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[[Image:Nuwa&fuxi.jpg|thumb|250px|<center>Ancient painting of [[Nuwa]] and Fuxi unearthed in [[Xinjiang]].</center>]] | [[Image:Nuwa&fuxi.jpg|thumb|250px|<center>Ancient painting of [[Nuwa]] and Fuxi unearthed in [[Xinjiang]].</center>]] | ||
| − | In Chinese mythology, '''Fu Xi''' or '''Fu Hsi''' ({{zh-cp|c=伏羲|p=fúxī}}; aka Paoxi ({{zh-stp|s=庖牺|t=庖犧|p=páoxī}})), mid 2800s B.C.E., was the first of the mythical [[Three August Ones and Five Emperors|Three Sovereigns]] (三皇 sānhuáng) of ancient [[China]]. He is a [[ | + | In Chinese mythology, '''Fu Xi''' or '''Fu Hsi''' ({{zh-cp|c=伏羲|p=fúxī}}; aka Paoxi ({{zh-stp|s=庖牺|t=庖犧|p=páoxī}})), mid 2800s B.C.E., was the first of the mythical [[Three August Ones and Five Emperors|Three Sovereigns]] (三皇 sānhuáng) of ancient [[China]]. He is a cultural hero, reputed to have taught the Chinese people fishing with nets, hunting with weapons made of iron, cooking, domestication of animals, music, the writing system, sericulture (cultivation of silk worms) and the weaving of threads from silkworm cocoons into textiles. He tamed the waters of the [[Yellow River]] by digging dikes, canals and irrigation ditches, offered the first open air sacrifice and standardized marriage contracts. He is also credited with creating the Eight Trigrams, which form the basis for the philosophy of the ''Book of Changes ([[I Ching]])'' and are regarded as the origin of [[calligraphy]]. |
| + | |||
| + | Ancient Chinese matriarchal society revered Fuxi’s predecessor, the female creator goddess [[Nuwa]]. When the male role in procreation came to be understood, Fuxi became primary and Nuwa is often depicted as his sister or wife. | ||
==Biography== | ==Biography== | ||
Fu Xi was born on the lower-middle reaches of the [[Yellow River]] in a place called [[Chengji]] (possibly modern [[Lantian]], [[Shaanxi]] or [[Tianshui]], [[Gansu]]).<ref name="flp1">{{cite book |last= |first= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Worshiping the Three Sage Kings and Five Virtuous Emperors - The Imperial Temple of Emperors of Successive Dynasties in Beijing |year=2007 |publisher=Foreign Language Press |location=Beijing |isbn=978-7-119-04635-8}}</ref> | Fu Xi was born on the lower-middle reaches of the [[Yellow River]] in a place called [[Chengji]] (possibly modern [[Lantian]], [[Shaanxi]] or [[Tianshui]], [[Gansu]]).<ref name="flp1">{{cite book |last= |first= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Worshiping the Three Sage Kings and Five Virtuous Emperors - The Imperial Temple of Emperors of Successive Dynasties in Beijing |year=2007 |publisher=Foreign Language Press |location=Beijing |isbn=978-7-119-04635-8}}</ref> | ||
| − | According to legend the land was swept by a great flood and only Fuxi and his sister [[Nüwa]] survived. | + | The Chinese traditionally believed that Fuxi could assume dragon form. Fuxi supposedly had the body of a serpent, and the first dragon was said to have appeared to him in 2962 B.C.E.. <ref> Perkins, Dorothy. 1999. ''Encyclopedia of China: the essential reference to China, its history and culture''. New York: Facts on File. ISBN: 0816026939 9780816026937 pp. 131, 144</ref> |
| + | |||
| + | According to legend the land was swept by a great flood and only Fuxi and his sister [[Nüwa]] survived. They retired to [[Kunlun Mountain]] where they prayed for a sign from the [[Emperor of Heaven]]. The divine being approved their union and the siblings set about procreating the human race.<ref name="flp1">{{cite book |last= |first= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=''Worshiping the Three Sage Kings and Five Virtuous Emperors - The Imperial Temple of Emperors of Successive Dynasties in Beijing'' |year=2007 |publisher=Foreign Language Press |location=Beijing |isbn=978-7-119-04635-8}}</ref> Fu Xi then came to rule over his decedents although reports of his long reign vary between sources from 115 years (BCE 2852-2737) to 116 years (BCE 2952-2836). | ||
| + | |||
| + | The author [[LiRong]] (李榮), thought to have lived sometime between 618 and 907 C.E., gives this account in [[Duyi Zhi]] (獨异志); vol 3: There was a brother and a sister living on the Kunlun Mountain, and there were no ordinary people at that time. The sister's name was Nüwa. The brother and sister wished to become husband and wife, but felt shy and guilty about this desire. So the brother took his younger sister to the top of the Kunlun Mounatain and prayed: "If Heaven allows us to be man and wife, please let the smoke before us gather; if not, please let the smoke scatter." The smoke before them gathered together. So Nüwa came to live with her elder brother. She made a fan with grass to hide her face. (The present custom of women covering their faces with fans originated from this story.) | ||
| + | |||
| + | Fuxi and [[Nuwa]] were often depicted as having human bodies and dragon tails that were interwined, and holding measuring instruments that represent the yang (male) and yin (female) principles that permeate everything in the universe. <ref> Perkins, Dorothy. 1999. ''Encyclopedia of China: the essential reference to China, its history and culture.'' New York: Facts on File. ISBN: 0816026939 9780816026937 p. 144</ref> A stone tablet, dated 160 C.E. shows Fu Hsi with [[Nüwa]]. | ||
| − | + | Fuxi lived for 197 years and died at a place called [[Chen (state)|Chen]] (modern [[Huaiyang]], [[Henan]]) where his mausoleum can still be found.<ref name="flp1">{{cite book |last= |first= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=W''orshiping the Three Sage Kings and Five Virtuous Emperors - The Imperial Temple of Emperors of Successive Dynasties in Beijing'' |year=2007 |publisher=Foreign Language Press |location=Beijing |isbn=978-7-119-04635-8}}</ref> | |
| − | ==Social | + | ==Social Importance== |
| − | {{Quotation|Among the three primogenitors of Hua-Xia civilization, Fu Xi in Huaiyang Country ranks first.|Couplet engraved on column of Fu Xi Temple, Huaiyang Country, Henan Province<ref name="flp1">{{cite book |last= |first= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Worshiping the Three Sage Kings and Five Virtuous Emperors - The Imperial Temple of Emperors of Successive Dynasties in Beijing |year=2007 |publisher=Foreign Language Press |location=Beijing |isbn=978-7-119-04635-8}}</ref>}} | + | {{Quotation|Among the three primogenitors of Hua-Xia civilization, Fu Xi in Huaiyang Country ranks first.|Couplet engraved on column of Fu Xi Temple, Huaiyang Country, Henan Province<ref name="flp1">{{cite book |last= |first= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=''Worshiping the Three Sage Kings and Five Virtuous Emperors - The Imperial Temple of Emperors of Successive Dynasties in Beijing'' |year=2007 |publisher=Foreign Language Press |location=Beijing |isbn=978-7-119-04635-8}}</ref>}} |
| − | During the time of his predecessor [[Nüwa]] (who according to some sources was also his wife and/or sister) society was matriarchal and primitive. Childbirth was seen to be miraculous not requiring the participation of the male and children only knew their mothers. As the reproductive process became better understood ancient Chinese society moved towards a patriarchal system and Fu Xi assumed primary importance.<ref name="flp1">{{cite book |last= |first= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Worshiping the Three Sage Kings and Five Virtuous Emperors - The Imperial Temple of Emperors of Successive Dynasties in Beijing |year=2007 |publisher=Foreign Language Press |location=Beijing |isbn=978-7-119-04635-8}}</ref> | + | During the time of his predecessor, the goddess of creation [[Nuwa|Nüwa]] (who according to some sources was also his wife and/or sister), society was matriarchal and primitive. Childbirth was seen to be miraculous not requiring the participation of the male and children only knew their mothers. As the reproductive process became better understood ancient Chinese society moved towards a patriarchal system and Fu Xi assumed primary importance.<ref name="flp1">{{cite book |last= |first= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=''Worshiping the Three Sage Kings and Five Virtuous Emperors - The Imperial Temple of Emperors of Successive Dynasties in Beijing'' |year=2007 |publisher=Foreign Language Press |location=Beijing |isbn=978-7-119-04635-8}}</ref> |
{{Quotation|In the beginning there was as yet no moral or social order. Men knew their mothers only, not their fathers. When hungry, they searched for food; when satisfied, they threw away the remnants. They devoured their food hide and hair, drank the blood, and clad themselves in skins and rushes. Then came Fu Hsi and looked upward and contemplated the images in the heavens, and looked downward and contemplated the occurrences on earth. He united man and wife, regulated the five stages of change, and laid down the laws of humanity. He devised the eight trigrams, in order to gain mastery over the world. | {{Quotation|In the beginning there was as yet no moral or social order. Men knew their mothers only, not their fathers. When hungry, they searched for food; when satisfied, they threw away the remnants. They devoured their food hide and hair, drank the blood, and clad themselves in skins and rushes. Then came Fu Hsi and looked upward and contemplated the images in the heavens, and looked downward and contemplated the occurrences on earth. He united man and wife, regulated the five stages of change, and laid down the laws of humanity. He devised the eight trigrams, in order to gain mastery over the world. | ||
|Ban Gu|Baihu tongyi<ref name="iching">{{cite book |last=Wilhelm |first=Richard |authorlink= |coauthors=Baines, Cary F. |title=I Ching |year=1967 |publisher= |location= |isbn=}}</ref>}} | |Ban Gu|Baihu tongyi<ref name="iching">{{cite book |last=Wilhelm |first=Richard |authorlink= |coauthors=Baines, Cary F. |title=I Ching |year=1967 |publisher= |location= |isbn=}}</ref>}} | ||
| − | Fu | + | Fu Xi did not directly create human beings, as Nuwa did, but he taught them all the skills necessary to ensure their survival. He brought the Great Waters of the Universe into order by digging dikes, canals and irrigation ditches to tame the [[Yellow River]] (Huanghe), whose flood cycles were a constant threat to Chinese farmers. <ref> Perkins, Dorothy. 1999. Encyclopedia of China: the essential reference to China, its history and culture. New York: Facts on File. ISBN: 0816026939 9780816026937 pp. 131</ref> Fuxi taught the Chinese people fishing with nets, hunting with weapons made of iron, cooking, domestication of animals, music, the writing system, sericulture (cultivation of silk worms) and the weaving of threads from silkworm cocoons into textiles. According to legend, in 2852 B.C.E.., Fuxi created the Eight Trigrams (''bagua'' or ''pa kua''), a set of marks using long and short lines which are used to divine the future and which form the basis of calligraphy. Fuxi also offered the first open air sacrifices to heaven, standardized contracts for marriage, and invented an early type of calendar. <ref>Ibid.</ref> In addition, he invented the measuring instrument that the legendary Emperor Yu used to measure the universe. |
| − | + | According to tradition, Fu Xi had the arrangement of the Eight [[Bagua (concept)|Trigrams]] (八卦 ''bāgùa'') of the ''[[I Ching]]'' (also known as the ''Yi Jing'' or ''Zhou Yi'') revealed to him supernaturally while reading the ''He Map'' (or the ''Yellow River Map''). Fu Hsi is said to have discovered the arrangement in markings on the back of a mythical dragon-horse (sometimes said to be a turtle) that emerged from the river [[Luo]]. This arrangement precedes the compilation of the ''I Ching'' during the [[Zhou Dynasty|Zhou dynasty]]. As the discoverer of the Eight Trigrams, which form the basis for the philosophy in the Book of Changes (I Ching), Fuxi has been revered by Chinese scholars as the originator of the ''I Ching''. | |
| − | Fu | + | Fu Xi is also credited with the invention of the [[Guqin]] (a seven-stringed musical instrument), together with [[Shennong]] and [[Huang Di]]. |
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Fu Xi is featured in the "Conversation on Information Technology over 5000 Years" sculptural panels at the Norwalk Community College Center for Information Technology, near [[New Haven]], Connecticut. They were sculpted by the facility's architect, Barry Svigals. | Fu Xi is featured in the "Conversation on Information Technology over 5000 Years" sculptural panels at the Norwalk Community College Center for Information Technology, near [[New Haven]], Connecticut. They were sculpted by the facility's architect, Barry Svigals. | ||
| + | ==Notes== | ||
| + | <references/> | ||
| + | ==References== | ||
| + | *Birrell, Anne. 1993. Chinese mythology: an introduction. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN: 0801845955 9780801845956 | ||
| + | *Giddens, Sandra, and Owen Giddens. 2006. Chinese mythology. Mythology around the world. New York: Rosen Pub. Group. ISBN: 1404207694 9781404207691 | ||
| + | *Sanders, Tao Tao Liu. 1983. Dragons, gods & spirits from Chinese mythology. World mythologies series. New York: Schocken Books. ISBN: 0805237992 9780805237993 | ||
| + | *Yang, Lihui, and Deming An. 2005. Handbook of Chinese mythology. Handbooks of world mythology. Santa Barbara, Calif: ABC-CLIO. ISBN: 157607806X 9781576078068 1576078078 9781576078075 | ||
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{{start}} | {{start}} | ||
| Line 49: | Line 54: | ||
|NAME=Fu Xi | |NAME=Fu Xi | ||
|ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Fu Hsi | |ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Fu Hsi | ||
| − | |SHORT DESCRIPTION= | + | |SHORT DESCRIPTION= first of the mythical Three Sovereigns (三皇 sānhuáng) of ancient [[China]] |
| − | |DATE OF BIRTH= | + | |DATE OF BIRTH= mid 2800s B.C.E. |
| − | |PLACE OF BIRTH= | + | |PLACE OF BIRTH= Chen |
| − | + | DATE OF DEATH= c. 2600 B.C.E. | |
| − | |PLACE OF DEATH= | + | |PLACE OF DEATH= Chengji |
}} | }} | ||
| − | + | ==See also== | |
| + | *[[Chinese mythology]] | ||
| + | *[[Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors]] | ||
[[Category:Chinese gods]] | [[Category:Chinese gods]] | ||
| Line 62: | Line 69: | ||
[[Category:Guqin]] | [[Category:Guqin]] | ||
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| − | |||
{{credits|Fu_Xi|154234511}} | {{credits|Fu_Xi|154234511}} | ||
Revision as of 19:06, 8 September 2007
In Chinese mythology, Fu Xi or Fu Hsi (Chinese: 伏羲; pinyin: fúxī; aka Paoxi (Simplified Chinese: 庖牺; Traditional Chinese: 庖犧; pinyin: páoxī)), mid 2800s B.C.E., was the first of the mythical Three Sovereigns (三皇 sānhuáng) of ancient China. He is a cultural hero, reputed to have taught the Chinese people fishing with nets, hunting with weapons made of iron, cooking, domestication of animals, music, the writing system, sericulture (cultivation of silk worms) and the weaving of threads from silkworm cocoons into textiles. He tamed the waters of the Yellow River by digging dikes, canals and irrigation ditches, offered the first open air sacrifice and standardized marriage contracts. He is also credited with creating the Eight Trigrams, which form the basis for the philosophy of the Book of Changes (I Ching) and are regarded as the origin of calligraphy.
Ancient Chinese matriarchal society revered Fuxi’s predecessor, the female creator goddess Nuwa. When the male role in procreation came to be understood, Fuxi became primary and Nuwa is often depicted as his sister or wife.
Biography
Fu Xi was born on the lower-middle reaches of the Yellow River in a place called Chengji (possibly modern Lantian, Shaanxi or Tianshui, Gansu).[1]
The Chinese traditionally believed that Fuxi could assume dragon form. Fuxi supposedly had the body of a serpent, and the first dragon was said to have appeared to him in 2962 B.C.E.. [2]
According to legend the land was swept by a great flood and only Fuxi and his sister Nüwa survived. They retired to Kunlun Mountain where they prayed for a sign from the Emperor of Heaven. The divine being approved their union and the siblings set about procreating the human race.[1] Fu Xi then came to rule over his decedents although reports of his long reign vary between sources from 115 years (BCE 2852-2737) to 116 years (BCE 2952-2836).
The author LiRong (李榮), thought to have lived sometime between 618 and 907 C.E., gives this account in Duyi Zhi (獨异志); vol 3: There was a brother and a sister living on the Kunlun Mountain, and there were no ordinary people at that time. The sister's name was Nüwa. The brother and sister wished to become husband and wife, but felt shy and guilty about this desire. So the brother took his younger sister to the top of the Kunlun Mounatain and prayed: "If Heaven allows us to be man and wife, please let the smoke before us gather; if not, please let the smoke scatter." The smoke before them gathered together. So Nüwa came to live with her elder brother. She made a fan with grass to hide her face. (The present custom of women covering their faces with fans originated from this story.)
Fuxi and Nuwa were often depicted as having human bodies and dragon tails that were interwined, and holding measuring instruments that represent the yang (male) and yin (female) principles that permeate everything in the universe. [3] A stone tablet, dated 160 C.E. shows Fu Hsi with Nüwa.
Fuxi lived for 197 years and died at a place called Chen (modern Huaiyang, Henan) where his mausoleum can still be found.[1]
Social Importance
Among the three primogenitors of Hua-Xia civilization, Fu Xi in Huaiyang Country ranks first.
Couplet engraved on column of Fu Xi Temple, Huaiyang Country, Henan Province[1]
During the time of his predecessor, the goddess of creation Nüwa (who according to some sources was also his wife and/or sister), society was matriarchal and primitive. Childbirth was seen to be miraculous not requiring the participation of the male and children only knew their mothers. As the reproductive process became better understood ancient Chinese society moved towards a patriarchal system and Fu Xi assumed primary importance.[1]
In the beginning there was as yet no moral or social order. Men knew their mothers only, not their fathers. When hungry, they searched for food; when satisfied, they threw away the remnants. They devoured their food hide and hair, drank the blood, and clad themselves in skins and rushes. Then came Fu Hsi and looked upward and contemplated the images in the heavens, and looked downward and contemplated the occurrences on earth. He united man and wife, regulated the five stages of change, and laid down the laws of humanity. He devised the eight trigrams, in order to gain mastery over the world.
Ban Gu, Baihu tongyi[4]
Fu Xi did not directly create human beings, as Nuwa did, but he taught them all the skills necessary to ensure their survival. He brought the Great Waters of the Universe into order by digging dikes, canals and irrigation ditches to tame the Yellow River (Huanghe), whose flood cycles were a constant threat to Chinese farmers. [5] Fuxi taught the Chinese people fishing with nets, hunting with weapons made of iron, cooking, domestication of animals, music, the writing system, sericulture (cultivation of silk worms) and the weaving of threads from silkworm cocoons into textiles. According to legend, in 2852 B.C.E., Fuxi created the Eight Trigrams (bagua or pa kua), a set of marks using long and short lines which are used to divine the future and which form the basis of calligraphy. Fuxi also offered the first open air sacrifices to heaven, standardized contracts for marriage, and invented an early type of calendar. [6] In addition, he invented the measuring instrument that the legendary Emperor Yu used to measure the universe.
According to tradition, Fu Xi had the arrangement of the Eight Trigrams (八卦 bāgùa) of the I Ching (also known as the Yi Jing or Zhou Yi) revealed to him supernaturally while reading the He Map (or the Yellow River Map). Fu Hsi is said to have discovered the arrangement in markings on the back of a mythical dragon-horse (sometimes said to be a turtle) that emerged from the river Luo. This arrangement precedes the compilation of the I Ching during the Zhou dynasty. As the discoverer of the Eight Trigrams, which form the basis for the philosophy in the Book of Changes (I Ching), Fuxi has been revered by Chinese scholars as the originator of the I Ching.
Fu Xi is also credited with the invention of the Guqin (a seven-stringed musical instrument), together with Shennong and Huang Di.
Fu Xi is featured in the "Conversation on Information Technology over 5000 Years" sculptural panels at the Norwalk Community College Center for Information Technology, near New Haven, Connecticut. They were sculpted by the facility's architect, Barry Svigals.
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 (2007) Worshiping the Three Sage Kings and Five Virtuous Emperors - The Imperial Temple of Emperors of Successive Dynasties in Beijing. Beijing: Foreign Language Press. ISBN 978-7-119-04635-8. Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "flp1" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid<ref>tag; name "flp1" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid<ref>tag; name "flp1" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid<ref>tag; name "flp1" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ Perkins, Dorothy. 1999. Encyclopedia of China: the essential reference to China, its history and culture. New York: Facts on File. ISBN: 0816026939 9780816026937 pp. 131, 144
- ↑ Perkins, Dorothy. 1999. Encyclopedia of China: the essential reference to China, its history and culture. New York: Facts on File. ISBN: 0816026939 9780816026937 p. 144
- ↑ Wilhelm, Richard and Baines, Cary F. (1967). I Ching.
- ↑ Perkins, Dorothy. 1999. Encyclopedia of China: the essential reference to China, its history and culture. New York: Facts on File. ISBN: 0816026939 9780816026937 pp. 131
- ↑ Ibid.
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- Birrell, Anne. 1993. Chinese mythology: an introduction. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN: 0801845955 9780801845956
- Giddens, Sandra, and Owen Giddens. 2006. Chinese mythology. Mythology around the world. New York: Rosen Pub. Group. ISBN: 1404207694 9781404207691
- Sanders, Tao Tao Liu. 1983. Dragons, gods & spirits from Chinese mythology. World mythologies series. New York: Schocken Books. ISBN: 0805237992 9780805237993
- Yang, Lihui, and Deming An. 2005. Handbook of Chinese mythology. Handbooks of world mythology. Santa Barbara, Calif: ABC-CLIO. ISBN: 157607806X 9781576078068 1576078078 9781576078075
| Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by: Suiren |
Emperor of China c 2800 B.C.E. – 2737 B.C.E. |
Succeeded by: Shennong |
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Fu Xi |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Fu Hsi |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | first of the mythical Three Sovereigns (三皇 sānhuáng) of ancient China |
| DATE OF BIRTH | mid 2800s B.C.E. |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Chen
DATE OF DEATH= c. 2600 B.C.E. |
| DATE OF DEATH | |
| PLACE OF DEATH | Chengji |
See also
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