Sketchy History

Creation of China (and the World, maybe)

The Creation of the World

Let’s begin with the creation of the Earth, according to the Ancient Chinese.

It is said that the universe was once a giant egg. There was no light. A man named Pangu (盘古）woke up inside this egg, where the yin and the yang coexisted together in one place. Pangu, who I guess was getting quite depressed and claustrophobic, uses his giant axe (How did he get one? I guess he was born with it?) to split these two entities and push them apart. The yin became the Earth beneath his feet and the yang became the clear, idyllic sky. As he grew, the two parts of the universe grew further apart. And when he was sure the two would never mix again, he died of exhaustion from, you know, literally carrying the world on his shoulders. In death, his eyes became the sun and moon. His sweat and blood became the flowing rivers. His hair became the trees and plants and his body the soil and mountains. Some myths also say that the parasites on his body became the human race (um, YUCK!), but I think you’d like to hear the more commonly accepted (and honestly, more flattering) account of our creation.

The Chinese made their creation myths so much more PG than the Greeks!

After Pangu ‘opened the Earth’ (盘古开天地), a goddess named Nu Wa, (女娲) looking out over the Earth, thought it was missing something. She realized that it was species knowledgable enough to use all the resources of the land. So she decided to create men and women in the form of herself, molding them out of dirt and then breathing life into them. So you see, in Chinese mythology, god is a woman!

But soon after humanity’s creation, a great battle occured between the god of fire (火神) and the god of water (水神). Desperate droughts and flooding ensued as the tide of the war flowed back and forth. After many years of conflict, the god of fire emerged victorious.

In a fit of rage, the god of water threw himself against Bu Zhou Mountain (不周山), the mountain holding up the heavens. The force of the impact was so strong that the mountain collapsed, causing large chunks of the sky to begin falling! Unsurpsingly, a lot of nasty things began happening to humanity. Nu Wa, seeking to protect her creation, collected magical stones and used them to fill the sky, rescuing mankind from extinction. But in the process, some of these precious stones fall from her pockets. One would eventually crack, and a magical talking monkey would leave forth! (Again, god logic)

The Tribes of the Yellow River

You might be wondering: “Ok mister. When are we gonna get to actual history?” Well, you’ve waited patiently enough, valued reader. Let’s go from definitely mythical stories to possibly mythical ones!

After many generations, humans coalesced into tribes. Most developed along the Yellow River. History books that record this era of history mention three tribes of note. One was the Xuanyuan tribe (轩辕氏), under its leader Huangdi (黄地/黄帝). Huangdi and his tribe are known for making many great discoveries, most notable of which include the invention of silk (by his wife) and an early version of the compass. But I think the most fascinating story has to be this one version of how he got his name. Here is a masterpiece-worthy depiction of the scene.

In direct opposition to Huangdi’s Xuanyuan tribe was the Shennong tribe (神农氏) of Yandi (炎帝). It is said that Yandi was a great doctor, spending a large amount of time testing different grasses and herbs to see if they had medicinal value, or if they were poisonous. These discoveries were compiled into a grand encyclopedia that forms the basis of Chinese traditional herbal medicine. He also discovered that plants don’t just sprout from nowhere, and in fact come from seeds! He and his tribe used this knowledge to avert a terrible famine by utilizing basic agricultural methods. There are also stories that indicate Yandi was the first to discover tea. He relates that tea was the most powerful medicine of all. On many occasions, Yandi accidentally poisoned himself by eating random stuff and cured himself with this 'magical substance.' So guys, STOP DRINKING COFFEE AND SWITCH NOW!

The third force was the tribe of Chiyou (蚩尤), who began as a subservient leader to Yandi but eventually created his own faction (like most accounts from this time, there are many variations of the story). Chiyou is often vilified in Chinese mythology, and is usually portrayed as non-human. Below is a picture of him found on Wikipedia.

As you can tell, not the most flattering of images. Here is a description from the Wikipedia article itself: “…Chiyou had certain features associated with various mythological bovines: his head was that of a bull with two horns, although the body was human, and his hindquarters were those of a bear.”

It is said that Chiyou, after defeating the forces of Yandi, drove his forces into the territory of Huangdi’s tribe. In three successive battles, culminating in the Battle of Banquan (阪泉), Huangdi defeated the army of his Yandi, and the two agreed to merge their tribes together with Huangdi as leader. Not long afterward, the armies of Chiyou arrived hunting Yandi’s defeated force, only to face a bolstered combined force headed by Huangdi.

There are few descriptions of the Battle of Zhuolu (涿鹿) which ensued. Due to the intense fog that had engulfed the battlefield, the Yanhuang tribe (as his alliance of tribes was known) initially got lost, and suffered early setbacks. (How Chiyou’s tribe managed not to get lost is beyond me, but I guess it has something to do with their leader literally being a bull-bear man?) Please enjoy this masterful depiction of what happens next.

Huangdi was not only a wise ruler, but also a gifted inventor. During his leisure time, Huangdi would entertain himself by fidding with gadgets and creating new trinkets. And one such trinket was the compass chariot, which alwayd directed it's rider toward the South. Using this ingenious invention, Huangdi managed to guide his army from the fog and deliver a crushing defeat to his rivals’ armies.

With the defeat of Chiyou, Huangdi established total hegemony over the Yellow River Valley.

Yao, Shun, Yu…

Some years later (historians of the time weren’t too keen about dates), Yao (尧), not Yao Ming, assumed control over the Yanhuang tribe. Yao was a wise leader, fostering peace and prosperity during his reign. In Confucian classics, Yao is most famously remembered as the one who, rather than passing the throne onto his son, passed it to the wisest man in his realm.

Don’t fret, my dear reader! We are getting to the history part!

At the beginning of Yao’s reign, a great drought afflicted the land. This was caused by the presence of 10 suns in the sky. So Yao ordered his trusted archer, Houyi (后羿), to shoot down 9 of the suns and bring the drought to an end.

Combined with the years of desperate drought was, ironically, the annual flooding of the Yellow River (climate change, 2000 BC edition). So, Yao commissioned Yu the Great (大禹) to solve this persistent threat to Chinese civilization. After surveying the situation, Yu realized the problem: that the there was a giant mountain blocking the flow of the river toward the sea, with the only opening being a narrow gorge. Thus, he personally led a troop of laborers to the mountain, and toiled for years to widen that gorge, until finally, the Yellow River flowed freely and vigorously to the sea. Yu also combined this effort with the construction of irrigation canals to divert the Yellow River's waters to people's fields. After 13 years of hard labor, Yu finally ended the death and destruction wrought by the Yellow River's flooding, and gave China the opportunity to flourish as a civilization.

As Yao aged, he required a successor. At this time, he hears about a bright young man named Shun (舜).

Shun grew up with a stepmother and stepbrother who constantly wanted him dead. Below is a historically accurate depiction of Shun...

Shun survived quite a few ordeals when he was young, mostly due to his dysfunctional family. Below is a depiction of just two of many such incidents.

After miraculously surviving all of these assassination attemps, Shun finally decided to leave home to begin his own humble farm. Through his sharp negotiation skills, Shun managed to resolve multiple local disputes. People began to coalesce around this new local leader, and shortly thereafter, became the leader of a little village.

News of Shun's daring exploits and adept leadership soon reached Yao's ears, much to his delight. He decided to test Shun, giving him both his daughters as wives (which is honestly kind of wierd) and a governorship. Yet Shun, even after being given power and wealth, still chose to live as a humble farmer. Impressed, Yao named Shun as his successor, and abdicated to live out his remaining years in peace.

Shun’s reign was marked by (shocker) another era of great stability. There was widespread mourning after his death. (He was such a good husband, in fact, that both his wives, unable to live without him, leapt into a rushing river. Following in the tradition of selecting a wise man to become his successor, Shun had passed on his position to Yu the Great, the one who had ended the chronic flooding of the Yellow River, before his death.

And I could go on and on about how Yu's reign also brought prosperity to the people, but I know that such stories are no fun to read about.

So, instead of that, I’d like to end this post with a prelude to what happens next.

TO BE CONTINUED…