The Yellow Emperor
Origin of the Yellow Emperor
The Yellow Emperor was the first sovereign of civilized China and is recognized as the common ancestor of the Chinese people. The Yellow Emperor, whose surname was Gongsun, is also called Xuanyuanshi after Xuanyuan Hill, the place of his birth in the northwest of present-day Xinzheng County, Henan province, and Youxiongshi after the name of his capital (present-day Xinzheng County). The Yellow Emperor is one of the Three founding fathers of Taoism and he is considered the intiator of the Taoist faith. The practice of respecting and praying to heaven came from him
A son of Shaodianshi, the Yellow Emperor was born numinous. The Records of the Historian says that he was the "emperor with the Virtue of Earth, and was thus called the Yellow Emperor". The Books of Auguries of the Han dynasty contain much about the Yellow Emperor, stating that he was the Dipper Deity, and telling a story about his birth.
Fubao, the Yellow Emperor's mother, went out of the city one day and felt in resonance with a huge bright lightning flashing around the Big Dipper. She gave birth to the Yellow Emperor, who was born with the three characters "Yellow Emperor Son" on his chest. He had the magic power to control and order deities and spirits, as is recorded in the Biographies of the Immortals4. Believing in the Yellow Emperor's magic power, early Daoism developed some Magical Instruments5, such as the "Yellow Spirit's Yue Talisman"6 to expel ghosts and the "Healing Bottle" to eliminate the misfortunes of the living and dead.
The military skill of the Yellow Emperor
1. The battle of Banquan. At that time, the Yan Emperor Shen Nongshi the 8th, the lord of the world, was a cruel ruler abandoning Dao. The Yellow Emperor, leading the dukes and princes, battled with and defeated Shen Nongshi at Banquan (in the east of present-day Zhuolu County, Henan Province). He replaced Shennongshi as the lord of the world, ruling a territory stretching to the sea in the East, to Gansu in the West, to Hebei in the North and to the Yangtze River in the South.
2. The Battle of Zhuolu. At that time, most dukes were subjected to the Yellow Emperor, with the sole exception of Chiyou of the Miao tribe. The Yellow Emperor battled with him at Zhuolu. Chiyou could create fog covering five miles and the Yellow Emperor couldn't defeat him for a long time. Then, the Yellow Emperor made a compass cart (a cart with a deity on it always pointing South) to orient himself. The Queen Mother of the West8 sent the Mysterious Maiden of the Nine Heavens9 down to the world to transmit Numinous Talismans, Taoist Skills and the Book of Secret Correspondences to the Yellow Emperor. Thus, Chiyou was caught and killed, and the world was pacified.
The civilizing work of the Yellow Emperor
After pacifying the world, the Yellow Emperor, together with his ministers, created civilized systems and thus brought the people into civilized life with the following inventions:
Calendar: The Yellow Emperor ordered Danao to invent the Jiazi, a system for counting time with the ten Celestial Trunks13 matching the twelve Earthly Branches. The Lunar calendar (with a cycle of sixty years from Jiazi to Guihai), which is still in use today, came from the Sixty Original Years of Taoism. The Taoist calender orignated from here.
Mathematics: Lishou invented numbers and established the system of measurements of length, mass and weight.
Army: Fenghouyan mastered the magic charts and invented the art of military discipline.
Music: Linglun invented the flute using bamboo from Xiegu valley and set the Five Musical Notes and Twelve Tones16, which are identical with those of today.
Clothes: Leizu, the Yellow Emperor's queen, first raised silkworms and made clothes with silk.
Medicine: The Yellow Emperor discussed diseases and thus authored the Inner Book of the Simple Questions of the Yellow Emperor17, the founding classic of Chinese medicine.
Writing: Cangjie invented Chinese characters, using the six methods of character construction.
Casting: Coins were made with brass from Mt Shou.
Others: The boat and the cart, the bow and arrow, the house, etc. were invented.
The Yellow Emperor Attains Immortality
At the age of 100, the Yellow Emperor abandoned the throne and made friends with immortals (such as Wugangzi, Rongchengzi, Guangchengzi, Zifuxianshen and Zhonghuang Zhangren). He extracted brass from Mt Shou and cast a cauldron at Mt Jin. When the cauldron was accomplished, he was already one hundred. Riding a dragon which had come down to receive him, he ascended to Heaven and became one of the Five Emperors of Heaven.