China knows everything for 5000 years

Chapter 3

After Kuafu's death, his body turned into a mountain, which is said to be located in the west of what is now Lingbao County, Henan Province.Kuafu's walking stick fell to the ground and turned into a peach forest with luxuriant branches and fresh fruits, named Deng Lin.From then on, Kuafu's clansmen lived at the foot of Kuafu Mountain and among Deng Lin, had children, multiplied offspring, and lived a happy life.

●The birth of the first ancestor, the Yellow Emperor
We Chinese are called "Descendants of Yanhuang". Yanhuang refers to Yandi and Huangdi. They are the two ancestors of the legendary Chinese nation. There are many legends about them, especially the legend of Huangdi.

Legend has it that the ancestor of the Yellow Emperor was the Xiong family.The leader of the Xiong tribe, Shaodian, and his wife Fubao have a very harmonious relationship, and they want to be together in everything.One day, they went to play in Jishui. When it was getting dark, suddenly the clouds covered, rumbling thunder resounded all over the field, and lightning like a silver snake pierced the darkness of the night sky.Suddenly, a thunderbolt exploded above their heads, and Fu Bao felt a strange feeling controlling her.After returning home, she was pregnant.As the news spread, people in the clan commented, "It's terrible! Fubao became pregnant because of the induction of the heavens. This child must be the reincarnation of a god."

Fubao gave birth to a boy with a tiger head and a tiger brain. He is the Yellow Emperor, the ancestor of China.Huangdi was born with a majestic appearance, his forehead was raised high, the sun and the moon hung between his brows, and his two sword eyebrows were like lightning in the sky.It is said that he can speak in less than two months, and he is very smart. He can speak eloquently and eloquently when he was a few years old.By the age of 20, I have learned a lot, very educated, friendly with people, and decisive in doing things.Due to his outstanding talent and prestige, he was soon promoted to be the leader of the tribe.

He invented the car and boat to facilitate people's travel; he built houses so that people could get rid of "building nests"; he invented clothes so that people would no longer be disturbed by cold and heat; Bring great changes to people's lives.The people in the tribe elected him as the leader. Because he grew up in Jishui, he took Ji as his surname; He is in the Youxiong tribe, so he is also called Youxiong.

●Emperor Yan and Huang fighting Chi You
After Huangdi became the leader of the tribe, with his outstanding ability and extreme intelligence, he quickly made the Youxiong tribe stronger.Xuanyuan felt that living on the bank of Jishui would affect the development of the tribe, so he led the people of his tribe to Zhuolu (now in the north of Hebei Province) after several hardships, and planned to live here for a long time.

The Lieshan tribe lived in this area at that time, and the leader of the Lieshan tribe was the later Emperor Yan.The arrival of Xuanyuan aroused the uneasiness of Emperor Yan, and the two sides fought fiercely for this place. Finally, Xuanyuan defeated Emperor Yan in Banquan.Emperor Yan agreed to merge the two tribes. Xuanyuan was the leader of the Yanhuang tribe, replacing Shennong. Because of the auspiciousness of Tude, Xuanyuan was named Huangdi, and Emperor Yan himself served as the deputy leader.This Yanhuang tribe is the earliest embryonic form of the Chinese nation. Later, the Chinese often call themselves the descendants of Yanhuang, which is where they came from.

After the merger of the Yan and Huang tribes, the world was peaceful and the weather was smooth, and people lived and worked in peace and contentment.Just as the Yanhuang tribal alliance was developing, Chi You, the leader of the Jiuli tribe, led people to attack the Yanhuang tribe.Chi You is good at making weapons with metals. Sharp spears, strong shields, light swords, heavy axes, and powerful bows and crossbows all come from his creativity.He has 81 brothers, all of whom are several feet tall, have copper heads and iron foreheads, four eyes and six arms, and a body with cow legs.According to ancient books, they "selected and set up battles, and their swords, halberds and crossbows vibrate the world".

At the beginning of the battle, Huangdi sent Yinglong to fight Chiyou, attacking Chiyou with water.Chi You went to invite Feng Bo (the god of wind) and Yu Shi (the god of rain) to help in the battle. Feng Bo and Yu Shi blew strong winds and rainstorms to counterattack the Yellow Emperor; Wherever he went, the clouds gathered and the rain stopped, and Chi You lost the battle.

Seeing that he could not win, Chi You released a thick fog to besiege the Yellow Emperor's tribe. The thick fog made Huangdi's men and horses invisible to each other, and they couldn't tell the direction when they walked, let alone fight.The wise Yellow Emperor suddenly thought that the Big Dipper in the sky was fixed in one direction, so he was inspired and sent someone to make a two-wheeled wooden cart.Standing on the car is a wooden man with his arms pointed forward. No matter how the car turns east or west, the wooden man's fingers will always point to the south.It was by this great invention that the soldiers of the Yellow Emperor identified their direction and broke out of the encirclement.Chi You's offensive was finally disintegrated again.

In order to completely defeat Chi You, Huang Di had people train a group of ferocious beasts, and sent people to make a huge war drum, and launched a decisive battle with Chi You.The battle began, and the Yellow Emperor beat the war drum, and the thunderous drum sounded over the battlefield.The morale of the Yellow Emperor's army was greatly boosted, and the wild beasts were driven by the soldiers, roaring loudly and rushing towards the enemy.Chi You's army was frightened by the deafening "thunder" and the roaring beasts, and they were defeated and fled.During the battle, the Yellow Emperor captured Chiyou and executed him. Chiyou's Jiuli tribe was all merged into the Yanhuang tribe.Since then, the Yellow Emperor has become the leader supported by all tribes in the Central Plains.

Cangjie was inspired to create characters
Before the advent of writing, people had to rely on their own brains to remember some things.Fortunately, at that time, human beings had nothing superfluous or special to remember.

It is said that Cangjie was an official under the Yellow Emperor, and the Yellow Emperor assigned him to manage the number of livestock in the pen and the amount of food in the village.But slowly, the storage of livestock and food is gradually increasing, and I can't remember it with my head alone.When Cangjie encountered difficulties, he invented the method of knotting ropes to keep track of events. First, he tied knots on the ropes, and used ropes of different colors to represent various animals.But after a long time, those big and small knots with strange shapes remembered something, and even he himself forgot.Therefore, Cangjie wanted to create a simple and easy-to-remember symbol to record important things.In this way, Cangjie stayed in a house on a high platform on the south bank of the Weishui River, and devoted himself to making characters.But he thought hard and thought for a long time, but he couldn't make any words.

One day, when Cangjie was thinking, he suddenly saw a phoenix flying from the sky, and something in its mouth fell down, right in front of Cangjie.Cangjie picked it up and saw that there was a hoofprint on it, but Cangjie couldn't recognize the hoofprint of any beast.At this time, a hunter happened to come by, and Cangjie asked him about it.The hunter looked at it and said, "This is the hoofprint of Pixiu, which is different from the hoofprints of other wild animals. I can also recognize the hoofprints of other wild animals."

After listening to the hunter's words, Cangjie was very inspired.He thought: "Since a footprint can represent a kind of beast, why can't I use a symbol to represent the things I control? Everything has its own characteristics. If you can grasp the characteristics of things and draw images, everyone will be happy." Everyone can recognize it. Isn’t this just a word?”

From then on, Cangjie paid attention to carefully observing the characteristics of various things. He drew figures according to the characteristics of these things and created many pictographs.For example, the character "日" is depicted in the shape of the sun's red circle, the character "Moon" is depicted in the shape of a crescent moon, and the character "人" is drawn looking at the silhouette of a person.It is said that after Cangjie created characters, the ghosts and gods in the world were disturbed, and a lot of millet fell from the sky, and the ghosts were so frightened that they cried loudly at night.This is the legend of "rain in the sky, ghosts cry at night".

But where should these words be written?One day, a man caught a big turtle by the river and asked Cangjie to make characters for it.Cangjie discovered that there were neatly arranged square grids on the back of the turtle, so he made the character "turtle" according to this pattern, and engraved the character "turtle" in the square grid on the back of the turtle.Unexpectedly, the turtle climbed into the river without anyone noticing.Three years later, the turtle with the lettering on its back was caught again.People found that the characters engraved on the back of the turtle grew up and the handwriting became more obvious.Therefore, Cang Jie ordered people to find many turtle shells, and engraved the characters he created into the square grids of the turtle shells, and then strung them up with ropes and dedicated them to the Yellow Emperor.

The Yellow Emperor was very happy, and immediately summoned the leaders of Kyushu, and asked Cangjie to teach them the characters.Since then, the Chinese nation has had its own characters - oracle bone inscriptions.

●The Yellow Emperor cast a tripod and flew to the sky
In 2598 BC, the Yellow Emperor was 152 years old, but he still left his capital in a hurry and went on inspections.

This year, the Yellow Emperor went to Qiaoshan (now Huangling, Shaanxi) and cast a big tripod at the foot of the mountain.Ding is a huge pot, maybe he wanted to use it to treat the tribal chiefs to a big meal.But when the tripod was cast, the sky suddenly opened, and a yellow dragon descended to meet him.The Yellow Emperor stepped on the back of the dragon together with 70 of his entourage and court ladies, and then the Yellow Dragon took off slowly.Some unlucky people came too late and could only grab the beards of the yellow dragons that had already flown off the ground, and the beards fell off, and they all fell down one after another.The Yellow Emperor ascended to heaven in the daytime, and passed away as a fairy.Those who fell down buried the clothes left by the Yellow Emperor under the bridge mountain in frustration and grief. This is now the Yellow Emperor's Clothes Tomb in Huangling, Shaanxi.

Ning Feng ascended to heaven to make pottery
Shennong pioneered farming, and it is said that he also invented pottery.Ancient books record: "Shen Nong made pottery", "Shen Nong cultivated pottery".The most eye-catching pottery is painted pottery.According to legend, painted pottery was invented by the Yellow Emperor.

During the time of the Yellow Emperor, Ning Fengzi was named "Tao Zheng", that is, the official in charge of pottery making. "There is a different person who passes by, and he holds fire for him, and he can produce five-color smoke. For a long time, he will teach Fengzi." ("Legend of Liexian") The smoke is five colors, which means that the pottery being burned is painted pottery.According to legend, Ning Feng was burning painted pottery, and then fell into the kiln fire, his figure went up and down with the smoke, and went to heaven.In this way, Ning Fengzi died for firing painted pottery, which is worth commemorating.In fact, as early as 3000 years before Ning Fengzi, that is, 8000 years ago, painted pottery had already sprouted.By the time of Ning Fengzi, that is, about 5000 years ago, the art of painted pottery was colorful and entered the golden age of its own artistic life.

●Emperor Zhuanxu "Jedi Tiantong"

"Jedi Tiantong" is a mysterious and ancient legend: Zhuanxu, the grandson of the Yellow Emperor, proclaimed himself emperor, and ordered the great god to stretch his arms to lift up the sky, and also made the great god Li to press the ground hard.Therefore, it is called "Jedi Tiantong".

During the Warring States Period, King Zhao of Chu read this myth and was quite puzzled, so he asked the knowledgeable Guan Shefu: "Could it be that before Zhuanxu, the heaven and the earth were so close that the common people could go up and down at will?" explained.

It turns out that at the beginning of human beings, there is little knowledge.Later, when human beings had enough thinking power, all kinds of worship came into being.At that time, clans and tribes lived in scattered places, each with its own totem and wizard, who could receive and send off gods at will, and fabricate the will of God.History called the situation at that time "a mixture of people and gods".The Yellow Emperor entered the Central Plains, and the embryonic form of the country has been conceived.At the time of Zhuanxu, the grandson of the Yellow Emperor, the dispersion and confusion of theocracy had become an obstacle to the unification of the regime. Therefore, a religious revolution was inevitable.Zhuanxu ordered his grandson Zhong to manage the affairs of the heavens and interpret the will of heaven and the decree in a unified way;In this way, the "combination of people and gods" was banned, and the divine power was unified with the imperial power.Zhuanxu held two positions in one body, he was not only the great leader of the human world, but also the great religious master representing the gods.From then on, the theocracy of common people on the earth to connect to heaven was banned, so it was called "Jedi Tiantong".

This revolution of theocratic unity has influenced Chinese culture for thousands of years.Throughout history, the emperors of all dynasties have monopolized the power of offering sacrifices to heaven and earth. Only emperors can go to Mount Tai to enshrine Zen and sacrifice to heaven and earth. Only the capital of emperors has the Temple of Heaven and the Temple of Earth.Under the banner of "being ordered by the sky", the emperors called themselves "the proud sons of heaven" in order to maintain their ruling status.This situation was maintained until the end of the Qing Dynasty, when the theocracy was buried together with the monarchy by the Revolution of [-].Since then, the Temple of Heaven and the Temple of Earth in Beijing have been turned into parks where ordinary people can come and go.

●Chang'e flies to the moon and is lonely and cold
There is a Guanghan Palace on the moon, and a fairy named Chang'e lives in the Guanghan Palace. This legend is well-known in China.However, not many people know who Chang'e was originally and why she flew to the moon.

Chang'e, also written as Da'e in ancient books.In fact, in ancient times, the word Chang'e was pronounced very similar to the name of Chang Yi, who gave birth to twelve moons. It may be the goddess of the moon worshiped by a certain ancient nation. After long-term evolution, various legends have been derived.According to the legend of Chang'e, it is generally believed that she is the wife of the great hero Yi who shot the sun.However, Yi's wife does not seem to be alone.

Yi was reprimanded by God for shooting the sun, and could not return to heaven, and his wife Chang'e had to stay with him on the ground.Chang'e was very dissatisfied with this. Although Yi did not regret his actions, he felt uncomfortable when he thought that his life would be exhausted and he would die someday.He heard that the Queen Mother of the West had an elixir of immortality, so he decided to travel thousands of miles to visit him.

The Queen Mother of the West is a god-man living on the Kunlun Mountains. Later generations described her as a kind old woman, the wife of the Eastern Prince, but in the earliest myths and legends, she looked half human and half beast, which was very strange.It is said that the Queen Mother of the West has the tail of a leopard, the teeth of a tiger, fluffy hair, and a tall bird's crown on her head.However, if these characteristics are regarded as the special attire of ancient tribal rulers, it can make sense.

The Kunlun Mountains are as high as the sky, surrounded by weak water and volcanoes, but of course this is not difficult for the hero Yi.After a difficult journey, Yi finally met the Queen Mother of the West and got the medicine of immortality.The Queen Mother of the West took care of him and said: "This medicine is for you and your wife. If you take one serving, you will live forever; if you take two servings, you will return to heaven."

Yi returned home happily, planning to find a good day to take the medicine of immortality with his wife Chang'e.However, Chang'e missed the heaven so much, she ate two doses of the elixir without telling Yi, so her body became lighter and slowly floated towards the sky.

Probably because she was afraid that the gods in the sky would scold her for abandoning her husband, Chang'e did not dare to return to the heaven, so she wandered to the moon.It is said that as soon as she landed on the moon, her body changed, from a beautiful woman to an ugly toad—there was a golden crow in the sun, and a toad in the moon. This change was preordained long ago.

This kind of legend is too sad, so there is another saying: Chang'e didn't turn into a toad, but the sky above the moon was empty, except for a little rabbit, an osmanthus tree, and a fairy named Wu Gang. No, Chang'e has lived a lonely and deserted life ever since.Wu Gang was a student who committed a crime and was banished to the remote place of the moon. He was asked to cut down the osmanthus tree every day. When the tree fell, he would be exonerated.However, the osmanthus tree was originally a sacred object, and the trunk closed immediately after being cut.Wu Gang chops and chops, he can only stay on the moon forever, there is no day in his life.

●Love tears shed Xiangfei Bamboo
Shun did many good things for the people, especially he ordered Yu to cure the great flood in the world, so that the people lived a stable life.

However, when Shun was in his later years, wars broke out among several tribes in the south of Jiuyi Mountain.He decided to go there to inspect it himself to relieve the war there.Shun always respected the two wives very much, so he told them his plan.Unexpectedly, Ehuang and Nvying were worried about his health, and they didn't agree with him going to Jiuyi Mountain.There was no other way. One night, Shun took some followers, left without saying goodbye, and set off quietly.

Not seeing Emperor Shun return to the palace for a few days, Ehuang and Nvying were worried, where did Shun go?Later, I found an attendant to ask, and only then did I know that Emperor Shun had already left for Jiuyi Mountain for several days.They were worried, and immediately packed up their luggage, prepared their chariots and horses, and then chased after them.

After more than ten days of chasing, they came to the Yangtze River on this day, but there was a strong wind. Fortunately, an old fisherman knew that they were the wives of Emperor Shun, and sent them to Dongting Mountain by boat, where they lived in a small temple. down.The strong wind has been blowing for more than a month, and they couldn't get out of the lake, so they had to wait anxiously for the wind to stop soon.They climbed to the top of the mountain and looked into the distance, secretly wishing Emperor Shun good health.

These two amorous ladies welcomed countless sunrises and sent off countless sunsets. They looked forward and hoped, hopelessly, and heartbroken, but they did not see Emperor Shun's return.

Gradually, the wind stopped.On a calm noon, they suddenly saw a large ship with a feathered flag floating from the south. This was a ship from the palace, and they hurried to meet it.However, as soon as they saw the frowns and sorrowful faces of the attendants and soldiers on the ship, they immediately knew what had happened.

While handing them the relics of Emperor Shun, the attendants said, "Emperor Shun died at the foot of Jiuyi Mountain and was buried there." , They wept faintly on the ground.

From then on, Ehuang and Nvying climbed to the top of Dongting Mountain every day, caressing the green bamboos around them and looking at Jiuyi Mountain in the distance, shedding sad tears.In this way, day after day, year after year, their tears sprinkled all over the bamboo forest in the green mountains.The emerald bamboos all over the mountain were also sad and weeping together with them, and every emerald green bamboo was stained with their sad tears, leaving stains of tears that could never be wiped off.This kind of patterned bamboo was later called Xiangfei bamboo, but it is actually mottled bamboo.

Later, Ehuang and Nvying committed suicide by throwing themselves into Xiangshui because they missed Shun too much. They became the gods of Xiangshui and were called "Concubine Xiang" or "Madam Xiang".

##The third series The world is the beginning of home

●Dayu's water control "Yu domain" security
When Yao and Shun were leaders, floods frequently occurred in the Yellow River Basin. Fertile land, houses and livestock were all submerged by torrential floods, and many people were displaced.After Shun succeeded Yao as the leader of the tribal alliance, he exiled Gun, who was responsible for water control, to Mount Yu, and handed over the task of water control to Gun's son Yu.

Yu is a very virtuous person. He didn't feel jealous because Shun punished his father, and he happily took on the heavy responsibility.

(End of this chapter)