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.