The Yellow Emperor, better known as Huang Di (also spelt Huangdi), is the man said to be the ancestor of all Chinese, the founder of Chinese civilization and the first of a group known as the Three Sovereigns where he ruled from 2697 to 2587 BC or 2696 to 2598 BC. The name of the Yellow Emperor is Gongsun Xuanyuan and his birth is said to be in Shou Qiu (which is modern day Qufu found within the Shandong Province), becoming first a farmer then later founder of Chinese civilisation.
Before Huang Di became an emperor, order and government is said to be unknown to the world, which he is credited for. During his reign as emperor, Huang Di is said to have been challenged by a rebel god, aided by the Yellow Emperor’s son Fei Lian, whom sent fog and rain to drown imperial armies. However, Huang Di’s daughter, Ba, used her powers to dry up the rain and helped greatly with defeating the rebel god and Fei Lian.
Huang Di is said to have has many achievements, including teaching how to build shelters, how to tame wild animals and how to grow what is known as the five cereals. Huang Di is also known as an inventor, having credit for the invention of carts, boats, bow sling, Chinese astronomy, the Chinese calendar, sound laws, a type of football and clothing. Huang Di also requested a historian, Cang Jie, to create the first Chinese character writing system, with such a request being taken and done. Huang Di also had a wife, Leizu, who taught how to weave silk from Bombyx mori silkworms and how to dye clothes.
Along with gods Fu Xi and Shennong, Huang Di took part in the creation of the musical instrument known as the guqin.
Huang Di is said to have had an interest with medicine and introduced one of the earliest forms of martial arts in China due to this interest, seeing martial arts as a source of good health and self-defence.
Showing posts with label Yellow Emperor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Yellow Emperor. Show all posts
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Gods And Goddesses: Fu Xi
Fu Xi is a god said to have been born with a body of a serpent but a head of a human occurring in the 29th century BC. Fu Xi is the first of the San Huang, a group of three sovereigns of China who taught mankind many important skills and is said to have ruled from 2952BC to 2836BC or from 2852BC to 2737BC.
Besides being described as a man with a head of a man and the body of a serpent, Fu Xi is at times described as a man wearing animal skins and with long hair. Often in Taoist temples Fu Xi is often with the symbol known as the baqua.
Many things are attributed to Fu Xi which include creating the well known symbol called baqua (or Eight Trigrams) that is used in divination, the creation of casting oracles using yarrow stalks, the breeding of silk worms, and the taming of wild animals.
Fu Xi is said to have created the basis of Chinese writing itself and invented the many Chinese family names with the decree that only those with differing family names shall marry.
Fu Xi also taught how to hunt with weapons of iron, while also how to fish with nets in which fishing nets were inspired by a spider weaving a web.
One time, this god came across a tortoise with cosmic numbers on its shell. This lead to Fu Xi’s invention of the Magic Square where all lines add up to fifteen:
4 9 2
3 5 7
8 1 6
Fu Xi, along with the gods Shennong and Huangdi created an instrument called guqin that is also referred as “the father of Chinese music” and “the instrument of the sages”.
A marriage between Fu Xi and his sister, Nu Wa, occurred after approval from Heaven using smoke from fire. Both Fu Xi and Nu Wa appear in the Dynasty Warriors games after Dynasty Warriors 3 with Fu Xi being depicted as a 180cm tall eighteen year old.
Besides being described as a man with a head of a man and the body of a serpent, Fu Xi is at times described as a man wearing animal skins and with long hair. Often in Taoist temples Fu Xi is often with the symbol known as the baqua.
Many things are attributed to Fu Xi which include creating the well known symbol called baqua (or Eight Trigrams) that is used in divination, the creation of casting oracles using yarrow stalks, the breeding of silk worms, and the taming of wild animals.
Fu Xi is said to have created the basis of Chinese writing itself and invented the many Chinese family names with the decree that only those with differing family names shall marry.
Fu Xi also taught how to hunt with weapons of iron, while also how to fish with nets in which fishing nets were inspired by a spider weaving a web.
One time, this god came across a tortoise with cosmic numbers on its shell. This lead to Fu Xi’s invention of the Magic Square where all lines add up to fifteen:
4 9 2
3 5 7
8 1 6
Fu Xi, along with the gods Shennong and Huangdi created an instrument called guqin that is also referred as “the father of Chinese music” and “the instrument of the sages”.
A marriage between Fu Xi and his sister, Nu Wa, occurred after approval from Heaven using smoke from fire. Both Fu Xi and Nu Wa appear in the Dynasty Warriors games after Dynasty Warriors 3 with Fu Xi being depicted as a 180cm tall eighteen year old.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Gods And Goddesses: Zhu Rong
Zhu Rong is the god of fire and the ruler of the southern hemisphere who can be recognised as a man in armour, wielding a sword and riding a tiger. He is said to be one of the gods who helped separate Heaven and earth.
Zhu Rong has to be most famous for battling Gong Gong who is said to be either a water god or water demon. It is said that Gong Gong had done some lovely flood causing and even the son of Zhu Rong himself, not only that but Gong Gong apparently wanted to seize the throne of Heaven to which is said why Zhu Rong and Gong Gong fought. The battle between the two is said to have started in Heaven which lasted for days, eventually the two fell to earth and Zhu Rong won.
While Zhu Rong did win against Gong Gong and returned to Heaven victorious, Gong Gong did sort of commit suicide that in turn caused one very large flood.
Those who have read Romance of Three Kingdoms may remember Lady Zhurong (or Madam Zhurong as she is sometimes called), a wife of a chieftain called Meng Huo. It is Lady Zhurong who is said to be a descendant of Zhu Rong himself and like many characters of Romance of Three Kingdoms appears in the Dynasty Warriors games where Lady Zhurong is called Zhu Rong.
In other media Zhu Rong appears on a card, the card game in question in which he appears in is Anachronism.
Zhu Rong himself is said to have been an official in charge of fire under the Yellow Emperor and the son of a tribal leader. Zhu Rong is said to have been known as Li or Chu Jung as a child who was tall and intelligent yet had a bad temper. Zhu Rong is also said to have used fire in war, even helping the Yellow Emperor win a battle at a place called Zhuolu Plain using fire attacks.
Another person discovered the method of making fire by drilling wood by didn’t know much about keeping or utilizing fire so Zhu Rong, seeing as he had a special bond with fire, became an expert in managing fire, using fire itself for cooking, heating, lighting and driving both insects and beasts away.
Zhu Rong is even said to have discovered the method of creating fire by hitting two stones together.
A lovely person called Tetsakumi is said to have imprisoned the Queen Mother of the West, hoping to get a peach of immortality. Queen Mother of the West was able to get a message to the ruler of Heaven, Jade Emperor, who gave Zhu Rong the title Heavenly Executioner and sent him to deal with Tetsakumi. Tetsakumi tried to avoid Zhu Rong as much as possible, which included sacrificing the lives of others and thanks to this Zhu Rong got so enraged by the deaths that Heaven shook.
Zhu Rong did eventually get to deal with Tetsakumi but got a mortal wound during the battle with Tetsakumi, Queen Mother of the West tried to save Zhu Rong by feeding him a peach of immortality which did not work. The Jade Emperor decreed that Zhu Rong shall be eternally reincarnated until he learnt to control his own temper, where if done he will gain his place as the god of fire and Heavenly Executioner once again.
There are some monks living in mountainous regions who are said are trying to search for the child who is the reincarnation of Zhu Rong for the purpose of guiding the child so he can get his place in Heaven.
Zhu Rong has to be most famous for battling Gong Gong who is said to be either a water god or water demon. It is said that Gong Gong had done some lovely flood causing and even the son of Zhu Rong himself, not only that but Gong Gong apparently wanted to seize the throne of Heaven to which is said why Zhu Rong and Gong Gong fought. The battle between the two is said to have started in Heaven which lasted for days, eventually the two fell to earth and Zhu Rong won.
While Zhu Rong did win against Gong Gong and returned to Heaven victorious, Gong Gong did sort of commit suicide that in turn caused one very large flood.
Those who have read Romance of Three Kingdoms may remember Lady Zhurong (or Madam Zhurong as she is sometimes called), a wife of a chieftain called Meng Huo. It is Lady Zhurong who is said to be a descendant of Zhu Rong himself and like many characters of Romance of Three Kingdoms appears in the Dynasty Warriors games where Lady Zhurong is called Zhu Rong.
In other media Zhu Rong appears on a card, the card game in question in which he appears in is Anachronism.
Zhu Rong himself is said to have been an official in charge of fire under the Yellow Emperor and the son of a tribal leader. Zhu Rong is said to have been known as Li or Chu Jung as a child who was tall and intelligent yet had a bad temper. Zhu Rong is also said to have used fire in war, even helping the Yellow Emperor win a battle at a place called Zhuolu Plain using fire attacks.
Another person discovered the method of making fire by drilling wood by didn’t know much about keeping or utilizing fire so Zhu Rong, seeing as he had a special bond with fire, became an expert in managing fire, using fire itself for cooking, heating, lighting and driving both insects and beasts away.
Zhu Rong is even said to have discovered the method of creating fire by hitting two stones together.
A lovely person called Tetsakumi is said to have imprisoned the Queen Mother of the West, hoping to get a peach of immortality. Queen Mother of the West was able to get a message to the ruler of Heaven, Jade Emperor, who gave Zhu Rong the title Heavenly Executioner and sent him to deal with Tetsakumi. Tetsakumi tried to avoid Zhu Rong as much as possible, which included sacrificing the lives of others and thanks to this Zhu Rong got so enraged by the deaths that Heaven shook.
Zhu Rong did eventually get to deal with Tetsakumi but got a mortal wound during the battle with Tetsakumi, Queen Mother of the West tried to save Zhu Rong by feeding him a peach of immortality which did not work. The Jade Emperor decreed that Zhu Rong shall be eternally reincarnated until he learnt to control his own temper, where if done he will gain his place as the god of fire and Heavenly Executioner once again.
There are some monks living in mountainous regions who are said are trying to search for the child who is the reincarnation of Zhu Rong for the purpose of guiding the child so he can get his place in Heaven.
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