ExclusiveThe Five Emperors｜Huangdi, Zhuan Xu, Emperor Ku, Emperor Yao, and Shun and their time

The period of the five emperors was the first stage of China's nearly 5,000 years of civilization. It is between the long period of the three sovereigns and the Xia dynasty, the first dynasty in China. In traditional Chinese culture, the unity of man and nature is emphasized. Heaven, earth, and man are listed as the three talents. If something big will happen in the world, the celestial phenomena will be revealed, and there will be corresponding signs in nature to foreshadow human beings. Therefore, the ancients often watched the sky at night to predict the major events that would happen in the world. The stars that can be observed by the human eye correspond to the human world. They're divided by the ancients into three yuans and four images. Zi Wei Yuan in the center represents the place where the emperor of the heaven lives and corresponds to the royal family in the world. Tai Wei Yuan represents the heavenly court corresponding to the imperial court in the world. Tai Wei Yuan is centered on the five emperor thrones. They are the brightest five stars in Tai Wei Yuan, representing the position of the five heavenly emperors who oversees the five directions of east, south, west, north, and center, representing the five elements of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. Confucius said the five heavenly emperors represent the five elements and are the gods of the five elements. They cultivate all things according to different time orders. The essence of the five heavenly emperors descended into the human world and they became the five emperors and they represented the different virtues of the five elements in the human world. According to Sima Qian, the five emperors were the Yellow Emperor, Zhuan Xu, Emperor Ku, Emperor Yao, and Shun, although not only five emperors ruled the world during this time. The Yellow Emperor. The Yellow Emperor, also known as Huangdi, is considered the originator of Chinese civilization and the ancestor of all Huaxia people. He supposedly ruled from 2697 BC to 2597 BC. Many scholars believe that Huangdi was a deity but was later transformed into a human ruler in Chinese mythology to teach humankind. After the had a fight. Emperor Yan tried to conquer other tribes which led to these tribes joining Yellow Emperor. The Yellow Emperor fought against Emperor Yan in the countryside of Banquan and obtained victory after several battles. His victory won him the leadership of all the tribes in the Central Plains. Therefore, the Yellow Emperor became the first emperor in Chinese history who conquered the world by force and unified the Huaxia people. According to Shi Yiji, supplementary notes, after the Yellow Emperor killed Chiyou, he moved the kind-hearted people from the Jiu Li tribe to Zou Tu and the brutal and evil people to the cold land in the north. These are the ancestors of people with the surnames of Zou, Tu, Chi, Li in the Han nationality today. The rest of the remnants scattered around and evolved into the later Three Miao. The legendary rhyme of the Yellow Emperor is credited with the introduction of establishing calendar, sowing all kinds of grains and trees, creating characters, determining astromatic, making rhymes, building wooden houses, cards, boats, bows and arrows, etc. Some traditions also credit him with the introduction of governmental institutions and the use of coined money. Among his other accomplishments, the Yellow Emperor is also credited with the invention of the principles of traditional Chinese medicine. The Huangdi Leijin, also called the Yellow Emperor's Classic of Medicine, is supposed to have been written by Huangdi, has been the highest Chinese authority on medical matters. The emphasis is on the preventive rather than the curative. Huangdi's wife Luo Zu is said to have taught the Chinese how to breed silkworms and weave fabrics of silk. The Yellow Emperor is held up in some ancient sources as a paragon of wisdom whose reign was a golden age. He sought to build a kingdom whose tranquil inhabitants lived in harmonious accord with the natural law and possessed virtues. Upon his death, the Yellow Emperor was said to have become an immortal. After the Yellow Emperor ascended to immortality by dragon, his son Shao Hao took over his position. Shao Hao was also a very virtuous ruler. He ruled the world for 84 years. After Shao Hao's death, his nephew Gao Yang succeeded him as Emperor Zhuan Xu, who ruled for a modest 78 years as the second of the five emperors. It is said that before Zhuan Xu, it was easier for humans to communicate with heavenly beings and demigods. Ancient witches were also easily sighted and were able to call for wind and rain. Guo Yu, which was classified as miscellaneous history in Si Ku Quan Shu records a conversation between King Zhao of Chu and Guan She Fu about Zhuan Xu breaking the direct contact between human and gods. Guan She Fu said that in ancient times, only a person who was focused, sensitive, penetrating, pure, and noble would the gods send on him so that he could become a media for communication between people and the gods. At the end of the Shao Hao period, the Zhou Li people lost their morality. There was no reverence for the gods. Every family had a history of witchcraft, which made people and the gods mixed, and heaven and earth lost their original order. Seeing this situation, Emperor Zhuan Xu ordered Mu Zhen Zhong to be in charge of the sky and Huo Zhen Li to be in charge of the earth so as to separate man and god so that each took his place and restored the order of heaven and earth. Zhuan Xu's Jue Di Tian Tong ended the unique era in ancient times, the coexistence of humans and god, and it started the era of humanity. Since then, god's care and guidance for human beings has gradually changed from a direct way of showing miracles to a more hidden way. Emperor Ku Emperor Ku, or the White Emperor, was the great-grandson of the Yellow Emperor. He ruled as the third of the five emperors from 2436 BC to 2366 BC for 70 years. According to Shi Ji, or records of the grand historian, Emperor Ku said his name as soon as he was born. He was born with paroled teeth and had the virtue of a saint. After Emperor Ku came to the throne, he continued to implement Zhuan Xu's way of governing the country. Shi Ji praised, The Emperor Ku governs the country like rain irrigating farmland. He is impartial. Wherever the sun and the moon can shine and where the wind and the rain can reach, there is no one who disobeys. Emperor Yao and Shun After Emperor Ku's death, the eldest son Zhi succeeded the throne. It is said that Emperor Zhi reigned for nine years without any achievements, but Yao was a man of great virtues. So Emperor Zhi passed the throne to Yao. Emperor Yao is viewed as the wisest sage king and the paragon of moral perfection. Two remarkable events marked Yao's reign. A rampaging flood was brought under control by Dayu, and Hou Yi, the lord archer, saved the world from destruction by shooting down nine of the ten suns burning up the earth. According to Shang Shu, the Book of Document, During the reign of Emperor Yao, a great flood came down from the sky and the water and sky were connected submerging the mountains and hills. Emperor Yao was distressed that his nine suns were useless as they were lack of virtues and talents. Yao sought to find someone who could control the flood. Siyue, the four mountains, recommended Shun. Shun's stepmother and half-brother treated him often forcing him to do all the hard work in the family and only giving him the worst food and clothing. Shun's father, being blind and elderly, was often ignorant of his good deeds and always blamed him for everything. Yet, despite these conditions, Shun never complained and always treated his father, his stepmother, and his half-brother with kindness and respect. Emperor Yao proceeded to put Shun through a series of tests, beginning with marrying his two daughters to Shun. Shun carefully respected and practiced the five virtues of righteousness, kindness, friendliness, respect, and filial piety. After three years of testing, Emperor Yao was very impressed and chose Shun as his successor as he knew well that all sages and great men in history need to meet three criteria, destiny, virtue, and talent. According to the Kaling of Shun, Shun began to reign at the age of 30, reigned with Yao for 30 years, and reigned 50 more years after Yao's abdication. Emperor Yao studied the system of abdication in Chinese history. Later, Shun considered his son Shangjun as unworthy and picked Yu, the Tamer of floods, as his heir. Five years after Shun passed his throne to Yu, Shun decided to tour the country. But unfortunately, he died suddenly of an illness on the journey near the Xiang River. Both his wives rushed from home to his body and wept by the river for days. Their tears turned into blood and stained the reeds by the river. From that day on, the bamboo of that region became red spotted, which explains the origin of spotted bamboo. Then, overcome by grief, both women threw themselves into the river and drowned. Yao and Shun were glorified for their virtue by Confucian philosophers in later centuries. Shun was particularly renowned for his modesty and filial piety. The period of the Three Sovereigns and the Five Emperors experienced a state of coexistence of human beings and gods. The Chinese civilization was a semi-god culture. Sarah's history of China. See you soon!