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Chinese Silk Fan

A Chinese Medicine Pot without lid fitted

Zhaoqing at Night - Seen from 7-Stars Lake and Crags

Making a Silk Fan by Hand In Guilin

Lion Dance

Ancient and Modern Mix in Foshan City

Terracotta Warriors, Xi'an

Local Fisherman of the Li River, Guilin. The Cormorant's are trained birds used for fishing! They can count up to 7 fish, after which time they will not dive again unless fed!

Ding Hu San, personal picture - This is a very BIG cooking pot! It is Used For Cooking on Special Days and can Feed over 2, 000 People

Farmer Collecting Firewood - Guilin

Rice Terraces near YangShuo, Guilin

View Over Irrigation Channel and Rice Fields - Toisan
Chinese History
Huang Di
Three Sovereigns

The era is around 3, 000 BC (Or 5, 000 BC or 7, 000 BC depending upon your sources), and it is a time of myths and legends. During the earliest times, three great Sovereigns arose, and these are known as: The Heavenly Sovereign Fuxi, The Earthly Sovereign Nüwa, and The Human Sovereign Shennong. Fuxi and Nüwa are similar to Western Adam and Eve. They are the first God and Goddess, or first Man and Woman. They appear as the creators of humankind after a great flood.

Fuxi is attributed with inventing the ‘Bagua’, which is a foremost concept in basic Taoist thinking, and also represents Yin and Yang. It is represented by a very early form of writing which uses three lines of dots and dashes (Simplified) known as trigrams

  Image: Bagua

Fuxi and Nüwa produce a Son called Shennong, who is known as the first human being. He creates farming, invented the plough and fishing, medicine; and also money and places to exchange goods. This could be said to represent the dawn of civilisation with people making villages and living in one place for the first time.

The Five Emperors

References for this period are at best conflicting. The ‘I Ching’, Songs of Chu, and The Book of Rites each ascribe different names, or include the 3 Sovereigns. So let us stick with archaeological and documented facts.

The Yellow Emperor was called Huang Di (), who was most famous of the Five Emperors. Huang Di, Yan Di and Chi You were Warlords and controllers of a large areas of land on the middle reaches of the Yangtze river. The area corresponds to modern day Henan and neighbouring Shaanxi Provinces. At this time other cultures were also flourishing to the north along The Yellow River. Huang Di and Yan Di were related, whilst Chi You was a Southern invader.

There was a three-way war for control going on, with some texts saying that Huang Di first defeated Yan Di, and then Chi You; whilst the more popular comment is that Huang Di, Yan Di, and all the other tribes banded together to defeat Chi You, then had a war amongst themselves. Recent archaeology tends to support the former theory and evidence concerning the main battle is also being corroborated. For instance, the site of the battle is now fixed, and it is known that Huang Di used local knowledge of sudden local fog to outwit Chi You. However it was his invention of the 'South Pointing Chariot' that secured his edge in this battle.

The South pointing Chariot was a real device, and a vehicle with a non-magnetic indicator on top that always points south. We presume this to be some form of mechanical contraption that was first set to true south before battle commenced. The actual plans were known to exist, but were destroyed millennia later by zealous warlords seeking to protect themselves from possible dangers. Therefore we do not actually know how the chariot worked, but documentation of the design's destruction suggest it existed. Given the battle took place in severe fog, this chariot enabled Huang Di to control his troops to great effect. The battle ground was actually a plain bounded by a river to one side, and ringed by mountains on the other three sides. Militarists may quickly deduce the importance of knowing which way south is, which is your adversaries homeland, to be highly significant - especially for a battle waged within a large but yet confined space.

Whichever theory you subscribe to, the fact remains that of the three Kings, Huangdi won, and became the first leader of a united China. However, he is not the first Emperor of China, as that comes several millennia later.

Ancient Empires
Huangdi is known as the forefather of the Han Chinese, and most Chinese today trace their cultural roots back to him. They will also refer to this as the Yue or Yu Dynasty, and I only have verbal street talk to support this at time of writing. Do not confuse this as being the same as the peoples of Yue when used in a different way – such as the contemporary Yue Tribes of Southern China of that era, the Yue Kingdom of Northern ZheJiang during the Warring States Period; or the modern term for Cantonese people, which is also Yue. These are all different, but are written in English in the same way.

Huangdi is commonly regarded as the very first leader of modern China, and dates for his life vary between 5, 000 and 7, 000 years ago. This will be confirmed via carbon dating in due course. Indications are that the earlier date is in fact correct!

Huang Di is said to have had high moral status, and is regarded as the creator of Kung Fu, medicine, and music. He is also attributed status as a Taoist deity. His wife created silk by nurturing silkworms, and spinning their threads.

Factfile:
1.
Ancient legends are now being shown to be based largely in real facts
2. First Man and Woman - Fuxi and Nüwa produce a Son called Shennong
3. Creation Myth
4. After The Deluge Myth
5. Dragon Cultures
6. Farming, settlements, and pre-dawn of civilization
7. First forms of written characters (Taoist), Bagua
8. Simple pottery
9. 2, 500 BC: Cowry shells used as currency, supplementing the Barter system
a) This indicates International Trade, as Cowries were also used in India, Africa, and The Middle East during contemporaneous periods
10. Huang Di – The Yellow Emperor, formed the first Han Chinese Kingdom (Same English spelling, different Chinese characters).

Reference Point:
Huang Di – The Yellow Emperor
This information is as supplied by Wikipedia, as dated March 2009 or later, and/or other reliable sources.

Maps (Unless stated otherwise) are provided in association with Thomas Lessman
Web: www.worldhistorymaps.info


Disclaimer:
Please check this information yourself as it may alter without notice, and whilst we try our best to ensure it is correct, please do not hold us responsible for any errors - this is intended as a simple guide only
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