One of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors
Suiren (Chinese: 燧人, Suìrén, lit. Fire starter Person"), also known as Suihuang (Chinese: 燧皇, Suìhuáng, lit. "Fire Starter Emperor"), appears in Chinese mythology and some works which draw upon it. He is credited as a culture hero who introduced humans to the production of fire and its use for cooking. He was included on some ancient lists of the legendary Three August Ones, who lived long before Emperor Yao, Emperor Shun, and the Xia rulers of the earliest historical Chinese dynasty, even before the Yellow Emperor and Yandi. Suiren’s innovation by tradition has been using the wooden fire drill to create fire. Tradition holds that he ruled over China for 110 years.
Although the Sui in his name is sometimes translated as Flint, Sui in Chinese refers to all firestarters. For example, Liji separates Sui into Musui(Chinese: 木燧, Musui, lit. "wood sui") or fire drill wood and Yangsui(Chinese: 阳燧, Yangsui, lit. "Solar Sui") , usually bronze mirrors used to start fire by reflecting the sun). [3]
