombyx mori silkworms and dye clothes in color.[8]

Most recognized today is the Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon on internal medicine, supposedly the oldest medical book that form the basis of Traditional Chinese medicine.[2] Though there are doubts that Yellow emperor was not the author. As it may have been written in collaboration with his physician minister Qibo much later in between the Zhou and Han dynasties.[2]

Other inventions credited to the emperor include basic clothes, guan mian crowns (冠冕), palace rooms (宮室), bow sling, early astronomy, Chinese calendar calculations and sound laws (音律).[11] He is also said to have played a part in the creation of the Guqin, together with Fuxi and Yan emperor.[12] It is also during this time that Ling Lun created music, while Yan emperor created the musical instruments.[13]

At one point in his reign, the emperor was also at the mythical East sea and met a talking-capable beast called the Bai Ze who taught him the knowledge of all supernatural creatures.[14][15] This beast explained to him there were 11,522 existing creature types, though some sources claim 1,522 types.[15][14]

Epic battles

When Yan emperor was leading his tribe, he met a frightening force called Chi You who led the nine Li barbarian tribes (九黎).[9] Immediately they became an enemy of one another. According to legend Chi You had a bronze head with metal foreheads.[9] He is said to be unbelievably fierce having 81 brothers.[3] Each having 4 eyes and 6 arms wielding terrible sharp weapons in every hand.[3] Their head is also that of a bull with two horns, but the body is that of a human.[3]

Yan emperor stood no chance and lost the fight. He escaped and later ended up in Zhuolu begging for help from the Yellow emperor.[9] At this point the epic Battle of Zhuolu between Chi You and the Yellow emperor forces began. Yellow emperor rallied his army along with the 6 types of special beasts that he tamed.[9] Along with the legend is that Chi You breathed out a thick fog and obscured the sunlight.[16] The battle dragged on for days while the emperor's side was in danger.[3]

Yellow emperor's army fell into disarray and could not find their way out of the battlefield. At this critical moment the emperor invented the South Pointing Chariot, and ordered its construction on the battlefield.[16][3] With the device he was able to lead his army out of the fog. Chi You then conjured up a heavy storm. Yellow emperor then called upon the gods, who blew away the storm clouds and cleared the battlefield.[16] Chi You and his army could not hold up and was later killed off by the Yellow emperor.[9] While this battle was a victory, the Yellow and Yan emperor had a conflict with each other. Thus began the Battle of Banquan at a place called Banquan (阪泉).[9] Yan emperor would eventually lose. The ancient place is then renamed to "Huangdiquan" (黃帝泉).[17] After this battle, he officially replaced Yan emperor as the official ruler.[10]

Legacy

Yellowemperor2.jpg

Family of Yellow emperor

Yellow emperor's father is Shaodian (少典), while mother is Fu Pao (附寶).[1][18][2] The emperor himself had a total of 25 sons, 14 of whom began their own surnames and clans.[19][1] His first wife, Léi Zǔ from Xiling bore him two sons.[1] The oldest was Shaohao, known in the Record of Grand Historian as Xuanxiao (玄囂), who lived in Qingyang by the Yangtze River.[1] Changyi, the younger, lived by the Ruo river (若水). He died and was succeeded by Changyi's son, Zhuanxu.[1] Yellow emperor had a total of four wives named. The others were named were in the order of 2nd wife Fanglei (封嫘), 3rd wife Tongyu (彤魚) and last wife Momu (嫫母).[18][20]

Ancestry

According to the Mausoleum of the Yellow Emperor in modern day Shaanxi, Yellow emperor shares ancestry with that of a Zhongyuan race that was under the Ji surname (姬), which he took from the Ji river.[8][2] Three eras of emperor kings were all direct descendent of the Yellow emperor.[11]

  1. Zhuanxu, Diku, Tang Yao, Yu Shun[11]
  2. Xia dynasty[11]
  3. Shang dynasty[11]

Only after Yellow emperor did people begin to get a better idea of the earliest ancient ancestors of the Zhonghua minzu.[11] Since then, the Yellow emperor is said to be the ancestor of all Huaxia Chinese.[3] Modern day Chinese people generally refer to this ancestral connection as the "Descendants of Yan & Yellow Emperors" (炎黃子孫).[8] Other minority groups in China may have their own myths or do not count toward as descendant of the emperor.[19]

Yuanshi

The following gives an idea of "Yuanshi / Yunci" society (原始社會), literally "original society".[9] The Yi distinction is known as Hua-Yi distinction.

Tribe class Main tribe ancestors
Yanhuang (炎黃)[9] Yan emperor, Yellow emperor[9]
Dongyi (東夷)[9] Chi You (蚩尤), Tai hao (太昊), Shaohao (小昊), Shang (商) [9]
Miao (苗), Man (蠻)[9] Zhurong (祝融), Baipu (百濮) [9]
Bai Yue (百越)[9] Wuyue (吳越), Nanyue (南越), Ouyue (甌越), Coyue (楚越) [9]

Grand exit

When the Yellow emperor lived for over a hundred years, he arranged his worldly affairs with his ministers, and prepared for his journey to the Heavens. At the close of Yellow emperor's long reign was made glorious by the appearance of a phoenix and a mysterious animal known as the Qilin in token of his administration.[2] Two tombs were built in Shaanxi within the Mausoleum of the Yellow Emperor, in addition to others in Henan, Hebei and Gansu provinces.[21] The Yellow Emperor have been commemorated ever since the Spring and Autumn Period.[22]

Society influence

A section of the actual poem from the Tong sing

Dynasty eras

In religion Laozi from a later period is generally regarded as the founder of Taoism. Some of the religion's precepts were formulated by the Yellow emperor.[23] Other text associated with the emperor include the Four classics of the Yellow emperor or the Yellow Emperor's Hidden Talisman Classic.[24]

In the Tong sing there is a section call the Yellow emperor's poem and Four season (軒轅黃帝四季詩日).[23] This page supposedly allow you to make predictions.[23] It is certain that the emperor himself did not write this poem, but the compiler of the Tong sing assumed mentioning his name would be good, since the emperor was closely associated with divine beings and forces of nature.[23]

"Xuanyuan 12" (軒轅十二) is also the Chinese star name for Gamma Leonis in the Leo constellation.[25]

Qin state King Ying Zheng hoped to appropriate some of the Yellow emperor's divine status, and called himself Qin Shi "Huang", first emperor of Qin dynasty.[26]

In the Hall of Supreme Harmony is a mirror named after the emperor's first name "Xuanyuan Mirror" (軒轅寶鏡).[27][28]

Modern

People's Republic of China paramount leader Deng Xiaoping argued for Chinese reunification because Taiwan is rooted in the hearts of the descendants of the Yellow emperor.[19] The PRC also acclaimed a Chinese American astronaut (Taylor Wang) as the first Yellow emperor descendent to travel in space.[19]

After the Chinese Civil War in 1949 the Kuomintang and the Republic of China relocated to Taiwan island. Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek made it a rule for the Republic of China to pay homage from Taiwan to the Yellow emperor on tomb Sweeping day on April 4, 1949.[29] But he never paid homage nor did his son Chiang Ching-kuo.[29]

On April 4, 2009 president Ma Ying-jeou paid respect to the emperor at the Taipei Martyrs' Shrine, while Lien Chan and his wife Lien Fang-yu paid homage to the Mausoleum in Huangling Yan'an in mainland China.[22][30]

Professor researcher Ye Shuxian (葉舒憲) associated the emperor with the bear legends among northeast Asia people and the Dangun legend.[31] According to Western writer Louis Crompton's book on homosexuality, the eminent bibliographer Ji Yun, in his popular Notes from the "Yue-wei" Hermitage in (1800) said the Yellow Emperor was also the first to take male bedmates.[32]

Popular culture

See also

Bibliography

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 iFeng.com. "iFeng.com." 史記 五帝本紀 not publicly modifiable version of Record of Grand historian, section regarding three sovereigns and five emperors. Retrieved on 2010-08-22.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 Veith, Ilza. [2002] (2002). The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine. University of California Press. ISBN 0520229363, 9780520229365. pg 5-6.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 王恆偉. (2005) (2006) 中國歷史講堂 #1 遠古至春秋. 中華書局. ISBN 962-8885-24-3. p 11-13.
  4. ↑ 劉煒/著. [2002] (2002) Chinese civilization in a new light 中華文明傳真#1 原始社會：東方的曙光. Publishing Company. ISBN 9620753143. pg 142.
  5. ↑ "Yellow Emperor." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Encyclopedia.com
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Wu, 49-50, and chapter end-notes.
  7. ↑ Huangdi.cnwest.com. "Huangdi.cnwest.com." 轩辕黄帝与西安. Retrieved on 2010-08-22.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 戴逸, 龔書鐸. [2002] (2003) 中國通史. 史前 夏 商 西周. Intelligence press. ISBN 9628792806. p 33.
  9. ↑ 9.00 9.01 9.02 9.03 9.04 9.05 9.06 9.07 9.08 9.09 9.10 9.11 9.12 9.13 9.14 9.15 9.16 9.17 戴逸, 龔書鐸. [2002] (2003) 中國通史. 史前 夏 商 西周. Intelligence press. ISBN 9628792806. p 32.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Haw, Stephen G. [2007] (2007). Beijing a Concise History. Routledge. ISBN 978041539906-7. pg 15-16.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 11.5 王仲孚. [1997] (1997). 中國文化史. 五南圖書出版股份有限公司 publishing. ISBN 9571114278, 9789571114279. pg 13.
  12. ↑ Yin, Wei. Zhongguo Qinshi Yanyi 【中国琴史演义】. Pages 1-10.
  13. ↑ 黃大受. [1989] (1989). 中國通史, Volume 2. 五南圖書出版股份有限公司 publishing. ISBN 9571100315, 9789571100319.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 iFeng.com. "iFeng.com." 背叛者白澤. Retrieved on 2010-09-04.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 洪葛, 顧久. [2005] (2005). 抱朴子內篇. 台灣書房出版有限公司 publisher. ISBN 9867332466, 9789867332462. pg 474.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 Big5.china.com.cn. "Big5.china.com.cn." 黃帝大戰蚩尤與指南車. Retrieved on 2010-08-22.
  17. ↑ Culture.hebei.com.cn. "Culture.hebei.com.cn." 涿鹿、阪泉、釜山考. Retrieved on 2010-08-22.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Chinareviewnews.com. "Chinareviewnews.com." 歷代后妃中的超級醜女. Retrieved on 2010-08-22.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 19.3 Frank Dikötter. [1997] (1997). The construction of racial identities in China and Japan: historical and contemporary perspectives. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 0824819195, 9780824819194. pg 81-83.
  20. ↑ Big5.huaxia.com. "Big5.huaxia.com." 嫫母與軒轅作鏡. Retrieved on 2010-09-04.
  21. ↑ China.org.cn. "China.org.cn." Mausoleums of the Yellow Emperor . Retrieved on 2010-08-29.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 Chinadaily.com.cn. "[ww.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2009-04/04/content_7649495.htm Chinadaily.com.cn]." Taiwan leader pay tributes to Yellow Emperor. Retrieved on 2010-09-04.
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 23.2 23.3 Windridge, Charles. [1999] (2003) Tong Sing The Chinese Book of Wisdom. Kyle Cathie Limited. ISBN 0-7607-4535-8. pg 59. pg 107.
  24. ↑ Big5.china.com.cn. "Big5.china.com.cn." 《黃帝四經》的傳說. Retrieved on 2010-08-29.
  25. ↑ Lcsd.gov.hk. "Lcsd.gov.hk." Hong Kong Leisure and Cultural Services Department star list. Retrieved on 2010-08-29.
  26. ↑ Fowler, Jeaneane D. (2005). An Introduction to the Philosophy and Religion of Taoism: Pathways to Immortality. Sussex Academic Press. ISBN 1845190866, 9781845190866. pg 132.
  27. ↑ Maine.edu. "Maine.edu." Hall of supreme harmoney. Retrieved on 2010-08-29.
  28. ↑ Singtao.ca. "Singtao.ca." 金鑾寶座軒轅鏡 御門聽政太和殿. Retrieved on 2010-08-29.
  29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 Chinapost.com.tw. "Chinapost.com.tw." President Ma pays homage in person to the Yellow Emperor. Retrieved on 2010-09-04.
  30. ↑ Chinadaily.net. "Chinadaily.net." 10,000 Chinese pay homage to Yellow Emperor. Retrieved on 2010-09-04.
  31. ↑ 《龙图腾:中国祖先神话探源》, 上海文艺出版社, edition July 2007
  32. ↑ Crompton, Louis, Homosexuality and Civilization, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2003, p. 214
Yellow Emperor
Regnal titles
Preceded by
Yandi		 Mythological Emperor of China
c. 2697 BC – c. 2598 BC		 Succeeded by
Shaohao