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Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors

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According to Chinese mythology and traditional Chinese historiography, the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors (Template:Zh) were a series of sage Chinese emperors, and the first Emperors of China.<ref name="三皇五帝 – 国学网">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Today, they are considered culture heroes,<ref name="clight2">Template:Cite book</ref> but they were widely worshipped as divine "ancestral spirits" in ancient times. According to received history, the period they existed in preceded the Xia dynasty,<ref name="Mor">Template:Cite book</ref> although they were thought to exist in later periods to an extent<ref name=":423">Template:Cite book</ref> in incorporeal forms that aided the Chinese people, especially with the stories of Nüwa existing as a spirit in the Shang dynasty<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and Shennong being identified as the godly form of Hou Ji and a founder of the Zhou dynasty.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In myth, the Three Sovereigns were demigods who used their abilities to help create mankind and impart to them essential skills and knowledge. The Five Emperors were exemplary sages who possessed great moral character, and were from a golden age when "communications between the human order and the divine were central to all life" and where the sages embodied the divine, or aided humans in communicating divine forces.<ref name=":10027">Template:Cite book</ref>

In this period the abdication system was used before Qi of Xia violently seized power and established a hereditary monarchy.<ref name="Feng2009">Feng, Shi (2009) "A Study of the Pottery Inscription 'Wen Yi 文邑'". Chinese Archaeology, Vol. 9 (Issue 1), pp. 170-177. full text</ref>

HistoryEdit

Taoist beliefs consist of parables involving shamanistic themes, which is origin of most ancient stories about the Sovereigns Fuxi, Nüwa, and Shennong.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

VariationsEdit

File:Huang Di.png
Map of tribes and tribal unions in Ancient China, including the tribes led by the Yellow Emperor, Emperor Yan and Chiyou.

There are six to seven known variations on which people constitute the Three Sovereigns and the Five Emperors, depending on the source.<ref name="clight1">劉煒/著. (2002) Chinese civilization in a new light. Commercial press publishing. ISBN 962-07-5314-3, p. 142.</ref> Many of the known sources were written in much later dynasties.

Groupings of the Three Sovereigns consist of some combination of the following: Fuxi, Nüwa, Shennong, Suiren, Zhu Rong, Gonggong, the Heavenly Sovereign, the Earthly Sovereign, the Human Sovereign (in two varieties), and the Yellow Emperor.<ref name="三皇五帝 – 国学网" />

Groupings of the Five Emperors consist of some combination of the following: the Yellow Emperor, Zhuanxu, Emperor Ku, Emperor Yao, Emperor Shun, Shaohao, Taihao, and the Yan Emperor.

Three SovereignsEdit

The Three Sovereigns, sometimes known as the Three August Ones, were said to be god-kings or demigods who used their magical powers, divine powers, or being in harmony with the Tao to improve the lives of their people. Because of their lofty virtue, they lived to a great age and ruled over a period of great peace.

The Sovereigns have elements in common with xian from the Taoist pantheon, such as the Human Sovereign's cloud-chariot and their supernatural abilities. Upon his death, the Yellow Emperor was "said to have become" a xian.<ref name=":11">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The Yellow Emperor is supposedly the ancestor of the Huaxia people.<ref name="history1">Template:Cite book</ref> The Mausoleum of the Yellow Emperor was established in Shaanxi to commemorate the ancestry legend.<ref name="history1" />

The Three Sovereigns are ascribed various identities in different historical texts, as shown in the table below:

According to source Three Sovereigns
Records of the Grand Historian, addition by Sima Zhen Heavenly Sovereign, Earthly Sovereign, Tai Sovereign<ref name="clight1" /> or Fu Xi, Nüwa, Shennong
Sovereign series (帝王世系) Fu Xi, Shennong, Yellow Emperor<ref name="clight1" />
Shiben Fu Xi, Shennong, Yellow Emperor<ref name="clight1" />
Baihu Tongyi (白虎通義) (1st variation)
Fu Xi, Shennong, Zhu Rong<ref name="clight1" />

(2nd variation)
Fu Xi, Shennong, Suiren<ref name="clight1" />
Fengsu Tongyi Fu Xi, Nüwa, Shennong<ref name="clight1" />
Yiwen Leiju Heavenly Sovereign, Earthly Sovereign; Human Sovereign<ref name="clight1" />
Tongjian Waiji (通鑑外紀) Fu Xi, Shennong, Gonggong
Chunqiu yundou shu (春秋運斗樞)
Chunqiu yuanming bao (春秋元命苞)		 Fu Xi, Nüwa, Shennong
Shangshu dazhuan (尚書大傳) Fu Xi, Shennong, Suiren
Diwang shiji (帝王世紀) Fu Xi, Shennong, Yellow Emperor

Five EmperorsEdit

The Five Emperors were traditionally thought to have invented "fire, writing and irrigation".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Like the Three Sovereigns, they are ascribed different identities depending on historical source, as shown in the table below:

According to source Five Emperors
Records of the Grand Historian Yellow Emperor, Zhuanxu, Ku, Yao, Shun<ref name="clight1" />
Sovereign Series (帝王世紀) Shaohao, Zhuanxu, Ku, Yao, Shun<ref name="clight1" />
I Ching Taihao (太昊), Yan Emperor, Yellow Emperor, Yao, Shun<ref name="clight1" />
Comments of a Recluse, Qianfulun (潛夫論) Taihao, Yan, Yellow Emperor, Shaohao, Zhuanxu<ref name="cn1">"CHINAKNOWLEDGE", Chinese History - The Three Augusts and Five Emperors 三皇五帝</ref>Template:Better source needed
Zizhi tongjian waiji, (資治通鑒外紀) Yellow Emperor, Shaohao, Zhuanxu, Ku, Yao<ref name="cn1"/>

Five Emperors family treeEdit

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Creation mythEdit

There is the legend of the Four Clans (四氏) who took part in creating the world, Youchao-shi (有巢氏), Suiren-shi (燧人氏), Fu Xi-shi (伏羲氏), and Shennong-shi (神農氏).Template:Sfn

LegacyEdit

These Sovereigns and Emperors are said to have helped introduce the use of fire, taught people how to build houses, and invented farming. The Yellow Emperor's wife is credited with the invention of silk culture. The discovery of medicine and invention of the calendar and Chinese script are also credited to the kings. After their era, Yu the Great founded the Xia dynasty, traditionally considered the first dynasty in Chinese historiography.<ref name="Mor" />

GalleryEdit

  • Changchun-Temple-Jiazi-Dian-0330.jpg

    The Hall of the Three Sovereigns in Changchun Si (Template:Zhi), a Taoist temple in Wuhan

  • Shennong3.jpg

    Shennong tasting herbs to discover their qualities

  • Yellow Emperor.jpg

    Historian's depiction of the Yellow Emperor

  • Yellowemperor.jpg

    Another depiction of the Yellow Emperor

  • Shaohao - tumulus with a Shaohao Ling stele in front of it - P1050742.JPG

    Shaohao Tomb near Qufu, Shandong

ReferencesEdit

Template:Reflist

Further readingEdit

Template:Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors footer Template:Chinese mythology

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