The ancestors of today's Chinese began to settle in the Huang
He (Yellow River) valley more than 5 thousand years ago. They
were at that time divided into several different tribes. Legend
has it that there were then two tribal chieftains who were half
brothers (born to different fathers) named Huang Di (the Yellow
Emperor) and Yan Di respectively. Meanwhile, there was another
tribe that had settled in the Yangtze valley and the chieftain
went by the name of Qi You. According to legend, the members
of this tribe all looked most fearsome, actually more like wild
beasts than men. lt is said that their heads and brow were hard
as bronze or iron and that they had stomachs that could digest
stone and sand. Not only did they have all kinds of weaponry
but they were also able to practise black magic. There were constant
encroachments by Qi You's tribe on other tribes, including that
of Yan Di who was however unable to put up an effektive resistance
and so had lost all his territory. So he fled to where Huang Di
and his men lived and pleaded for help.
Huang Di ordered all the friendly tribes to do what they could
to manufacture new weapons. At the same time he sent a brave general
of his, Ying Long by name, to go and catch all kinds of fierce
animals and give them training. Before long, the animals became
so trained that they were able to carry out the commands given
by Ying Long. At this, Huang Di told Ying Long to set the animals
in ambush and himself led warriors from different tribes to make
an attack on Qi You.
The battle was joined and before long Huang Di feigned retreat.
In the course of his flight, he purposely led Qi You and his
men to where the trained beasts were lying in ambush. At the sight
of Qi You, Ying Long set the beasts on the enemy. The brutes
made a frenzied attack on Qi You and his warriors, using their
fangs and claws. This attack was followed up by an assault by
Huang Di and his men. When he saw that many of his men were killed
or wounded, Qi You resorted to black magic to save the situation
by calling down a heavy storm which quickly covered everything
up in an impenetrable darkness. Qi You was still congratulating
himself on this success thinking that the enemy would now be
unabe to find their way about when all on a sudden he saw Huang
Di coming at him in his newly-invented compassguided war chariot.
With his broad sword, Ying Long hacked Qi You to death. At
this moment of victory, a sudden shaft of golden light appeared
in the sky and shone on Huang Di, who was suffused with a brilliant
golden glow. At the sight of this, the tribesmen were overwhelmed
with wonder and delight and they said to one another that Huang
Di must be the son of heaven. They proposed that he be made the
chief of a tribal confederation.
From then on Huang Di was called the Son of Heaven. He led
the people in offering sacrifices to heaven and earth and to gods
and spirits. He got them organized in agricultural production
and the development of culture. He devised the first calendar
in China which was called "Huang Di's calendar" or the
"Huang calendar". He also engaged in the study of medicine
with a famous medical man of that time named Qi Bo. The medical
theories they developed were later written into a medical classic
by posterity which was given the title of The Yellow
Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine. Huang Di also had
his wife teach the people how to raise silkworms and make clothes
of different colours. He ordered Cang Jie, his chronicler, to
set about devising a writing system and had his music officer
make all kinds of musical instruments. Under his leadership, the
people had created and invented many new things. They built houses,
vehicles and boats. They made weapons of bronze. The end result
of all this was that the Yellow River valley became the cradle
of Chinese civilization and a centre of ancient civilization of
mankind.
The tribes that had settled in the Yellow River valley called
themselves the Hua tribes or Huaxia tribes whose civilization
gradually spread to other parts of the country. This is the origin
of the Chinese nation (Zhong Hua Min Zu) who all respect and revere
Huang Di, looking on him as the common ancestor of the whole nation.
That is why they call themselves the scions of Huang Di. And since
Huang Di and Yan Di were believed to be born of the same mother
and since their two tribes were later merged, the Chinese have
another name for themselves and that is "the scions of Huang
Di and Yan Di". According to legend, Huang Di lived to be a hundred
years old when on his 100th birthday a divine dragon came for
him from heaven. On this dragon he rode, to where he had come
from. In memory of Huang Di, later generations built at the ancient
capital of Xi'an a huge mausoleum which they
called Huang Di's Mausoleum.
The Yellow River